If you're not a patron you can get the full episode by visiting patreon.com/workstoppage and support us with $5 a month.

We're very excited to be launching a new, wide ranging series on the history of allegations levied against unions of corruption and relations with organized crime. Ever since the formation of the first labor unions, the capitalists and their media have been denouncing organized labor as corrupt, violent, led by racketeers, and in bed with the mob. This allegation remains common today, and what better way to help fight these ideological attacks on unions than by confronting these allegations head on and examining the historical record. And of course, there's no other place we could start than with the case of Jimmy Hoffa, whose reputation looms large as one of the most notorious figures in US labor history. To rigorously examine his case, we will have to go all the way back to the founding of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, and follow allegations of corruption from the early days of the union up through today. 

In this episode, we discuss how the ruling class attacked unions for supposedly being corrupt from the very beginning, and used the media to minimize violence by bosses and amplify stories of violence by workers. In future episodes we will go through a century of Teamster history, the rise of Jimmy Hoffa, his presidency of the union and his fight with the Kennedys, his imprisonment, his disappearance, and ultimately his legacy.  Along the way we will do our best to separate real instances of corruption from the mountain of insinuations and rumor, and discuss what lessons we can learn for our organizing today.

Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX 

Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter,  John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee

Overtime Episode 26 PREVIEW - Unions and The Mob: Reputation vs Reality Pt 1

If you're not a patron you can get the full episode by visiting patreon.com/workstoppage and support us with $5 a month.

In the second episode of our new series examining historical allegations of union corruption and relations with organized crime, we discuss the Daniel Tobin era of the Teamsters from the first decade of the 20th century to the end of WW2. In this period, massive technological changes revolutionized the work of Teamsters, shifting from driving teams of horses in busy urban streets to interstate motorized trucking. This period also saw the rise of the mafia during the years of Prohibition. With the ruling class desperate for a scapegoat to blame for the collapse of the economy during the Great Depression, the capitalist press seized on the opportunity to attack the unions, and so they immediately made the association between unions and the mob. In this episode, we discuss both real instances of corrupt union officials working with mobsters, but also heroic struggles by union leaders to fight the mob, some even paying with their lives.

In future episodes, we will discuss the rise of Dave Beck as Teamster President, Congress's attempt to go after unions with the McClellan Committee, and the dawn of the Hoffa Era.

Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX 

Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter,  John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee

Overtime Episode 27 PREVIEW - Unions and The Mob: Reputation vs Reality Pt 2

If you're not a patron you can get the full episode by visiting patreon.com/workstoppage and support us with $5 a month.

In the fourth episode of our new series examining historical allegations of union corruption and relations with organized crime, we discuss the McClellan Committee investigations into the power of organized labor. We talk about the differences between how the committee's investigations were portrayed, as a fight against corruption, and the actions of the committee, which minimized its focus on corruption and instead took aim at worker power. We discuss the downfall of Teamster president Dave Beck and his replacement by Jimmy Hoffa, and the start of the 10 year crusade against Hoffa by Robert Kennedy. 

In future episodes, we will discuss the period of Hoffa's presidency of the Teamsters, his corrupt dealings with major mob figures, and his attempts to stay out of jail. 

Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX 

Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter,  John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee

Overtime Episode 29 PREVIEW - Unions and The Mob: Reputation vs Reality Pt 4

If you're not a patron you can get the full episode by visiting patreon.com/workstoppage and support us with $5 a month.

In the fifth episode of our new series examining historical allegations of union corruption and relations with organized crime, we discuss Jimmy Hoffa's tenure as president of the Teamsters. We discuss how while on the one hand, Hoffa negotiated some of the best contracts Teamster workers had ever had, he also stole an enormous amount of money from the rank and file. We cover the many criminal trials Hoffa faced during the 1960s, especially the two he was eventually convicted in. We also take a quick detour to interrogate the various theories of Hoffa's alleged involvement in the JFK assassination.

In the final episode of this part of the series, we will discuss Hoffa's imprisonment, his ouster from the Teamsters, his fight to regain his old leadership post, and his eventual disappearance. We will close out discussing Hoffa's legacy and impact on the Teamsters today and the labor movement more broadly.

Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX 

Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter,  John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee

Overtime Episode 30 PREVIEW - Unions and The Mob: Reputation vs Reality Pt 5

ANTON CYGNI  -  Stop, Drop, and Roll  V2

If you're not a patron you can get the full episode by visiting patreon.com/workstoppage and support us with $5 a month.

