Most of the 12,000 members of Teamsters Local 743 are African Americans or immigrants. In September, a federal indictment accused the local’s president of rigging elections. Balloting the following month elevated a reform slate led by a 48-year-old janitor named Richard Berg.

BERG: Average working people can organize and stand together, and take back a union that’s become as corrupt as the one that ours is.

Berg says his team will get more members involved to improve contracts and organize new sites. But first he promises to slash his position’s $159,000 salary.

BERG: We’re not going to be like pigs at the trough of the union’s dues money.

The Local 743 change of guard makes Berg the city’s leading opponent of International Teamsters President James P. Hoffa.