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Hamilton (Jim) Papers
HLL.2019.006
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Table of contents
Contributing Institution:
Holt Labor Library at CSU Dominguez Hills
Title: Jim Hamilton papers
Creator:
Hamilton, James
Identifier/Call Number: HLL.2019.006
Physical Description:
1.67 Linear Feet
Physical Description:
4 boxes
Date (inclusive): 1962-2012
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.
Language of Material: Collection material is in English.
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.
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.
There are no access restrictions on this collection.
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.
The collection is arranged in two series: Series I. Labor Unions, 1964-2012, undated; Series II. Political Activity, 1963-2012,
undated.
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.
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.
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Subjects and Indexing Terms
Socialism -- United States -- History -- 20th century
Socialism -- Europe -- 20th century
Strikes and Lockouts -- Taxicab drivers -- Saint Louis (Mo.)
Teachers' unions -- United States
Teamsters--Labor unions--United States