In the final episode of the Teamsters portion of our examination of the history of allegations of union corruption and mafia collusion, we close out the story of Jimmy Hoffa. We discuss the changing of the guard from Hoffa to Frank Fitzsimmons, Hoffa's relationship with Richard Nixon and his eventual release from prison, and of course Hoffa's disappearance, which remains controversial to this day. 

But this is a story not just about Hoffa, but the whole history of the Teamsters, so we also touch on the presidencies of Roy Williams and Jackie Presser, the RICO suit against the Teamsters and resulting 25 year trusteeship, and the rise of the TDU as a rank and file movement to root out the decades of corruption that Hoffa brought with him. Finally, we discuss what this all means for the history of the labor movement as a whole, and what lessons we can draw for workers fighting to rebuild the labor movement today.

Main Sources:
Corruption and Reform in the Teamsters Union by David Witwer
The Fall and Rise of Jimmy Hoffa by Walter Sheridan
The Hoffa Wars by Dan Moldea

Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX 

Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter,  John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee

Overtime Episode 31 PREVIEW - Unions and The Mob: Reputation vs Reality Pt 6

Jimmy Hofa, SPENCER

The Vanishing Point: Unraveling the Jimmy Hoffa Cold Case

He was one of the most powerful and polarizing figures in American history – Jimmy Hoffa, the formidable boss of the Teamsters union. Then, on a summer afternoon in 1975, he vanished from a suburban Detroit restaurant parking lot, stepping into one of the nation's most enduring and infamous unsolved mysteries.  

Join us as we delve deep into the disappearance that has captivated America for nearly half a century. What really happened on July 30, 1975? Hoffa was expecting a crucial meeting with Mafia heavyweights Anthony "Tony Jack" Giacalone and Anthony "Tony Pro" Provenzano – a meeting they never attended. Why were they no-shows? And who were the men Hoffa was last seen getting into a car with – a maroon Mercury linked directly to the Giacalone family?  
We'll unpack Hoffa's tumultuous career, his complex dance with organized crime, and the high-stakes comeback attempt that put him on a collision course with mobsters who didn't want him back in control of the lucrative Teamsters pension funds. Was his threat to expose Mafia infiltration the final straw?  

Explore the web of theories surrounding his fate: Was he killed by Frank "The Irishman" Sheeran, as depicted in film? Incinerated in a mob-owned facility? Buried under Giants Stadium, a New Jersey landfill, or countless other alleged sites? We examine the decades of fruitless searches and the often-sensational claims that clouded the investigation.  

Discover the story behind the massive FBI investigation, codenamed HOFFAEX, and the formidable obstacles that turned the case cold: the missing body, the lack of definitive evidence, the limitations of 1975 technology, and the impenetrable Mafia code of silence, Omertà, that shielded the conspirators.  

Can the truth ever be fully known with key suspects and witnesses now deceased, taking their secrets to the grave? Tune in to Law Flaws as we piece together the evidence, analyze the theories, and confront the enduring enigma of Jimmy Hoffa.  


Ep 3: Jimmy Hoffa

HOFFA - Problematic (test)

Lived for is a record label based in Texas, only fire artists !

The podcast that focuses on the law, especially when it falls short.

Shane Howard 
WAXYBEATS (UK) & Howard kHz Productions 
Founding partner, In-house engineering & production, Dishwasher, Gnome Slapper, and Taco Bender extraordinaire. 
Recording Artist   Producer   DJ    Live P.A.   Remix   Video Production 
Deep    Bass    Prog    Future    Disco   Tech   House   Electro   SynthWave   Funk   Mid-Tempo  Down-tempo and experimental electronic. 
Who:
Electronic Music Veteran heard on Global Underground, BBC Radio One, and Multiple compilations - Vinyl found in the record box of some of the worlds most average DJs .   
Submissions: submissions@waxybeats.com
Graphic design:  Åяṫ ßy αмḯè
Amie Williams
Contact: amiers@waxybeats.com 
For More Info: Shane Howard booking and licensing info Contact: 
Greg Fedyk: 
Waxy Co-founder, A&R Manager and big decision maker
greg@waxybeats.com or shane@waxybeats.com 
WAXY BEATS - We bring the Funkin House!

New tracks tagged #jimmy hoffa