ng at the table with management and fellow Teamsters, Hoffa displayed to the public his desire to improve the lives of his members. As such, the power of the Teamsters rose simply by having him there. The Teamsters always felt Hoffa would win every contract negotiation. With the large number of contracts Hoffa was intially involved with, a very small percentage was resolved after a strike had occurred. Hoffa’s key to negotiating was his initial offerings. His opening requests were close to that which he felt would be agreed upon at the end of negotiations. When contracts came out with Hoffa having lost little ground compared to managent, it appeared as though Hoffa and the Teamsters had beat management. The confidence Hoffa displayed throughout the negotiation period, extended to union members who knew they were going to gain a new contrasct that was much better than their previous one. As president of the Teamster, Hoffa knew how best to use the power he contained. Under Hoffa, the Teamsters’ membership rose from 960,000 members in 1958 to 1.48 million members in 1960. Hoffa included almost any group that was willing to join the Teamsters. Though the Teamsters primarily consisted of longshoremen and short haul drivers, Hoffa began to expand into the area covered by the AFL– CIO. He included special service men and even after time miners. With the growth of the Teamsters, Hoffa brought old ways back to augment the strength of the union.Hoffa appeared to be doing nothing but improving the conditions of his members from his role within the union. He always set aside time to meet with his lawyers and representatives from locals. He had complete support from the members he represented and had changed the image of the Teamsters. It appeared to the general public as though Hoffa had rid the Teamsters of Becks’ goons, he merely replaced them with his own. Many of Hoffa’s close associates were memb...
