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A complicating element is the fact that the Teamsters are beleaguered by charges of maladministration of the funds. Though it is not known whether Teamster President Frank Fitzsimmons is tied to any of these allegations, he must negotiate in the knowledge that federal officials are pondering just how zealously to prosecute criminal charges of malfeasance. On the other hand, Fitzsimmons is on record as saying that he will not accept anything less than the contract (nearly 40% over three years) that the coal miners won last winter, a settlement that Administration officials, who have shown little facility for handling labor disputes, forced down mine owners' throats. Moreover, a large militant group within the Teamster leadership is ready to scream at any pact that they might view as a "sweetheart contract."
In these negotiations, and in others through next year (see box), a labor version of the domino theory will be in effect. If the oil workers agree to a moderate contract, the Teamsters may follow, and then other unions. But, says one Administration official, "if OCAW busts the guidelines, then we will lose the [Teamsters'] master freight agreement, and if we lose that we can forget about the whole guidelines program." At this stage, no one can tell which way the dominoes will fall.