Teamsters for a Democratic Union

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Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU) is a rank-and-file union democracy movement organizing to reform the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), or Teamsters. TDU was created out of the merger of the Professional Drivers Council (PROD) and TDU in 1979. TDU is a grassroots organization with chapters from coast to coast in the United States and Canada.

1 The Beginnings of TDU
2 TDU in the 1980s
3 TDU in the 1990s
4 External links

[edit] The Beginnings of TDU

In 1975, the Teamsters were in trouble. Union officials had allowed organized crime to infiltrate the highest levels of the Union. The mob was raiding members’ pension funds to build casinos in Las Vegas, Nevada. Teamster officials were taking payoffs from employers and selling out the members. “There is no jurisdiction of safety within our ranks,” a Los Angeles Teamster said at the time, “and anyone who speaks with conviction shall be haunted by a specter of fear.”

It was in these difficult circumstances that a small group of freight Teamsters met in Chicago, Illinois, in late 1975 to talk about the national freight contract being negotiated the following year. They drew up a list of contract demands and made plans to print and distribute a brochure to freight workers and organize meetings around the country. The group called itself Teamsters for a Decent Contract (TDC).

TDC distributed thousands of flyers to freight Teamsters, organized meetings in dozens of cities, and held a demonstration in front of IBT headquarters in Washington, D.C. They demanded that Teamster President Frank Fitzsimmons hold the line for a strong contract. The small group grew in numbers as freight workers responded to their message.

The New York Times wrote that TDC was “creating tremendous pressure on Mr. Fitzsimmons to bring home a contract that he can sell to the membership.” Under this pressure, Fitzsimmons called the first national strike in the Teamsters’ history. TDC pushed hard for an unlimited cost of living allowance clause and it was won.

At about the same time that TDC began, United Parcel Service (UPS) workers concerned about the attack on their working conditions started their own organization, UPSurge. On June 5, 1976, 35 TDC and UPSurge members from various cities met in Cleveland, Ohio, to form a new group that would unite freight and UPS Teamsters. They called themselves Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU). TDU’s goal would be to build a rank-and-file movement to reform the union and fight for strong contracts.

TDU took its message to the 1976 Teamster Convention in Las Vegas. TDU’s only Delegate, Pete Camarata, proposed convention resolutions calling for direct election of officers, a limit on officers’ salaries and the right to a separate vote on contract supplements. The proposals were ignored. Later, Camarata was beaten by thugs outside the convention.

Teamster President Fitzsimmons told the convention that reformers could “go to hell.” TDU leader Doug Allan responded that they would “go to hell and back to reform the union.”

On September 18, 1976, nearly two hundred Teamsters met at Kent State University in Ohio for TDU’s founding convention. In some Locals, members took up collections to be able to send a representative. “It was exciting, it was new, it was dynamic,” said Pennsylvania Roadway Services dockworker Keith Gallagher of that first convention. “People were actually trying to say something that I had felt for several years, that the Union belonged to the members, not to the officials.”

Members voted to form a national organization with local chapters. The group drafted a constitution stating that, “The object of this organization is to build a national, unified movement of rank-and-file Teamsters that is organized to fight for rank-and-file rights on the job and in the union.” They also decided to reach out beyond TDU’s base with truck drivers and dock workers, and include Teamsters from all industries.

The new organization drew up a ten-point “Rank-and-File Bill of Rights” to be their program. Some of the items in the TDU Bill of Rights included: - Direct election of officers - Majority rule on contract votes - Fair grievance procedure with innocent until proven guilty provisions - No multiple salaries for union officials - An end to race and sex discrimination - 25-and-out pensions

In the coming years, TDU would win many of these goals and make substantial progress on others.

TDU members returned from the convention to organize on the shop floor and at the Union hall. Some introduced motions to democratize their Local Union bylaws. Some ran for Local Union office.

TDU organized members at UPS, freight, steelhaul and carhaul to push for stronger contracts during negotiations in 1979. That year, some carhaulers and steelhaulers went out on wildcat strikes demanding contract improvements. After a four week strike, steelhaulers won higher pay, sick days and a fuel allowance. In carhaul, the union imposed a poor agreement even though the majority of members voted it down.

In addition to TDU another reform group existed, the Professional Drivers’ Council (PROD). PROD initially focused on truck driver health and safety, and later took on issues of corruption and union democracy. While TDU generally had more experience with contracts and union elections, PROD had more experience in litigation and lobbying. Both groups had a base among Teamster members throughout the country.

In late 1979, PROD and TDU members approved a merger of the two groups. At the convention where the TDU-PROD merger was ratified, Oakland carhauler Bill Slater told members, “Our time will come, and when it does, we must be prepared.”

