Murray W. "Dusty" Miller was an International Brotherhood of Teamsters official and one-time ally of Jimmy Hoffa.
Miller was born in Columbus, Indiana, later residing in Dallas, Texas. [1] He was the chairman of the Southern Conference of Teamsters. [2] As such he was in charge of Teamsters operations in cities like Dallas, New Orleans, and Nashville. [3] In 1957 Jimmy Hoffa made him the vice-president of the Teamsters at large. [4]
Miller was favored by Hoffa's successor Frank Fitzsimmons, giving him greater power in the union. [5] Fitzsimmons made Miller Secretary-Treasurer, over the objections of Hoffa who favored Harold J. Gibbons. Hoffa felt betrayed by Miller, stating "I made that motherfucker. I took him from nothing and I made him an international organizer.... he dumped me and he went with Fitz because Fitz made him secretary-treasurer over the fact that I wanted Harold...Fitz appointed Dusty and Dusty wouldn’t step down even when I told him to". Hoffa pledged to retake the union presidency and to "clean house" when he did so. Miller was number three on Hoffa's list of people who was "gonna go". [6]
In June 1972 the publication Overdrive published an article alleging that Miller had stolen $1.6 million from the Teamsters Central States Pension Fund. Miller sued for libel. [7]
He announced his resignation as Secretary-Treasurer in January 1976, being replaced by Ray Schoessling. [8] Miller was not well liked by staff, he was greatly displeased by salary raise and vacation requests. [9]