Labor Union

International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT)

This is a logo for Teamsters. (link)
Website:

teamster.org

Location:

WASHINGTON, DC

Tax ID:

53-0215427

Tax-Exempt Status:

501(c)(5)

Budget (2020):

Revenue: $201,796,223
Expenses: $156,592,555
Assets: $475,639,855

Formation:

1903

General President:

Sean O’Brien

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The International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), commonly shortened to Teamsters, is one of the nation’s largest private-sector labor unions. Principally representing employees in the trucking, railway, and airline industries, the Teamsters union has over 1.2 million members.1

The Teamsters union is notorious for its history of corruption and involvement with organized crime, dubbed the “Devil’s Pact” by labor historians. In 1986, the President’s Commission on Organized Crime reported that Teamsters leadership “have been firmly under the influence of organized crime since the 1950’s” and accused then-Teamsters General President Jackie Presser of using violence to control opponents to mob-aligned union officials.2 By the end of the decade, federal investigations led to a consent decree under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act between the union and the government, represented by then-U.S. Attorney Rudolph Giuliani. The consent decree, which remains partially in force as of 2017 and is being phased out, expelled mafia-affiliated members and officers, placed federal overseers in charge of Teamsters internal elections, and established an Independent Review Board to adjudicate internal corruption charges.3

The IBT is led by James P. Hoffa, son of mob-tied former Teamsters General President James R. “Jimmy” Hoffa, who famously disappeared without a trace under suspicious circumstances—many suspect he was killed by organized crime—in 1975.4 Hoffa has served since 1998, when he was elected General President in a special election after his predecessor Ron Carey was expelled from the union for campaign finance infractions in his 1996 re-election campaign.5

Politically, the IBT has shifted with the winds of federal investigations and consent decrees into its internal activities. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Robert F. Kennedy made a name for himself attacking the Teamsters (first as a U.S. Senate staffer and later as U.S. Attorney General) for its mob ties; in retaliation, the union remained neutral in the 1960 election between Kennedy’s brother John and Richard Nixon.6 After Richard Nixon pardoned the elder Hoffa in 1971, the union backed Republicans in the 1972, 1980, 1984, and 1988 Presidential elections, only returning to the Democratic fold in 1992 after the George H.W. Bush Administration pursued the consent decree.7

Under Hoffa the younger, the union has moved in a much more left-wing direction. The Teamsters joined the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) in quitting the AFL-CIO to form the new Change to Win labor union federation, which Hoffa now chairs.8 Since the Center for Responsive Politics database of federal political contributions records began in the early 1990s, the Teamsters Union’s political arms have contributed 95 percent of their spending to liberals and Democrats.9

History

Founding Era

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters was organized in 1903 at a convention of unions representing drivers of horses, whose profession gave the new union its name. By the 1920s, the union represented drivers in the growing motor transport industry and the IBT was admitted to the American Federation of Labor (a predecessor of the AFL-CIO) in 1928.10

By the 1940s, the Teamsters locals in the Detroit area—through which Jimmy Hoffa was rising to prominence—first came under investigation for ties to organized crime.10 The investigations continued into the 1950s, culminating in Teamsters General President Dave Beck invoking his Fifth Amendment privileges 117 times in response to a series of questions before the Senate Select Committee on Improper Activities in the Labor or Management Field (also known as the McClellan Committee).11 Beck would ultimately be convicted of income tax evasion and embezzling $1,900 from the union and serve 30 months in prison; he was later pardoned by President Gerald Ford.12

The McClellan Committee’s investigations would begin a blood feud between the Teamsters and the Kennedy family that lasted throughout Jimmy Hoffa’s tenure as Teamsters president, as Robert F. Kennedy served as chief counsel to the committee and then-Sen. John Kennedy (D-Massachusetts) was a member of the committee.13 The Teamsters’ feud with the Kennedys was so intense that after John F. Kennedy’s assassination, Jimmy Hoffa resisted lowering the flags at Teamsters headquarters in mourning.14

Jimmy Hoffa

James R. “Jimmy” Hoffa had risen through the union in the 1940s and 1950s, ultimately ending up as Teamsters Vice President and helping create the Central States Pension Fund, which would become notorious as the “mob’s bank.”15

After Beck pleaded the Fifth before the McClellan Committee, the Teamsters elevated Hoffa to the post of General President of the union. Hoffa was already widely suspected of improper behavior, having been charged (and acquitted) of crimes prior to his election as union president.16

After Hoffa was named General President, the AFL-CIO suspended and ultimately expelled the Teamsters from the labor federation, citing “corrupt influences.” The AFL-CIO demanded that Teamsters officers Beck, Hoffa, Sidney L. Brennan, and Frank Brewster be removed from office and that the union appoint a special committee to correct the corrupt influences. The Teamsters refused.16

Hoffa gained notoriety for negotiating the first national truckers’ contract, the Master Freight Contract, in 1964. However, later that year Hoffa was convicted in two separate trials, one for jury tampering and another for misusing union pension funds.17 Hoffa’s involvement with the mob was substantial: Steven Brill, author of a 1978 history of the Teamsters Union, called Hoffa “an owned-and-operated subsidiary of organized crime.”14

By 1967, Hoffa was sent to prison to begin serving a 13-year sentence. He would remain jailed until 1971, when President Richard Nixon commuted his sentence on the condition that Hoffa would be barred from union office until after 1980.18 While imprisoned, Hoffa continued in office as Teamsters President with Frank Fitzsimmons acting on his behalf; Hoffa was widely believed to be running the union from prison despite a sentence condition preventing him from “engaging in his occupation” while jailed.19

Post-prison, Hoffa attempted to retake union office before the agreed-upon 1980 date. In 1975, while waging legal efforts to regain his position, Hoffa went missing near Detroit around the time he was to meet with two alleged mobsters. His disappearance remains unsolved, but a mob assassination is widely believed to be the cause of the disappearance.20

Continued Mob Influence After Hoffa

In 1971, Hoffa formally left the Teamsters presidency, ceding it to Acting General President Frank Fitzsimmons. Fitzsimmons had already pursued an ambitious labor program, aligning with Walter Reuther of the United Auto Workers to form the Alliance for Labor Action, a short-lived left-wing union federation intended to rival the AFL-CIO. The Alliance organized a handful of workers before folding amid an inability to recruit new unions and Reuther’s death in a plane crash.21

However, while he would ultimately avoid prison, Fitzsimmons was also linked to organized crime. It is suspected that Fitzsimmons’s willingness to go along with mob bosses led to the alleged hit on Hoffa, who was attempting to return to office despite the mob refusing to support him.20 Fitzsimmons was said to have received kickbacks and protection from the mafia in exchange for allowing the mob free rein to run Teamsters local unions and skim from the union’s pension funds.22