[edit] TDU in the 1980s

The 1980s were a difficult time for Union members. They were years of economic recession, freight industry deregulation, and concessionary bargaining.

The 1980s were devastating to the trucking industry and freight Teamsters. Legislation to deregulate the industry was proposed in 1980. The IBT hired paid lobbyists to work against the bill, but did little else. TDU members proposed Local Union resolutions calling for national demonstrations against deregulation, and even possible work stoppages. “You just can’t ignore a large convoy of trucks and a crowd of rank-and-file Teamsters so easily,” said TDU activist Herman Myers, Sr. The IBT’s back room lobbying didn’t work. Deregulation passed.

Deregulation led to cutthroat competition and the growth of new non-union carriers. By 1982, 183 unionized carriers had gone out of business and 30 percent of freight Teamsters were unemployed. The remaining unionized carriers responded by demanding big concessions in areas like wages, productivity, and the flexible workweek.

The IBT supported the employers’ demands. In July 1983, Teamster President Jackie Presser proposed a special freight “relief rider” that would cut wages by up to 35 percent and establish two-tier wages. TDU launched a national campaign to defeat the relief rider and save the National Master Freight Agreement. It worked. The membership rejected the concessionary rider by a vote of 94,086 to 13,082. Business Week called it “A real slap in the face for Jackie Presser.”

The IBT feared a similar embarrassment on the 1985 UPS contract. A new agreement was secretly negotiated months before the contract expired. Ballots were secretly printed up and mailed to members along with slick promotional material calling it the “Best Contract Ever.” Members had not even known negotiations were underway!

TDU sued the IBT over this quickie vote. The court voided the vote and ruled that members had to be given a meaningful opportunity to debate contract proposals before they were voted on. It was the last quickie vote the IBT would pull.

Soon after, TDU beat the hated “two-thirds rule.” In 1987 and 1988, a majority of UPS and freight Teamsters rejected their contracts. But since a two-thirds super-majority was required to reject an agreement, the union declared the contracts approved. TDU and New York Local 804 President Ron Carey challenged the two-thirds rule in court. Under pressure, the IBT General Executive Board eliminated the two-thirds rule. The rank-and-file had won majority rule on contract votes.

Throughout the 1980s, TDU worked to protect working Teamsters’ pension and heath and welfare benefits. TDUers settled a class-action lawsuit against the Central States Pension Fund when the trustees agreed to pay back nearly $3 million dollars that was lost in a corrupt deal. Another TDU-backed lawsuit forced Central States to rescind a policy of terminating health and welfare benefits for members whose employers were delinquent in making contributions.

In 1983, 150 long-time Kroger workers in Detroit, Michigan, who had been cheated out of their pensions won the benefits they were owed with the help of TDU and attorney Ann Curry Thompson. Their local union had told them nothing could be done. “The TDU is who helped us,” said 26-year Kroger Teamster Mary Runski. “They were always there.”

Towards the end of the decade, TDU launched a nationwide campaign for pension improvements in the major Teamster funds, including 30-and-out at any age with $3,000.

At the 1981 IBT Convention, TDU delegate Diana Kilmury stood before the hostile audience and proposed the creation of an Ethical Practices Committee within the union. “What are you afraid of?” she asked. The corrupt IBT leadership had a lot to be afraid of.

Much of the corruption involved the Central States Pension Fund. In 1982, Teamster President Roy Williams, Central States Pension Fund administrator Allen Dorfman, and pension fund trustees were convicted of attempting to bribe a U.S. senator. Dorfman had used the pension fund as a piggy bank for the mob. He had split kickbacks with Jimmy Hoffa, Sr. and been a business partner of James Hoffa, Jr.

In 1983, Williams was charged with extortion and links to organized crime. Williams and Dorfman were plotting with the mob to take back control of the Central States Pension Fund. Williams later admitted in court that the Teamster leadership was controlled by organized crime.

The next Teamster President, Jackie Presser, was no better. At the time of the 1986 IBT Convention, he was under a multi-count indictment including charges of racketeering and embezzlement.

As the extent of the corruption became clearer, pressure grew for government intervention. In 1988, the United States Department of Justice prosecuted the union under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). The suit stated that “the IBT has made a devil’s pact with La Cosa Nostra.” They proposed a federal trusteeship of the whole union.

TDU strongly opposed a government takeover. TDU’s position was that the best anti-corruption program would be to give members the right to vote.

In 1985, TDU launched a national right to vote petition to put pressure on the Teamster leadership to hold elections for national officers. Volunteers gathered signatures at worksites across the country. The petition, with tens of thousands of signatures, was presented to the 1986 Teamster convention. At the convention, TDU delegates supported a resolution for direct election of IBT officials, which was voted down.

