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It's spring of 1932 at a warehouse in Detroit, Michigan.

19-year-old worker James Riddle Hoffa, better known as Jimmy,

carries a heavy crate of strawberries from a truck to a refrigerated car.

He sets the crate down and then wipes sweat from his brown.

His back aches, his hands are calloused, and he wears a permanent

scale on his face as if he's ready to fight it any moment.

Today, he is.

When Jimmy walks back to the truck where the strawberries are being unloaded,

he gives a signal.

And at once, all of the workers set their crates down, no matter where they are.

With hundreds of pounds of strawberries now sitting on the ground, the clock is ticking.

If they aren't put in the refrigerated truck soon, they'll spoil,

costing these workers bosses plenty of money and giving the employees the

leverage they need to renegotiate their contracts.

When he hears that work has stopped, the night manager bursts in to see what's happening.

He orders the man to get back to work, but they don't budge.

The only one who moves is Jimmy, who walks right up to the manager and

hands him a list of grievances, demanding better pay and better working conditions.

The manager scales, but he knows he's in trouble if the workers don't finish

unloading those strawberries, so he promises to set up a meeting with management the very next day.

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