This film is another old favorite of mine, although it's not one of Sylvester Stallone's better known films, not like the Rocky or Rambo series (which weren't really favorites of mine). It also had Rod Steiger and Peter Boyle in supporting roles.
It seems loosely based on the Jimmy Hoffa story, although there are some differences. Stallone plays a union leader, Johnny Kovac, who started out working on a loading dock in Cleveland in the late 1930s, during the Great Depression. A trucker making a delivery at the loading dock sees how Johnny stands up to his tyrannical employer, who treats the workers like dirt, which contributed to a level of resentment until there's a blow-up. The trucker thought that Johnny had a natural talent for leading men, and he invited him to join the Federation of Inter-State Truckers (F.I.S.T.) and help recruit people to join.
It's an interesting portrait of America back in those days. Johnny is also sweet on a young lady from his neighborhood (played by Melinda Dillon), and she works in a garment sweatshop of mostly women who are also treated like crap by their employers. It wasn't easy to be working class back in those days.
At some point, he's able to recruit enough truckers to be able to organize a strike against a trucking company called "Consolidated." The company refuses to negotiate with the union, so they go on strike. At first, it doesn't go well, as the strikers are violently attacked and beaten by strikebreakers. One of Johnny's friends is killed in the violence.
Another one of Johnny's childhood friends was an underworld hood named Vincent Doyle, who approaches Johnny (at the funeral of his friend who was killed) and essentially tells him that he's not strong enough to win - and that he needs some "push" in order to win the strike. This is how Johnny gets involved with the Mob.
Doyle and his thugs are effective in fending off the strikebreakers, and the battle is won.
So, he wins the strike, marries Melinda Dillon's character, but he also owes the Mob big time for helping him. He continues to recruit more people, going from city to city, and making a name for himself as a union leader. But Vincent Doyle also has an associate from Chicago, Babe Milano (played by Tony Lo Bianco), who pressure Johnny to use his pull with the truckers to do favors for them - such as telling bar owners in the Midwest that the truckers won't deliver liquor unless they buy jukeboxes from a company owned by Milano.
Still, it seemed a small price to pay, at least in the sense that he was getting better contracts for his men, which was a monumental improvement over what labor had faced before. The difference between what it was like in the old days, as opposed to what it was turning into, was like night and day. Life was getting better overall in America, thanks to the labor movement and other liberal/progressive causes it led to.
But it also raises an ethical question as to how far one should go to seek justice. The movie presents it as if the union had their backs to the wall, facing few choices. They could knuckle under, admit defeat, and go back to their bosses with hat in hand - and accept the consequences of low wages, poor treatment, and horrid working conditions. Or, they could (as referenced early in the film) allow themselves to be seduced by Bolshevik agitators and start a revolution. Or, they could make a deal with the Mob, and get the "push" they needed, without overthrowing the system entirely.
Towards the end of the movie, much of the corruption and Mob influence was starting to catch up to Kovac and his Mob connections, who were now pressuring him to resign as union president. They were also worried about Kovac's best friend, Abe Belkin, who was also in it from the beginning but was wanting to clean things up in the union and cooperate with the government investigators (which didn't turn out well for Abe). He was called to appear before a Senate hearing where he was questioned about his actions and ties to organized crime. Rod Steiger plays the Senator.
It seems loosely based on the Jimmy Hoffa story, although there are some differences. Stallone plays a union leader, Johnny Kovac, who started out working on a loading dock in Cleveland in the late 1930s, during the Great Depression. A trucker making a delivery at the loading dock sees how Johnny stands up to his tyrannical employer, who treats the workers like dirt, which contributed to a level of resentment until there's a blow-up. The trucker thought that Johnny had a natural talent for leading men, and he invited him to join the Federation of Inter-State Truckers (F.I.S.T.) and help recruit people to join.
It's an interesting portrait of America back in those days. Johnny is also sweet on a young lady from his neighborhood (played by Melinda Dillon), and she works in a garment sweatshop of mostly women who are also treated like crap by their employers. It wasn't easy to be working class back in those days.
At some point, he's able to recruit enough truckers to be able to organize a strike against a trucking company called "Consolidated." The company refuses to negotiate with the union, so they go on strike. At first, it doesn't go well, as the strikers are violently attacked and beaten by strikebreakers. One of Johnny's friends is killed in the violence.
Another one of Johnny's childhood friends was an underworld hood named Vincent Doyle, who approaches Johnny (at the funeral of his friend who was killed) and essentially tells him that he's not strong enough to win - and that he needs some "push" in order to win the strike. This is how Johnny gets involved with the Mob.
Doyle and his thugs are effective in fending off the strikebreakers, and the battle is won.
So, he wins the strike, marries Melinda Dillon's character, but he also owes the Mob big time for helping him. He continues to recruit more people, going from city to city, and making a name for himself as a union leader. But Vincent Doyle also has an associate from Chicago, Babe Milano (played by Tony Lo Bianco), who pressure Johnny to use his pull with the truckers to do favors for them - such as telling bar owners in the Midwest that the truckers won't deliver liquor unless they buy jukeboxes from a company owned by Milano.
Still, it seemed a small price to pay, at least in the sense that he was getting better contracts for his men, which was a monumental improvement over what labor had faced before. The difference between what it was like in the old days, as opposed to what it was turning into, was like night and day. Life was getting better overall in America, thanks to the labor movement and other liberal/progressive causes it led to.
But it also raises an ethical question as to how far one should go to seek justice. The movie presents it as if the union had their backs to the wall, facing few choices. They could knuckle under, admit defeat, and go back to their bosses with hat in hand - and accept the consequences of low wages, poor treatment, and horrid working conditions. Or, they could (as referenced early in the film) allow themselves to be seduced by Bolshevik agitators and start a revolution. Or, they could make a deal with the Mob, and get the "push" they needed, without overthrowing the system entirely.
Towards the end of the movie, much of the corruption and Mob influence was starting to catch up to Kovac and his Mob connections, who were now pressuring him to resign as union president. They were also worried about Kovac's best friend, Abe Belkin, who was also in it from the beginning but was wanting to clean things up in the union and cooperate with the government investigators (which didn't turn out well for Abe). He was called to appear before a Senate hearing where he was questioned about his actions and ties to organized crime. Rod Steiger plays the Senator.