In an unusual study commissioned by the Teamsters union, a team of 20 former prosecutors and F.B.I. agents has concluded that the union, once the nation's most mob-infested, has been largely purged of the influences of organized crime.þþThe study, which is to be released today, said intensive federal efforts over the last decade have ended organized crime domination of a union that was once the focus of Senate hearings, magazine covers and movies because of its corrupt past. þþThe 641-page study found that only a few pockets of organized crime influence remain and that the current leaders of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters were intent on keeping out such crime.þþÿThe difference between now and the 1980's is absolutely dramatic; there's a 180-degree difference,ÿ said Edwin H. Stier, a former federal prosecutor who oversaw the study and worked a decade as trustee cleaning up Local 560 in Northern New Jersey, which was considered the union's most corrupt and violent local. ÿIn terms of its attitude toward corruption, you couldn't have a more dramatic difference.ÿþþThe turning point in the cleanup, the report said, was the 1989 consent decree in which the union agreed to allow intensive government supervision to settle a racketeering lawsuit that charged Teamster leaders with having made a ÿdevil's pactÿ with organized crime. At the time, crime figures used Teamster activities to siphon off millions of dollars each year and controlled several presidents of the union and dozens of locals, especially in the New York and Chicago areas. þþOne organized crime informer quoted in the study said that he collected $100,000 every month from Teamster locals in the New York area and turned the money over to John Gotti, the head of the Gambino crime family.þþAs part of the federal cleanup, government monitors expelled 90 Teamsters for being members of organized crime or for associating with members. þþÿBy removing a critical mass of racketeers and their associates, the government-imposed monitoring destroyed the mob's political base in the union at the same time law enforcement successes were shattering the myth of mob invincibility,ÿ the study said. ÿAs a result, the Teamsters now face a much weakened enemy with far stronger anti-racketeering defenses than the union had in the past.ÿþþAmong the authors of the report were James M. Kossler, who was supervisor of organized crime investigations for the Federal Bureau of Investigation's office in New York City, and J. Bruce Mouw, a former bureau agent in charge of investigating the Gambino crime family. They joined other former agents in a field study of 80 Teamster locals where there was large-scale corruption in the past. þþThe study described a complex relationship between crime figures and the 1.4-million-member union, with organized crime gaining a hold on the Teamsters through violence, threats and payoffs. þþTeamster officials said they commissioned the more than $2 million study to undercut the enduring perception that their union remained corrupt. The union also hopes the report will help persuade the federal government to end its 13 years of supervision by showing that most mob influence is gone and that the union is eager to combat corruption.þþÿThis report shows the seriousness of my administration in dealing with this issue,ÿ said James P. Hoffa, president of the Teamsters. þþLast year, Mr. Hoffa was embarrassed when a federal investigative board accused a top personal aide and an ally in Chicago with working with a company influenced by organized crime to negotiate a deal that would have replaced Teamster convention workers in Las Vegas with lower-paid nonunion workers.þþThe study concluded that Mr. Hoffa's father, James R. Hoffa, worked closely with organized crime to expand his power and to fight employers who often used gang members to break strikes. The report said the elder Hoffa was confident that he could keep organized criminals at bay, but that he was unable to control them. þþThe report concluded that Anthony Provenzano and other organized crime figures arranged the murder of the elder Hoffa in 1975 because after his release from prison he pledged to end mob control of the union. The report said mob domination and stealing grew far worse after he lost control of the union.þþWhile Teamster officials have called the federal supervision too expensive and intrusive, the team that did the study praised the federal role.þþÿIt's been extremely effective,ÿ Mr. Stier said. ÿIt's removed the racketeering domination from the union. At the time the racketeering lawsuit was filed, it would have been impossible for the union to clean itself up because racketeers were so embedded in the leadership of the union.ÿþþMr. Stier said a major question now was whether federal supervision was still needed since the union was so much cleaner that before. Mr. Stier leads an internal Teamster task force that is supposed to ferret out corruption once the federal supervision ends. þþ
Source: NY Times
