Dave Beck
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David Daniel Beck (June 16, 1894December 26, 1993) was an American
labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...
leader, and president of the
International Brotherhood of Teamsters The International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), also known as the Teamsters Union, is a labor union in the United States and Canada. Formed in 1903 by the merger of The Team Drivers International Union and The Teamsters National Union, the un ...
from 1952 to 1957. He helped found the "Conference" system of organization in the Teamsters
union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...
, and shot to national prominence in 1957 by repeatedly invoking his right against self-incrimination before a United States Senate committee investigating labor racketeering.


Early life

David Daniel Beck was born in
Stockton, California Stockton is a city in and the county seat of San Joaquin County, California, San Joaquin County in the Central Valley (California), Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. Stockton was founded by Carlos Maria Weber in 1849 after he acquir ...
, to Lemuel and Mary (Tierney) Beck. His father was a carpet cleaner. The Becks moved to
Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...
when Dave was 4 years old. He had one sibling, a younger sister named Reba, and his family was poor. He attended Broadway High School but was forced to quit at the age of 16 in order to go to work.Fink, ''Biographical Dictionary of American Labor,'' 1984.Raley, "The Rise and Fall of Labor Giant Dave Beck," ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer,'' December 3, 1999. In 1910, Beck took a job as a laundry worker and joined his first labor union, the Laundry Workers' International Union, despite being just 16 years of age, securing a more lucrative position driving a laundry truck shortly thereafter. Following a short-lived strike in 1917, Beck helped to organize and establish Local 566 of the Teamsters Union. He was drafted in
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
and served as a machinist’s mate and gunner in England with the
United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
.


West Coast Teamster career

After the war ended, Beck returned to Seattle and his job as a laundry truck driver. He became an organizer with the Teamsters. He successfully convinced hotels to contract only with unionized laundry services, which led laundry companies to unionize to win business. His subsequent rise in the Teamsters was quick: He was elected to the executive board of Local 566 in 1920, president of Joint Council 28 (which covered Seattle) in 1923, secretary-treasurer of Local 566 in 1925, and president of Local 566 in 1927. The same year he was elected president of his local, he was hired by the international union as a full-time organizer. In 1937, Beck formed the Western Conference of Teamsters as a means of counteracting the conservative leadership of Joint Councils in
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
. Beck persuaded Teamsters president Daniel J. Tobin that the Western Conference of Teamsters was no threat to the power and authority of the international union.
Harry Bridges Harry Bridges (28 July 1901 – 30 March 1990) was an Australian-born American union leader, first with the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA). In 1937, he led several chapters in forming a new union, the International Longshore and W ...
, leader of the
International Longshoremen's Association The International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) is a North American labor union representing longshore workers along the East Coast of the United States and Canada, the Gulf Coast, the Great Lakes, Puerto Rico, and inland waterways. The ILA h ...
(ILA), had led a successful four-day strike in 1934. Bridges was now leading "the march inland"—an attempt to organize warehouse workers away from shipping ports. Beck was alarmed by Bridges' radical politics and worried that the ILA would encroach on Teamster jurisdictions. But Teamster joint councils in Los Angeles and other California ports seemed unconcerned. As an end run around the complacent joint councils, Beck formed a large regional organization. Beck engaged in fierce organizing battles and membership raids against the ILA, effectively stifling the "march inland." The Western Conference of Teamsters, and Beck, emerged significantly stronger from these battles.Galenson, ''The CIO Challenge to the AFL: A History of the American Labor Movement,'' 1960.


