Mobsters, unions, and feds : the Mafia and the American labor movement

353 Pages·2006·2.02 MB·English

by  Jacobs

Mobsters,Unions,and Feds

JAMES B. JACOBS
Mobsters, Unions, and Feds
The Mafia and the American Labor Movement
a
New York University Press • New York and London
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS
New York and London
www.nyupress.org
© 2006 by New York University
All rights reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Jacobs, James B.
Mobsters, unions, and feds : the Mafia and the American labor
movement / James B. Jacobs.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-8147-4273-0 (cloth : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0-8147-4273-4 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. Labor unions—United States—History. 2. Racketeering—United
States—History. 3. Mafia—United States—History. 4. Organized
crime—United States—History. 5. Organized crime investigation—
United States—History. I. Title.
HD6490.R32U653 2006
364.1'06'0973—dc22 2005022953
New York University Press books are printed on acid-free paper,
and their binding materials are chosen for strength and durability.
Manufactured in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To Herman Benson

Racketeering is the cancer that almost destroyed the
American trade-union movement.
—DAVID DUBINSKY, president of the International
Ladies Garment Workers (1932–1966), David Dubinsky
andA.Raskin,DavidDubinsky:ALifewithLabor
(NewYork:SimonandSchuster,1977),145
American labor had better roll up its sleeves,it had
better get the stiffest broom and brush it can find,and
the strongest soap and disinfectant,and it had better
take on the job of cleaning its own house from top to
bottom and drive out every crook and gangster and
racketeer we find,because if we don’t clean our own
house,then the reactionaries will clean it for us.But
they won’t use a broom,they’ll use an ax,and they’ll
try to destroy the labor movement in the process.
—WALTER REUTHER, president of the United
Automobile Workers (1946–1970), opening address
of the sixteenth constitutional convention of the
United Automobile, Aircraft and Agricultural
Implement Workers of America, Atlantic City, NJ
(April 7, 1957), reprinted in Henry Christman, ed.,
Walter P. Reuther: Selected Papers(New York:
Macmillan, 1961), 192

Contents
Preface xi
Acknowledgments xxvii
List of Acronyms xxxi
1 Introduction 1
2 Organized Crime and Organized Labor 23
3 President’s Commission on Organized Crime 40
4 Labor Racketeering in New York City 57
5 Organized Labor’s Response to Organized Crime 76
6 Labor Racketeering and the Rank and File 100
7 Attacking Labor Racketeering Prior to Civil RICO (1982) 114
8 Civil RICO Suits and Trusteeships 138
9 The Liberation of IBT Local 560 161
10 The New York City District Council of Carpenters 183
11 The Four International Unions 203
12 Evaluating Civil RICO 238
13 Concluding Reflections 254
Notes 263
Bibliography 297
Index 305
About the Author 320
ix