During Fitzsimmons’s tenure, the Teamsters Central States pension fund was investigated by the Labor Department and Justice Department for corruption and Fitzsimmons himself was ousted as a trustee of the fund.23 In 1981, Fitzsimmons died of a heart attack.23

Fitzsimmons was succeeded by Roy Williams, another mafia-connected union leader under indictment at the time of his election. Williams served as Teamsters president for two years, vacating office in 1983 after he was convicted of conspiracy to bribe U.S. Senator Howard Cannon (D-Nevada) over trucking industry regulation. Williams would later turn state’s evidence in exchange for being paroled shortly before his death in 1989.24 Before his death, Williams would tell the Philadelphia Inquirer that “I was controlled by Nick [Civella, a Kansas City mobster], and I think everybody knew it.”25

Jackie Presser succeeded Williams, being elected in 1983 after Williams resigned after being convicted. Presser had served as an informer on corrupt Teamsters activities for the Internal Revenue Service from as early as 1972, an arrangement allegedly created to help get federal charges against Presser’s father William, himself an Ohio Teamsters official and member of the Teamsters International Executive Board, dropped.26 Presser, who was allegedly an agent of the Cleveland division of international organized crime syndicate La Cosa Nostra, would also become an informant for the Federal Bureau of Investigation.26

As Teamsters leader, Presser secured readmission to the AFL-CIO but faced considerable scandal related to his involvement with the mob and federal investigations of it.27 In 1985, the Department of Justice controversially elected not to charge Presser with embezzling funds from the Cleveland-area Teamsters local.26 By Presser’s death in office in 1988, he was facing federal charges for siphoning union funds to mob figures for no-show jobs.27

During Presser’s tenure, Teamsters members in Puerto Rico were implicated in one of the worst incidents of labor-related violence in American history. Three members of Teamsters Local 901 pleaded guilty to crimes related to setting a fire at the Dupont Plaza Hotel in San Juan that killed 97 people amid a labor dispute.28 The vice president of the local was also charged with murder, but the charges were later dismissed for lack of evidence.29

The Federal Racketeering Suit and Consent Decree

Fewer than two weeks before Presser died, the federal government filed a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act lawsuit against 18 senior Teamsters officials, including Presser and his acting successor, Weldon L. Mathis, to “end La Cosa Nostra’s corruption of this [Teamsters] union.”30 The suit was filed by then-United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York Rudolph Giuliani, who announced in a statement that mob infiltration of the Teamsters “has deprived union members of their rights through a pattern of racketeering that includes 20 murders, a number of shootings, bombings, beatings, a campaign of fear, extortion and theft and misuses of union funds.”31

The federal lawsuit sought the removal of mob-tied Teamsters leadership and the appointment of a trustee to oversee future internal union elections.30 In 1989, an agreement, known as a “consent decree,” was reached, with the Teamsters agreeing to court-appointed supervision of union expenditures and officer elections in exchange for the government stopping efforts to remove sitting union leadership, then under new union president William J. McCarthy.32

In 1992, as part of the consent decree process, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York directed that an Independent Review Board of three members—one appointed by the federal government, one by the union, and one by both parties—be created to investigate corruption and disqualify corrupt members from union office.33

Ron Carey and the Move Left

The consent decree changed how the Teamsters would elect officers: Where previously, officers were elected by delegates chosen by local unions, enabling mob figures to engage in racketeering in exchange for delegate votes, from 1991 the officers would be chosen by a vote of the membership at large. The last delegate-chosen General President, William McCarthy, did not seek re-election.34 McCarthy had been charged by a federal overseer established by the consent decree with continuing to associate with organized crime figures.35

That opened the door for Ron Carey, who was backed by the union’s leftist-reformist caucus, Teamsters for a Democratic Union. Carey had served as president of Local 804 on Long Island, which had been implicated in schemes allegedly involving the DeCalvante organized crime family around its pension funds and dental plan.36

Despite the smell of corruption following Carey, he was elected by the membership in 1991 in a three-way race as an “outsider” candidate.37 Trade unionists hoped that Carey’s election would invigorate the Teamsters with a progressive vision, and they felt vindication after he brought the Teamsters back into the Democratic fold to support the election of President Bill Clinton in 1992.38 The Carey regime was also instrumental in replacing centrist AFL-CIO president Lane Kirkland with radical Service Employees International Union leader John Sweeney in 1995.38

Trouble developed in Carey’s first term when he gave a close ally, Eddie Burke, responsibility for appointing a trustee to oversee Teamsters Local 295 in New York, which had ties to the mob. Burke appointed William Genoese: The federal judge overseeing the consent decree vetoed the appointment, as Genoese as trustee “would directly and indirectly further and contribute to the association of the [local] with the La Cosa Nostra or elements thereof.”39

After Carey was reelected in 1996 by defeating James P. Hoffa—son of the mob-tied Jimmy—he led a major strike in 1997 against UPS. With the tacit assistance of the Clinton Administration, which broke precedent and refused to invoke the Taft-Hartley Act’s provisions, Carey proclaimed a major victory in the strike. The claim was contested by both pro-union and anti-union observers, who noted that workers’ gains were at best modest.40

Carey’s Ouster

While Carey was basking in the glow of his claimed victory of UPS, the federal trustees overseeing the Teamsters dropped a bomb on him. Federal overseers moved to void his 1996 re-election over Hoffa the younger on the grounds that he had allegedly used liberal groups as shell organizations to launder Teamster treasury money into his re-election campaign.41 Shortly after the new election was ordered, Carey was barred from running and the Independent Review Board recommended discipline against Carey, prompting the Teamsters president to take a leave of absence.42

The scheme was massive and allegedly implicated numerous Democratic Party and liberal organizations including the Clinton-Gore 1996 re-election campaign, the Democratic National Committee, the AFL-CIO, and community organizing group Citizen Action, a predecessor organization of the modern People’s Action.43 In 1995, the Clinton Administration had become concerned by the Teamsters’ cash flow problems, which were hurting party coffers. The Clinton White House put Deputy Chief of Staff Harold M. Ickes in charge of a “Get Cash from Carey” project, seeking to arrange labor decisions in the Teamsters’ favor in the hope of getting support from the union.44

