Jimmy Hoffa influence and control after 1967, to Hoffa's displeasure. Fitzsimmons also decentralized power somewhat within the IBT's administration structure, forgoing much of the control Hoffa took advantage of as union president. On December 23, 1971, less than five years into his 13-year sentence, Hoffa was released from prison when President Richard Nixon commuted his sentence to time served. Following his release, Hoffa was awarded a Teamsters' pension of $1.7 million, delivered in a one-time lump sum payment. This type of pension settlement had not occurred before with the Teamsters. The IBT then endorsed President Nixon, a Republican, in his presidential re-election
African Trade Union Congress African Trade Union Congress The African Trade Union Congress (ATUC) was a national trade union centre in Rhodesia (later Zimbabwe). The ATUC represented black African workers, and was opposed to the system of white minority rule in Rhodesia. The ATUC was formed in 1962 as the Southern Rhodesian African Trade Union Congress (SRATUC), a breakaway from the more moderate Southern Rhodesian Trade Union Congress (SRTUC). The new union was led by Josiah Maluleke, former Secretary-General of the SRTUC. The SRATUC absorbed the older organisation a year later in 1963, with the combined body adopting the name African Trade Union Congress.