The Purge of the Trotskyites From the Teamsters

• Published date: 01 March 1966
• Date: 01 March 1966
• DOI: 10.1177/106591296601900101
• Author: Estelle James,Ralph C. James
• Subject Matter: Articles

5

THE

PURGE

OF

THE

TROTSKYITES

FROM

THE

TEAMSTERS

RALPH

C.

JAMES,

University

of

California,

Davis

and

ESTELLE

JAMES,

Stanford

University

NE

OF

THE

FEW

instances of

Trotskyite

infiltration

into

the

American

N

labor

movement

took

place

in

the

International

Brotherhood

of

Teamsters

(IBT)

during

the

1930’s.

The

ferment

started

in

the

coalyards

of

Minne-

apolis,

where

worked

the

Trotskyite

Dunne

brothers

(Vince,

Miles,

and

Grant)

and

Farrell

Dobbs,

a

bright

young

man

whose

political

thinking

was

undergoing

some

major

changes

in

those

early

depression

years.

By

1934,

Dobbs,

who

had

voted

Republican

in

1932,

was

closely

associated

with

the

Dunne

brothers,

and

shortly

thereafter

joined

the

Socialist

Workers

party,

on

whose

ticket

he

ran

for

president

in

1960.

Sparked by

a

successful

work

stoppage

conducted

by

the

Dunne

brothers

early

in

1934,

thousands

of

Minneapolis

truck

drivers

flocked

into

the

Trotskyite-run

Teamster

Local

574.

By

May

Local

574

was

strong

enough

to

call

a

general

strike

of

members

and

sympathizers

and

thereby

close

down

the

city.

Armed

conflict

ensued

between

police

and

workers.

Aided

by

carefully

laid

war

plans

and

advance

prepara-

tions

(including

their

own

hospital,

cafeteria,

newspaper,

and

picket-dispatching

center,

all

housed

in

an

empty

garage) ,

the

strikers

quickly

won

almost

total

victory

for

the

union

-

recognition

in

a

traditionally

open-shop

city,

as

well

as

higher

wages

and

seniority.

These

gains

were

protected

from

hostile,

recalcitrant

employers

by

a

second

more

lengthy

strike

in

July-August

1934,

likewise

violent

and

likewise

effective.

Flushed

with

these

rapid

and

impressive

victories,

the

Minneapolis

group

began

to

look

elsewhere

for

a

place

to

spread

its

influence

in

the

labor

movement

and

seized

upon

the

newly

burgeoning

strategic

over-the-road

drivers

of

the

Northwest

as

logical

candidates.

While

the

Dunne

brothers

maintained

their

dominance

among

the

Minneapolis

Teamsters,

this

new

task

fell

to

Farrell

Dobbs.

Overcoming

opposition

from

many

IBT

chieftains

as

well

as

from

employers,

Dobbs

boldly

utilized

secondary

pressures

to

force

highway

drivers

into

a

new

area-wide

Teamster

body:

the

Central

States

Drivers

Council.

He

negotiated

its

first

collective

agreement,

covering

most

of

the

Midwest

in

1938.

One

year

later,

Dobbs

resigned

from

the

Teamsters

to

devote

full

time

to

the

Socialist

Workers

party.l

* NOTE:

The

authors

wish

to

express

their

appreciation

to

Farrell

Dobbs,

long-time

leader

of

the

Trotskyite

Socialist

Workers

party

and

founder

of

the

Central

States

Drivers

Council,

for

a

lengthy

and

very

helpful

interview,

and

to

Teamster

President

James

R.

Hoffa

for

making

available

Teamster

records,

including

the

extensive

files

of

the

prior

Teamster

President,

Daniel

J.

Tobin,

while

they

prepared

this

paper.

Hoffa

also

afforded

them

unique

and

fascinating

access

to

union

meetings,

caucuses,

and

personal

discussions.

1

These

events

are

discussed

in

detail

in

Ralph

and

Estelle

James,

"Hoffa’s

Acquisition

of

Indus-

trial

Power,"

Industrial

Relations,

2

(May

1963), 67-95;

"Hoffa’s

Leverage

Techniques

in

Bargaining,"

Industrial

Relations,

3

(October

1963),

73-93;

and

in

our

book,

Hoffa

and

the

Teamsters

(Princeton:

Van

Nostrand,

1965).