However, the union wasn’t giving because its political action committee, called “DRIVE”—was broke. (Federal law requires that union campaign contributions to federal candidates be sourced from “separate segregated funds” that are opt-in, not from member dues.) That prompted campaign consultant Martin Davis to try to arrange a mutual assistance pact between the DNC and Carey’s union re-election campaign, by which DNC donors would support Carey in exchange for the Teamsters supporting the DNC. Allegedly with the support of future Virginia Governor and then-DNC official Terry McAuliffe, Davis sought to draw contributions to Carey’s re-election slate “Teamsters for a Corruption-Free Union” from DNC donors, with support promised to the DNC in return.45

The effort through the DNC failed. So Davis embarked on a money laundering scheme through the AFL-CIO and the liberal organizing group Citizen Action. Davis directed Teamsters officials to take $150,000 in union treasury money, and send it to the AFL-CIO through then-Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka who would then pass an equivalent sum on to Citizen Action. Citizen Action then spent $100,000 through Davis’s firm that went toward a direct mail campaign in support of Carey’s re-election. Davis, Carey’s campaign manager Jere Nash, and telemarketer Michael Ansara would plead guilty to offenses related to the scheme and turned state’s evidence.46 Trumka, who would later lead the AFL-CIO, exercised his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination under questioning by the federal judge investigating the matter, prompting the labor federation to reverse its policy requiring officials who took the Fifth to resign.47

The scandal was wider than just the $150,000 in the AFL-CIO/Citizen Action transactions. Former Teamsters political director William Hamilton, Jr. would be convicted and sentenced to prison for directing $885,000 in Teamsters treasury funds to liberal groups to be laundered back into Carey’s campaign.48 Carey, though expelled from the union and disqualified from re-running for the presidency, avoided conviction, being acquitted of perjury charges in 2001.49

Modern Era Under James P. Hoffa

After a controversial campaign in which he also had to survive charges of campaign finance improprieties, James P. Hoffa—son of the mob-tied Jimmy—was elected Teamsters General President in 1998. Prior to his election, Hoffa had been a union-side labor attorney in Detroit.50

Hoffa continued Carey’s march of the formerly centrist Teamsters toward the political left, joining the 1999 anti-capitalist demonstrations in Seattle, opposing the Clinton administration’s trade openings with China, and flirting with endorsing Green Party candidate Ralph Nader before settling on Democrat Al Gore in the 2000 Presidential election.51 Rebuffing efforts at outreach by the George W. Bush White House, the Teamsters endorsed U.S. Senator John Kerry (D-Massachusetts) in 2004; a similar dynamic played out in 2016, when the union backed Hillary Clinton over populist Republican Donald Trump.5253 The union suffered a setback in 2004, when the staff of Hoffa’s pet anti-corruption program, Project RISE, resigned en masse citing “resistance and outright interference” from Hoffa’s lieutenants.54

In 2005, Hoffa followed the SEIU under Andy Stern out of the AFL-CIO to form the Change to Win labor union federation.54 The decision has been highly controversial within the Teamsters Union: Hoffa’s 2011 and 2016 opponents both sought to return to the AFL-CIO and denounced the switch to Change to Win.55

Hoffa and the Teamsters were close allies of President Barack Obama, endorsing the then-Illinois senator in the 2008 Democratic Presidential primaries. Controversially, Obama had told Teamsters officials that he favored ending the Independent Review Board.56 In 2011, Hoffa courted controversy with overheated rhetoric against the tea party movement, telling Labor Day rally-goers “Let’s take these sons of [b*****s] out” while warming up the crowd for President Obama.57

In 2015, the Obama Administration Department of Justice, led by U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara, and the Teamsters Union moved in court to end the consent decree.58 The government and the union agreed to a five-year phase-out of the consent decree’s rules concerning election supervision and to retain an independent review panel.58

Hoffa faced a stiff challenge to his presidency amid major controversy in 2016. Fred Zuckerman, the president of Teamsters Local 89 in Louisville and backed by the dissident caucus Teamsters for a Democratic Union, challenged Hoffa as insufficiently militant in contract negotiations.59 The election was thrown into controversy when the union’s Independent Investigations Officer recommended internal charges against Hoffa’s Secretary-Treasurer and running mate Ken Hall for obstructing a corruption investigation. Ultimately, Hoffa defeated Zuckerman’s challenge by a narrow margin of less than two percent of the vote, securing a five-year term (though Zuckerman’s allies are demanding a new election).60 Charges against Hall were later dropped.61

November 2021 Election

In 2021, Hoffa was succeeded as president by Sean O’Brien, a fourth-generation Teamsters member and outspoken Hoffa critic, who won with Zuckerman running as General Secretary-Treasurer. In March 2022, both were sworn in along with the new executive board for a five-year term. 62 63

Contemporary Controversies

While major Cosa Nostra mafia influence on the International Brotherhood of Teamsters has been substantially reduced from the heyday of Jimmy Hoffa Sr., the union continues to attract controversy. Numerous corruption cases, financially strained pension funds, and controversial organizing tactics continue to dog the Teamsters.

Corruption

Prominent Teamsters continue to be implicated in corruption and fiscal malfeasance even after the consent decree. In July 2017, the president of Teamsters Joint Council 25, John Coli Sr., was charged by federal prosecutors with attempted extortion and taking prohibited payments for a scheme in which he threatened a business with work stoppages unless he was paid $25,000 every three months.64 In 2010, former president of Teamsters Local 812 Anthony Rumore pleaded guilty to charges of making false statements in relation to improper personal services done by union members.65

In 2016, the union’s Independent Investigations Officer recommended charges against four prominent Teamster officials: Hoffa’s Executive Assistant William C. Smith, International Vice President Rome Aloise, former Political Director Nicole Brener-Schmitz, and Secretary-Treasurer Ken Hall.66 As recently as April 2017, Aloise was crowdfunding a legal defense fund.67 Teamsters for a Democratic Union and other opponents of Hoffa’s leadership have criticized the four for making concessions to employers allegedly in return for improper gifts.68

Depleted Pension Funds

Teamsters pension funds have long been controversial: Throughout the twentieth century, numerous Teamsters pension funds were implicated in ties to organized crime. The Central States fund was placed into trusteeship by the Labor and Justice Departments in the late 1970s and was later governed by a consent decree between the fund and the federal government.69

Currently, many Teamsters pension funds are financially strained. The Local 707 fund in New York state has defaulted and been nationalized by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, a government agency that assumes failed pension plans. Former leadership of the local suggested that fund mismanagement was to blame, triggering a Labor Department investigation.70

