My old man loved Jimmy Hoffa.

[shockey80]

My dad was a hardworking, honest blue collar worker. He worked on the loading docks. He was very tough guy. I remember my dad telling me when I was a teenager back in the 70s he did not care if Hoffa was doing something crooked on the side. He only cared about this. He told me Hoffa would do anything for the working man. He would and did give the shirt off his back for the working man.

Are the politicians clean, are the rich clean, are the corporations clean, Only unions have to be clean? My old man had a deep old school honesty about him. My old man knew life was a fight.

[dpd3672]

1. I'm of the opinion that NO ONE is clean

People act in their own best interest...nearly every time. People like Hoffa (and most politicians) are loved because they're able to align their own interests with somebody else's.

Hoffa did some good for the working man, but he also helped himself (and others, including violent criminals) first. CEOs, politicians (on both sides), religious leaders, etc are no different. We put way too much faith on people who don't really care about us.

[Oden]

2. Life is a fight

As a retired Teamster, i partly agree with your dad. In order to strike fear in corporations you have to have power. Unfortunately the mob got involved with the pension funds and Hoffa lost his life. Leaders like him are hard to find.

[MaryMagdaline]

3. Detroit born

My mother, born into white collar Detroit Republucan family, later to convert to Great Society Democrat, used to call Jimmy Hoffa an "honest crook." He was much beloved in Detroit. And feared.

[dlk]

4. It's the Tension Between Unions and Corporations That Creates a Better Workplace

That's why it's so important to have both. Since the decline of unions in the U.S., wages and workplace conditions have seriously declined, across industries, and will continue, unabated, in that direction.