ROME ALOISE FOUND GUILTY ON ALL COUNTS
POSTED ON OCTOBER 08, 2021
Rome Aloise, the self-described “creator of the Vairma slate” was found guilty on all three counts against him today by Judge Barbara Jones, the Independent Review Officer (IRO) of the Teamsters Union.
The Judge has set a hearing for November 12 to decide the penalty. For now, Aloise will continue to draw multiple salaries totaling over $300,000 a year and to direct the propaganda from the Vairma-Herrera slate.
The guilty verdict comes after an extensive trial conducted by Judge Jones in April, where Aloise was defended by Vairma Slate attorney Patrick Szymanski and by multiple "character witnesses" from the Vairma Slate.
That trial was held after Hoffa, Vairma, Herrera and their supporters on the General Executive Board voted by 12-11 to try to cut a deal with Aloise for a 30-day suspension. They bragged about the Vairma-Herrera Slate "...proudly standing with Rome." Judge Jones immediately vetoed that sweetheart deal and then held her own hearing.
The judge found Aloise guilty of secretly running Local 853 and Joint Council 7 while he was suspended from union office for taking gifts from employers, negotiating a sham contract, and illegally using union resources to rig a local union election.
One decision he attempted to direct was to have the Teamsters to set up a company-funded fake union for Uber and Lyft drivers that would funnel money to the Teamsters Union. He promised to “meet with Hoffa to get him on board” with this plan.
Aloise was also found guilty of threatening and retaliating against members. He even “threatened and coerced a charitable organization dedicated to protecting workers’ rights in an effort to exact retribution and cause harm to a fellow Teamster.”
The Future: Corruption or Change?
Aloise is expected to be out of the Teamsters before the end of the year, perhaps working as a management consultant.
His supporters are calling for a vote for the Vairma-Herrera Slate as their last stand to rally around the disgraced official.
Teamster members who want a different future for our union can do more than hope. We can act.
Vote OZ-Teamsters United for new leadership and a new direction and stand with Teamsters for a Democratic Union to have an ongoing, independent organization of Teamsters who hold all union leaders accountable to the membership.
THE FUTURE - CORRUPTION or CHANGE
The Teamster International election is in full swing with ballots already in your mailbox by now.
This is the first election since 1996 where Hoffa himself will not be running a slate of candidates. But, rest assured, the Vairma-Herrera slate is comprised of nothing but Hoffa's cronies and members of the old boys club.
CHANGE or CORRUPTION. You decide. Your vote is your voice. If you want to change and a chance at membership representation, vote for the O'Brien-Zuckerman slate,
In a critical test of whether our union leaders can root out corrupt officials who abuse their positions, a narrow majority on the IBT General Executive Board (GEB) voted 12-11 to give a pass to corrupt Teamster power broker Rome Aloise.
In a GEB vote today, Aloise was given a slap on the wrist for his serial corruption
violations of a 30-day suspension with no admission of guilt. This decision was opposed by nearly half of the GEB.
The GEB’s sham decision will surely be overturned by Judge Barbara Jones, the Independent Review Officer, who has the final say on the issue.
Given the mountains of evidence against him, we expect that Aloise will be expelled from the union or hit with a lengthy suspension.
Today’s vote by the General Executive Board was a test of whether the Teamster leadership can police ourselves and clean up our own house. The Hoffa majority failed.
IBT Vice President Sean O’Brien issued a detailed letter denouncing the decision.
Eleven leaders stepped up and stood with the members: Sean O’Brien, Avral Thompson, John Palmer, Bill Frisky, Bob Kopystynsky, Kimberly Schultz, Tony Jones, William Hamilton, Rick Middleton, Dan Kane Sr, and Greg Floyd.
Twelve GEB members sided with corruption: James Hoffa, Steve Vairma, Ron Herrera, Ken Hall, George Miranda, John F. Murphy, Fred Potter, Freddie Simpson, George Tedeschi, Stan Hennessy, Francois Laporte, and Craig McInnes.
“The Hoffa-Vairma majority on the General Executive Board put politics over principles. They are more concerned about protecting their cronies than representing the members,” said John Palmer, IBT Vice President for the Southern Region.
Aloise was removed from all Teamster offices for two year after he was found guilty, of taking expensive gifts from an employer he was bargaining with, pressuring two employers to hire his cousin; making a sham contract with his investment friend; and misusing Teamster resources to get a supporter elected to union office.
Aloise flaunted his punishment and continued to make decisions for multiple Teamster affiliates while he was suspended from office. He also unleashed a series of retaliatory attacks against Teamsters he perceived as rivals. This resulted in new charges against him.
A Teamster panel found Aloise guilty on multiple counts while ignoring some of the most serious evidence against him. The panel decision sugar-coated the case against Aloise to justify a light sentence.
Even this white-wash was too much for Aloise.
Aloise’s attorney Pat Syzmanski, who also works for both Hoffa and Vairma, maneuvered behind the scenes and brokered a settlement that eliminates the guilty verdicts issued by the Hoffa-appointed panel.
The Hoffa majority voted to approve this disgrace of a deal.
The final decision on Rome Aloise will be decided by Judge Barbara Jones. Aloise is expected to be suspended or barred for life.
Many GEB members stepped up and did the right thing today.
But the cover-up by the majority of the General Executive Board shows our union still has a way to go before our top leaders will police corruption and keep our own house clean.
Next year, Rome Aloise will be gone and Teamster members will have the chance to elect new leadership and a new direction for our union.
2021 can’t come fast enough.
Teamsters for a Democratic Union
http://www.tdu.org/