jimmy Hoffa was a powerful union man when I was growing up in the fifties, when he said a truck didn't move. he could shut down the country overnight in my young days.

he did a lot for the working man. gave them a living wage and good benefits, he was involved with the mob, but, he still has a legacy that gave a lot of support to the truck drivers in the country.

there were no garbage men to jimmy hoffa, he referred to call them as sanitation workers, that made them proud, and gave them dignity.

what is your opinion of jimmy Hoffa ?

So many good people were cut down in their prime..... JFK, RFK, MLK.

At least that corrupt asshole got what was coming to him.

Hoffa was corrupt, no doubt. But it's an absolute FACT that he wasn't nearly as corrupt as his successor, Frank Fitzsimmons. Fitzsimmons preyed on his fellow Irishmen in the trade unions every bit as much as LCN guys preyed on neighborhood Italians .

"Hoffa was killed and compacted in a car then shipped to Japan as scrap metal. Hoffa is now a Honda."

A poster on another site wrote that.

I still laugh when I read it.

good point! you're absolutely right on. fitzsimmons had none of the respect from the rank and file of the Ibt. Hoffa had a ton of it. thanks for making that fact know.

Just putting it out there, Binnie. It's common knowledge anyway. But I dedicated 25 years of my life to the Teamsters and organized labor, and it sticks in my craw that people remember Hoffa's corrupt reputation more than Fitz's.

Maybe if Fitz caught one behind the ear instead of Hoffa things would be remembered differently. But history is written by the winners, the young guys here shouldn't ever forget that little fact .

Hoffa is probably part of Giant stadium today

I liked unions back then. When I first moved to Brooklyn. The garment workers went on strike. The trucks were driven by teamster union drivers.

The companies tried to break the strike with scab drivers. Unions wanted those deliveries to stop. They used the so called mafia to strong arm those drivers.

I got some of that strong arm work here in Brooklyn. We turned the trucks away with reason and a gun.

Good news is they did not stay away. Then we got permission to hijack there trucks. That is how I got my down payment to buy my first house.

I bought a two family house total price back then was 39 thousand dolLars

Everyone knows that The Iceman killed Hoffa. He also was the lone gunman of the St. Valentines Day Massacre.

Hoffa built the Teamsters into one of the strongest Unions ever.
He secured good wages,benefits,job security,and a meaningful grievance procedure for the members.To this day,Teamsters enjoy a great standard of living,safe working conditions,and many other advantages.

Hoffa was certainly no saint,but he never deprived the union rank-and-file members of a nickel.The Mafia needed clean money to invest in numerous projects,(mostly casinos),and he obliged them. The Teamster Pension Fund loaned out money and received a profitable return.

Hoffa's conviction was for things like bribing a grand juror.
The worst thing that can be said about him is that he gave the Mob a way to launder money,but in return, Teamsters members benefited and prospered.

I'm not naive,and I'm sure that Jimmy put a nice chunk of change in his pocket as well,but my whole point is that
nothing he did hurt the union members in any way. He died because he was too egotistical and bullheaded to understand that the Teamsters needed to distance themselves from the "Mafia days" image,and the last thing they needed was Hoffa bringing the spotlight back on them.

Did hoffa become a millionaire working for the Union? Did his son.

Did a union man ever become a millionaire?

On the Iceman he worked for DeMeo right?

He owned the Gemini lounge right? I know a person who hung out in that place. The guy I know said he never ever saw the Iceman in that place ever.

Hoffa had no choice but to be corrupt, he sat on the fence and played both sides. He helped the workers but did what he had to do in order to placate the mobsters.

No, but union members have health benefits, defined benefit retirement, decent wages, overtime pay. That's a hell of a lot more than most workers have these days. That's why whatever faults Hoffa had, he did less harm to working people than any of the politicians, and Wall Street assholes that most sheeple look up to these days.

He was absolutely for the working man. He built that union with little more than determination and a baseball bat. There hasn't been a labor leader as determined as Hoffa since he disappeared.

