36 Facts About Dave Beck

David Daniel Beck was an American labor leader, and president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters from 1952 to 1957.

Dave Beck helped found the "Conference" system of organization in the Teamsters union, and shot to national prominence in 1957 by repeatedly invoking his right against self-incrimination before a United States Senate committee investigating labor racketeering.

David Daniel Dave Beck was born in Stockton, California, to Lemuel and Mary Dave Beck.

The Becks moved to Seattle, Washington when Dave was 4 years old.

Dave Beck had one sibling, a younger sister named Reba, and his family was poor.

Dave Beck attended Broadway High School but was forced to quit at the age of 16 in order to go to work.

In 1910, Dave Beck took a job as a laundry worker and joined his first labor union, the Laundry Workers' International Union, despite being just 16 years of age, securing a more lucrative position driving a laundry truck shortly thereafter.

Dave Beck was drafted in World War I and served as a machinist's mate and gunner in England with the United States Navy.

Dave Beck successfully convinced hotels to contract only with unionized laundry services, which led laundry companies to unionize to win business.

Dave Beck's subsequent rise in the Teamsters was quick: He was elected to the executive board of Local 566 in 1920, president of Joint Council 28 in 1923, secretary-treasurer of Local 566 in 1925, and president of Local 566 in 1927.

In 1937, Dave Beck formed the Western Conference of Teamsters as a means of counteracting the conservative leadership of Joint Councils in San Francisco.

Dave Beck was elected a vice-president of the Teamsters in 1940, and he began to challenge Tobin for control of the union.

In 1947, Dave Beck marshaled his forces and defeated a proposed dues increase to fund new organizing.

In 1942, Dave Beck began a six-year campaign to seize control of the International Teamster newsmagazine.

Dave Beck ousted its editor and won the executive board's approval to install his own man in the job in 1948.

In 1946, Dave Beck successfully campaigned to amend the union's constitution to create the post of executive vice-president.

Dave Beck subsequently won the 1947 election to fill the position.

In 1948, Dave Beck essentially supplanted Tobin as the real power in the Teamsters union.

Dave Beck's actions were nearly universally condemned by members of the AFL Executive Council.

Dave Beck now had more than enough votes on the Teamsters executive board to overrule Tobin if he tried to fire Beck.

Five months later, Dave Beck won approval of a significant reform of the union's internal structure.

Dave Beck retaliated by publicly supporting the draft movement, but privately threatening to strip Tobin of his pension and benefits should he lose an election.

Dave Beck's pay was increased from $30,000 to $50,000 and the executive board was authorized to pay him this salary for life.

Dave Beck submitted a resolution asking Tobin to stay on as president, but forced Tobin to refuse.

Dave Beck pushed through a number of changes intended to make it harder for a challenger to build the necessary majority to unseat a president or reject his policies.

Dave Beck was elected to the Executive Council of the AFL in 1953.

In 1957, Dave Beck was called to testify before the United States Senate Select Committee on Improper Activities in Labor and Management.

Harshly interrogated by committee counsel Robert F Kennedy about $322,000 missing from the union treasury, Beck invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination 117 times.

Dave Beck declined to seek reelection in 1957, and was succeeded by Jimmy Hoffa.

Dave Beck was prosecuted for embezzlement and labor racketeering in 1959 in Washington state.

Dave Beck was convicted for pocketing $1,900 from the sale of a union-owned Cadillac.

Dave Beck was convicted later that year on federal charges of income-tax evasion.

Dave Beck appealed his convictions, and his sentence was reduced to three years.

Dave Beck was pardoned by Washington Governor Albert Rosellini in 1965, and by President Gerald Ford in 1975.

Dave Beck retained his $50,000-a-year Teamster president's pension and became a multimillionaire investing in parking lots.

Dave Beck died at the age of 99 in Northwest Hospital in Seattle on December 26,1993 and is buried at Calvary Cemetery.