Teamsters for a Democratic Union. New York - New Jersey Chapter.

The New York metropolitan region has one of the largest concentrations of Teamster members and local unions in the U.S. Over 100,000 Teamsters work in a huge range of industries in New York and New Jersey. New York has played an important part in the history of the International union.

In 1970 in New York City, a committed band of activists in Local 282 organized a dissident group, FORE - Fear of Reprisal Ends. They issued a newsletter, bulletins, ran election campaigns in their local, issued challenges to their corrupt leadership through the National Labor Relations Board and through the courts. They organized by addressing issues related to contracts, grievances, pension fund loans, etc. While a tiny minority within their 4,500 member local, they kept up the pressure on their union officials, many of whom eventually went to jail.

In 1975, the Teamsters for a Democratic Contract (TDC) was formed to pressure IBT President Frank Fitzsimmons into supporting certain demands in upcoming negotiations. Following an attack on a TDC member attending the 1976 national Teamster convention, an enlarged TDC became the Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU). The Convoy Dispatch, TDC’s national newspaper, continued its existence as the paper for the TDU. The reform group developed its greatest strength in the core jurisdictions of the IBT - freight trucking; carhauling; grocery delivery and United Parcel Service (UPS). In 1987-1988, TDU was able to organize three straight contract rejections - the UPS contract, the National Master Freight Agreement (NMFA), and the Carhaul (national) contract. The 80s posed a difficult set of problems for the reform group. With the balance of power shifting to the employers side due to de-regulation and a severe economic recession, it became more difficult to pull off militant actions. Local organizing efforts concentrated on basic educational, contractual, grievance, by-law reform campaigns and electoral activities.

In 1991, Ron Carey, head of New York’s Local 804, endorsed by TDU a full two years before the election, was elected as general president of the union in December 1991, winning 16 of the 17 spots on the IBT international executive board. Seven of Carey’s 16-member slate were members of TDU.

In 1996, with Carey running for a second term, the head of New York’s Joint Council 16, Anthony Rumore, officially stayed on the sidelines. Rumore, as president of the 130,000-member Council, was the most powerful Teamster in the East. “The so-called wiseguys got better contracts for the people than all the new white horses,” he said. But the “white horses,” despite turning out more than 200 reputed mobsters, and shaking up the union structurally and programmatically, were themselves turned out of office by government charges. The epic and systematic problems associated with the NY-NJ Teamsters continue. The New York-New Jersey metropolitan area poses particular problems. For the most part, teamsters are working in marginal industries and/or companies that have long suffered under substandard Teamster contracts. Minorities form an increasingly large proportion of the membership. As David Pratt, staff organizer for the NY-NJ Chapter writes: “the fragmented, structural arrangement makes it extremely difficult for members to pool their resources and make changes in their locals. The battle for democracy is fought shop by shop and local by tiny local.”

Sources

“Rank-and-file Teamster Movements in Comparative Perspective,” by Aaron Brenner. Trade Union Politics: American Unions and Economic Change 1960s - 1990s . Edited by Glenn Perusek and Kent Worcester. New Jersey: Humanities Press, 1995.

“Where is the Teamster Rebellion Going?” by Staughton Lynd. Workers’ Struggles, Past and Present: A Radical America Reader . Edited by James Green. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1983.

Teamster Rank and File Legal Rights Handbook . Detroit: TDU 1979; 1984

TDU: 10 Years and Going Strong . Detroit; TDU, 1985.

Brenner, Aaron. "Rank-and-File Rebellion: 1966-1975. PhD Dissertation: Columbia University, 1996.

Crowe, Kenneth C. Collision: How the Rank and File Took Back the Teamsters. New York: Scribner’s, 1993.

Friedman, Samuel L. Teamster Rank and File: Power, Bureaucracy, and Rebellion at Work and in a Union . New York: Columbia University Press, 1982.

La Botz, Dan. Rank and File Rebellion: TDU . New York: Verso, 1990.

Jacobs, James B. Busting the Mob: U.S. v. Cosa Nostra . New York: New York University Press, 1994.

Zeller, Duke. Devil’s Pact: Inside the World of the Teamsters Union . Secaucus: Carol Publishing, 1996.

From the guide to the Teamsters for a Democratic Union, New York - New Jersey Chapter Records, 1961-1998, (Tamiment Library / Wagner Archives)