Other Teamsters pension funds are also in serious jeopardy of becoming insolvent. The Central States Pension Fund, the New York State Teamsters Pension Fund, and other New York/New Jersey local pension funds are in jeopardy from substantial funding shortfalls.71 Central States sought to curtail benefit payouts to 270,000 Teamster retirees under a 2014 pension reform law; the Treasury Department rejected the application.72

Controversial Tactics

The Teamsters have a “union thug” reputation from their days under mafia influence, and over-the-line organizing tactics have continued into the modern era. Chicago-area Teamsters were given an injunction in 2013 for allegedly harassing mourners during a labor dispute with funeral homes.73

Boston-area Teamsters faced heavy criticism for an incident in 2014. The staff of television show Top Chef were reportedly subjected to racist, anti-gay, and sexist verbal abuse and allegedly had their vehicles’ tires slashed by picketers with Teamsters Local 25.74

Political Activities

Historically, Teamsters political support has followed the interests of the often-corrupt Teamsters leadership. During Jimmy Hoffa Sr.’s leadership, the Teamsters waged a vendetta against the Kennedy family of John and Robert. John had co-sponsored the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 (the Landrum-Griffin Act), which sought to combat union corruption like that in the Teamsters union by requiring extensive financial reporting.75 Hoffa personally attacked John Kennedy during the 1960 Presidential campaign, though the Teamsters Union did not endorse either Kennedy or his Republican opponent Richard Nixon.76

The Teamsters also plotted against John’s brother (and Attorney General) Robert F. Kennedy, who had been involved in the McClellan Committee’s investigations of the union. When Bobby ran for U.S. Senate from New York in 1964, the Teamsters actively worked to attempt to defeat the Democrat.77

The Teamsters aligned with the Republican camp from 1972 through 1988 with the exception of 1976, after Richard Nixon pardoned Hoffa in 1971. After the George H.W. Bush Justice Department negotiated the consent decree in 1989, the Teamsters have backed the Democratic Presidential candidate in every election except 1996, when the union made no endorsement.78

While the union was historically relatively non-ideological, since Ron Carey’s term as general president the Teamsters have swung hard to the left. From the time that the Center for Responsive Politics database of campaign finance begins in the early 1990s, Teamsters political action committees have contributed approximately 95 percent of their federal political contributions to help Democratic candidates.79 The union has also made substantial contributions to Democratic politicians, parties, and caucuses in Illinois, Missouri, and Florida, among other states.80

While a small number of Republicans have received the support of Teamsters unions, the national Republican Party has attempted to win back the union’s support to no avail. In 2004, President George W. Bush and his political team sought to woo the Teamsters under James P. Hoffa; the union ultimately backed Democrats Dick Gephardt and John Kerry.81 Donald Trump reportedly hoped to capitalize on the Teamsters’ tepid support of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election.82 The union ultimately backed Clinton, in line with the position of the Teamsters’ Change to Win partners SEIU.

As of 2024, according to spending disclosures unions filed with the Department of Labor, the Teamsters union paid $115,540 to use Democrat-aligned data firm Catalist for “strategic plan services” in 2023. In addition, they donated to advocacy group State Innovation Exchange (SiX) and for-profit public relations firm BerlinRosen to use their services. The group also donated $150,000 to nonprofit campaign group Ballot Initiative Strategy Center (BISC), which itself has received funding from other left-of-center groups including Democracy Fund Voice, the North Fund, the JPB Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and the Susan T. Buffett Foundation. 83

Strike for Black Lives

On July 20, 2020, Teamsters participated in the “Strike for Black Lives.” Labor unions and other organizations participated in the mass strike in 25 different cities to protest racism and acts of police violence in the United States. 84

Employees in the fast food, ride-share, nursing home, and airport industries left work to participate in the strike. Protesters sought to press elected officials in state and federal offices to pass laws that would require employers to raise wages and allow employees to unionize so that they may negotiate better health care, child support care, and sick leave policies. Protesters stressed the need for increased safety measures to protect low-wage workers who do not have the option to work from home during the coronavirus pandemic.

Organizers of the protest claimed that one of the goals of the strike is to incite action from corporations and the government that promotes career opportunities for Black and Hispanic workers. Organizers stated that the strike was inspired by the Memphis sanitation workers’ strike in 1968 over low wages, inhuman working conditions, and a disparity in the distribution of benefits to black and white employees.

They stated that the purpose of the “Strike for Black Lives” is to remove anti-union and employment policies that prevent employees from bargaining collectively for better working conditions and wages. 84

2024 Election Activities

In June 2024, the Chicago chapter of the IBT hosted an anti-war speaking event at the local headquarters where up to 300 activists gathered to discuss plans on disrupting the 2024 Democratic National Convention (DNC) to be hosted within Chicago in August 2024. During the meeting, several speakers made several pro-Iran comments including “Hands off Iran.” 85 Another attendee had reportedly claimed that, “Iran is part of the resistance…Yemen and Iran and Hezbollah…and the Syrian government are all parts of the arc of resistance…they’re part of the arc of resistance because the enemies are Israel and the USA.” 85 86

On July 15, 2024, Teamsters president Sean O’Brien spoke at the 2024 annual Republican National Convention (RNC) in Milwaukee, WI. Delivering the keynote speech on the first day of the convention, O’Brien claimed, “The American people aren’t stupid, they know the system is broken…We all know how Washington is run. Working people have no chance of winning this fight. That’s why I’m here today, because I refuse to keep doing the same things my predecessors did.” 87 In addition, his speech also criticized big businesses like Walmart and Amazon while calling the Chamber of Commerce, “unions for big business.” 88

People

General President

Sean O’Brien is the General President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, as of November 2023. He initially joined Teamsters Local 25 in Charlestown, MA at age 18 before eventually becoming president of the chapter in 2006. In 2011 he became the Eastern Region Vice President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. In addition, he serves on the board of directors for the Massachusetts Port Authority and is also the Co-Chairman and Trustee of the New England Teamsters Pension Fund. 89

James P. Hoffa was the previous General President for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, serving in the position from 1998 until 2021 when he lost the union vote running against Sean O’Brien that year. 62
He first became president of the union in 1998 when he was elected in a special election following the 1996 election of Ron Carey (over Hoffa), which was later voided due to a campaign finance scandal involving Carey.50 He is the son of infamous mob-associated former Teamsters president Jimmy Hoffa, who served as president from 1957 to 1967 until he ultimately disappeared in 1975.  90 62 Prior to his time as president, James Hoffa was an attorney for the Teamsters Union and an official in Teamsters Joint Council 43. 91