When the RICO suit was announced, TDU National Organizer Ken Paff wrote the United States Attorney General saying “there is only one ‘reorganization’ under RICO that the government can effectively take: namely, to direct the IBT to hold rank-and-file elections”.

On March 13, 1989, the Justice Department reached an agreement with the IBT to settle the RICO suit. It established a court supervised Independent Review Board to clean out corruption. Most important, it provided for the direct election of Teamster officers. TDU’s position against government trusteeship and for the right to vote had prevailed. The Wall Street Journal reported that “the terms of the settlement were greatly influenced by the concerns and platform of Teamsters for a Democratic Union.”

[edit] TDU in the 1990s

The 1990s saw new successes for the Teamster reform movement such as electing a new leadership, financial reforms, and the UPS strike victory.

At the November 1989 TDU Convention, members debated and voted to endorse Local 804 President Ron Carey, who was putting a slate together and planning to run for Teamster President. Carey was not a TDU member, but a militant and independent local leader who was not afraid to challenge employers or corrupt officials. Carey put together a coalition that included rank-and-file activists, TDU leaders, and local officers who opposed corruption.

Two other slates were running, headed by IBT Vice Presidents R. V. Durham and Walter Shea. Some 95 percent of Teamster officials lined up behind either Durham or Shea. But Carey had a powerful weapon the other candidates did not—a committed network of TDU activists and an energized rank and file.

When the ballots were counted on December 13, 1991, the Carey slate had won a huge upset victory. The Carey slate won 48 percent, the Durham slate 33 percent, and the Shea slate 18. All 16 members of the Carey slate were elected.

The new IBT leadership immediately began implementing reforms that old guard officials had opposed for decades.

[edit] Financial reforms

Carey sold the IBT’s luxury jets and stretch limousine. He cut his salary by $75,000 and many members of his executive board cut their own salaries or turned down multiple salaries. In 1994, the four wasteful Area Conferences were eliminated, saving $11 million a year and eliminating 62 multiple salaries.

The Affiliates Plan, an extra pension for Teamster officials, was frozen, saving $16 million a year.

These financial reforms freed up money for organizing and other membership programs.

[edit] New Organizing

When Carey took office, the union’s membership had dropped by 500,000 members in the previous 15 years. The IBT created a real organizing department and a volunteer organizer program. By 1995, the union was growing again. At Overnite Express, the IBT launched the first organizing drive against a national freight carrier since deregulation and successfully organized some 20 terminals. That organizing drive was later defeated when the Hoffa administration launched an unsuccessful strike at Overnite in 1999.

[edit] Taking on employers

The Union also slowed the employers’ drive for concessions. The IBT began to involve members in contract campaigns. In the 1992 and 1995 carhaul contracts, the Teamsters stopped companies from shifting more work to nonunion subsidiaries. The union also won “innocent until proven guilty” provisions in national contracts—a right that the Hoffa administration later negotiated out of the freight agreement in most areas.

The 1997 UPS strike proved what reform leadership and a mobilized rank and file could achieve. A year before the contract expired, the Union began to mobilize members for negotiations. Solidarity was built through surveys, rallies and workplace actions. Members were temporarily pulled off the job to serve as campaign coordinators.

When UPS refused to create more full-time jobs and tried to raid Teamster pension funds, 185,000 UPS Teamsters went on strike in the largest work stoppage in decades. The Union’s message that “a part-time America won’t work” won overwhelming popular support.

After two weeks, UPS gave in. The Union had won a contract with 10,000 new full-time jobs, a ban on subcontracting, and pay and benefit increases. The press called it labor’s greatest victory of the decade. Labor historian Nelson Lichtenstein told the New York Times, “It ends the PATCO syndrome. A 16-year period in which a strike was synonymous with defeat and demoralization is over.”

Not everyone was happy with the IBT’s new direction. Many powerful Teamster officials had lost multiple salaries, been removed from office for corruption, or saw their cozy relationship with employers threatened. This old guard within the Union fought Carey and did everything they could to undercut Union programs. In 1994, most of them ordered their members to scab on the one-day safety strike at UPS.

In the 1996 IBT election, the old guard united around Jimmy Hoffa, Jr. Hoffa made big promises to “Restore the Power” and improve pension benefits. His slate’s name was “No Dues Increase—No Corruption—25 and Out.” He received many illegal campaign contributions from employers; he was later forced to return over $200,000 in illegal contributions.

TDU launched a rank-and-file mobilization to counter this threat. Members around the country visited worksites and encouraged members to reelect the Carey slate.