Coordination by the Departments of Labor and Justice on the Investigations of the President and Other Officials of the International Teamsters Union

GAO discussed investigations by the Departments of Labor (DOL) and Justice into allegations of criminal violations by the president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen, and Helpers of America Union and other union officials to: (1) determine if there were investigative cases involving the Teamsters president or his associates that DOL or Justice had dropped; and (2) develop cost estimates for the investigations. GAO found that: (1) as part of the government's War Against Organized Crime Program, Justice established crime strike forces which utilized staff and resources from various federal law enforcement agencies; (2) DOL staff presented investigative results to the strike force for prosecution; (3) there was no evidence of Justice's lack of interest or desire to indict; (4) coordination between DOL and Justice in the early days of the strike force was very good but deteriorated during the later stages of the case involving Teamsters' payments to nonexistent workers; and (5) the DOL Inspector General felt that the case could have been resolved sooner with better interagency coordination. GAO also found that, as of May 1986, the estimated costs of the investigations amounted to $691,369 for DOL, $402,500 for Justice, and $14,795 for one of the federal district courts involved.