Teamsters Expel Official in Calif.

A Teamsters official in California has been banned from the union for three years for masterminding an election-fraud scheme at his local.

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(Note: To return to this story, click the "Back" button on your browser.)Ed J. Mireles of Local 952 was found guilty July 29 by the union’s General Executive Board, and its recommendation was sent for review by the Internal Review Board, the organization’s government oversight body. He had been secretary-treasurer of the local based in Orange, Calif.

"The General Executive Board has adopted and I have accepted the panel’s findings that Mr. Mireles took actions in violation of the IBT (International Brotherhood of Teamsters) constitution and further lied to investigators in an attempt to protect himself from the charges," said Teamsters President James P. Hoffa.

The IRB must approve the board’s decision for it to go into effect.

According to the Teamsters, Mireles devised a plan to prevent potential rivals from running for union office by requiring them to miss one dues paying month in each 24-month cycle just before a local union election. Candidates are required by the IBT constitution to be members in good standing for a full 24 months before seeking office.

Mireles was brought to the IBT’s attention, said spokesman Bret Caldwell, when one a union member brought a complaint against him.

"The case was referred to us in the prior administration [of Ron Carey] and hearings began last fall," Caldwell said.

The Hoffa administration, eager to get the union out from under federal supervision, is on a "self-policing" campaign to eradicate corruption and mob influence in its ranks.