Teamsters union's prestige National Master Freight Agreement has thrown the spotlight on the spectacular decline of union strength in the trucking industry: the number of workers covered by the Agreement is down to little more than one third of the previous total. A major factor in this has been Reagan's 1980 deregulation of the industry: the Teamsters leader had supported Reagan's candidacy.
In such conditions, militants are prone to look back with possibly slightly idealistic views to past periods of union struggle. Teamsters leaders -not least the charismatic Jimmy Hoffa, who after a prolonged period in jail mysteriously "disappeared" in 1975 - have acquired above all a reputation tor utter corruption and gangland connections. It is easy to forget therefore that the union has a complex history, in which a vanguard role was played by Trotskyists in the 1930s, and that Hoffa was hated by the US bourgeoisie (not least the Kennedy clan) as much for his organising strength as for his criminal associates. Even now, courageous militants - some of them socialists . are continuing the fight against the Teamster bureaucracy, aiming to restore the union as a weapon for class struggle against the employers.
The following article, reprinted from the March-April issue of Convoy Dispatch, paper of the rank and file Teamsters for a Democratic Union, gives a flavour of the history of the union and the attempts to reappraise the role of Hotfa, particularly in the light of the performance of his successors - who collaborated with successive US governments to keep Hoffa in jail.
Union "We understand that the only solution to the problems of the trucking industry lies in the establishment of uniform labour conditions for the entire trade area. We are further aware that if we permit ourselves to be sidetracked into a maze of sub-regional and individual negotiations that the only outcome will be to perpetuate the present chaotic conditions. ment (NMFA) they. study these words of Farrell Dobbs* leader of the pioneering unionisation strikes which in 1934 turned union town. He became a full-time General Organiser for the Teamsters, spearheading the fight for unionisation across a wide area of the USA. He resigned the post at the end of 1939 to take Secretary of the American Socialist Workers Party, to which he remained loyal for the rest of his life. though sadly prevailing Castroite politics of the leadership in the period prior to his death in 1983.
years ago Dobbs, industry. dustry employers tions) weren't advantage Jimmy Hoffa later As Teamsters will soon be voting on a new National Master Freight Agree- will do well to tounder of the Central States Drivers Council and architect of area-wide the CSDC. *The late Farrell Dobbs, a Trotskyist, was a Minneapolis into road Bold National up a position as adapting to the Party's
bargaining in the trucking industry They ring as true to jay as they did 50 and later limmy hotta, developed a successful strategy organising — bargaining to establish uniform wages, heirs and working condition. nationwi ie. The signing oi the NMFA in 1964 was the crowning achievement of Hotta's career and of a 25 year struggle to bring unity and strength to Teamsters in the trucking
Truckir y has always been an in-
Tot cutthroat competition. When one local would organise, the
(especially road operawould move to areas which organise 1. Centralised bargaining and aggressive organising was the only answer. And some larger employers also came to see the
Cof unitorm contracts, which gave a competitive edge to the larger companies.
Drivers Coui.. il Formed
When the Central States Drivers Council (SCDC) was formed in 1937 it covered thirteen locals in six states. At first International President Dan Tobin didn't even want to organise in trucking. But withir; a year the coun cil grew io 46 locals in eleven states. The employers retused to bargain with the CSDC, and to force them to bargain, Chicago was picked as the strike target, which would bring in the midwest emplyers. The strike won a raise, union shops, breakdown pay and benefits.
In 1939 the stage ras set for further regional organisin !. Dave Beck on the west : 'vast began to use the same strategy :l regionai bargaining, and
tounded the Western Conference +* Teamsters.
Meanwit ile, Dobbs appointed Hotta as head of the midwest organising drive. B: 1940 Hotta became chairman of egotiations for the CSDC and in 1941 becan: vice president oi
In 1942 Hoffa got a statewide contraci in Michigan. To confront larger carriers who shitted
operations wuth, he moved organisit, south.
urganisin‹, tactics attracted thousan i: of meml ers, and in just a few yea:: followi. ; the 1934 Min neapolis strike, thi union grew from some 60.000 to i major industrial union ten times thai large.
