James Phillip Hoffa (born May 19, 1941), also known as James Hoffa Jr. or Jim Hoffa, is an American labor leader and attorney who served as the tenth General President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. He is the son of former Teamsters president Jimmy Hoffa. First elected in 1998, Hoffa was subsequently re-elected in 2001, 2006, 2011, and 2016, serving five consecutive five-year terms. In 2018, he was elected Chair of the Road Transport Section of the International Transport Workers' Federation during its quadrennial congress in Singapore. Hoffa is the second-longest-serving General President in the union’s history, following Dan Tobin, who held the position from 1907 to 1952. His final term concluded in 2022.
Personal life
Hoffa is the son of Jimmy Hoffa, who served as General President of the Teamsters from 1957 to 1971, and Josephine (née Poszywak) Hoffa. He has one sister, Judge Barbara Ann Crancer. Hoffa is married to Virginia "Ginger" Sue Harris (b. 1945), a former teacher and licensed veterinary technician since 1969. They have two sons, David (b. 1970) and Geoffrey (b. 1972), and six grandchildren.
Born in Detroit, Michigan on May 19, 1941, Hoffa attended Cooley High School. There, he became a member of the National Honor Society, and an all-city and all-state football player. During the summer months, the Hoffa family visited their cottage in rural Orion Township outside Detroit.How one man's bad luck paved way for creation of Cranbrook The Detroit News, January 14, 2002
Hoffa often accompanied his father to Teamster meetings and events, and became a Teamster in 1959 on his 18th birthday. Hoffa holds a degree in economics from Michigan State University (1963) and a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Michigan Law School (1966). Hoffa was awarded a Ford Foundation Fellowship to work in the Michigan State Senate as an aide to senate and house members doing constituent relations and research. Hoffa is a member of Alpha Tau Omega. He was an attorney for the Teamsters from 1968 to 1993.
Teamsters activity
2021 Election of International Union Officers Following 23 years as the leader of the union, Hoffa announced his intent to retire at the end of his term and backed the Vairma-Herrera Teamsters Power Slate. In November 2021, the O'Brien-Zuckerman Teamsters United Slate beat the Hoffa-backed slate by a more than two-to-one margin. O'Brien and his slate were sworn into office on March 22, 2022, at Teamsters headquarters in Washington, D.C. On the day his administration was installed, O'Brien fired more than 80 employees at the headquarters. He did not offer any severance or extension of benefits to the terminated staff. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters currently faces charges with the National Labor Relations Board in connection the terminations. https://www.nlrb.gov/case/05-CA-303660|title = NLRB Case 05-CA-303660 As of November 10, 2022, the union was required to pay eligible terminated employees more than $175,000 as part of a settlement with the District of Columbia Attorney General's Office for violating D.C. Code 32-1303. https://www.mediafire.com/file/k6dzrgq8bpiw2rg/11.10.22+IBT+Settlement+Agreement+-+Fully+Executed.pdf/file%7Ctitle|title = IBT Settlement with the Attorney General for the District of Columbia
2021 Pension Reform Hoffa led Teamster efforts to protect defined-benefit pension plans for more than a decade following the economic collapse of 2008. The legislation championed by Hoffa and the Teamsters was known as the Butch Lewis Act, named after a Teamster retiree pension activist, and became law as part of President Biden's American Rescue Plan stimulus package in 2021. NBC News, March 15, 2021 As part of the ARP, more than 50 Teamster pension plans – including its largest, the Central States Pension Fund – are eligible for assistance at the outset of the bill's enactment, with more of the union's plans becoming eligible in 2022. Under the new law, money to assist eligible plans will come directly from the U.S. Treasury Department in the form of grants which would not need to be repaid. Plan participants will receive 100 percent of their earned pension benefits. International Brotherhood of Teamsters, March 11, 2021
Appointments (2019 – Present) Chair, Road Section, International Transport Workers Federation; (2019 – Present) Member, Executive Board, International Transport Workers Federation; (2015 – Present) Board Member, Roosevelt Institute; (2010 – Present) USTR Advisory Committee on Trade Policy and Negotiations; (2009 – Present) Department of Labor Advisory Committee for Trade Negotiations and Trade Policy; (2013 – 2015) National Freight Advisory Committee; (2002 – 2004) President's Council on the 21st Century Workforce; (2002 – 2004) Secretary of Energy's Advisory Board International Brotherhood of Teamsters
Legislative activities during tenure Hoffa earned a reputation as an advocate for fair trade and worker safety.Dine, Phil, Washington Times. "Labor Needs Someone To Step Up With Dynamic Leadership." August 18, 2009. He transformed the Teamsters into a premier political force by changing alliances and rhetoric unpredictably.Dickerson, John F., Time. "Working a Double Shift." September 2, 2001.
Under his leadership, the Teamsters ended a federal program that allowed Mexican truckers to haul goods beyond the border zone in the United States.Spruiell, Stephen, National Review Online. "Obama's Second Chance." September 14, 2009. The Teamsters strongly opposed a trade deal with Colombia through lobbying and street protests, and were credited with helping to prevent a similar trade deal with Panama.Rosenkrantz, Holly, Bloomberg News. "Labor Gains Obama Policies Cooper Tire-to-Wire Walmart Companies Rue." October 29, 2009.Gutierrez, Carl, Forbes. "Hoffa to Bush: Drop Free Trade." December 16, 2007.
