Craig Backs Plan To Make Union Pay For Election Senator Attacking Labor, Teamsters Say

Idaho Republican Larry Craig has helped move a plan through the Senate requiring the Teamsters to repay the government for the cost of another union election.

The Teamsters union says Craig is retaliating against the union because of its support for Democratic congressional candidates.

“I think it is Sen. Craig’s way of lashing back at organized labor, which did not support him in the past,” said Larry Kenck, business representative for Teamsters Local 568 in Spokane.

Craig’s camp said he proposed an amendment attaching Oklahoma Republican Sen. Don Nickles’ bill on the union election to the Education, Health and Human Services and Labor appropriation.

“He was doing this primarily because of his leadership position,” Craig spokesman Mike Frandsen said Monday. “He didn’t do it to sock it to the unions or anything like that.”

The Senate voted 58-42 Thursday to approve Nickles’ proposal with the backing of Idaho Republican Sen. Dirk Kempthorne.

Under the plan, President Clinton could transfer money from the departments of Justice and Labor to rerun the 1996 Teamsters election after certifying the union does not have enough funds itself.

The Teamsters would have to agree to repay the Treasury before any funds are transferred. The repayment plan must be reasonable and permit the Teamsters to continue to operate.

Frandsen said the previous election cost the federal government $21 million and the Teamsters $4 million.

“In Sen. Craig’s mind, it isn’t fair for the taxpayers to pay for a second election made necessary by what a few bad actors did when the first election was carried out,” he said.

Last month, a court-appointed overseer refused to certify last December’s balloting, which showed Teamsters President Ron Carey winning re-election over challenger James P. Hoffa.

The overseer also called for a new election.

Kempthorne has never supported taxpayer financing of political campaigns.