Chicago, IL – Hundreds of Teamster locals are electing delegates to attend the 30th International Convention this June in the leadup to union-wide elections in the fall. The Hoffa-led executive board cancelled the planned convention in Las Vegas, citing COVID-19 restrictions, however delegates will still be meeting via Zoom to nominate candidates and amend the IBT (International Brotherhood of Teamsters) constitution.

This will be the last convention led by James P. Hoffa, marking an end to an over 20-year reign as general president that was marked by the consistent opposition of rank-and-file movements. After a close election in 2016 and anger over the imposed 2018 UPS contract, Hoffa announced his retirement early last year, tapping Steve Vairma and Ron Herrera to run the successor Teamster Power slate. However, the growing rank-and-file movement has fueled the Teamsters United slate led by Sean O’Brien and Fred Zuckerman, which poses the greatest challenge ever faced by the Hoffa machine.

“The anti-Hoffa forces look like they will represent, for the first time ever, a majority of delegates to the International Convention. COVID-19 is the reason that the convention has gone digital, but I'm sure that Hoffa's cronies were happy to have an excuse for him to avoid witnessing a sea of opposition,” said Sean Orr, a steward at UPS and recently elected alternate delegate from Local 705. “The unstoppable momentum of the Teamsters United campaign is the product of nothing else than the Teamster rank and file, who are ready for a fight and expecting the same from their leadership.”

For the first time in recent memory, Chicago’s Local 705, home of UPS’s largest ground hub, unanimously elected their delegate slate led by Juan Campos, 705’s principal officer and a candidate for at-large vice president with the Teamsters United Slate.

While voting will continue for the next two months, a swell of Teamsters United delegates have already been unanimously elected, including in Local 251, led by longtime reformer Matt Taibi. Local 202, where the principal officer is the formerly-Hoffa-aligned Dane Kane Jr., is also sending Teamster United delegates. Local 202 had a victorious strike against Hunts Point Market last week.

The convention will also face a battle over amendments to the Teamster constitution. A key issue will be the removal of the “two-thirds rule,” which allowed the IBT to impose the 2018 National UPS Contract despite a 54% “no” vote. In addition, delegates are expected to clash over efforts by the Hoffa-backed Teamster Power slate to limit rank-and-file participation and transparency during contract negotiations.

“We are tired of union officials that keep the members locked out of negotiations and force through contracts against our will. Rank-and-file Teamsters have been fighting for years to finally take down Hoffa’s machine. We’ll be better off once we get rid of the two-thirds rule and win better contracts,” said Fernando Figueroa, a UPS Teamster in Jacksonville supporting the 512 Teamsters United delegate slate. After a contested local election in December, rank-and-file Teamsters in Local 512 will be running to challenge 512’s old guard to support Teamsters United at the convention.

Delegate elections will wrap up by the end of April, and a constitution committee will be appointed by Hoffa to handle all proposed amendments and resolutions for the convention.

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Chicago, IL – On February 21, in a letter sent to the staff and principal officers of the Teamsters, James P. Hoffa announced that he would not seek re-election as general president and would retire from the union at the end of his term in March 2022.

Few are surprised at the news from the 78-year-old union leader. Hoffa's time at the helm of the Teamsters has been defined by collusion with the bosses, whether in the form of concessionary contracts or in the form of open criminality. His exit from the Teamsters will mark the end of an era, and the turning of a page for one of the largest unions in the country.

Hoffa: Never a friend of working people

For as long as he worked for the Teamsters, Hoffa has stood with the most corrupt and cowardly elements of the union. He led the opposition to Ron Carey, the militant reformer who ran the Teamsters from 1991 to 1997. Carey's willingness to strike employers, combined with a serious anti-corruption drive, earned him the hatred of union officials who would rather cooperate with management than fight for their members. They fought him every step of the way, and when the federal government moved against Carey, these elements rallied around Hoffa as their candidate, winning him the general election in 1998 and every election since then.

Hoffa will be missed by the bosses. United Parcel Services (UPS), where over 200,000 Teamsters work, never worried about a strike when Hoffa ran the union. Contracts across the trucking and logistics industry were weakened, not strengthened, with each subsequent negotiation. Hoffa became so skilled at representing corporate interests in negotiations that, when the UPS contract was voted down by the members in 2018, he managed to even surprise the company negotiators by signing the agreement anyways. There are few instances in the history of the labor movement that compare to this stunning betrayal of workers. It has not been forgotten by the Teamsters forced to work under a contract they never ratified.

Hoffa protected criminals, and threw hard-working Teamsters to the wolves. He made every effort to shelter men like Rome Aloise and John Coli, and barely uttered a sound when Frank Ordoñez, a 27-year-old UPS driver, was murdered by police while on the job. Instead of spending time in his final years organizing Amazon – the greatest threat to the Teamsters in our lifetime – Hoffa is plotting to raise the delegate threshold at upcoming national conventions to prevent reformers to taking power away from his corrupt allies. He is a disgrace.

O'Brien-Zuckerman are the way forward

The good news is that Hoffa's full embrace of corruption and class collaboration has made him, and those closest to him, deeply unpopular. He barely survived re-election in 2016, and in the years since then a broad coalition has formed to compete in the 2021 elections.

Led by Sean O'Brien from Joint Council 10, the coalition brings together militants, reformers and former Hoffa allies. The full participation of Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU), which endorsed early on, ensures that the defense of internal democracy will continue to be a top priority for the anti-Hoffa forces. O'Brien and his running mate Fred Zuckerman are calling for the Teamsters to go on the offensive, to re-organize their strength in the core industries and to rebuild the union into a credible strike threat against the major employers.

Hoffa's camp, meanwhile, collapses by the day. Rome Aloise, recently returned to the Teamsters after a two-year suspension, now appears to be on his way out once again after new corruption charges. Steve Vairma, president of Local 455, has declared his intention to run to succeed Hoffa, although it is unclear how many of his loyalists he will be able to gather around him. It is obvious to anyone watching that the anti-Hoffa forces have the advantage, and odds are looking good for new leadership of the union in 2021.

A lot of work will have to go in to rebuilding the International Brotherhood of Teamsters into a fighting union. Hoffa's damage is deep, and it will not disappear with him. Fortunately, there are hundreds of thousands of Teamsters ready for change. The future is looking bright.

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