And like I alluded to further up, sure, he pocketed some money and had to get in bed with gangsters. But that's just how it was back then. He wasn't nearly as corrupt as Fitzsimmons, who was literally owned by the wiseguys.

So the good news is that you robbed trucks from management because of a labor dispute (not petty greed or jealousy)? How could you look them in the eye when you came back in to work?

Maybe I misread Footread's post, but I took it like he didn't work there, he was a knockaround guy making a living robbing trucks or whatever they robbed back then. The strike was a situation robbers could exploit. If that's not accurate I apologize.

in the book "the quiet don" about Russell buffalino. a don in pennslyvania, he was very powerful in the teamsters, he said Hoffa was killed because the mob wanted fitzimmons in as president because [they the mob] had complete control of fitz.

fitzsimmons was a puppet for provenzano, buffalino, nick civella, and the Chicago outfit. he was much, much, more corrupt than Hoffa.

and what about fat boy? he was a garbage pail..

I seen Pizzaboy comments, yea he might of been a little bit of a thief.. But just like you put it my man.. He Gave the construction worker/truck driving man dignity, good wages, and benefits for their families.. Not everyone can work for the government or own an oil well or own lots of property... somebody gotta do the GRUNT work.. and be paid decent honest wages.. now i gotta watch that Hoffa movie again it was a good one.. yea I have 8 years in the union and I have a nice annuity I can say.. no other non union construction outfit ever ever provided that let alone all 5 planks on a brick/stucco scaffolding... no bullshit there.. One time non union we were 5 frames high on the scaffold with 2 planks.. And I seen Mexicans drawing straws.. it was to see who had to coat that top piece the house.. And they turned and looked at me and said be careful... no bs ha ha ha

Well said Fleming..! thank you my man.. Not looking to be a million air Footreads.. just wanna be able to be able to pay my bills without a huge struggle and be just like every one else.. just like I said earlier someone gotta b the grunt.. not every one can own an oil well or property.. or b on wall street or have a govt job.. what about the other 85% of the population..

yea I also hear you.. I realize you did some tough stuff and your knowledge of it especially back than is more than mine is.. but u got your house at 39 thousand I just got mine for about 235 thousand.. never of happened without the union.. im shure you realize that

Why not try to make it big? I grew up poor we did not know it back then. Well I knew it because I lived on the street for years. I thought that was better then living in the house and take daily beating from my loving father Daddio.

I came back after Daddio was dead and burning in hell I hope. To try and help my mother and brother. My mother was actually brooken hearted when Daddio died. I guess she missed getting burnt by his cigs. She was used to getting hit her father used to beat her with a rubber hose. Brother ralph was four years older then I was and did shit about it.

The good news is my father help make me whatever it is that I am today. I can not wait to get to hell so I can make my daddio suffer even more then he is suffering today.

I am sure you been to plenty union meeting right. When they have to vote to go back to work I have as well.

Here is what I saw the company and the union agree that its members will go back to work.For a big raise back then of 6 cents an hour :)bunch of fucking knuckle heads. Was it a good deal for the worker no.But that is the deal they agreed on back then. The union had some shop stewards in their pockets they got money to accept that deal. Then they get the meeting with all the shop stewards. They talk them into it. Any one with a big mouth disagrees they drawn him out.

Now all the shop stuarts agree it is a done deal. not matter what the rank and file works want. They talk them into it. Then they got the vote. Same thing happens that happened with the shop stewarts.

THEN THEY ALL GO BACK TO WORK AND LIVE HAPPILY EVER AFTER.

something like that as I recall

Hoffa had no choice but to abide by the mobs rule when he was coming up

When he got out and was gonna tone things down with LCN , and LCN knowing

Fitz was firmly under their control is what got him hit .

At the very end, before his death obviously , I think Hoffa wanted to wean LCN control

All Fitz did was play golf and let LCN make the big decisions , he was a front man

This is not a perfect world. Not everyone has the capital to start a business and keep it going until it turns a profit. Except for young people living home with Mom and Dad, people have rent, groceries and other basic subsistence needs that must be met. And then there are the people who did try to make it big and got screwed by customers who had more and/or better lawyers to avoid paying.