In Chicago last week the 5,200 cab drivers and mechanics of Teamster Local 777 proved that in union there is strength —and also demonstrated why Teamsters' Boss Jimmy Hoffa dislikes the secret ballot. In an election supervised not only by the National Labor Relations Board but also by Chicago police, Local 777's members made it abundantly clear that they want no more truck with the Teamsters.
Ending a 25-year Teamster grip on Chicago's taxicabs was an uphill job. Local 777 has long been run as the private preserve of hard-eyed Hoodlum Joey Glimco, who is known around Chicago as "Jimmy Hoffa's Pal Joey." Glimco controlled not only the union but also the 48-local Teamster Joint Council and a fistful of "Windy City" rackets as well. His various activities earned him an estimated $70,000 a month.
Kicks & Kickbacks. Glimco had been particularly freehanded with Local 777's treasury. He authorized the purchase of no less than $11,973 worth of flowers and charged them to the local. He spent $4,289 on a party for Jimmy Hoffa. He and his secretary took a $1,045 trip posing as man and wife, charged it off to Local 777 as "entertainment expense." They also took joint title to a house built by Contractor Frank Pantaleo, who happened to be refurbishing the local's union hall at a king-size cost of $85,325. For a while, Glimco also forced 777's former President Dominic Abata to kick back more than half his $175 weekly salary as tribute.
It was Abata who finally rallied anti-Glimco forces, organized an independent union, began a battle to turn out Pal Joey. Some of his aides were roughed up, and Abata himself received so many threats that he asked for and got constant police guard. Finally, last May, the NLRB upheld Abata's contention that the Teamsters and cab companies had been guilty of unfair labor practices. The NLRB ordered an election.
"Crack in the Dam." No sooner was the date set than Hoffa flew to Chicago to help Pal Joey. At a mass meeting of drivers, he blasted Abata, warned that "he wants to take away your bargaining power." He also pulled a typical Hoffa trick. Just as onetime Heavyweight Champion Joe Louis had been brought into court four years ago to impress eight Negro jurors when Hoffa was on trial for bribery, the Teamsters' boss enlisted Track Star Jesse Owens to impress Local 777's large Negro membership. Said Owens: "The situation of some Negro cab drivers is pretty good now. It wasn't when I first came here a few years ago."
But neither Jimmy Hoffa nor Jesse Owens could explain away the sordid past of Joey Glimco. Filing into voting booths set up in 23 garages, the drivers and mechanics turned out Joey and the Teamsters by a vote of 2.122 to 1,760. Abata, whose Democratic Union Organizing Committee will now represent Chicago cabbies, was elated. "This is a trend," he said, "a crack in the dam."