Exclusive Interview Rebel Teamsters

By Agosto del Pozo

We had ourselves a convoy. 

A half dozen station wagons and pickups filled with rebel Teamsters, members of Teamsters for a Decent Contract (TDC). . .cruising on a warm balmy night out on Ecorse Road to a prearranged rendezvous near Inkster Road in Romulus.

Romulus,a sprawling rural community of dirt roads and marshy fields near Metro Airport, has acquired a reputation over the past turbulent years as (1) a great hidden garden spot for cannabis cultivators, and (2) Detroit's favorite dumping spot for unwanted bodies. Now the TDC had set up its clandestine headquarters there. 

"We've had members tire-ironed and beat up and intimidated by the goons," said one TDC member, lighting up a blunt cigar and surveying the SUN reporting team suspiciously. "But we're not afraid of violence. One good revolution deserves another. This is the perfect year for one."

In the Teamsters' long, stormy history; clout has always been the name of the game, and the TDC believe that they have the handles on it.

"Fitzsimmons and his muscle men are running scared,"said Steve Kindred, TDC organizer from national headquarters in Cleveland. "They know that they've lost control over their rank and file membership. And they won't mess with us because already we're too powerful."

Such talk buzzed in the air over a cups full of strong, black coffee and background jukebox music supplied by Merle 

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"Our people have been beaten up and stomped on, but we won't be intimidated. We are for real, and Fitzsimmons and his muscles know it. They won't mess with us- the rank and file membership wouldn't stand for it.... As the Teamster membership becomes more aware that they're the ones who are paying to keep the gangsters running our union, they're beginning to fight back."

 An Exclusive Interview: 

"The current Teamster leaders have all the 

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Haggard ("I'm Movin' On"), while tales of violence, corruption, pension frauds, poor contracts and dictatorial unión policies filled the tape recorder. 

Not all was recorded, however. Every so often one of TDC's most burly and well informed recruits would reach over the table and press down the STOP button on the Panasonic cassette.

"That 's confidential stuff- direct from Fitzsimmons' home local, "our source said. Other than Teamster X, however, TDC members were more than willing to go by public record.

They made no bones about being unhappy with union management, their new three-year contract, local stewards and business agents, taxation without representation, and most specifically Teamster President Frank Fitsimmons, "Fitz's kid Dick, "and the "whole rotten bunch that runs the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. "

Indeed, the evolution of Teamster history, according to the gospel of the TDC's newsletter, Convoy, has come full cycle. Observers of Teamster activities report that the fat cats who have run the U. S. 'largest and wealthiest union are apparently beginning to feel the heat from rank and file.

In the famous Senate committee hearings, it was said of James Riddle Hoffa: "In the history of this country, it would be hard to find a labor leader who has so shamelessly abused his trust. " But his own men insisted, "Jimmy never let us down. " Now Hoffa is gone, and the threads of myth that held the Teamsters together are beginning to come apart. 

The day has passed when one man could literally run the teamsters singlehanded, said one union member. "The old guard is in trouble. 

"Talking with several TDC members, one point is stressed time and time again: "All Teamsters are not mindless robots and gangsters. Some of us work our balls off for our money. 

"Teamster- as defined by the American Heritage Dictionary- is a person who drives a team, a truck driver.

Teamster- as recognized by the McClellan Committee, late U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, independent truckers, and everybody from Lou Gordon to the proverbial "man on the street"-is power and muscle, streaked with violence. 

Founded in 1876 by a shit-kicking pack of Chicago hack drivers, the Teamsters have grown into the single largest trade union in the country, some 450,000 strong, with memberships in over a thousand locals. The most notorious and prominent of those union halls is Detroit 's own Local 299, on Michigan Avenue in the shadow of Tiger Stadium.

Rebel Teamsters 

“power they do because we gave it all to Hoffa."

Jimmy Hoffa slept here. Made policy. Organized hoodlums and extorted contracts, helping his rank and file to the highest union Standard of living in the nation.

Frank Fitzsimmons, Hoffa 's successor, is also from 299. He 's picked up a couple arrests for larceny, extortion, and shooting along the way. Fitz is Hoffa's picked heir to the wealthiest plum in organized labor today. 

