XXI. IUE 1964 ELECTION / CAREY-JENNINGS ELECTION DISPUTE FILES, 1964-1966

Grouped alphabetically by subject name and designation.

The 1964 IUE presidential election, pitting incumbent James B. Carey against challenger Paul Jennings (District Three executive secretary), marked not only the nadir of internal IUE politics but signified the end of the "Carey Era" of domination over union affairs since the founding of the IUE in 1949. Through extensive documentation this series recapitulates the events surrounding one of the most divisive union elections held in labor history--one that brought the IUE to the brink of labor's equivalent of a civil war and garnered much adverse publicity for the union.

Though Carey was initially declared the victor (by a margin of 2,000 votes with 133,000 ballots received) by the IUE trustees in the union's first mail referendum election ever held, Jennings and his supporters had fiercely contested the election results, citing numerous examples of election fraud and misconduct by international officers and trustees. Chief among these were irregularities in the IUE voting lists (used as a basis for ballot distribution) and the withholding of ballots from locals within District Three--the base of Jennings' electoral support. Jennings' "election watchers" also observed the miscounting of the ballots by those IUE trustees supporting Carey. Citing evidence of ballot stealing, Jennings had initially attempted to obtain a court injunction to prevent the counting of the ballots until an impartial body could investigate the alleged election abuses and ensure a fair ballot recount. Rebuffed by lower courts and the Court of Appeals, Jennings and Irving Abramson (District Three General Counsel) initiated a lawsuit against Carey and the trustees. To complicate matters further, both parties entered into litigation over access to the ballots which were impounded until the Labor Department could adjudicate the election dispute.

In the interim, Jennings and his supporters filed numerous complaints to the Office of Labor-Management and Welfare Pension Reports, U.S. Department of Labor regarding election procedure irregularities. Carey, in turn, alleged that the Jennings campaign committee had solicited and obtained local union funds to finance his election bid--in violation of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act. Under advisement of the Secretary of Labor, William Wirtz, the LMWP Office undertook an investigation of election misconduct in March 1965.

The Labor Department's LMWP interim report, issued April 5, 1965, substantiated many of the IUE election abuses cited by Jennings--the most serious being the ballot miscount and false reporting of results by the trustees. More importantly, the Labor Department's impartial recount declared Jennings the actual winner by a margin of 20,000 votes. While both candidates had used union funds directly or indirectly in the campaign, the Labor Department remained inconclusive whether the use of such funds gave either side an advantage in the election. Though Carey was not directly implicated as an active agent in the election fraud, he resigned from office following a farewell statement before the IUE Executive Board on April 7, 1965.

Included in the series are the campaign committee files of both Carey and Jennings that contain correspondence, memoranda, election leaflets and circulars documenting the intensity and divisive nature of the 1964 IUE election. Various IUE staff members, officers, field representatives, and local union presidents corresponded with Carey and his closest associates--Les Finnegan, Ben Sigal, and Richard Bauer--providing detailed information on Jennings' supporters and their activities and statements during election campaign. Their collective files highlight the inordinate amount of staff time and resources devoted to the election and subsequent litigation stemming from Jennings' charges of election fraud.

Inclusive memoranda trace Carey's internal campaign to punish Jennings' supporters by reassigning or dismissing various District Three officers, staff members and field representatives. Also included are extensive files documenting the tabulation and breakdown of the mail referendum vote (local by local); material relating to the establishment of election procedures and distribution of ballots; sample ballots and instructions; protest letters from the rank and file demanding an election recount, or, withdrawal of the Jennings' lawsuit; and collated newspaper clippings, press releases, and articles on the candidates and the election.

The bulk of the series focuses on litigation and the various IUE and Labor Department committees that investigated and reported on charges of election misconduct. The correspondence and memoranda files of Benjamin C. Sigal and Irving Abramson, the respective counsels for Carey and Jennings, are indispensable for understanding the legal ramifications of the election dispute. Included among their files are such legal documents are petitions, briefs, motions, and affidavits relating to Jennings' lawsuit (Jennings vs. Carey and IUE et. al.) pursuant to an election recount. Affidavits, statements and testimony of election watchers (Walter Phillips, Joseph Iozzi, Joseph Egan and James Trentz), IUE trustees (Leo Smith, Joseph Kelly, Al Giordano) and local union presidents were also compiled by special IUE Executive Board investigatory committees established by Carey and Jennings to support their respective claims of victory. These documents formed part of the copious reports generated by the Committee to Investigate Election and Campaign Irregularities (Block Committee)--established while Carey held office--and the Committee to Investigate Ballot Miscount (Nellis Committee) that was formed after Jennings assumed the IUE presidency. Also included are the Secretary-Treasurer's and IUE Trustees' report on the IUE election and files pertaining to the Fitzmaurice Committee, established by Carey to investigate charges of misappropriation of District Three funds for the Jennings Campaign Committee.

Following the declaration of Jennings as the official victor in the election, the IUE Executive Board removed those trustees (Smith, Kelley, Giordano and Egan) responsible for miscounting the ballots. Furthermore, the IUE international office urged districts and locals to take appropriate "constitutional" action against officers (implicated by the Nellis Committee Report) who had allegedly participated in ballot stealing and election fraud. These steps included the removal from local and district office, and central and state labor bodies. The series includes correspondence and resolutions of support from local and district representatives to Jennings defending their officers against implied charges by the Nellis Committee and IUE Executive Board. Such correspondence illustrates the intense factionalism between the Carey and Jennings camps within various districts (District 1 & 3) that lingered after resolution of the election debacle.