Militants Enchained

Many activist members of Local 208 expected their new officers to help reorganize activism in those barns that had gone downhill during the trusteeship and to restore the militant activism of the pre-wildcat days. What they got instead was officers who were committed to a legalist strategy focused on aggressive grievance-handling and using diplomacy to win support from parts of the union bureaucracy. The new leaders had considerable integrity and openness in defending this strategy, but legalism proved inadequate when the economic downturn of 1974 led to massive lay-offs, companies moving many of their operations into areas of California outside of Local 208’s jurisdiction, and the higher bureaucracy of the union giving concession after concession to the companies. In the long run, furthermore, legalism would weaken activism as members grew reliant on stewards and Business Agents to make legalist arguments in their defense rather than being active participants themselves through direct action. Efforts by a more militant Business Agent to organize Los Angeles area activist Teamsters fell apart under the contradictions between a Business Agent’s role and the threat an activist rank and file created to business as usual.