History of the Teamsters Union (Mei 2024)
Teamsters Union, bijgenaamd International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America, voorheen (tot 1940) International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Stablemen and Helpers of America (IBT), de grootste vakbond in de particuliere sector in de Verenigde Staten, die vrachtwagenchauffeurs en werknemers vertegenwoordigt in aanverwante industrieën (zoals de luchtvaart).
Quiz
Wereldorganisaties: feit of fictie?
De Wereldgezondheidsorganisatie is een gespecialiseerde tak van de Amerikaanse regering.
De vakbond werd opgericht in 1903 toen de Team Drivers International Union (1899) fuseerde met de Teamsters National Union (1902). Lokale bezorgers die door paarden getrokken voertuigen gebruikten, bleven het kernlidmaatschap tot de jaren dertig, toen ze werden vervangen door intercity-vrachtwagenchauffeurs. Van 1907 tot 1952 stond de vakbond onder leiding van Daniel J. Tobin, die het lidmaatschap verhoogde van 40.000 in 1907 tot meer dan 1.000.000 in 1950. In 1940 was het de grootste vakbond van het land geworden. Presidenten Dave Beck (1952–57) en James Hoffa (1957–71) vormden de Teamsters tot een sterk gecentraliseerde vakbond die in staat was te onderhandelen over landelijke overeenkomsten voor vrachtvervoer. Presidenten Ron Carey (1992–99) en James P. Hoffa (1999–), zoon van een voormalige president, richtten zich op werkzekerheid en gezinskwesties.
The union’s size, along with the threat of halting shipments of essential goods, gave the Teamsters great bargaining power. But the union’s magnitude also provided some officials with opportunities for violently pressuring small employers or profiting, in consort with organized crime, from the manipulation of union pension funds. In the wake of corruption disclosures implicating Teamster leadership, the American Federation of Labor–Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL–CIO) expelled the union in 1957—after almost 60 years of membership in the AFL.
Between 1957 and 1988, three of the Teamsters’ presidents—Beck, the elder Hoffa, and Roy L. Williams—were convicted of various crimes and sentenced to prison terms. After his release from prison, Hoffa disappeared in 1975; many believe he was killed by members of organized crime. The Teamsters Union was readmitted to the AFL–CIO in 1987. In 1988 the Justice Department filed a civil racketeering suit against the union, but the suit was settled out of court in 1989. In 1992, given their first chance to directly elect their national leaders, members chose as president Carey, the candidate supported by the reformist group Teamsters for a Democratic Union. While Teamster representation of truck drivers declined with the growth of nonunion trucking companies in the 1980s, the union gained many new members through its efforts to organize workers in clerical, service, and technology occupations.
In 1997 the Teamsters galvanized media attention and public support when their strike against United Parcel Service (UPS) stopped the delivery of thousands of packages worldwide. The strike centred on the extensive use of part-time employees by UPS. In the agreement negotiated with UPS, the Teamsters won 10,000 new full-time jobs over the course of the five-year contract. In later years the Teamsters became increasingly dissatisfied with the AFL-CIO, especially its inability to increase union membership. In 2005 the Teamsters disaffiliated from the AFL-CIO and, with several other unions, helped establish the Change to Win coalition.
