Will organized labor continue its reform movement to empower its rank and file, or will it return to yesteryear when labor bosses negotiated contracts in smoke-filled back rooms? That's what is at stake in next month's election for president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, says a Cornell University labor expert.

Teamsters' president Ronald Carey faces a re-election challenge in next month's election from James P. Hoffa, son of Jimmy Hoffa, former Teamsters' union president. "Clearly this election will either advance the current policies of grassroots organizing and democracy we see from the new leadership of the AFL-CIO, represented by John Sweeney's election in 1995, or return labor to the days when backdoor deal-making -- outside the purview of the rank and file -- was standard operating procedure," said Michael Belzer, senior research associate at Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations.

All of the 1.4 million members of the union, which represents truckers, warehouse workers, flight attendants and others, will receive ballots in the mail by Nov. 12. Counting of the ballots begins Dec. 10.

Belzer credits Carey and the Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU), a group of proactive rank and file members, with helping to rid the union of the corruption that saw three former presidents -- Dave Beck, Jimmy Hoffa, Roy Williams -- convicted on criminal charges related to misuses of union power.

In 1988, the U.S. Justice Department filed a civil racketeering suit seeking to oust the Teamsters' president and the executive board because of purported links to organized crime. The move ushered in a new era at the Teamsters union that gave the rank and file increased power and the right to elect its own president, which it did for the first time in 1991 when Carey was elected.

"Carey got rid of all the jets and the perks and took out every other lightbulb to save money; he capped salaries and gave the power to the rank and file," Belzer said. "Since then he's hired the best and the brightest organizers, staff and research people and has really brought the union to the forefront of organized labor."

Belzer said Carey sees these reforms as a way to increase union membership -- which has dropped from a high of 2 million in the mid-1970s to 1.4 million today -- and clean up the image of the Teamsters union.

Hoffa, according to Belzer, represents the old 'get along - go along crowd' who wants to return the union to its storied past when union contracts were hammered out by the labor bosses with little concern for the rank and file.

Belzer said Hoffa is supported by those in the union who are nostalgic for the power that has slipped away since deregulation transformed the trucking industry. "Jimmy Hoffa speaks to those members who are dissatisfied with the current leadership because of a variety of reasons," he said. "There is the perception among some that Ron Carey hasn't been successful in fighting for particular interests, or that he is ineffective, while Hoffa would be effective."

These perceptions, Belzer said, have been carefully nurtured by the Hoffa campaign. Another sore point for Carey, according to Belzer, is that he has eliminated a set of powerful institutions, known as Area Conferences, that were power bases of important leaders in the union.

Teamsters' union history is steeped with the Hoffa mystique. Hoffa's father was president of the Teamsters from 1957 to 1971. He was convicted of tampering with a jury over a bribery charge and jailed from 1968 to 1971. He disappeared in 1975 and is thought to have been murdered.

Hoffa supporters have criticized the Teamsters contracts negotiated under Carey as "sellouts," Belzer said. "Hoffa wants to negotiate pacts for more money, wants to get rid of arbitration and bring back the right to strike over grievances and wants to shift the use of union dues from its current emphasis on organizing and strategic research to strike benefits," he said. "It's a big political ploy, promising heftier contracts in return for cutting back on organizing, education and other issues. But you can't restore Teamster power with organizing.

"Jimmy Hoffa has made a heck of a bed for himself if he wins the presidency, because he will have to deliver on those militant contracts," Belzer said. "The resulting strife could be disastrous for business."

A Carey victory and the continuation of his reformist agenda combined with the new aggressive leadership recently installed at the AFL-CIO will usher in a new era for organized labor in the United States, Belzer believes.

"The entire world is watching the changes in labor unions here and realizing that labor has begun to seriously address issues that affect trade, employment, international business, wages and rebuilding the middle class."

Belzer joined the Cornell faculty in 1992 and has written extensively on the trucking industry and on trucking and industrial relations. He is the author of the forthcoming book Sweatshops on Wheels, a review of the impact of deregulation on the trucking industry.