Dream Come True

"This," cried Jimmy Hoffa, "is one of the finest contracts ever negotiated in the U.S." For Teamster Boss Hoffa, it was also the fulfillment of a long-held dream: to bring Teamster locals under the umbrella of a single national agreement with truckers.

More than 400,000 Teamsters in 400 locals are covered by the three-year agreement with key industry executives in Chicago last week. For the Teamsters, who now get $3.02 to $3.28 an hour, it means a three-step pay raise of 280 an hour, with another $5 a week per man for the union's medical-care and pension funds. For the trucking companies it means increased expenses of nearly $400 million. For the truckers' customers, it spells an almost inevitable increase in rates. "Obviously," said Chief Industry Negotiator Carvel G. Zwingle, "we will have to do something to pick up the costs."

To protests that the contract would give the Teamsters the power of a nationwide strike that might amount to a stranglehold on the nation's economy, Hoffa offered sly reassurance. Such a national strike, he snorted, would only deprive him of his most potent weapon --playing off one employer against another by striking some while allowing others to operate.

For jubilant Jimmy, there were gloomier times just around the corner. In Chattanooga, Tenn., this week he goes to trial on charges of jury tampering--the sixth federal indictment brought against him in six years.

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