A federal judge ruled Tuesday that James P. Hoffa, president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, had improperly put a trustee in charge of running a local union last year after ousting its leadership team.
U.S. District Judge Joan Lefkow sided with Local 786 in its David-versus-Goliath court fight against the international union and Terrence “Terry” Hancock, a powerful local union official and friend of Hoffa’s.
In her 25-page order, Lefkow found that Hancock “was not credible” in some of his testimony and that Local 786 had “a better than negligible likelihood of success on the merits of its claim that the trusteeship is not being maintained in good faith.”
The ruling means that the trusteeship is dissolved and there will be a transition back to elected local leadership.
Rick Blevins, a member of Local 786’s leadership team Hoffa shoved aside, said he was pleased with the outcome.
“We fought hard for our membership,” Blevins said. “I am very happy that they are finally getting the leaders back they had elected in the first place and that they deserve.”
Patrick Deady, a lawyer for Hancock and the Joint Council, said he plans to appeal Lefkow’s order and to have it put on hold. “We don’t agree with the judge on the law in this case,” Deady said.
Kara Deniz, a spokeswoman for the international union, declined to comment.
The fight among union brothers and sisters stems from summer 2019 when Hoffa ousted Blevins and other members of Local 786’s leadership team and put a trustee in charge. In a letter at the time, Hoffa wrote that the local’s leadership failed to act in workers’ best interests.
Local 786’s leadership argued that the real story involved a grab for pension money and union power orchestrated by Hoffa and Hancock. Hoffa’s move, they have said, was retaliation for the chapter’s refusal to merge with Hancock’s larger Local 731.
Local 786 argued that its pension is fully funded and Hancock saw that as a benefit for his members — an allegation Local 731 has disputed. Both locals represent workers in the construction industry, with Local 786 representing about 1,600 concrete and dump truck drivers, and Local 731 about 5,600 excavating workers and iron workers, among others.
Last year, Local 786 sued the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Hancock and Teamsters Joint Council 25 over the trusteeship. Lefkow dropped the Joint Council from the case.
Hancock is president of the Joint Council, an umbrella organization for 25 Teamster locals in northwest Indiana and Chicago that represent more than 100,000 workers.
In her ruling, Lefkow found that Hancock “was not credible” when he stated that Hoffa and one of Hoffa’s assistants had not spoken with him about the proposed merger, and Hancock “was not credible” when he stated that Michael Yauger, then Local 786’s president, asked for a $200,000 yearly salary to be Hancock’s assistant if the merger went through.
“Overall, the court is not persuaded that Hancock was fully truthful in his testimony,” Lefkow wrote.
The judge noted that Yauger filed an affidavit stating that for a long time Hancock wanted to bring Local 786 under his control through a merger. According to the order, Yauger said it was Hancock who “made an offer to pay [him] $200,00 a year for three years if [he] would make the merger happen.”
According to Lefkow’s order, Yauger responded that only Local 786’s executive board has the power to agree to a merger.
Lefkow wrote that Yauger and Hancock had “long-standing disagreements” and it was unlikely that Yauger would agree to a merger, particularly since Local 786’s membership was strongly opposed.
“Hancock, on the other hand, had financial and competitive reasons to seek a merger,” Lefkow wrote. “Once he became president of Joint Council 25 in July 2017, he was in a position to push for a merger.”
Lefkow wrote that Hancock had “strong and long-standing relationships” with Hoffa and Ed Keyser, the independent disciplinary officer for Hoffa.
“Local 786 was in a better financial situation and more competitive in attracting members and employers than Local 731,” the judge wrote. “Under the (Teamsters’) constitution a local has the authority to reject a merger, which meant that Hancock had little recourse to accomplish the merger legitimately.”
For years, John Coli Sr. was president of the Joint Council, and Hancock was his vice president. Coli left the Joint Council in July 2017 around the time he was indicted on federal corruption charges. Coli has pleaded guilty to shaking down Cinespace Chicago Film Studios in exchange for not having his Teamsters strike at a studio where shows like “Empire” and “Chicago Fire” are filmed.
Coli is now cooperating with federal authorities and his help led to charges against Illinois state Sen. Thomas Cullerton, alleging the lawmaker was paid almost $275,000 in salary and benefits from the Teamsters union despite doing little or no work.