The Teamsters successfully encouraged Congress to pass legislation increasing rail security in 2007.Marino, Jonathan, GovExec. "Teamsters Seek Rail Security Focus." January 8, 2007
The Teamsters sued the Bush administration in 2005 to overturn regulations that extended the number of hours a driver could spend behind the wheel of a truck. The Teamsters argued the rule would contribute to driver fatigue. The Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia sided with the Teamsters, but it was the Obama administration that finally agreed to change the rule.Chen, Michelle, Air America. "Weary Truckers on Path to Reforming Road Rules." October 27, 2009
Under his leadership, the Teamsters ended a federal program in 2009 that allowed Mexican truckers to haul goods beyond the border zone in the United States. Hoffa predicted the failure of a second version of the program in October 2011, and challenged it in federal court.
George Washington University In 2008, Hoffa established the Teamsters Labor History Research Center and the Teamsters archives at the George Washington University Gelman Library in Washington, D.C.
Hoffa was awarded the university's President's Medal in 2014. "George Washington is proud to honor Jim Hoffa as a passionate advocate for social justice and the labor movement, as one of the foremost experts on labor issues, and also as a dedicated partner and friend of this university," said Steven Knapp, GW President. GW Today, January 30, 2014
1996 campaign Hoffa campaigned against the Teamsters incumbent president, Ron Carey, at the Teamsters international convention of June 1996 in Philadelphia. After nearly 500,000 votes were cast in early November 1996, Ron Carey had won the election with 52 percent of the vote.Swoboda, Frank, "Carey Claims Reelection Win as Teamsters President; Thousands of Challenged Ballots Await Tabulation in Close Race Against James P. Hoffa." Washington Post. December 15, 1996: A25. Online. Nexis. October 5, 2009. At the time Carey characterized the victory as one for "reformers in the American labor movement."
Five months later, in April 1997, news broke that a federal grand jury was investigating Hoffa led allegations that Ron Carey had received illegal campaign kickbacks and employer contributions during the Teamsters election the previous year.Swoboda, Frank. "Federal Grand Jury Investigating Teamsters President; Election Overseer Also Probing Opponent's Allegations of Illegal Campaign Contributions." Washington Post. April 2, 1997: C10. Online. Nexis. October 5, 2009. The union has been supervised by a court-appointed administrator ever since a consent decree with the Justice Department in 1989.
A new election for Teamsters president was ordered by the federal government in August 1997, after federal official Barbara Zack Quindel's investigation uncovered a "complex network of schemes" that involved the improper use of Teamster assets.Swoboda, Frank. "U.S. Orders Teamsters to Hold New Election." Washington Post. August 23, 1997: A01. Online. Nexis. October 5, 2009.
Quindel found that the Carey campaign had received more than $220,000 in illegal contributions.Greenhouse, Steven. "Teamsters Voting That Chose Carey Declared Invalid." New York Times. August 23, 1997. Online. September 15, 2009. Ultimately, the Independent Review Board found that more than $750,000 in union assets had been used in Carey's 1996 reelection campaign.Greenhouse, Steven. "Board Expels Ron Carey from Teamsters for Life." New York Times. July 28, 1998. Online. September 15, 2009.
During the 1998 election Tom Leedham, then-director of the Teamsters Warehouse Division, campaigned against James P. Hoffa. Campaigning to unite the union, Hoffa won the election. After having lost narrowly in 1996 to Ron Carey, Hoffa's new role as president was considered by Teamster members as a chance to rebuild the union.Greenhouse, Steven. "Hoffa Will Lead Teamsters After Chief Rival Concedes." New York Times. December 6, 1998. Online. September 18, 2009.
Hoffa was re-elected in 2001, 2006, 2011, and 2016 to five-year terms.
1999 "The first big test of the Hoffa administration"Greenhouse, Steven. "Teamsters Reach an Accord with Haulers of New Cars." New York Times. June 3, 1999. Online. September 25, 2009. after abruptly walking away from the Overnite Transportation organization effort that Ron Carey had all but won, was the ratification in June 1999, of a four-year contract covering 13,000 carhaul members after an unprecedented amount of communication in the form of rallies, newsletters, and a telephone hotline that was called more than 20,000 times over the course of the contract campaign. Solidarity rallies in Detroit, Los Angeles, and Nashville attracted more than 6,000 carhaulers, family members, and friends. The new contract averted a national strike and included pension gains, job security language, and significant wage increases.
"The new union leader is being closely watched in part because he has pledged to restore unity in Teamsters' ranks in the wake of a divisive campaign finance scandal."Love, Alice Ann. "Hoffa Getting Mixed Reviews in His First Bargaining Test." Journal of Commerce. June 4, 1999. Online. September 25, 2009.
Two thousand full-time jobs were created after Teamster pressure on United Parcel Service (UPS) as part of the commitment made by the 1997 contract won by Ron Carey. "My administration sent UPS management a very clear message. We expect UPS to meet their obligations under the 1997 agreement, and we will not tolerate company delays or numbers manipulation.""Teamsters Win 2,000 Full-Time Jobs." Teamster. Dec. 1999: 4.
2000s and 2010s In April 2000, more than 8,000 flight attendants at Northwest Airlines voted to ratify a new contract with improvements in compensation and retirement packages and ending a 3½ year labor dispute."National News Briefs; Flight Attendants Reach a Tentative Settlement." New York Times. April 21, 2000. Web. September 25, 2009.