In the i950s Hotta got a common expiration date for the midwest and
Heavy fighting with police in the Minneapolis Teamster strike of May 1934. south, and equalised wages by 1958.
door was open for the NMFA. Although Chicago, New York and the San Francisco Bay area retained separate agreements, the first NMFA was signed in 1964 and covered 400,000 Teamsters. already brewing. Frank Fitzsimmons was now in charge of bargaining, with Hoffa in prison. The growth of became a problem. deserved a significant raise. On April 1, Fitzsimmons announced an agreement for $1.10. Since no ratification had taken place, thousands walked out. Some went back on Fitz's orders wildcat lasted weeks. In Ohio the National Guard was called strike lasted into May in St. Louis, Los Angeles and elsewhere. In Chicago (which still has separate bargaining today) a sanctioned strike was called, and in July Chicago settled for $1.60 Fitz and the employers had agreed to renegotiate if Chicago got a better
After the wildcats Chicago strike, the end result was $1.85, some 75c better than Fitz's
The 1973 contract saw a mere 95c raise, the tight cap on COL* rules eroding, worst of all -more side deals and a shrinking con-
was practically
By 1976, rank and file oppostiion bounced back, and in a new organised form. The Teamsters for a Decent Contract (TDC)
*COL. - the cost-of-living clauses built into many US union contracts as a means of per-
workers to accept legally-binding 3-year deals. A "cap on COL" limit on the increases payable to keep pace with inflation during the lifetime of the
*Stronger language: more explicit written agreement on pay and conditions.
*TDU: the present-day rank and file movement Teamsters for Democratic Union. PROD was an earlier rank and file grouping.
Chicago and launched a national etition campaign. IDC spread tas and encouraged people to push tor stronger language* and no cap on COL. Next year TDC would become DU, and three years later it woulc nerge with PROD.
In response, Fitz called the first national strike ever, for two days, to try to let the members blow off steam. In Detroit, TDC wildcatted, but went back the next week when no other areas joined in. The unlimited COL was a major victory, but the larger problems of organising and strategy
The 1979 agreement was more of the same.
In 1980 the Motor Carrier Act
deregulation became a fact. This opened the door for new operators to enter the common carrier field. More small cartage
began nationwide. The top union leadership, who by had forgotten the the murdered and the original idea of the NMFA, escalated their policy of riders, deals, concessions... and no organising in
Deregulation hurt Teamsters badly, and the tight against it continues. But it should be obvious from the above history that the NMFA had and ughout the 1970s, with only ralik and file action and pressure helping to get some improvements. And the nowhere to be seen. It seemed that deregulation gave some IBT officials a handy excuse for a do-nothing
The 1982 agreement followed this policy, and gave away the COL we had won earlier, and more work rules that protected jobs were lost. In the letter to 200,000 Teamsters to sell the
agreement, Roy Williams promisec that new improvements in Article 32 would curb subcontracting and double breasting. It was not to be. In tact, the National Grievance Committee, chaired by Jackie Presser, in 1984 allowed Consolidated Freightways to
divert thousands of loads to non-union leasors. Most of the big carriers have moved into non-union operations with a green light from our union headquarters in Washington.
The vision of Farrell Dobbs, James Hoffa, and many other Teamster leaders of a national pattern contract and the power of a united membership is being lost. The NMFA was the backbone of Teamster growth, as the union grew into many other trucking, warehousing, and industrial sectors.
"Too Busy on the Golf Course"
Hoffa knew the NMFA was not the end of the line. In one of his last interviews before disappearing in 1975, he explained the need to expand the NMFA and develop new master conareas. He was asked what the priority should be: "I'd reinstate some additional oranisers for the purpose of having master contracts.
unions can master contracts..." Hoffa went on to
"There are no master contracts, other than the ones I lett them. Joint Councils have deteriorated... even the members feel uncomfortable... the leaders the golf course, flyin around in seven jet planes they own."
These words are more true today than when they were spoken in 1975 It was the rank and file who formed TDU in 1976 and fought for and won the COL. It was the rank and file who had the good sense and guts to vote no by 94,000 to 13,000 a year and a half ago, after Presser relief rider with its two-tier wages. Without the rank and file fighting back, we would be far worse off
The NMFA is not outdated, it's in need of repair. We need to return to strengthening the whole union, of the strong sections helping bring up the
Knot the other way around. More than a contract is on the line, so is the history and the future of our
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