International Brotherhood of Teamsters

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 memb

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re, expect more from the union regarding job and benefits protection, increased union-management cooperation, and enhanced representation. Although the Teamsters have had several educational goals during the course of their existence, most prevalent is promoting the notion that workers and management can coexist for the good of the organization and society. That is, union representation of workers does not constitute anti-employerism or anti-capitalism, and, employers need not suffer when workers are equitably treated relative to benefits and the institution of due process procedures (Schuler, 1984). This goal is at the heart of the very survival of the union; other goals of the Teamsters reflect commendable social needs, such as increasing female and minority membership and office-holding. Anti-labor sentiment, which continues to exist in America, is founded upon the notion that unions denote guaranteed anti-employer ideology which seeks to take control of the company from management through the labor contract. Further, it is thought that union presence carries with it increased worker empowerment in the management process; it is believed that job security, benefits, grievance handling, etc. progressively fall under the dom

Category: History - I