INDEX OF WINTER 2001 VOL 4. NO. 1 | FIGHT BACK! / ¡LUCHA Y RESISTE! HOME PAGE

Teamsters Struggle for Rank and File Power

By J Burger

Cleveland, OH - The Teamsters for a Democratic Union (T.D.U.) convention in early Nov. 2000 was a momentous occasion. Hundreds of Teamsters from trucking and warehouse, U.P.S. and car haul, flight attendants and factory workers, came together to forge a reform agenda for the upcoming year. We made plans, had workshops, and heard from the rank and file about the disasters taking place in our union.

2001 is a big year for Teamsters. First comes the campaign for delegates to the International Convention. The International Convention sets policy for the union. Then, in the fall, elections for international officers and some locals will take place.

The reform movement, now 25 years old, has come along way. Reformers with T.D.U. ran rank-and-file campaigns in local offices and, in 1991, Ron Carey was elected as general president of the Teamsters.

This was a turning point for the union. For years, our membership had declined under the mob influenced top officers. Members' rights had been eroded, and when people did speak up, they were quickly told to shut up.

The Teamsters took on the bosses throughout the 1990's to win better contracts, build a member-led movement and to reach out to other unions and to the community in solidarity.

The great U.P.S. strike proved that workers could take on the billionaire companies and win. It took a fighting attitude by the rank and file and bold leadership to win. The government quickly cracked down. Their pals in big business would have no part in conceding to militant unionism. Shortly after the U.P.S. strike, the government forced Carey from office and banned him from running.

Enter Jimmy Hoffa Jr. Junior couldn't run for president like he wanted to in 1991 because he wasn't a Teamster. By the end of the U.P.S. strike, he had worked with a Michigan local as an administrative assistant. In the 1998 re-run for international office, Junior won by a slim margin.

We have seen what old guard officials do to turn a militant union into a class collaborator. The Hoffa administration has been hailed in companies' literature, including a claim of a "love fest" with Hoffa, along with assurances that under the Hoffa administration, the union leadership will work to "increase productivity." Workers from Supervalu warehouses to U.P.S. loaders know that increased productivity means more injuries, along with more and faster work for less money.

Since taking office in 1999, Junior has shut down rank-and-file organizing drives and contract teams. He bullied members to accept weak contracts that members didn't want. He has thwarted the reform movement at every step. Hoffa talks tough and settles short.

The organizing of new members has dropped to levels not seen since the 1980's, when the mob ran the union. Junior restored the multiple salaries and pensions for officers in the I.B.T. Some now make over $300,000 a year with multiple pensions.

What is at stake in 2001 is the life of the Teamsters. We are sinking under the Hoffa administration and it is time to fight back. In defying Hoffa's predictions, Teamsters gathered at the annual T.D.U. convention to prove that Hoffa's prediction that the reform movement was dead couldn't be further from the truth.

Throughout the 500-plus local unions, we will be having delegate races for the convention next summer. Reform Teamsters have the chance to run and win in elections as delegates to the International Convention. T.D.U. will be in the thick of it. The core of members' rights could be swept away if Hoffa has his way at the convention. It is at the convention where we will nominate our reform candidate, Tom Leedham of the Rank and File Power Slate, for office in the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.

The working class in this country needs trade unions. Only 14% of private sector workers are in unions. In this age of huge corporate profits, we are seeing our livelihood slip away. At the bargaining table with the employers, we need a movement that will stand up to the greedy and win real gains for workers. We need a movement that aggressively organizes new workers. We need a labor movement that challenges discrimination and inequality. We need to build a united reform movement in our Teamsters union.

While Hoffa plays golf in Las Vegas with his fat cat officials, a powerful movement is brewing in the Teamsters union. It is moving around the campaign to elect the Tom Leedham Rank and File Power Slate. We have gathered the momentum we need to get Leedham and the reform slate elected. This year is the year we could move backwards under Hoffa and the sellouts, or move forward under Leedham and the reform movement.