323 ballots for a union election have disappeared from a secure mailbox at the Post Office this week. The secretary treasurer of the union was the only person with a key. Reformers are charging theft and demanding a new election.

The union, Local 743 of the Teamsters, mailed out ballots to 11,700 addresses on September 22nd. Union reformers in the 743 New Leadership Slate, including immigrant workers from the Silver Capital Company, are charging theft of the 323 ballots and demanding a new election.

Richard Berg, presidential candidate for the New Leadership Slate, accompanied election monitor J. Edward Kasen to the Post Office to retrieve returned (undelivered) ballots on Oct. 4. Kasen and Berg learned that Diane Strickland, secretary treasurer of Local 743 had obtained a key to the post office box. She signed a receipt for the key on Sep. 8th. Election monitor Kasen confirmed that this was not proper, that only he should have a key. Later, at the union’s hall, Berg learned that a second key had also been issued on Sep. 8th to Diane Strickland.

In addition, over 300 ballots have “disappeared” from the post office box. This number is the difference between the returns of literature mailed for the New Leadership Slate and those picked up by Mr. Kasen. The slate literature and the ballots were mailed on the same day, with the same list, by the same mail house. The mail house has confirmed these facts.

“It is clear that hundreds of ballots have been removed from the post office box,” said Berg. “The election has been seriously compromised. The incumbent slate has illegally obtained a key … and approximately 300 ballots have subsequently disappeared from the box.”

Three years ago, Berg lost the officers election by little more than 200 votes. The New Leadership Slate charged that election was stolen. Their evidence included the disappearance of hundreds of ballots and a key issued to Diane Strickland as well.

The New Leadership Slate and the Silver Capital Workers are calling for the election to be rerun under independent supervision; for Diane Strickland and anyone acting in concert with her to subvert the election to be banned from the election.

Marcela Garcia, a laid off Silver Capital worker and vice presidential candidate with the New Leadership Slate, said that the officers of the union are again denying rights to the workers from her former employer. “We have the right to vote – to vote for union officers and to vote on our contract. The denied us the right to vote on the contract they negotiated with our company. Now they are stealing this election. They think we can be treated this way because we are immigrants. We want our votes to count.”

Prominent labor attorney, Thomas Geoghegan, is counsel for the New Leadership Slate. He can be reached for comment at 312-372-2511.