A Natural Leader
Jimmy was a natural leader in his youth, and by the age of 20, he helped organize a labor strike for Kroger grocery stores in Detroit in the early 1930s. His life’s calling to advocate for oppressed workers was discovered quite early. Hoffa’s charisma and talent as an organizer was quickly noticed by the Teamsters union, and they carried him upward through their ranks.
Source: Old Politicals
At the time, the Teamsters was a small but rapidly-growing union. They organized truckers across the U.S., and it was through the use of strikes, boycotts, and some more powerful less than legal methods of protest that they won their contract demands on behalf of the workers. Hoffa later became president of the Teamsters in 1957, when the former leader was sent to prison for bribery.