New Boss

Presser gets the Teamsters job

It was always Jackie Presser's ambition to be president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, even though he had watched several bosses stumble trying to keep both the Government and the gangsters at bay. Two Teamsters' presidents, Dave Beck and Jimmy Hoffa, went to prison on federal charges of corruption. After his release, Hoffa vanished, presumably rubbed out by the Mob. A third, Roy Williams, resigned the week before last in exchange for remaining free on bail while he appeals his bribery-conspiracy conviction. "That chair isn't a throne," Presser once remarked. "It's an electric chair."

The beefy and colorful Presser, 56, an Ohio Teamsters official, was elected to succeed Williams as head of the 1.7 million-member union last Thursday at an executive-board meeting in Arizona. An eighth-grade dropout, Presser began his career as a jukebox delivery boy. His late father, William ("Big Bill") Presser, a nationally known union leader who served two brief prison terms, helped young Jackie create Ohio Teamsters Local 507 in 1966. It now has over 5,000 members.

Unlike his predecessors, Presser basks in the limelight. He employs publicity agents and has been trying to cultivate a "statesmanlike" image, promising to lead the Teamsters in a "progressive new direction." His supporters say he has the aggressive style of leadership that the union needs. His detractors insist he will be hampered by the allegations of corruption and ties to organized crime that have dogged him over the years. Presser has never been charged with a crime and has denied all allegations. But he is under investigation by the Labor Department for allegations that his Ohio local was signing paychecks for people who did no union work. He takes over at a time when many union members are increasingly restless with the Teamsters' bouts with corruption.

In his acceptance speech last week, Presser sought to give his union a new look. Said he: "While investigations have continued through the years, I am confident, and I do mean confident, that this chapter in our 80-year history is coming to a close."