The Mystery of Trying to Sink Teamsters leader Al Mixon

         With Al Mixon’s long Teamsters career obviously sliding into a sink-hole, the Hoffa-Hall 2016 slate metaphorically stepped on his  head to push him down deeper, faster by filing a complaint accusing him of failing to file timely fundraising reports on his campaign for Teamsters international president.

          The mystery is why?

          Last summer, Mixon seemed destined to be reelected as International Vice President on the Hoffa slate. Then a surprising something happened: on Aug. 10, 2015, he declared himself a candidate for the presidency running against incumbent James P. Hoffa.

          The Teamsters’ Election Officer issued a decision on April 1, 2016, affirming that Mixon had not met the required deadline for the   filings. The decision also slightly lifted the veil on his demise as a union official noting that he had been found guilty of internal union charges although no details were provided explaining who brought the charges or what they involved.

          The guilty verdict resulted in Mixon’s suspension from the Teamsters for six months and stripped him of his many union positions ranging from secretary-treasurer of Cleveland Local 507 to International Vice President.

          The Teamsters General Executive Board has rejected Mixon’s appeal of the case against him. He has decided to carry that appeal a step further: to the international convention’s delegates at Las Vegas’ Flamingo Hotel in June.

          The prospect of a reversal by the delegates is slim indeed.

          Mixon faces a maximum fine of $2,500 for failing to file the required reports. As far as I know that penalty has yet to be imposed.

          I am still puzzled by why the Hoffa slate bothered to press the filings case against Mixon whose presidential campaign appears to have gone not much further than his announcement as a candidate.

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           Addenda: On April 14, 2016, Al Mixon withdrew as a candidate for IBT general president.

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THE TEAMSTERS’ AUGUST SURPRISE: AL MIXON

Al Mixon, chairman of the Teamsters National Black Caucus, has jumped into the 2016 race for the presidency of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.

The candidacy of Mixon, who is secretary-treasurer of Cleveland Local 507, transforms the election into a three-way contest. His opponents: incumbent Teamsters general president James P. Hoffa and Tim Sylvester, president of New York Teamsters Local 804, home of the late Teamsters General President Ron Carey.

The revelation that Mixon has launched a petition drive to be accredited as a presidential candidate came not from an announcement by Mixon, but from the Teamsters United Facebook page. Teamsters United and Teamsters for a Democratic Union are backing Sylvester.

Mixon currently is an international vice president, elected in 2011 on the Hoffa slate. I have no idea why Mixon has split with Hoffa. Sylvester said on his website: “Long-time allies, Mixon and Hoffa broke with each other this Spring.” Not a very informative comment.

The next few days will reveal whether Sylvester's petition drive to be certified as a presidential candidate has been successful. A minimum of 30,794 signatures are needed to be certified. Sylvester supporters are aiming for 50,000.

At this point, Al Mixon is only a name in the game with no indication of whether he will launch a full-fledged slate or will run alone. I don’t know how potent the Teamsters National  Black Caucus is and whether or not it gives Mixon a significant political base for the 2016 election.

The first test of his candidacy will be his petition drive for accreditation.

Accreditation gives a candidate the opportunity to print campaign ads in the Teamster magazine and  a list of the entire Teamster membership for mailings and other forms of access.

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