“I worked at Budd Manufacturing where they made auto body parts. It was a slave pit, a real butcher shop. They had no decent safety standards. Every so often somebody would lose a hand or a finger. People today forget… — Charles Brandt Copy Share Image
“Jimmy Hoffa’s first notoriety in union work was as the leader of a successful strike by the “Strawberry Boys.” He became identified with it. In 1932 the nineteen-year-old Jimmy Hoffa was working as a truck loader and unloader of fresh… — Charles Brandt Copy Share Image
“You fat fuck,” I said and jumped up and decked him. I broke his jaw, and they expelled me permanently on the spot. Naturally,” — Charles Brandt Copy Share Image
“Hoffa and Brennan formed a trucking company called Test Fleet. The “brains” and his partner put that company in their wives’ maiden names. Test… — Charles Brandt Copy Share Image
“People in those days didn’t display affection like they do today. I’m still learning how to be affectionate to my grandchildren. I don’t ever… — Charles Brandt Copy Share Image
“Whispers was one of these short Italian guys in his early thirties that you’d see all around South Philly, just trying to get by… — Charles Brandt Copy Share Image
“And under the contract, management couldn’t fire a Teamster unless they had certain grounds. They had none. Stealing was grounds only if they could… — Charles Brandt Copy Share Image
“But back then we had to amuse ourselves, and fighting seemed to be all we had. Looking back, it was good for us. You… — Charles Brandt Copy Share Image
“Mary liked to arrange picnics with the kids, and we’d take them to the Willow Grove Amusement Park. I wasn’t always running. When they… — Charles Brandt Copy Share Image
“And on the other side of the ledger, unions like the Teamsters often employed their own muscle, their own reigns of terror, including bombings,… — Charles Brandt Copy Share Image
“Only in the movies or comic books do people say they want you to go and hit somebody. All they ever say is that… — Charles Brandt Copy Share Image
“As I learned the ropes I learned that for many good and sound reasons the bosses and the captains sent a guy to whack… — Charles Brandt Copy Share Image
“Russell had taken me with him to Cuba just when Castro was starting to kick everybody out and confiscate their casinos and racetracks and… — Charles Brandt Copy Share Image
“You didn’t know who to trust, but you kept taking cabbies aside and persuading them to sign a card. For some reason there were… — Charles Brandt Copy Share Image
