Arnie Weinmeister; Football Star, Teamsters Official

Arnie Weinmeister, 77, a pro football star with the New York Giants who became a leading Teamsters union official. Born in Saskatchewan, Canada, Weinmeister moved to Portland and then Seattle as a child. He played three seasons as a tackle at the University of Washington before serving in Army during World War II. After the war, he returned to the university and graduated with a degree in economics. He also began a pro football career, playing both offense and defense tackle for the New York Yankees of the All-American Football Conference before joining the Giants of the National Football League. A Pro Bowl selection in each of his three seasons with the Giants, Weinmeister was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1984. In his playing days, most NFL players did not command big salaries, so they had off-season jobs. Weinmeister’s was with a grocery company, where he first become involved with the Teamsters. In 1956 he joined the union’s leadership as an organizer and stayed with the Teamsters for 36 years in a variety of positions, including director of the Western Conference of Teamsters. He was considered a cautious, conservative leader who opposed Jimmy Hoffa publicly when, in 1971, the longtime union boss was trying to run for reelection as Teamster’s president while serving a prison term. However, federal prosecutors said Weinmeister did little to stop Mafia influence in the nation’s largest union. He retired in 1992. On June 28 in Seattle of congestive heart failure after a long bout with cancer.