Read more at LaborPains.org| Basic Facts | |
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| Total Assets: | $ 178,133,890 |
| Members: | 1,396,174 |
| Employees: | 667 |
| Employees earning over $75,000: | 149 |
| Total Political Funds: | $ 3,336,181 |
| ULPs Filed Since 2000: | 6,413 |
| Decertification Petitions Filed: | 1243 |
National Headquarters
25 LOUISIANA AVENUE NW
WASHINGTON, DC 20001
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) represents more than 1.3 million members. It is perhaps best known for its historical relationship with the mafia and for the mysterious 1975 disappearance of its notorious president, Jimmy Hoffa, whose son is the current union's president. In 1989 the Justice Department brought a racketeering case against the union, saying that it was a "wholly owned subsidiary of organized crime." Since 1992, the Teamsters have been overseen by an Independent Review Board (IRB) that is charged with making sure the union stays clean. It is not entirely clear that this IRB has succeeded.
- Four of the last eight Teamsters presidents have been indicted according to the FBI. According to a 1999 Congressional report, in 1957, president David Beck was convicted of embezzlement. In 1964, president James R. Hoffa was convicted of jury tampering. In 1982 president Roy Williams was convicted for defrauding the union's pension fund. Williams testified: "I was controlled by [mobster] Nick Civella." In 1986, president Jackie Presser was indicted for embezzling union funds and giving "no-show" jobs to organized crime figures. He died before going to trial.
- A 1999 Congressional report noted that the Teamsters' "[Ron] Carey Administration moved to quiet dissent and shut the door on independent oversight. Specifically, the IBT used an internal body designed to weed out corruption as a means of targeting political opponents." The report accused the Teamsters, under Carey's leadership, of "misuse of union assets, misrepresentation of the IBT's financial affairs, questionable transactions, and illegal activities during the 1996 IBT election, all at the expense of the rank-and-file."
- A 2002 article in the generally pro-union New Republic magazine noted that the IBT is "still plagued by corruption; ex-felons and people with reputed mob associations lurk around the edges of key Teamster locals seeking influence over the union ... Indeed, corruption within the Teamsters may actually have increased in recent years, as Hoffa has resurrected a group of suspect union officials who were ousted by the IRB or relegated to the sidelines under [former president Ron] Carey. Hoffa has been in office only a little more than two years, but already the IRB has charged several Teamster officials with corruption and with mob associations. And some of them are close to Hoffa himself."
Election Breeds Dissent
Despite being outspent 10-to-1 by his opponent, Teamsters presidential aspirant Tom Leedham received a third of the vote in the union’s November 2006 election. The centerpiece of Leedham’s campaign was a vocal dissatisfaction with President James P. Hoffa’s administration, which Leedham says has a “dismal record of failure.” As he told the October issue of In These Times:
“[Hoffa] pushed through the largest dues increase in the history of the union without a membership vote … [H]e ran on a pledge of no dues increase … He doubled dues, but there’s been no doubling of union power … He developed an anti-corruption program with great fanfare and spent $15 million, but it collapsed when he blocked investigators when they were getting close to his office … [Dues] support [the] lavish lifestyle of top officers, with the number of international employees receiving multiple salaries increasing from 16 to 163.”
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Membership Total Membership: 1,396,174 |
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| Source: Department of Labor, Office of Labor Management Standards LM filings | ||||||||
Financial Disbursements
| Representational Activities ( 36.2%) | $ 44,057,312 |  |
| Political Activities & Lobbying ( 6.1%) | $ 7,404,347 | |
| Contributions, Gifts & Grants ( 3.5%) | $ 4,198,745 | |
| General Overhead ( 15.3%) | $ 18,585,754 | |
| Union Administration ( 16.1%) | $ 19,602,118 | |
| Strike Benefits ( 4.2%) | $ 5,058,171 | |
| Total Compensation ( 26.1%) | $ 31,722,339 | |
| Per Capita Tax ( 6.0%) | $ 7,354,674 |
Locals & Other Affiliated Organizations
Top 10 Locals (by Members)
| Local | Members |
IBT Joint Council 42 (Covina, CA) |
133,083 |
| IBT Joint Council 16 (New York, NY) |
110,943 |
| IBT Joint Council 25 (Chicago, IL) |
103,023 |
| IBT Conference (Harrisburg, PA) |
83,638 |
| IBT Joint Council 43 (Detroit, MI) |
63,379 |
| IBT Joint Council 53 (Philadelphia, PA) |
60,726 |
| IBT Joint Council 10 (Charlestown, MA) |
54,900 |
| IBT Joint Council 73 (Union, NJ) |
54,367 |
| IBT Joint Council 32 (Minneapolis, MN) |
51,211 |
| IBT Joint Council 7 (San Francisco, CA) |
43,443 |
| [show all locals & affiliates] | |
Leadership
Top 10 International IBT Leaders & Staff (by Salary)
Source: Department of Labor, Office of Labor Management Standards LM filings
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