General Secretary-Treasurer

Fred Zuckerman is the General Secretary-Treasurer of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, serving as of November 2023. He began work with the Teamsters when he joined Chemical Express at Local 988 in Houston, Texas in 1979, until he joined and was later elected president of the Local 89 chapter in 1999. In 2005 he was elected president of chapter Teamsters Joint Council 94. 92 In 2021 he ran for General Secretary-Treasurer alongside Sean O’Brien’s campaign for president of the Teamsters. On November 19, 2021, their campaign succeeded the previous president James Hoffa, with both Zuckerberg and O’Brien being sworn in on March 22, 2022. 62 63

Ken Hall previously served as General Secretary-Treasurer. During his term, Hall was accused by the union’s internal independent watchdogs of interfering in a corruption probe by withholding documents, though charges were later dropped. 93

References

  1. International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Annual Report of a Labor Organization (Form LM-2), 2016, Item 20
  2. Herron, Caroline Rand, and Michael Wright. “A Strong Attack On the Teamsters.” The New York Times. March 08, 1986. Accessed June 27, 2017. http://www.nytimes.com/1986/03/09/weekinreview/the-nation-a-strong-attack-on-the-teamsters.html
  3. LeVine, Marianne. “With end of Teamsters supervision, an era passes.” Politico. January 14, 2015. Accessed June 27, 2017. http://www.politico.com/story/2015/01/justice-department-teamsters-union-supervision-ends-114281
  4. Gonyea, Don. “#TBT: 40 Years After Jimmy Hoffa’s Disappearance, His Legend Lives On.” NPR. July 30, 2015. Accessed June 27, 2017. http://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2015/07/30/427773947/-tbt-union-man-jimmy-hoffa-is-still-gone-but-the-legend-lives-on
  5. Franklin, Stephen. “Hoffa Elected Teamsters President.” Chicago Tribune. December 06, 1998. Accessed June 27, 2017. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1998-12-06/news/9812060319_1_tom-leedham-hoffa-family-hoffa-and-leedham
  6. Kohlmeier, Louis. “What will Nixon do with Hoffa?” Chicago Tribune. February 12, 1973. Accessed June 27, 2017. http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1973/02/12/page/18/article/what-will-nixon-do-with-hoffa
  7. Schneier, Cogan, and Louis Nelson. “Teamsters endorse Hillary Clinton.” Politico. August 26, 2016. Accessed June 27, 2017. http://www.politico.com/story/2016/08/teamsters-endorse-hillary-clinton-227463
  8. “About Us.” Change to Win. Accessed June 27, 2017. http://www.changetowin.org/about
  9. Center for Responsive Politics. “Top Organization Contributors.” OpenSecrets.org. May 16, 2017. Accessed June 27, 2017. https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/list.php?cycle=ALL
  10. “Teamsters Timeline, 1850-1949.” International Brotherhood of Teamsters Labor History Research Center. Accessed June 27, 2017. http://teamstersarchives.gwu.edu/node/10
  11. Neff, James. “A big crook, the Kennedys and more! The lurid tale of Seattle’s Dave Beck and the Teamsters union.” The Seattle Times. July 11, 2015. Accessed June 28, 2017. http://www.seattletimes.com/pacific-nw-magazine/a-big-crook-the-kennedys-and-more-the-lurid-tale-of-seattles-dave-beck-and-the-teamsters-union/
  12. Sullivan, Ronald. “Dave Beck, 99, Teamsters Chief, Convicted of Corruption, Is Dead.” The New York Times. December 27, 1993. Accessed July 05, 2017. http://www.nytimes.com/1993/12/28/obituaries/dave-beck-99-teamsters-chief-convicted-of-corruption-is-dead.html
  13. “McClellan Committee.” The Oregon Encyclopedia. Accessed June 28, 2017. https://oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/mcclellan_committee/
  14. Goldstein, Patrick. “They Knew Jimmy Hoffa, and Jimmy Hoffa Was No . . .” Los Angeles Times. August 30, 1992. Accessed July 06, 2017. http://articles.latimes.com/1992-08-30/entertainment/ca-8270_1_jimmy-hoffa
  15. Warren, James. “The Union Of Jimmy Hoffa And Chicago.” Chicago Tribune. May 20, 1992. Accessed June 28, 2017. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1992-05-20/features/9202150150_1_james-r-hoffa-teamsters-parking-lot/2
  16. Congressional Quarterly. “Labor Investigation.” CQ Almanac Online Edition. 1958. Accessed July 05, 2017. https://library.cqpress.com/cqalmanac/document.php?id=cqal57-1346140
  17. “Who was Jimmy Hoffa?” USA Today. June 19, 2013. Accessed July 05, 2017. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/06/18/who-was-jimmy-hoffa/2434633/
  18. “Jimmy Hoffa.” Biography.com. April 28, 2017. Accessed July 06, 2017. https://www.biography.com/people/jimmy-hoffa-9341063
  19. Roberts, Steven V. “AIDES DENY HOFFA DOES UNION WORK.” The New York Times. April 12, 1971. Accessed July 06, 2017. http://www.nytimes.com/1971/04/12/archives/aides-deny-hoffa-does-union-work-leader-of-teamsters-again-visits.html
  20. “40 Years Later, Jimmy Hoffa’s Disappearance Remains A Mystery.” CBS Detroit. July 30, 2015. Accessed July 06, 2017. http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2015/07/30/40-years-later-jimmy-hoffas-disappearance-remains-a-mystery/
  21. Docherty, James Cairns, and Sjaak Van Der Velden. Historical Dictionary of Organized Labor. Third ed. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 2012. p. 24. Accessed July 6, 2017. https://books.google.com/books?id=ZAdZaqTetVsC
  22. Hammer, Richard. “At Last an Effort to Break the Teamsters’ ‘Devil’s Pact’.” Los Angeles Times. July 10, 1988. Accessed July 06, 2017. http://articles.latimes.com/1988-07-10/opinion/op-9370_1_teamster-union-effort
  23. Shabecoff, Philip. “FRANK FITZSIMMONS OF TEAMSTERS DIES.” The New York Times. May 06, 1981. Accessed July 06, 2017. http://www.nytimes.com/1981/05/07/obituaries/frank-fitzsimmons-of-teamsters-dies.html?pagewanted=all
  24. Pace, Eric. “Roy L. Williams Is Dead at 74; Ex-President of Teamsters’ Union.” The New York Times. April 28, 1989. Accessed July 06, 2017. http://www.nytimes.com/1989/04/29/obituaries/roy-l-williams-is-dead-at-74-ex-president-of-teamsters-union.html
  25. Fund, John. “The Other Big Election This Fall: The Teamsters President.” National Review. April 28, 2016. Accessed July 06, 2017. http://www.nationalreview.com/article/434686/teamsters-election-october-corruption-still-issue.
  26. Lardner, George, Jr. “Teamsters’ Presser Led Two Lives As He Rose to the Top of the Union.” The Washington Post. April 26, 1986. Accessed July 10, 2017. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1986/04/26/teamsters-presser-led-two-lives-as-he-rose-to-the-top-of-the-union/bea08fee-96b5-4d9f-9603-2d8b47d00e66/?utm_term=.d2c0a8334f66
  27. Barron, James. “Jackie Presser Is Dead at 61; Head of Besieged Teamsters.” The New York Times. July 09, 1988. Accessed July 10, 2017. http://www.nytimes.com/1988/07/10/obituaries/jackie-presser-is-dead-at-61-head-of-besieged-teamsters.html
  28. Suarez, Manuel. “3 ADMIT SETTING HOTEL FIRE THAT KILLED 97 IN SAN JUAN.” The New York Times. April 24, 1987. Accessed July 12, 2017. http://www.nytimes.com/1987/04/25/us/3-admit-setting-hotel-fire-that-killed-97-in-san-juan.html
