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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.
Overtime Episode 30 PREVIEW - Unions and The Mob: Reputation vs Reality Pt 5
Ep 142 - Police Abolition is a Workplace Safety Issue
Overtime Episode 29 PREVIEW - Unions and The Mob: Reputation vs Reality Pt 4
Ep 141 - Funding Our Own Exploitation
Overtime Episode 28 PREVIEW - Unions and The Mob: Reputation vs Reality Pt 3
Ep 140 - Capitalism Doesn’t Work
Overtime Episode 27 PREVIEW - Unions and The Mob: Reputation vs Reality Pt 2
Ep 139 - Athletes Are Workers Too
Overtime Episode 26 PREVIEW - Unions and The Mob: Reputation vs Reality Pt 1
EP 138 - Wall to Wall
PREVIEW: Work Stoppage 2022 Year In Review
Ep 137 - Alabama Sleighride
Ep 136 - First Contract Fight
Movie Time 4 PREVIEW: Made in Dagenham and Norma Rae
Ep 135 - There’s No Such Thing As a ”Pro-Labor Capitalist”
PREVIEW: Interview: Academia is a Racket
Ep 134 - Biden Betrays the Rail Workers
Overtime Episode 25 PREVIEW - Rank and File Rebellions of the 1970s - Pt 3
Ep 133 - Unions Keep Workers Safe, Not OSHA
Ep 132 - Looks Like a Rail Strike’s Back on the Menu
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