Teamster John Cleveland Inducted Into Labor's International Hall of Fame

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters is proud to announce the induction of a distinguished member, John Cleveland, into Labor’s International Hall of Fame on May 20, 2010. The induction ceremony will be at the UAW-GM Center for Human Resources in Detroit. View more photos of Cleveland.

John H. Cleveland (1911-1989) was the first black International Vice President of the Teamsters Union and one of the union’s most important leaders. Cleveland was a pioneering organizer of black workers in the South during the 1950s and early 1960s and fought hard to end Jim Crow laws in the region. He also led the way for black workers in the nation’s capital to achieve respect and a better standard of living.

Cleveland faced racism and prejudice, but he never let anyone or anything stop him from fighting for equality and justice. “Management made me work overtime, wash windows and every low task to get me to quit the union,” said Cleveland. “Well, those managers are long gone, but I’m still here and so is the union. Commitment, hard work and thick skin is what it takes.”

Cleveland became a union member in 1937 when he helped organize his co-workers at the Safeway Stores plant bakery. He served as the principal officer of Local 730 for more than 30 years and also served as President of Joint Council 55 and the Eastern Conference Director of the Warehouse Division. Cleveland was a veteran of World War II and a lifelong activist for civil rights as a member of the NAACP. Cleveland was also a founding member of the Teamsters National Black Caucus. He was happy to say that he led the “union life” for more than 50 years.

“John Cleveland, the union’s first African American International Vice President, was a giant in the American labor movement and he deserves this place among the other giants in Labor’s International Hall of Fame,” said General President Jim Hoffa. “There are many inspiring Teamsters who have made their mark making this organization the great international union that it is, very few, however, accomplished more and broke down stronger barriers than Brother Cleveland.”

Cleveland, born in Georgia in 1912, saw himself as a humble man from humble beginnings. His journey took him through the era of Jim Crow and the Depression to the optimism of the civil rights movement. All of these experiences gave him the tools he would need as a union leader.

Cleveland’s rise from his humble beginnings was the well-deserved result of hard work, commitment and sound direction. What Cleveland wanted and what he achieved was to see people make a decent living. Cleveland negotiated some of the best contracts in the industry for his members.

On behalf of his membership, Cleveland did his best, with dignity and heart. He was a very private man, proud to be a Teamster, passionate about the union’s ideals, who lived his life with integrity, grace and fortitude.

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters was founded in 1903 and represents 1.4 million hardworking men and women in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.