Presidential ambitions

As Beck's influence rose, Tobin attempted to check his growing power but failed. Beck was elected a vice-president of the Teamsters in 1940, and he began to challenge Tobin for control of the union. In 1947, Beck marshaled his forces and defeated a proposed dues increase to fund new organizing. In 1942, Beck began a six-year campaign to seize control of the '' International Teamster'' newsmagazine. He ousted its editor and won the executive board's approval to install his own man in the job in 1948. In 1946, Beck successfully campaigned to amend the union's constitution to create the post of executive vice-president. He subsequently won the 1947 election to fill the position. In 1948, Beck essentially supplanted Tobin as the real power in the Teamsters union. On April 22, 1948, the
Machinists A machinist is a tradesperson or trained professional who not only operates machine tools, but also has the knowledge of tooling and materials required to create set ups on machine tools such as milling machines, grinders, lathes, and drilling m ...
(which was not a member of the
American Federation of Labor The American Federation of Labor (A.F. of L.) was a national federation of labor unions in the United States that continues today as the AFL-CIO. It was founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1886 by an alliance of craft unions eager to provide mutu ...
, or AFL) struck
Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product ...
in Seattle. On May 28, Beck announced that Teamsters would seek to organize the workers at Boeing, and formed Aeronautical Workers and Warehousemen Helpers Union Local 451 to raid the Machinists. Beck and Boeing officials made a secret agreement in which Boeing would hire members of Local 451—essentially hiring Teamsters as scabs and strikebreakers. After as many as a third of the Machinists had joined the Teamsters, the Machinists agreed to return to work without a contract. Beck's actions were nearly universally condemned by members of the AFL Executive Council. The AFL Executive Council met in August 1948 to take action against Beck. The day before the meeting, Tobin privately told associates that he would repudiate Beck. But at a secret meeting that afternoon, Beck and his followers on the West Coast confronted Tobin with a fait accompli: Beck had allied with his long-time enemy Jimmy Hoffa. He now had more than enough votes on the Teamsters executive board to overrule Tobin if he tried to fire Beck. At the AFL meeting the next day, Tobin was forced to defend Beck's actions. Unwilling to embarrass an AFL vice president and create a confrontation with the Teamsters, the AFL Executive Council condoned the Teamster raid on the Machinists. Five months later, Beck won approval of a significant reform of the union's internal structure. Instead of the four divisions which existed under Tobin, Beck proposed 16 divisions organized around each of the major job categories in the union's membership. Although nearly 1,000 Teamster leaders attended the conference in which the restructuring was debated and approved, Tobin did not. In 1951, Tobin's tenuous hold on the Teamsters was further exposed when Tom Hickey, reformist leader of the Teamsters in New York City, won election to the executive board. Tobin had needed Beck's support to prevent Hickey's election, and Beck refused to give it.


Presidency

On September 4, 1952, Tobin announced he would step down as president of the Teamsters at the end of his term. But as the mid-October Teamster convention neared, Tobin and his supporters formed a draft movement designed to subvert Beck's control of the delegates. Beck retaliated by publicly supporting the draft movement, but privately threatening to strip Tobin of his pension and benefits should he lose an election. At the convention which opened on October 14, the 77-year-old Tobin was paid well to vacate the presidency. His pay was increased from $30,000 to $50,000 and the executive board was authorized to pay him this salary for life. Beck submitted a resolution asking Tobin to stay on as president, but forced Tobin to refuse. As further humiliation, Tobin nominated Beck for president. He was elected by acclamation. Beck pushed through a number of changes intended to make it harder for a challenger to build the necessary majority to unseat a president or reject his policies. Beck was elected to the Executive Council of the AFL in 1953.


Senate investigation and retirement

In 1957, Beck was called to testify before the
United States Senate Select Committee on Improper Activities in Labor and Management The United States Senate Select Committee on Improper Activities in Labor and Management (also known as the McClellan Committee) was a select committee created by the United States Senate on January 30, 1957,Hilty, James. ''Robert Kennedy: Brot ...
. Harshly interrogated by committee counsel
Robert F. Kennedy Robert Francis Kennedy (November 20, 1925June 6, 1968), also known by his initials RFK and by the nickname Bobby, was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 64th United States Attorney General from January 1961 to September 1964, ...
about $322,000 missing from the union treasury, Beck invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination 117 times. Beck declined to seek reelection in 1957, and was succeeded by
Jimmy Hoffa James Riddle Hoffa (born February 14, 1913 – disappeared July 30, 1975; declared dead July 30, 1982) was an American labor union leader who served as the president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) from 1957 until 1971. F ...
. Beck was prosecuted for embezzlement and labor racketeering in 1959 in
Washington state Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...
. He was convicted for pocketing $1,900 from the sale of a union-owned Cadillac. Beck was convicted later that year on federal charges of income-tax evasion. He appealed his convictions, and his sentence was reduced to three years. He entered prison in 1962. His wife, Dorothy, died while he was serving his sentence. Beck, a former member of the Washington State Board of Prison Terms and Paroles, was himself
parole Parole (also known as provisional release or supervised release) is a form of early release of a prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by certain behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated parole officers, or ...
d in 1965 after serving 30 months at
McNeil Island Penitentiary The McNeil Island Corrections Center (MICC) was a prison in the northwest United States, operated by the Washington State Department of Corrections. It was on McNeil Island in Puget Sound in unincorporated Pierce County, near Steilacoom, Washin ...
. He was
pardon A pardon is a government decision to allow a person to be relieved of some or all of the legal consequences resulting from a criminal conviction. A pardon may be granted before or after conviction for the crime, depending on the laws of the ju ...
ed by Washington Governor
Albert Rosellini Albert Dean Rosellini (January 21, 1910 – October 10, 2011) was an American politician who served as the List of governors of Washington, 15th governor of Washington from 1957 to 1965 and was both the first Italian Americans, Italian-Americ ...
in 1965, and by
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
Gerald Ford Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. ( ; born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 38th president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. He was the only president never to have been elected ...
in 1975.Schaefer and Duncan, "Dave Beck Dies-Seattle Man Rose To Become Labor Legend," ''Seattle Times,'' December 27, 1993. After his release from prison, Beck lived in a basement in a house he himself had built for his mother and sister in the 1940s. He retained his $50,000-a-year Teamster president's pension and became a multimillionaire investing in parking lots. Beck died at the age of 99 in Northwest Hospital in Seattle on December 26, 1993.


