UNLOCKED!
We're very excited to be launching a new, wide ranging series on the history of allegations levied against unions of corruption and relations with organized crime. Ever since the formation of the first labor unions, the capitalists and their media have been denouncing organized labor as corrupt, violent, led by racketeers, and in bed with the mob. This allegation remains common today, and what better way to help fight these ideological attacks on unions than by confronting these allegations head on and examining the historical record. And of course, there's no other place we could start than with the case of Jimmy Hoffa, whose reputation looms large as one of the most notorious figures in US labor history. To rigorously examine his case, we will have to go all the way back to the founding of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, and follow allegations of corruption from the early days of the union up through today.
In this episode, we discuss how the ruling class attacked unions for supposedly being corrupt from the very beginning, and used the media to minimize violence by bosses and amplify stories of violence by workers. In future episodes we will go through a century of Teamster history, the rise of Jimmy Hoffa, his presidency of the union and his fight with the Kennedys, his imprisonment, his disappearance, and ultimately his legacy. Along the way we will do our best to separate real instances of corruption from the mountain of insinuations and rumor, and discuss what lessons we can learn for our organizing today.
Ep 171 - Farm Workers Fight Back
Overtime Episode 46 PREVIEW - Unions and The Mob: The ILA - Pt 3
Ep 170 - Exploitation Should Be a Crime
Overtime Episode 45 PREVIEW - Unions and The Mob: The ILA - Pt 2
Ep 169 - Union Busting is Organized Crime
Overtime Episode 44 PREVIEW - Unions and The Mob: The ILA - Pt 1
Ep 168 - The War on Remote Work
Shop Floor Discussion 8 PREVIEW - UAW vs the Big 3
Ep 167 - Teamster Power
Overtime Episode 43 PREVIEW - The General Strike in US History Pt 3
Ep 166 - Unionize the Jocks
UNLOCKED: UPS Rank and File Interview
Overtime Episode 42 PREVIEW - Cybernetics and Labor - Finale
Ep 165 - Solidarity Summer
UPS Rank and File Interview PREVIEW
Ep 164 - We Organize to Protect Each Other
Overtime Episode 41 PREVIEW: Cybernetics and Labor - Pt 7
Ep 163 - Everybody’s Striking For The Weekend
USSW Worker Leaders Interview PREVIEW
Ep 162 - Only Unions Jobs Are Green Jobs
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