On December 15, Business Week magazine wrote that "The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, threatened by a possible Congressional investigation and reacting to some rank and file discontent, is turning militant in its initial bargaining demands.”

TDC was being felt. 

A recent New York Times reported that "The rank and file dissidents, uniting under the banner of Teamsters for a Decent Contract, are contending that the union is paying no attention to the loss of jobs in the industry or to the number of hours that those who have jobs are forced to work. This is creating tremendous pressure on Mr. Fitzsimmons to bring home a contract that he can sell to the membership and then survive with at the convention. " 

According to Convoy, TDC's newsletter, they will "keep the heat on . . . Fitz is not going to win anything we don't force him to." 

The principáis in the SUN 's interview were: 

Peter Camarata, part-time Wayne State student, leader of the TDC, and local 299 member. 

Gene Fleszar, TDC organizar and local "hot-line" coördinator, also a member of 299.

Steve Kindred, volunteer TDC organizer, Local 407, Cleveland.

SUN: Where did your group get started and where are you actively involved?

TDC: Actually, we first organized back in August of '75 in Chicago. Today their chapters work out of about 50 cities, and we're picking up new rank and file members every day. As Teamster membership becomes more aware that they're the ones who are paying to keep the status quo- to keep the gangsters running our union- they're beginning to fight back. 

SUN: How realistic is it to fight back against the toughest labor union in the country without getting your heads bashed?-How many members can TDC muster? 

TDC: Listen, once our movement got started there was no stopping it. Our people have been beaten up and stomped on, but we won't be intImidated. We are for real . . . and Fitzsimmons and his muscles know it. In the past they've spent from $500,000 to $1 ,500,000 a year out of the funds ust to hire thugs and guys like Sam Williams [former Detroit Lion] and exprize fighters to try and keep things in

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REBEL TEAMSTERS 

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line. But they won 't mess with us- the rank and file membership wouldn't stand for it. We are all dues-paying Teamsters looking for some fair representation for our money. As the union stands now, nobody is represented but Fitzsimmons and his special interest groups. 

SUN: Will TDC, if totally successful, break off from the Teamsters- or are your plans to work from within the organization? 

TDC: To dis-affiliate would be a mistake, although the IBT (International Brotherhood of Teamsters) probably would have a celebration. They are always trying to divide and play one part of the membership against the other. That's how they maintain power. Nobody in rank and file knows what the hell is going on in the union. The structure is such that there are so many separate power plays from one end of the country to the other- nothing gets done. Fitzsimmons' people are the only ones who go to the conventions, the closed door meetings . . . they only accomplish something if it serves them, if the purpose fits their needs. That's bullshit

SUN: Does TDC, in fact, represent the rank and file like you say? Outside of your group,' the general public hasn't been made aware of any extensive in-fighting. 

TDC: Just take a look at what happened at Cobo Hall on March 27. That's only one example of how membership feels. There's going to be some radical changes made within the union. Papers like the Free Press and News haven't got the word yet; their coverage has been pure crap. They spend too much time listening to Fitzsimmons and his cronies, instead of talking to the fellows that are out busting their guts to make a decent wage. We had over 5,000 people down at Cobo who were madder than hell when Bobby Holmes tried to buffalo us with the same old song and shit. The Free Press and News reported that there were about 100 dissidents ... we know better. 

SUN: What about the charges that outside influences have taken over the TDC, that yourgroup is really politically motivated and run by a rowdy young band of longhair radicals? 

TDC: (Laughing) Man, you gotta be kidding. That's the kind of hype that IBT would like the media and union membership to believe.  

SUN: But haven 't politica! groups outside the Teamsters Union tried to infíltrate your ranks?

TDC: Yes. But in the first place, the TDC is strictly for Teamster members. We charge no dues or fees, nor do we discrimínate against a union member because he happens to be a Democrat, a conservative, a communist, whatever. When people - could see that we were starting to make our presence felt in the union, several outside organizations approached üs. About the only group we felt that really tried to use us for their own benefit was the Labor Party. They tried, but we never let them get their foot in the door. They said they would support us and wc would be an issue on their platform. This is not what TDC is all about. Teamsters for a Decent Contract is just that. We are not attempting to promote a political point of view, or present a certain individual's or group's point of view. TDC is in a common fight among Teamstei members.for better working conditions, wages, hours, union representation, and more say about how our money is spent.

