1 Year Later, Teamsters Count Hits and Misses

June 2, 2000 11:28 AM, EDT

When James P. Hoffa took office as general president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters in May 1999, following a tortuous and drawn-out election battle, the trucking community waited with bated breath.

Would the former labor lawyer and only son of Jimmy Hoffa — the man who first organized truck drivers and headed the union during its glory days — make good on his promise to restore Teamsters power? Would he suppress internal dissent in the name of Teamster unity? Could he stop the hemorrhage of union finances and sign up more workers?

As he was sworn in last year across the street from Teamsters headquarters near the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., Hoffa vowed to rebuild the Teamsters’ political clout by making contributions to Republican as well as Democratic candidates, and to get rid of federal oversight.

After one year, Hoffa appears to have a mixed record in turning around the troubled union. He has taken a lead role on broad labor issues such as normalizing trade relations with China and blocking implementation of trucking provisions of the North American Free Trade Agreement. Yet, he has had little success in organizing nonunion workers or bridging the deep political rifts that still exist within his union between reformers and traditional hard-line Teamsters leaders.

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