F.I.S.T.

F.I.S.T. 1978 United Artists; distributed to DVD by MGM.
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Rod Steiger, Peter Boyle, Melinda Dillon, David Huffman, Kevin Conway, Tony Lo Bianco, Ken Kercheval, Richard Herd
Director: Norman Jewison
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Another story where the ultimate message is absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Sylvester Stallone is Johnny Kovak, who starts out in 1937 working on the dock unloading trucks for a trucking company, where a new employee is told by a supervisor that he will be paid for eight hours a day, regardless of how much overtime he might accumulate. If the new guy drops any merchandise, it also comes out of his paycheck. After the new employee does drop a cart of tomatoes, his pay is docked, and another coworker is fired for helping him pick it up. Kovak leads a brief uprising, which leads to the office of their superior, Boss Andrews. Kovak thinks that he's negotiated a favorable deal for he and his coworkers, which comes to naught as none of their demands are being met, and Kovak is invited to hit the bricks.

Johnny and his friend Abe (Huffman) are recruited into the Federation of Interstate Truckers (F.I.S.T.) by Mike Monahan (Herd), who witnessed Kovak lead that labor riot. At first, Johnny is more interested in pursuing a woman named Anna (Dillon), and after they become an item, Johnny gets serious about recruiting members into F.I.S.T., which gets him roughed up by toughs sent by the people running the labor businesses who feel a little threatened by Kovak. Johnny stands his ground, though, and continues to bring in new members. He also meets Max Graham (Boyle), another leader of the union, who doesn't respect Johnny or believe that he should be the most visable member of F.I.S.T. Kovak never forgets the disrespectful way Graham treated him.

After a failed strike at Consolidated Trucking that sees Mike killed after trying to ram the gates to the facility with a truck, Johnny strikes a deal with local gangster Vince Doyle (Conway), who provides his resources and men to show that F.I.S.T. means business. Kovak tells Graham to leave a meeting, hinting that the local members will handle the labor dispute. With help from Doyle's goons, Consolidated Trucking finally agrees to sign a labor agreement. After that, Johnny and Abe travel through the Midwest, recruiting more workers to join. Johnny also marries Anna, and allows another crime figure, Babe Milano (Lo Bianco) to work with him and Doyle, albeit reluctantly.

Twenty years later, F.I.S.T. is now a powerful union, and Johnny is now influential enough to finally force Graham out of the union. Enter Senator Andrew Madison (Steiger), who is targeting Kovak because he rightfully suspects he has ties to organized crime. Abe and Johnny, whose relationship has deteriorated over the years, fall out over Milano's involvement with F.I.S.T.; Abe wants him out, but Johnny refuses to accomodate that request. Doyle tells Johnny that Abe will testify against him, Milano, and everyone else in Madison's case, but Johnny wants Abe "untouched". At the hearing, Kovak is informed that Abe has been murdered, and Madison accuses Johnny of organizing it (Milano's men were responsible). As the accusations build up, Johnny breaks down emotionally and storms out. He returns home to find Anna and their children missing. After he gets his gun, Johnny is gunned down by Milano's men, since Milano feared that Kovak could cut his group out and testify against them. The film ends with a "Where's Johnny?" bumper sticker seen on a truck.

Highly, highly recommended film.