Rolland McMaster

Rolland McMaster was a Teamsters union official and associate of Jimmy Hoffa.

McMaster was Secretary-Treasurer of Local 299 in Detroit.[1] Along with David Yaras he helped found and organize Local 320 in Miami, Florida, which functioned as a front for Santo Trafficante Jr.[2]

McMaster was brought before the US Senate's McClellan Committee to testify. Even when asked innocuous questions, like whether Yvonne McMaster was his wife, he pled the Fifth. Committeeman Sam Ervin responded "I will leave it up to you to answer her when you get home".[3] In 1966 he was convicted of extortion and served five months in prison.[4] When Frank Fitzsimmons replaced Hoffa as president, McMaster continued on in the union. Fitzsimmons had a high opinion of him, describing McMaster as a "good trade unionist who did a hell of a job in more ways than one."[5]

He later became a supporter of Lyndon LaRouche. In 1979 he attended a speech of his at a Michigan Anti-Drug Coalition rally.[6] He met with LaRouche who he hailed as the anti-drug candidate, in turn LaRouche's National Caucus of Labor Committees (NCLC) praised McMaster as "one of the most respected.....voices in all of organized labor".[7] He joined the advisory board of the NCLC's "Committee Against Brilab and Abscam" (CABA).[8]

In 2006 a horse farm McMaster had owned at the time of Hoffa's disappearance was searched by the FBI for a period of two weeks, with the total operation cost reaching $250,000. The search was brought on by a tip received from federal detainee Donovan Wells, who had lived with McMaster on the farm. He told the FBI that on the day of Hoffa's disappearance he witnessed seeing a number of cars on the farm, which a short time later were gone. McMaster denied any involvement in Hoffa's murder and stated that he was away on union business in Indiana at the time.[9][10]

He died in October 2007 aged 93.[11]

References

  1. ^ Mollenhoff, Clark R. (1965). Tentacles of Power: The Story of Jimmy Hoffa. World Publishing Company. p. 405.
  2. ^ Friedman, Allen; Schwartz, Ted (1989). Power and Greed: Inside the Teamsters Empire of Corruption. Franklin Watts. p. 154.
  3. ^ Friedman, Allen; Schwartz, Ted (1989). Power and Greed: Inside the Teamsters Empire of Corruption. Franklin Watts. p. 121.
  4. ^ Velie, Lester (1977). Desperate Bargain: Why Jimmy Hoffa Had To Die. Reader's Digest Press. p. 171.
  5. ^ Brill, Steven (1979). The Teamsters. Pocket Books. p. 93.
  6. ^ King, Dennis (1989). Lyndon LaRouche and the New American Fascism. Doubleday. p. 203.
  7. ^ King, Dennis (1989). Lyndon LaRouche and the New American Fascism. Doubleday. p. 340.
  8. ^ King, Dennis (1989). Lyndon LaRouche and the New American Fascism. Doubleday. p. 350.
  9. ^ Wisely, John. "Where is Jimmy Hoffa? A look at searches in Michigan". Detroit Free Press.
  10. ^ "Source of new Hoffa lead passed lie detector". NBC. 17 May 2006.
  11. ^ "Hoffa associate dies in Detroit". NJ.com. 29 October 2007.

Further reading

  • The Hoffa Wars: Teamsters, Rebels, Politicians and the Mob, 1993, second edition, by Dan Moldea, SPI, New York.
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