  29. “Union leader cleared of murder charges in hotel fire.” UPI. June 15, 1988. Accessed July 12, 2017. http://www.upi.com/Archives/1988/06/15/Union-leader-cleared-of-murder-charges-in-hotel-fire/9000582350400/?spt=su
  30. Ostrow, Ronald J., and Eileen V. Quigley. “18 Teamsters Sued as Tools of the Mafia : U.S. Seeks to Oust Presser, Others Under Racketeering Law.” Los Angeles Times. June 29, 1988. Accessed July 10, 2017. http://articles.latimes.com/1988-06-29/news/mn-5018_1_racketeering-law
  31. Associated Press. “U.S. BELIEVES ITS LAWSUIT AGAINST TEAMSTERS MAY RID UNION OF MAFIA LINKS.” Deseret News. June 29, 1988. Accessed July 10, 2017. http://www.deseretnews.com/article/8724/US-BELIEVES-ITS-LAWSUIT-AGAINST-TEAMSTERS-MAY-RID-UNION-OF-MAFIA-LINKS.html
  32. Glaberson, William. “U.S. and Teamsters Reach Accord That Avoids a Racketeering Trial.” The New York Times. March 13, 1989. Accessed July 10, 2017. http://www.nytimes.com/1989/03/14/us/us-and-teamsters-reach-accord-that-avoids-a-racketeering-trial.html
  33. “The Independent Review Board.” Teamsters. Accessed July 12, 2017. https://teamster.org/content/independent-review-board
  34. Saxon, Wolfgang. “William McCarthy, 79, Former Head of Teamsters.” The New York Times. November 20, 1998. Accessed July 12, 2017. http://www.nytimes.com/1998/11/21/us/william-mccarthy-79-former-head-of-teamsters.html
  35. Swoboda, Frank. “2 TOP TEAMSTERS CHARGED WITH ASSOCIATING WITH CRIMINALS.” The Washington Post. May 10, 1991. Accessed July 12, 2017. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1991/05/10/2-top-teamsters-charged-with-associating-with-criminals/55ad8649-f0ff-4b8e-9ba3-d35723f0f985/
  36. Fitch, Robert. Solidarity for Sale: How Corruption Destroyed the Labor Movement and Undermined America’s Promise. New York: Public Affairs, 2006, pages 226-227
  37. Kannar, George. “Making the Teamsters Safe for Democracy.” The Yale Law Journal 102, no. 7 (1993): 1645-687. Accessed July 12, 2017. doi:10.2307/796828.
  38. Leeden, Michael A., and Mike Moroney. “The White House Joins the Teamsters.” American Enterprise Institute. November 1, 1998. Accessed July 12, 2017. https://www.aei.org/publication/the-white-house-joins-the-teamsters/
  39. Fitch, Robert. Solidarity for Sale: How Corruption Destroyed the Labor Movement and Undermined America’s Promise. New York: Public Affairs, 2006, pages 229-230
  40. From the anti-union side, see Troy, Leo. ” The UPS Strike: Labor Tilts at Windmills.” The Heritage Foundation. March 20, 1998. Accessed July 12, 2017. http://www.heritage.org/jobs-and-labor/report/bg1165es-the-ups-strike-labor-tilts-windmills ; from the pro-union side see Fitch, Robert. Solidarity for Sale: How Corruption Destroyed the Labor Movement and Undermined America’s Promise. New York: Public Affairs, 2006, pages 214-215.
  41. Greenhouse, Steven. “Ron Carey, Who Led Teamsters Reforms, Dies at 72.” The New York Times. December 12, 2008. Accessed July 12, 2017. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/13/us/13carey.html
  42. “Teamsters’ Carey charged by review board, announces leave.” CNN. November 26, 1997. Accessed July 12, 2017. http://www.cnn.com/US/9711/26/briefs/teamsters/
  43. Fitch, Robert. Solidarity for Sale: How Corruption Destroyed the Labor Movement and Undermined America’s Promise. New York: Public Affairs, 2006, page 232.
  44. Fitch, Robert. Solidarity for Sale: How Corruption Destroyed the Labor Movement and Undermined America’s Promise. New York: Public Affairs, 2006, pages 233-234.
  45. Fitch, Robert. Solidarity for Sale: How Corruption Destroyed the Labor Movement and Undermined America’s Promise. New York: Public Affairs, 2006, pages 235-236.
  46. GOLDMAN, JOHN J., and STUART SILVERSTEIN. “3 Plead Guilty to Illegal Use of Teamster Funds.” Los Angeles Times. September 19, 1997. Accessed July 12, 2017. http://articles.latimes.com/1997/sep/19/news/mn-33967
  47. Safire, William. “Essay; Labor Takes the Fifth.” The New York Times. November 25, 1997. Accessed July 12, 2017. http://www.nytimes.com/1997/11/26/opinion/essay-labor-takes-the-fifth.html
  48. Greenhouse, Steven. “Ex-Teamsters Official Sentenced to 3 Years.” The New York Times. March 14, 2000. Accessed July 12, 2017. http://www.nytimes.com/2000/03/15/us/ex-teamsters-official-sentenced-to-3-years.html
  49. Fitch, Robert. Solidarity for Sale: How Corruption Destroyed the Labor Movement and Undermined America’s Promise. New York: Public Affairs, 2006, page 242
  50. Greenhouse, Steven. “HOFFA WILL LEAD TEAMSTERS AFTER CHIEF RIVAL CONCEDES.” The New York Times. December 05, 1998. Accessed July 12, 2017. http://www.nytimes.com/1998/12/06/us/hoffa-will-lead-teamsters-after-chief-rival-concedes.html
  51. Cooper, Marc. “Where’s Hoffa Driving the Teamsters?” The Nation. July 13, 2000. Accessed July 12, 2017. https://www.thenation.com/article/wheres-hoffa-driving-teamsters
  52. “UAW, Teamsters endorse Kerry.” UPI. March 25, 2004. Accessed July 12, 2017. http://www.upi.com/UAW-Teamsters-endorse-Kerry/87561080252654/
  53. Schneier, Cogan, and Louis Nelson. “Teamsters endorse Hillary Clinton.” POLITICO. August 26, 2016. Accessed July 12, 2017. http://www.politico.com/story/2016/08/teamsters-endorse-hillary-clinton-227463
  54. Johnson, William. “Teamsters: Changing to Win?” The Nation. May 30, 2006. Accessed July 12, 2017. https://www.thenation.com/article/teamsters-changing-win/
  55. See Di Trolio, Gerard. “Reformers Producing Fierce Challenge to Longtime Hoffa Leadership of Teamsters Union.” Alternet. April 25, 2016. Accessed July 13, 2017. http://www.alternet.org/labor/reformers-producing-fierce-challenge-longtime-hoffa-leadership-teamsters-union and Early, Steve. “Whither Change to Win?” Whither Change to Win? – Working In These Times. October 10, 2011. Accessed July 13, 2017. http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/12074/whither_change_to_win
  56. Judis, John. “Obama Union Pledge Raises Questions.” CBS News. May 19, 2008. Accessed July 12, 2017. http://www.cbsnews.com/news/obama-union-pledge-raises-questions/
  57. Golden, Zara. “In Warning To Tea Party, James Hoffa Says: ‘Let’s Take These Sons Of Bitches Out’.” Mediaite. September 05, 2011. Accessed July 12, 2017. http://www.mediaite.com/tv/in-warning-to-tea-party-jimmy-hoffa-jr-says-lets-take-these-sons-of-bitches-out/
  58. LeVine, Marianne and Brian Mahoney. “With end of Teamsters supervision, an era passes.” POLITICO. January 14, 2015. Accessed July 13, 2017. http://www.politico.com/story/2015/01/justice-department-teamsters-union-supervision-ends-114281
  59. Bradbury, Alexandra. “Teamster Contest Reaches Fever Pitch.” Labor Notes. October 12, 2016. Accessed July 13, 2017. http://labornotes.org/2016/10/teamster-contest-reaches-fever-pitch
  60. Bradbury, Alexandra. “In Election Squeaker, Teamsters United Nearly Topples Hoffa.” Labor Notes. December 15, 2016. Accessed July 13, 2017. http://labornotes.org/2016/12/election-squeaker-teamsters-united-nearly-topples-hoffa
  61. International Brotherhood of Teamsters. “IIO Charges Against Ken Hall Withdrawn.” TheStreet. February 22, 2017. Accessed July 13, 2017. https://www.thestreet.com/story/14012137/1/iio-charges-against-ken-hall-withdrawn.html
