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American unions remain an important political factor, both through mobilization of their own memberships and through coalitions with like-minded activist organizations around issues such as immigrant rights, trade policy, health care, and
living wage campaigns. Unions allege that employer opposition (including running
anti-union campaigns using
union avoidance consultants) contributed to this decline in membership. Unions have responded by using their political power to amend United States labor law to restrict or eliminate the requirement for a vote on the issue of union representation, instead relying on
card check recognition.
Labor unions in the past have been infiltrated by members of
organized crime, such as the
Mafia. Organized crime had been active in some
Teamster locals, particularly in the garment industry in
New York City, as early as the 1920s.
Labor racketeers made inroads in other cities, such as
Chicago,
Cleveland,
Kansas City, and
Detroit, in the 1930s.
Jimmy Hoffa and other Teamster leaders made strategic alliances with organized crime, in deals that benefited both the
Mafia and its associates, who obtained
sweetheart contracts, and the union leaders, who received kickbacks and other forms of assistance.
Jimmy Hoffa would later mysteriously disappear. Hoffa's son,
James P. Hoffa, is the current president of the Teamsters. For more information, refer to
Teamsters: Organized crime's influence.
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[URL="http://www.unionfacts.com"]www.unionfacts.com[/URL]