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University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Great Plains Quarterly Great Plains Studies, Center for 1988 "The Greatest Thing I Ever Did Was Join the Union": A History of the Dakota Teamsters During the Depression Jonathan F. Wagner Minot State University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/greatplainsquarterly Part of the Other International and Area Studies Commons Wagner, Jonathan F., ""The Greatest Thing I Ever Did Was Join the Union": A History of the Dakota Teamsters During the Depression" (1988). Great Plains Quarterly. 528. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/greatplainsquarterly/528 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Great Plains Studies, Center for at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Great Plains Quarterly by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. "THE GREATEST THING I EVER DID WAS JOIN THE UNION" A HISTORY OF THE DAKOTA TEAMSTERS DURING THE DEPRESSION JONATHAN F. WAGNER During the Great Depression the Dakota 1972, "we have had cooks, retail clerks, bakers, Teamsters established themselves as the most confectionery workers, waitresses, butchers, important union on the northern Plains. 1 soft drink bottlers, grocery store employees, Their success involved struggle and sacrifice, and many others."2 So it was in the Depression with a full complement of setbacks and losses years. as well as advances and gains. From the 1930s Nevertheless, the Teamsters of North and on, the union has reflected certain of the South Dakota are also distinguishable from general characteristics of the parent body, the the International Teamsters Union and its International Brotherhood of Teamsters, locals in other parts of the country. The Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of distinctiveness of the Dakotas' Teamsters was America. Like the International, the Dakota conditioned by three major factors: the low Teamsters was always basically a truck drivers' density of population, the scarcity of laborers union, but also something more. As with the and the lack of a union movement, and the International, the concept of jurisdiction was problem of distance. The sparse population of elastic. "In our teamsters union," the Minot, the northern Plains decreed that absolute North Dakota, business agent explained in numbers of union members would always be a major concern. Whereas the locals in Chicago or Detroit could boast membership in the Jonathan F. Wagner, associate professor of history thousands, Dakota unions usually claimed at Minot State University, holds both the Ph.D. only a few hundred adherents, or fewer. and J.D. from the University of Wisconsin. He has Moreover, the low numbers meant that the published articles in such journals as Canadian union's makeup was more general than that of Historical Review, Central European History, locals in places such as Cleveland or Los Archiv fur Kulturgeschichte. and His book, Angeles. John King, an international organiz­ Brothers beyond the Sea: National Socialism er, explained: "We in North Dakota are too in Canada, appeared in 1980. spread out to have craft unions and too, we do not have a large enough population. Therefore [GPQ 8 (Winter 1988): 16-28] we must have general membership locals."] 16 DAKOTA TEAMSTERS 17 Dakota locals in the Depression were simply the problem of remoteness conditioned and too small to be concerned exclusively with one differentiated Dakota Teamster history as it industry. Thus, their business agents were did the fate of other Dakota institutions and called upon to negotiate not one or two movements during the Depression. contracts but many different work agreements. Modern Dakota Teamster history really Second, because the Dakotas were basically begins with the Depression. Although there farming and ranching states, their general had been earlier attempts at establishing the population in the 1930s was overwhelmingly union, such as the short-lived local founded in nonindustrial and not labor oriented. More Grand Forks in 1919, these efforts had fizzled often than not, Teamsters had to create out in the 1920s, and, as the 1930s began, sympathy and win converts among a popula­ there were no Teamster locals in either North tion at best ignorant of unions and at worst or South Dakota. Indeed, in the 1920s a rising hostile to organized labor. John King noted antilabor movement coupled with the false that in the Dakotas "measures used in larger prosperity of the times made unionizing of all cities will not work. "4 Unionizing was extra sorts difficult. As the open-shop movement difficult in an environment where, as organiz­ gained strength, union numbers declined ers realized, the general population "was not across the country. The problems of labor used to unions. "5 throughout the nation during the 1920s were Finally, the Teamsters in the Dakotas had mirrored in the Dakotas. Two specific devel­ to carry out their activities in the wide open opments, D. Jerome Tweton claims, worked to spaces. Potential members were "spread out" undermine labor's position in North Dakota as in few other areas of the country.6 The during these "Lean Years": the collapse of the distance between locals and between a local prolabor Nonpartisan League and the and its members often inhibited union activity onslaught of an agricultural depression, the and frequently forced the union to resort to impact of which was already being felt in the unorthodox procedures. For example, a busi­ first years of the decade. Since South Dakota's ness representative in Sioux Falls, South agricultural economy suffered similarly, its Dakota, later petitioned the International labor movement was also affected adversely.9 seeking permission for a mail referendum The 1930s would not seem to have been a ballot. He argued that it was physically impos­ propitious time for the Teamsters to make a sible for the business agent to contact the new beginning in the Dakotas. If the 1920s had state's me~bership in timely fashion because seemed bad, the early 1930s appeared worse. "the distance from Rapid City to Sioux Falls is The Depression was in many ways more about 360 miles, from Aberdeen to Sioux Falls devastating on the northern Plains than in the about 212 miles, Huron to Sioux Falls about United States as a whole. When severe 122 miles, and Watertown to Sioux Falls about drought and falling farm prices combined to all 112 miles plus several smaller towns from 50 to but destroy the ranchers and wheat farmers of 100 miles.'" Having to function in the wide the Dakotas, the ruined economies made life open spaces illustrates well what Elwyn B. for laboring people equally difficult. Money Robinson has labelled the problem of remote­ was scarce and jobs hard to come by. Launch­ ness in the history of the northern Plains.s The ing a new union movement required not only outspread union membership and the great great energy and dedication but also organiz­ distances between the various locals, and ing proficiency. Luckily much of the original between locals and the International lead­ organizing skill that would be crucial for the ership in Washington, made cooperation and success of the Teamsters on the northern cohesiveness much more difficult to attain for Plains was available in nearby Minneapolis, the Dakota Teamsters than for the brothers in where the Teamsters had proven the strength Chicago, New York, or California. Moreover, of their organization. 18 GREAT PLAI:\S QUARTERLY, \\I:--:TER 1988 FIG. 1. Three Sioux Falls Teamsters, 1939. From left to right, Harold Janzik (milk driver), Charles Jan lIce cream ma~er), Hotcard Rang (shipping clerk). Photo courtesy of Charles Jan. DAKOTA TEA\lSTERS 19 In 1934 Minneapolis became the setting of bv arming special deputies to force the trucks a dramatic clash between Teamsters Union back on the road. In the ensuing violence, Local 544 and a powerful alliance of Twin heads were broken and lives were lost until the Cities employers. Prior to 1934, 1\1inneapolis governor of Minnesota called out the National had been an antilabor, open-shop city, but Guard to prevent the escalation of class with the advent of the New Deal's National warfare. Finally, in the summer of 1934, under Recovery Act and its pro labor provisions, the pressure from both the state and federal truckers of Minneapolis moved to challenge governments, a settlement was reached in the city's antilabor tradition. In the late spring which, according to Ray Dunne, the union of 1934, Local 544, under the aggressive secured what it had "fought and bled for from leadership of William Brown and the Dunne the beginning."l,' brothers (Ray, Miles, and Grant), demanded The victory of the union in Minneapolis improved working conditions, increased strengthened an earlier resolve of the lead­ wages, and recognition of the union as bar­ ership to extend its efforts beyond the Twin gaining agent. The strongly negative response Cities and into the Dakotas, an organizing of the employers prompted a truckers' strike task for which the Dunne brothers in partic­ that shut the city down. Employers responded ular were well qualified. I! The Dunnes either FIG. 2. The Dunne bromers at work. Photo courtesy Anchor Foundation. Reprinted by permission of Pathfinder Press, Inc. 2L1 CREAT PLAINS Ql'ARTERLY, WINTER 1988 belonged to or sympathized with the tradition to the Minneapolis overtures was so promising of left-wing communism associated with Leon that the Minneapolis leadership agreed in the T rorsky. ,: Although the rank and file with fall of 1934 to send Dunne to Fargo, where he whom they worked were clearly aware of their became business agent and organizer for Local left-wing sympathies, the Dunnes never 173.!i pushed their radical ideology to the point of According to the Fargo Forum, it was not alienating the membership.

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