Catherwood LibraryILR School

David Witwer

"Almost since its creation at the close of the nineteenth century, the Teamsters Union has had recurring problems with corruption. This book is the first in-depth historical study of the forces that have contributed to the Teamsters' troubled past, as well as the various mechanisms the union has employed--from top-down directives to grass-roots measures--to combat the spread of corruption.Arguing that the Teamsters Union was by its very nature especially vulnerable to certain forms of corruption, David Witwer charts the process by which organized crime came to play a significant role in sectors of the union, from low-level involvements of the 1930s to suspicions of mob ties among the union's upper echelons beginning in the 1950s. Witwer includes a detailed account of the links forged between the Mafia and union head Jimmy Hoffa as well as the highly revealing McClellan Committee investigation that first brought these links to light." [from the dust jacket]