Teamsters Election Officer Resigns

Barbara Zack Quindel, the court-appointed officer who threw out Teamsters President Ron Carey’s reelection victory, resigned, saying she wanted to spend more time with her family. Her departure had been expected. Quindel, who lives in Milwaukee, took the job in May 1995, anticipating her duties would be completed by December 1996. But the controversy over fund-raising irregularities by Carey’s campaign staff kept her on longer. Her decision came one day after United Parcel Service of America sent a letter to a federal judge criticizing Quindel for delaying her decision on the Teamster election until after the union settled its strike against the company. On Aug. 22, three days after the strike by 185,000 Teamsters against the package delivery giant ended, Quindel announced that a “complex network of schemes” to funnel union treasury funds and employer donations to Carey’s campaign warranted a rerun election against challenger James P. Hoffa. Quindel said she decided to overturn Carey’s December 1996 victory shortly after the strike began Aug. 4, but delayed action to avoid playing a role in the standoff.