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Jim Hamilton papers

 Collection
Identifier: HLL-2019-006

Scope and Contents

The Jim Hamilton Papers (1962-2012) comprises correspondence, convention reports and publications, flyers, newsletters, meeting notes, constitution proposals, newspaper articles, and color photographs documenting Jim Hamilton’s involvement with the Teamsters Democratic Union (TDU), Local 688 in St. Louis, Missouri, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), and various radical political organizations. A file documenting the 1984 St. Louis Lampert International Airport taxicab drivers’ strike is present, as well as flyers and letters regarding the election of Hamilton to various offices within Local 688, including shop steward, shop secretary, shop secretary treasurer, and to the political education committee and as a delegate to the city-wide shop conference. Convention documents, newsletters, and leaflets chronicling the activities of national TDU chapters are present in the collection as well. Flyers, newsletters, and pamphlets reflecting the activities of the American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO, and the United Automobile Workers (UAW) are included, as are color photographs depicting Jim Hamilton at union conventions, with a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), and with various members of political organizations in Mexico, Yugoslavia, Italy, and France. The collection also includes letters, newsletters, and flyers which chronicle Hamilton’s involvement with various Socialist and other political organizations including the Spartacist League, Workers Socialist League, the Young People’s Socialist League, the American Socialist Organizing Committee, and the Communist International League, among others.

Dates

  • 1962-2012

Creator

Language of Materials

Collection material is in English.

Conditions Governing Access

There are no access restrictions on this collection.

Conditions Governing Use

All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Director of Archives and Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical materials and not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.

Biographical / Historical

Jim Hamilton was a taxi driver in St. Louis, Missouri and a member of the Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU), Local 688. He was also a charter member and first recording secretary of the Public Service Workers in Columbia, Missouri, and in 1972-1973 he participated during the Teacher’s Union Local 420 strike. As a shop steward for Local 688, he implemented changes such as providing written copies of shop meeting minutes to all member taxi drivers, and called for reform within the Labor Health Institute (LHI), which was a Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) that benefitted members of Local 688, in addition to helping workers write grievances and negotiate contracts. He was also a delegate to the city-wide shop conference in 1978, where he advocated for improving working conditions for taxi drivers by negotiating with airport administrations. His leadership laid the groundwork for his campaign for Shop Secretary Treasurer of Local 688 in 1981, for which he ran among Bob Matthews, candidate for President, and Jesse Mize and Bufford Logan for Trustees, on a program of maintating union democracy, using militant action against companies by way of strikes and boycotts, fighting race and sex discrimination within the union, and opposing anti-labor laws. He consistently advocated for maintaining democratic leadership within the organization, and in 1981 campaigned to serve as a “delegate for change” at the International Teamsters Convention to attempt to build a rank-and-file movement within the Teamsters to reinstate membership control, freeze due fees, and promote membership control over political action and union politics. He also ran to serve on the Political Education Committee for the Teamsters Local 688 to suggest a separate political party that would advocate for workers rights and collaborate with other organizations including the St. Louis Coalition Against the Draft.

Jim Hamilton advocated for rank-and-file reform within the TDU, which was formed in 1976 by members of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT). He believed that the TDU should be involved in political affairs and was a proponent of using militant action to effect meaningful change within the union. After the IBT endorsed Ronald Regan in 1980, whose administration many Teamsters believed initiated many pay cuts and contract violations within their union and others, there was a push to instate a group that would challenge political parties within the union bureaucracy. At the TDU Convention in Detroit in 1981, Hamilton was a member of the “TDU’ers for Militant Action” group alongside Jesse Mize and Steve Conn from St. Louis, and Hal Leyshon from New York, which proposed to fight racism and sexism within the union, improve contract negotiations, and keep the government out of internal union affairs. In addition to internal political reform, the group also advocated for the creation of an international worker’s party based on unions. This motion was acknowledged in 1982 in a convention resolution published by the Fighting Teamster newsletter that called for designating the TDU as an organization that should establish a congress of labor along with the AFL-CIO unions, the IBT, and the United Mine Workers, among others. In advance of the 1982 TDU convention, the International Workers Party (Fourth International), Chicago Workers, and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) called upon their members to include a discussion about the creation of an international labor party on the convention’s agenda. In that year, Hamilton was the recording secretary for the Teamster Workers for a Fighting Union, which sought to achieve these goals.

Hamilton’s interest in a labor party that incorporated various unions and other workers contributed to his involvement with various radical political organizations, including the Spartacist League, which formed the International Liaison Committee for a Worker’s International (ILC) and also proposed for an independent political party, known as the Freedom Labor Party. Hamilton also traveled to France, Italy, Yugoslavia, and Germany to meet with members of other political organizations, including the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), attended the World Worker’s Conference in Mexico City, and was involved with the Communist International League.

Extent

1.67 Linear Feet

4 boxes

Abstract

This collection comprises the papers of Jim Hamilton, an active member of the Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU), Local 688 in St. Louis, Missouri, who held various administrative roles in the union and advocated for rank-and-file reform. It includes correspondence, convention reports and publications, flyers, newsletters, meeting notes, constitution proposals, newspaper articles, contracts, and color photographs.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged in two series: Series I. Labor Unions, 1964-2012, undated; Series II. Political Activity, 1963-2012, undated.

Custodial History

The Jim Hamilton Papers were donated to the Holt Labor Library in San Francisco, California between 2005 and 2013, and were acquired by the Gerth Archives and Special Collections at California State University, Dominguez Hills in 2019.

Processing Information

Melina Juarez compiled the finding aid for this collection in 2013 at the Holt Labor Library in San Francisco. Allison Ransom processed the collection and created the finding aid in ArchivesSpace at the Gerth Archives and Special Collections, California State University, Dominguez Hills.

Title
Inventory of the Jim Hamilton Papers
Status
Completed
Author
Allison Ransom
Date
November 2019
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
English

Repository Details

Part of the Holt Labor Library at CSU Dominguez Hills Repository

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