  62. Isidore, Chris. “Hoffa critic elected to succeed him as Teamster president.” CNN Business, November 18, 2021. https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/18/business/teamster-election-hoffa-obrien/index.html
  63. “O’BRIEN-ZUCKERMAN, GENERAL EXECUTIVE BOARD BEGIN FIVE-YEAR TERM.” International Brotherhood of Teamsters, March 22, 2022. https://teamster.org/2022/03/obrien-zuckerman-general-executive-board-begin-five-year-term/
  64. Meisner, Jason, and Bill Ruthhart. “Teamsters boss indicted on charges of extorting $100,000 from business.” Chicago Tribune. July 13, 2017. Accessed July 13, 2017. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-teamster-union-boss-indicted-extortion-met-20170712-story.html
  65. “Teamsters | Guilty Pleas.” Union Facts. 2017. Accessed July 14, 2017. https://www.unionfacts.com/olmscrime/Teamsters/Guilty_Pleas.
  66. Higgins, Sean. “Charges recommended against fourth top Teamster official.” Washington Examiner. November 22, 2016. Accessed July 14, 2017. http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/charges-recommended-against-fourth-top-teamster-official/article/2607998
  67. McMorris, Bill. “Labor Official Earning $380K Crowdfunds Legal Defense for Corruption Probe.” Washington Free Beacon. April 20, 2017. Accessed July 14, 2017. http://freebeacon.com/issues/labor-official-earning-380k-crowdfunds-legal-defense-corruption-probe/
  68. McMorris, Bill. “Former Judge: Panel May Have Improperly Dropped Charges Against Playboy Teamster.” Washington Free Beacon. June 27, 2017. Accessed July 14, 2017. http://freebeacon.com/issues/former-judge-panel-may-have-improperly-dropped-charges-against-playboy-teamster/
  69. “TEAMSTERS: TROUBLE, TROUBLE, TROUBLE.” Pensions & Investments. October 19, 1998. Accessed July 14, 2017. http://www.pionline.com/article/19981019/PRINT/810190727/teamsters-trouble-trouble-trouble
  70. McMorris, Bill. “NY Teamsters’ Pension Fund Goes Belly Up.” Washington Free Beacon. March 01, 2017. Accessed July 14, 2017. http://freebeacon.com/issues/ny-teamsters-pension-fund-goes-belly/
  71. Otis, Ginger Adams. “N.Y. retirees struggle to survive after pension fund bottoms out.” NY Daily News. February 26, 2017. Accessed July 14, 2017. http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/n-y-retirees-struggle-survive-pension-fund-bottoms-article-1.2982399
  72. Stevens, Charles P. “The Future of the Central States Pension Fund.” The National Law Review. July 8, 2016. Accessed July 14, 2017. https://www.natlawreview.com/article/future-central-states-pension-fund
  73. McMorris, Bill. “Teamsters Ordered to Stop Picketing Funeral Homes.” Washington Free Beacon. July 31, 2013. Accessed July 14, 2017. http://freebeacon.com/national-security/teamsters-ordered-to-stop-picketing-funeral-homes/
  74. Robb, David. “‘Top Chef’ Host Padma Lakshmi And Crew Flambéed By Boston Teamsters.” Deadline. August 22, 2014. Accessed July 14, 2017. http://deadline.com/2014/08/padma-lakshmi-boston-teamsters-attack-top-chef-820137/
  75. Bliss, George. “HOFFA TELLS OF TEAMSTERS’ AID TO FRIENDS (September 20, 1960).” HOFFA TELLS OF TEAMSTERS’ AID TO FRIENDS | Chicago Tribune Archive. September 20, 1960. Accessed July 18, 2017. http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1960/09/20/page/22/article/hoffa-tells-of-teamsters-aid-to-friends
  76. “Teamsters Timeline, 1950-1971.” International Brotherhood of Teamsters Labor History Research Center. Accessed July 18, 2017. http://teamstersarchives.gwu.edu/node/11
  77. Griffin, Junius. “TEAMSTER FUNDS BATTLE KENNEDY.” The New York Times. October 28, 1964. Accessed July 18, 2017. http://www.nytimes.com/1964/10/29/teamster-funds-battle-kennedy.html
  78. Schneier, Cogan, and Louis Nelson. “Teamsters endorse Hillary Clinton.” Politico. August 26, 2016. Accessed July 18, 2017. http://www.politico.com/story/2016/08/teamsters-endorse-hillary-clinton-227463
  79. Center for Responsive Politics. “Top Organization Contributors.” Opensecrets.org. May 16, 2017. Accessed July 18, 2017. https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/list.php?cycle=ALL
  80. National Institute on Money in State Politics. “Show me contributions with parent org of International Brotherhood of Teamsters/IBT to candidates and committees (within state and local data).” FollowtheMoney.org. 2017. Accessed July 18, 2017. https://www.followthemoney.org/show-me?f-fc=2,3&d-par=2566#[{1|gro=d-id,f-eid
  81. Mix, Mark. “GOP’s Labor Education.” National Review. August 28, 2003. Accessed July 18, 2017. http://www.nationalreview.com/article/207870/gops-labor-education-mark-mix
  82. Neidig, Harper. “Trump reaches out to Teamsters union.” TheHill. May 07, 2016. Accessed July 18, 2017. http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/279114-trump-reaches-out-to-teamster-union-on-twitter
  83. Pino, Dominic. “More Evidence That Organized Labor Is Progressivism, and Progressivism Is Organized Labor.” National Review, April 17, 2024. https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/more-evidence-that-organized-labor-is-progressivism-and-progressivism-is-organized-labor/
  84. Morrison, Aaron. “AP Exclusive: ‘Strike for Black Lives’ to highlight racism”. Associated Press. July 8, 2020. https://apnews.com/d33b36c415f5dde25f64e49ccc35ac43
  85. Reingold, Olivia. “American Anti-War Activists Cheer for Iran’s War.” The Free Press, April 14, 2024. https://www.thefp.com/p/american-anti-war-activists-cheer
  86. Ross, Chuck. “Teamsters Join Forces With Israel-Hating Labor Union That Backs ‘Resistance’ Against Jewish State.” Washington Free Beacon, June 5, 2024. https://freebeacon.com/democrats/teamsters-join-forces-with-israel-hating-labor-union-that-backs-resistance-against-jewish-state/
  87. Watson, Katheryn. “Sean O’Brien, Teamsters union chief, becomes first Teamster to address RNC.” CBS News, July 15, 2024. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/sean-obrien-teamsters-union-chief-rnc/
  88. Watson, Katheryn. “Sean O’Brien, Teamsters union chief, becomes first Teamster to address RNC.” CBS News, July 15, 2024. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/sean-obrien-teamsters-union-chief-rnc/
  89. “Sean O’Brien.” International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Accessed November 20, 2023. https://teamster.org/leadership/sean-obrien/
  90. Gonyea, Don. “#TBT: 40 Years After Jimmy Hoffa’s Disappearance, His Legend Lives On.” NPR. July 30, 2015. Accessed July 18, 2017. http://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2015/07/30/427773947/-tbt-union-man-jimmy-hoffa-is-still-gone-but-the-legend-lives-on
  91. “James P. Hoffa.” Teamsters. Accessed July 18, 2017. https://teamster.org/about/leadership/james-hoffa
  92. “Fred Zuckerberg.” International Brotherhood of Teamsters, November 20, 2023. https://teamster.org/leadership/fred-zuckerman/
  93. Richardson, Tyrone. “Teamsters Executive Said to Have Obstructed Investigation.” Bloomberg BNA. November 4, 2016. Accessed July 18, 2017. https://www.bna.com/teamsters-executive-obstructed-n57982082251/
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Nonprofit Information

