Get Updates

History

Webinar: TDU's Role in the Teamsters

Since 1979, TDU has built union power from below. Watch this webinar to learn about the history of the Teamster reform movement and TDU's role in the union today.

The History of Teamster Corruption, Rebellion, and Reform

right_to_vote.jpgA 55-minute podcast interview with Ken Paff. Start the broadcast. This fact-filled podcast covers the growth of Teamster power, the parasitic corruption that accompanied it, and the victories, defeats and future of Teamster reform. Ken Paff is a founding member of TDU, and the strategist behind winning the Right to Vote for IBT Officers for all Teamsters.

Click here for a six-part history of TDU.

Click here for a history of changes to the IBT Constitution. 

Video: Reform History at IBT Conventions: 1981-2001. A nine-minute video of highlights and lowlights from past IBT Conventions.

Mother Trucker: The Diana Kilmury Story. A fact-based award-winning movie telling the history and TDU-involvement of the first-ever woman elected to the IBT General Executive Board in 1991. 

Video: Labor's Turning Point. A documentary film on the 1934 Minneapolis strikes that paved the way for Teamster growth in the trucking industry. Strike leader Jack Maloney, featured in the film, was a strong TDU supporter in his later years.
Article: "The Teamster Revolt Against the Hoffa Era" by David Levin. The story of how TDU and Teamsters United built a coalition to oust James Hoffa Jr. and transform the union.
Video: TDU pioneers Diana Kilmury ("Mother Trucker") and Ken Paff are interviewed on TDU's origin and taking on the mob.
Read: A Brief History of the Consent Order and the Right to Vote for IBT Officers.

Related Articles

How the $100,000 Club and TDU Have Changed Teamster History

March 07, 2007
TDU began publishing the “$100,000 Club” in 1979. Armed with this information, and the Right to Vote, Teamsters have demanded financial reforms and won them. In 1987, Teamster President Jackie presser bagged $609,984 in multiple salaries. In today’s dollars (adjusted for inflation), that would be over $1 million. International Vice President Arnie Weinmeister made $443,612 that year. Others, like Weldon Mathis, took home $305,914. They used union-owned jets to go to golf resorts. In 1989,...

Fighting for Change at Teamster Conventions Past and Present

April 26, 2006
On June 25 some 1,700 delegates and several hundred alternates will assemble at the Paris Hotel in Las Vegas for the 27th Convention of the Teamsters Union. The majority of these delegates will be there to rubber stamp whatever Hoffa proposes. Many see the convention as a chance to party on members’ dues money. But hundreds of delegates will fight for changes to rebuild our union’s power and strengthen members’ rights—and history is on their...

Take the Teamster History Quiz

March 18, 2006
1. How soon after the formation of the IBT did reformers challenge an incumbent president? ___Two years ___Twenty-eight years ___Fifty-four years ___Eighty-eight years 2. Which Teamster leader was beaten and nearly killed by opponents? ___ Ron Carey ___ Pete Camarata ___ Cornelius Shea ___ Tony Provenzano 3. Which Teamster leader likened himself to a Roman emperor? ___Tom Keegel ___Jackie Presser ___Mike Ruscigno ___Dane Passo 4. Which are victories won by TDU? __ Stopped unreasonable rules...

Women on Front Lines of Early Teamster Reform

March 17, 2006
Before TDU won the right for direct elections of delegates, women and minorities hardly ever made it to the floor of the Teamster Convention. The Right to Vote helped that situation. As we look forward to building a movement that includes the voices of all Teamsters, TDU would like to take advantage of Women’s History Month to acknowledge some exceptional women who have fought for their sisters and brothers against the corruption of previous Teamster...

Corruption and the Fall of Jimmy Hoffa: An Inside Story from the Man Who Claims He Killed Hoffa

March 15, 2006
Review: "I Heard You Paint Houses": Frank 'the Irishman' Sheeran and the Inside Story of the Mafia, the Teamsters, and the Final Ride of Jimmy Hoffa. "I heard you paint houses." Those are the first words Jimmy Hoffa ever spoke to Frank Sheeran, who would become a top Teamster official in the 1960s and '70s as well as a hired killer for Hoffa and the mob. The words refer to the splatter of blood when...
Get Advice Join TDU Donate

Recent News

UPS Specialists: Contract Win Today, Nationwide Organizing Drive Tomorrow

March 18, 2024

UPS specialists and administrative workers at the Louisville Centennial Hub have ratified an agreement that brings them under the national UPS contract and paves the way for more than 5,000 nonunion admins and specialists nationwide to also become Teamsters.

Can Members Use the Teamster Logo?

March 14, 2024

The short answer is Yes. Teamsters and retirees are free to use the term Teamster and our union’s logo. But you need to know the Do’s and Don’ts.  

View More News Posts

Members' Rights

Stewards Toolbox