International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs,
While trucking and warehousing are the core jurisdictions of International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen, and Helpers of America, this union has the following well organized cannery workers: teachers, police, airline attendants, and other types of workers. The Teamsters, or IBT, has a rather vague history. Although formal organization, resembling unions can be traced back as far as 1850 for those drivers having a single team of horses and one wagon, they were more like guilds. These organizations were often informal, short-lived, and primarily composed of driver-owners whose chief preoccupation was with drayage rates rather than salaries. These organizations slowly evolved into unions, particularly as mass production and technological advances ensued leading to the manufacture of trucks (Garnel, 1972).
Not until the early part of the century did a clear separation between workers and employers occur, with the ensuing development of numerous unions - including the IBT which was part of the American Federation of Labor (AFL). The unions met considerable employer and government opposition in their attempts to earn better working conditions for workers, including an eight-hour work day, protection from capricious wage-cuts and lay-offs, reasonable and guaranteed benefits, and the right to organize. As a result, there were numerous situations in which union members were labeled as anti-capitalists because they were thought to be against capitalism, the economic foundation of America. There was a blatant anti-labor atmosphere in America and union growth in general was curtailed until the following occurred: government legislation became less repressive, unions overcame employer counteraction - for the most part by showing their ability to cooperate with employers; and, anti-union sentiment in the country was reduced as unions were less thought of as soc...