The State of the Union
As recently as 20 years ago, the average man or woman on the street would hear the words “truck driver,” and chances are the next word to come to mind would be “Teamsters.”
Particularly with the signing of the first National Master Freight Agreement in 1964, the union was able to claim, without exaggeration, that it represented most of the nation’s truckers — roughly 60% just before industry deregulation in 1980 — and had brought them firmly into the ranks of the middle class. It did so by successfully negotiating higher wages and better benefits packages for the people who haul most of the nation’s goods.
Today, however, two decades after industry deregulation, the glory days of Teamsters must seem like a fond memory.
That’s how closely the profession and the union were tied in the popular imagination. And there were reasons for that.
There had been dramatic inroads into the motor carrier industry by Teamsters leaders such as Dave Beck in the 1920s and 1930s, and the legendary James R. “Jimmy” Hoffa in the 1950s and 1960s.
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For the full story, see the June 5 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.