SUN: Speaking of money, where is yours coming from? 

TDC: Donations, mostly. Certain individuals have chipped in and helped us organize. But right now there's far more expenses than money flow. Our attorney's bill will probably really put us in debt, (laughing), but we 'II make it. From the beginning we've been marked as radicáis, opportunists, dissidents, communists, you name it. Finally, after the pieces started fitting together, people found out that they could stand up- be heard- and buck the union: "Hey, those fellows (TDC) are after our rights, our gains. They're not scared of Fitzsimmons and his boys." In the beginning, a lot of folks were skeptical. Not any more. 

SUN: Have things become worse since the transition from Hoffa to Fitzsimmons for Teamsters in general? 

TDC: Sure. Hell- looking back- Jimmy Hoffa could at least be contacted. He had pretty much an open door policy. But you can never find Fitzsimmons. Hoffa hated to delegate responsibility. He took the heat. You could walk into his office or give him a call from anywhere in the country. With Fitz, it's always a runaround. You'll never get a straight answer. 

SUN: You don't hold Hoffa responsible for any of the current problems in the union?

TDC: Every coin has two sides. With Hoffa, you had-a one-man union, so to speak. That's how Hoffa wanted it. He worked for that rule, for the power. Now, in retrospect, he really screwed us. That's why the current people have all the power they do- because we gave it all to Hoffa. Hoffa was Mr. Everything. President, Vice President, Secretary-Treasurer, down the line to your union steward. The error that Hoffa didn't understand was that the membership had to really be their own representative, that the job of the union was to make people feel they could stand up on their own and handle matters.

SUN: How do you deal with union reps?

TDC: Listen, it's gotten so bad that just to get your reps to sit down and talk to you in a halfway decent voice is a victory. HelI, you either have to kiss their ass or hold a club over their heads to get their attention. Most union officials are so far removed from the rank and file that they have no idea what's going on. They have no dialogue with the steel haulers, or warehousemen, or city nobody on hourly. During the strike, higher-ups in the IBT on down to your local bigshots-would tell us anything about the negotiations. They supposedly were making a contract for us, working for us . . . but they never even called one meeting to tell us what the hell was going on. How many times did Fitz go to the media? Jesus, it took Woodcock from the UAW to go on television himself to ask what was going on with the Teamsters! We had to shut this damned town down before Dick Fitsimmons finally called a meeting. 

SUN: What about all the reports of scattered violence? 

TDC: My ass! What violence? Let's talk about violence. Some scabs crossed the picket lines, and the news media blew it all out of proportion. Here in Detroit, one of our own people was run over by a scab. CBS reports about"Violence Across U.S. Highways"- what a bunch of baloney.

SUN: Violence, then, has no part in your movement? 

TDC: If you are well organized you don't need violence. Some of the union locáis have a genuine atmosphere of violence. Théy're always ready to use it. However, if anybody attempts to use force against us, they won't get away with it. We'll scream like banshees. If they think they've had bad publicity up till now, they haven't seen or heard anything yet. Besides, if they resort to hurting some of our people, they'll have to deal with the unexpected.

SUN: What does that mean? 

TDC: The rank and file knows from which side the violetice comes. We have support. - We'll just keep on organizing. 

SUN : Do you really believe you can topple or change the system?

TDC: Let's put it this way. We can safely say that the executive boards on various locals are so divided among themselves they can in no way unify to fight the membership. At Local 299, the exec board is busy fighting for positions to see who's going to be top dog. That's their problem. And as long as Dick Fitzsimmons and the others who play up to whomever is in power - fence riders- they are ripe for toppling. When the membership starts getting strong, it's amazing how they will start to warm up to demands. In the same breath, the minute things cool down, they jump into their clique, back into their own little select circle. 

SUN: What about the future? 

TDC: Well Ave'll be there in one way or another when the next IBT convention rolls around. These guys still have to come to us- the guys doing the dirty work- to get their votes. We aren't running scared anymore. We know what's going on. A lot of people sitting on their ass pulling down $45,000 a year are learning quickly what the TDC is all about. We won't disappear. 

Agosto del Pozo is a free-lance writer whose work is well known to Detroit area readers.