Jackie Presser
Jackie Presser was a prominent figure in the labor movement, particularly known for his leadership within the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. Born into a family with deep ties to labor activism and organized crime, Presser's early life was shaped by his father's influence and connections in the union. After serving in the Navy during World War II, he began his career in labor, eventually becoming president of Teamsters Local 10 in Cleveland. His leadership style evolved over the years, marked by a shift to a more respectful approach toward union members.
In the 1970s, Presser played a crucial role in revitalizing the Teamsters' public image, advocating for blue-collar workers while navigating the complexities of union politics and organized crime associations. He became an FBI informant, which complicated his legacy amid ongoing investigations into corruption within the union. Presser served as Teamsters president from 1983 until his death in 1988, during a period of significant scrutiny and scandal. Despite his efforts to restore the union's influence and its ties with the Republican Party, his administration remained marred by allegations of corruption. Presser's complex legacy continues to reflect both the challenges faced by labor unions and the intricate relationship between organized labor and organized crime in America.
On this Page
Subject Terms
Jackie Presser
Labor leader, activist, and criminal
- Born: August 6, 1926
- Birthplace: Cleveland, Ohio
- Died: July 9, 1988
- Place of death: Lakewood, Ohio
Presser was one of the most influential labor leaders in modern history. As president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters during the Ronald Reagan era, Presser led a campaign to rehabilitate the public image of the union, and he served as a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) informant on mob activity.
Early Life
Jackie Presser (PREH-sur) was the son of William and Faye Presser. Jackie Presser’s grandfather was a Jewish Austrian immigrant who worked in textiles and picketed in New York. At the time of Presser’s birth, the family was poor and involved heavily in labor activism. Presser’s father had extensive connections to organized crime and worked his way up to become an important leader in the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. Presser dropped out of school in eighth grade, and his father got him a job delivering jukeboxes. When Presser was seventeen, he joined the Navy and was stationed overseas in World War II. The experience of serving the United States at a time when it was fighting anti-Semitic fascism may have awakened some pride in his Jewish and activist heritage. For the rest of his life, Presser followed his father’s steps in activism and the mob.
Presser’s father became a favorite of Jimmy Hoffa, the long-running Teamsters president. This influence allowed him to secure his son a job in Local 10 in Cleveland. Presser was elected president of Local 10 in 1948, but his early years with the Teamsters were troubled. After expanding Local 10, he was dismissed by the new members he had recruited. In 1964, he failed at an attempt to broker a real estate deal, at heavy cost to the union. However, his father was among the leaders of the Teamsters in Ohio, and he gave Presser the position that would lead to his success: setting up Local 507. Once again Presser excelled at drawing in new members, but this time he was careful not to offend his new charges and started wearing traditional suits instead of sports jackets and pinky rings.
Life’s Work
His work at Local 507 earned Presser the respect of the union, and by 1972 he and his father were its undisputed leaders in Ohio. However, 1972 was also the year Presser and his father became informants on the mob for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). In 1976, Presser’s father was forced to resign after being convicted of corruption-related charges, and Presser succeeded him as international vice president. In this role, Presser found the cause that would lead him to the union’s presidency: rehabilitating the public image of the Teamsters.
Presser’s strategy was to appeal directly to blue-collar workers. He paid for radio ads during football games and testified before Congress about the mob. Wishing for a greater presence in government, Presser established an elegantly appointed office in Washington, D.C., and was the only union leader to endorse Ronald Reagan in 1980, based on a poll he took of rank-and-file members. As a reward, he was made a part of Reagan’s transition team. By now, Presser was being investigated by the Department of Labor, and there was controversy over his appointment. However, the investigation outlasted the transition period and interest faded.
In 1983, Teamster president Roy Williams was convicted of bribery, and Presser was elected to serve out Williams’s term. Presser was facing indictment and government takeover of the union. Nonetheless, he secured election to his own term as president in 1985. He also continued his work with the Reagan administration, which he endorsed again in 1984.
Pressure from federal investigators continued to mount. In 1986, the President’s Commission on Organized Crime found the Teamsters to be a mob tool, and the government immediately began a plan to take over the union. Presser had earlier escaped indictment because he was an FBI informant, but information came out that Presser had been funneling payroll money to the mob. Presser claimed that this was done to keep his cover and that he had been instructed to do so by the FBI. The affair became a major scandal, with the FBI under investigation as well. However, as before, the investigators took too long. Presser was suffering from brain cancer, and his trial was put on hold indefinitely. He died in 1988, and the public lost interest in the investigation.
Significance
Presser left the Teamsters union with a mixed legacy. He succeeded in reintegrating the Teamsters with the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), which had separated from the Teamsters thirty years before. He secured the union a lasting presence in Washington and with the Republican Party; Teamsters made up a major bloc of Reagan conservatives. Although the Teamsters union later switched parties, it was Presser who restored its national influence. However, instead of avoiding association with the mob, the Teamsters were consumed by it. Presser spent his presidency trying to escape indictment, and corruption charges plagued subsequent union presidents. While Presser’s vision was the best one for labor, his history and his personality made him incapable of carrying it out, leaving it a task for future leaders.
Bibliography
Crowe, Kenneth C. Collision: How the Rank and File Took Back the Teamsters. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1993. This book chronicles the reform movement that opposed Presser within the Teamsters and follows the union after his death and into the early 1990’s.
Fitch, Robert. “Revolution in the Teamsters.” Tikkun 8, no. 2 (March/April, 1993): 19. This article was written at the same time as Collision, but it appears in a magazine that focuses on Jewish aspects in large stories.
Zeller, F. C. Duke. Devil’s Pact. Secaucus, N.J.: Birch Lane Press, 1996. This book was written by the Teamsters’ director of communications during Presser’s reign, and it provides an insider’s account of Teamster activities. It intimately portrays most of the characters in Presser’s life.