For decades, Laborers' Local 394 in Elizabeth was considered by many to be a mobbed-up union.
The construction union's longtime business manager was DeCavalcante crime family boss John Riggi Sr., who went to prison in 1990 for racketeering. And more than a dozen former officers and members of the local have been identified in court testimony as associates of the infamous New Jersey mob organization, whose late patriarch was Simone Rizzo "Sam the Plumber" DeCavalcante.
Now, Local 394 may be the target of a hit by its own parent union, which is seeking to impose a trusteeship -- alleging continued widespread corruption, no-show jobs, threats of violence and mob influence.
Documents filed with an independent hearing officer by the Laborers' International Union of North America (LIUNA) contend the 470-member local has been controlled by organized crime since its inception in the 1930s, and say it remains a job bank for DeCavalcante crime family members.
A trusteeship is basically an 18-month takeover of a local by the International -- typically for mismanagement or corruption -- enabling it to administer the day-to-day operations and assets of the local until new leadership can be established.
In a brief that reads like an episode of "The Sopranos," a LIUNA attorney listed a litany of alleged soldiers, captains and underbosses who have held positions in Local 394, ranging from foremen and shop stewards, to top leadership posts.
The international said the crime family has made hundreds of thousands of dollars from contractors forced to pay kickbacks in return for allowing the use of nonunion workers. Contractors who refused were subject to violence or union pickets, according to the legal brief.
"So important to the DeCavalcante family is Local 394 that it has been variously described by DeCavalcante members as 'the lifeblood of the family,'" attorneys said.
In addition, union members have been forced to kick back part of their wages to continue working on some job sites, attorneys said.
In one case, the union said a shop steward identified as a DeCavalcante associate demanded payments of $1,500 to $3,700 from Local 394 members wanting to work at a Merck & Co. pharmaceutical plant. He also demanded money from some laborers for the right to continue working.
One contractor told the union's inspector general he was forced to pay $50,000 to the same individual in exchange for nonenforcement of the current collective bargaining agreement.
Local 394 officials denied the allegations.
Scaraggi said the local already has been reformed, and no longer discriminates in hiring. He also asserted there were no no-show jobs.
Patrick Slevin, the associate General Executive Board attorney for the Laborers' International in Washington, D.C., said he could not elaborate on the allegations because they have yet to go before a hearing officer. Peter F. Vaira -- the former U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania -- is expected to hear the case in Newark next month.
It is the second Laborers' local in New Jersey to be targeted by the international for reform. Last year, a federal judge removed the administrator and two trustees of the benefit funds of Local 734 in Rachel Park, amid charges top officials sanctioned no-show jobs and hired friends and family members to ill-defined, overpaid positions. Vaira, who was also the union hearing officer in that case, raised questions about the local's connections to organized crime.
Trustees appointed by the international say Local 734's pension plan is in danger of collapse because of the long-standing abuse. The local -- which represents more than 2,200 workers in construction, health, food service and custodial services in New Jersey and Pennsylvania -- is also the focus of a separate criminal investigation by the U.S. Attorney's Office in New Jersey.
The Laborers' locals historically have been vulnerable to organized crime, according to James B. Jacob's, who heads the Center for Research in Crime and Justice at the New York University School of Law.
"This is casual labor, so the union has a lot of power over its members," said Jacob's, the author of "Mobsters, Unions, and Feeds: The Mafia and the American Labor Movement." "It also has a lot of leverage over employers in construction. They can really mess up a construction project in so many ways."
The mob's alleged influence on Local 394 has been a focus of federal and state investigations over the years, following a series of trials more than a decade ago. In a 2004 report on organized crime in New Jersey, the State Commission of Investigation cited trial testimony naming 15 to 20 members and associates of the DeCavalcante family as members of Local 394. DeCavalcante members were often no-shows or did no work at laborers' jobs, according to the report.
Former DeCavalcante soldier Anthony CPA, who agreed to work with the government, testified that he even received overtime for jobs where he was a no-show. The SCI also said DeCavalcante associates received preferential treatment at job "shape-ups" at the union hiring hall.
According to law enforcement sources, Riggi remains the boss of the crime organization even behind bars, although a new generation is said to be taking a greater responsibility on the street. The law enforcement sources spoke on the condition they not be identified because they were not authorized to talk on the record.
The international has in recent years taken action against some Local 394 members, resulting in the permanent expulsion of some, including former DeCavalcante acting boss Charles Major in 2001.
Scaraggi, though, said none of the current union leadership has been called up on disciplinary charges, and said no one had anything to hide. He refuted allegations by the international that the local's business manager, Michael Lombardo, was a DeCavalcante associate.
"He's no more an associate of the DeCavalcante family than you are," said the attorney.
Ted Sherman may be reached at tsherman@starledger.com or (973) 392-4278.