References

*"AFL Teamsters Begin Drastic Revamping." ''New York Times.'' January 18, 1949. *"Battle for Control of Union Is Revealed." ''New York Times.'' October 7, 1952. *"Beck Said to Top Tobin in Teamsters." ''New York Times.'' September 19, 1948. *Brill, Steven. ''Teamsters.'' Paperback ed. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1979. *"Curbs On Officers Rejected By Teamsters." ''New York Times.'' October 17, 1952. *"D.J. Tobin Set to Retire." ''New York Times.'' September 5, 1952. *"Dave & the Green Stuff." ''Time.'' April 8, 1957. *Davies, Lawrence E. "Teamsters Defeat Tobin On Tax Rise." ''New York Times.'' August 15, 1947. *Fink, Gary M., ed. ''Biographical Dictionary of American Labor.'' Westport, Ct.: Greenwood Press, 1984. *Friedman, Allen and Schwarz, Ted. ''Power and Greed: Inside the Teamsters Empire of Corruption.'' New York: Scholastic Library Publishing, 1989. *Galenson, Walter. ''The CIO Challenge to the AFL: A History of the American Labor Movement.'' Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1960. *Garnel, Donald. ''The Rise of Teamster Power in the West.'' Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press, 1972. *"Hickey In New Union Post." ''Associated Press.'' August 28, 1951. *Loftus, Joseph A. "Beck Uses 5th Amendment to Balk Senate Questions About Teamsters' $322,000." ''New York Times.'' March 27, 1957. *McCann, John. ''Blood in the Water: A History of District Lodge 751, International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.'' Olympia, Wash.: Evergreen State College Bookstore, June 1989. LCC
88071822
*Nelson, Bruce. ''Workers on the Waterfront: Seamen, Longshoremen and Unionism in the 1930s.'' Champaign, Ill.: University of Illinois Press, 1988. *Raley, Dan. "The Rise and Fall of Labor Giant Dave Beck." ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer.'' December 3, 1999. *Raskin, A.H. "Union Leader-And Big Business Man." ''New York Times.'' November 15, 1953. *Rodden, Robert G. ''The Fighting Machinists: A Century of Struggle.'' Washington, D.C.: Kelly Press, Inc. 1984. *Schaefer, David and Duncan, Don. "Dave Beck Dies-Seattle Man Rose To Become Labor Legend." ''Seattle Times.'' December 27, 1993. *Sullivan, Ronald. "Dave Beck, 99, Teamsters Chief, Convicted of Corruption, Is Dead." ''New York Times.'' December 28, 1993. *"Teamster Chiefs Defeat Opposition." ''New York Times.'' October 16, 1952. *"Teamsters Elect Beck As President." ''Associated Press.'' October 18, 1952. *"Teamsters Raise Tobin's Pay $20,000." ''New York Times.'' October 15, 1952. *"Union Editor Is Ousted." ''Associated Press.'' September 3, 1948. *Witwer, David. ''Corruption and Reform in the Teamsters Union.'' Champaign, Ill.: University of Illinois Press, 2003.


Notes


External links

* *
Pacific Northwest Labor History Association Records.
1974-2015. 1.83 cubic feet (3 boxes). At th
Labor Archives of Washington, University of Washington Libraries Special Collections.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beck, Dave Presidents of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters American trade union leaders Recipients of American gubernatorial pardons American people convicted of tax crimes American trade union officials convicted of crimes United States Navy personnel of World War I People from Stockton, California People from Seattle 1894 births 1993 deaths Trade unionists from Washington (state) Recipients of American presidential clemency Trade unionists from California Military personnel from California