Jack Welch once said that “a union is only needed when the manager is a horse’s ass.” But what happens when the union is led by one? In the case of the Teamsters, home to over one million transport workers and led by the infamous Jimmy Hoffa until his disappearance in 1975, and now again by his son James Jr. – the injustice that many workers take issue with in management also seems to extend to the union leadership itself. Corruption takes many forms, but accounts of embezzlement, vote tampering, and member intimidation are rife amongst the Teamsters. With union membership down across the board in America over the past 60 years, management’s relative power has increased, and the few workers who do try to get involved are under increasing pressure to remain quiet.
— Brought to you by —
Very special guest Mike
— References —
– The Principles of Scientific Management, Taylor (1911)
– The Worldly Philosophers, Heilbroner (1953)
– Dick Cavett with Jimmy Hoffa (1973) – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f08Ucdb63bw
– They Knew Jimmy Hoffa, and Jimmy Hoffa Was No . . ., Goldstein (1992)
– Every Factory a Fortress: The French Labor Movement in the Age of Ford and Hitler, Torigian (1999) – https://www.counter-currents.com/2015/03/michael-torigian-every-factory-a-fortress/
– Vote for Tom Leedham, Schraffenberger (2001) – http://socialistworker.org/2001/377/377_15_VoteLeedham.php
– Whole Foods Employees Ask For a Union, Nolan (2014) – http://gawker.com/whole-foods-employees-ask-for-a-union-1655959545
– Managerialism: An Ideology and its Evolution, Doran (2016) – https://www.issbs.si/press/ISSN/2232-5697/5_81-97.pdf
– The Mind of Mescaline Franklin: The Awakening of a Paleface Ethnocist, LaFond (2017)
– Upgrade, Whannell (2018)
Myth of the 20th Century 
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