  • Accounting Period: December - November
  • Tax Exemption Received: February 1, 1941

  • Available Filings

    Period Form Type Total revenue Total functional expenses Total assets (EOY) Total liabilities (EOY) Unrelated business income? Total contributions Program service revenue Investment income Comp. of current officers, directors, etc. Form 990
    2020 Dec Form 990 $201,796,223 $156,592,555 $475,639,855 $26,769,370 N $2,938,250 $185,962,581 $11,346,091 $8,843,412
    2019 Dec Form 990 $208,821,018 $170,401,488 $410,184,097 $30,599,169 N $3,631,133 $194,537,021 $10,443,985 $9,776,496 PDF
    2018 Dec Form 990 $199,945,376 $170,722,010 $334,736,232 $26,923,976 N $4,034,131 $187,390,169 $8,162,722 $9,288,943 PDF
    2017 Dec Form 990 $192,305,773 $160,220,371 $323,769,529 $20,306,864 N $3,674,110 $182,259,061 $6,968,446 $9,787,390
    2016 Dec Form 990 $185,878,045 $154,739,907 $284,074,904 $20,775,930 N $3,535,169 $176,598,398 $6,393,201 $9,792,316 PDF
    2015 Dec Form 990 $182,596,707 $147,686,790 $270,376,279 $44,527,499 N $3,549,374 $171,101,859 $7,545,848 $9,253,209 PDF
    2014 Dec Form 990 $176,851,008 $151,621,587 $256,531,166 $54,179,633 N $3,432,864 $167,597,967 $5,658,009 $9,780,269 PDF
    2013 Dec Form 990 $167,815,126 $146,888,035 $235,357,596 $64,406,455 N $3,104,402 $165,151,540 $2,898,068 $9,508,857 PDF
    2012 Dec Form 990 $170,639,544 $150,932,115 $225,417,172 $69,587,118 N $5,433,511 $161,164,011 $4,048,662 $9,319,881 PDF
    2011 Dec Form 990 $174,851,880 $145,158,021 $211,892,252 $74,478,383 N $4,087,993 $162,147,971 $4,667,266 $9,467,610 PDF

    Additional Filings (PDFs)

    International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT)

    25 LOUISIANA AVE NW
    WASHINGTON, DC 20001-2130