When I was working with the Teamster reform movement forty years ago, truck drivers concerned about union corruption had to proceed warily. In the late 1970s, too many affiliates of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) were run by grifters or autocrats of the usual business union sort. If you crossed them, the result might be collusion with management to get you fired and then blacklisted.

In other locals and joint councils, located in areas of organized crime strength, some Teamster officials were actual associates of the mob. Their reputation for violent retaliation against union rebels who dared to challenge Teamster corruption and racketeering was even more intimidating.

Frank Sheeran, a six-foot-four, 250-pound Teamster official in Delaware, was definitely in the latter category. After serving in heavy World War II combat, he became a loan shark and mob muscle man, truck driver, labor organizer, and ultimately, a convicted felon who served fifteen years in federal prison.