;
;
;
United States of America v. Local 30, United Slate, Tile And
Composition Roofers, Damp And Waterproof Workers Association,
Residential Reroofers Local 30B, United Slate, Tile and
Composition Roofers, Damp and Waterproof Workers Association,
Stephen Traitz, Jr., Edward P. Hurst, Michael Mangini, Robert
Crosley, Michael Daly, Daniel Cannon, Mark Osborn, Robert
Medina, Ernest Williams, James Nuzzi, Stephen Traitz, III,
Joseph Traitz, and Richard Schoenberger
Civil Action No. 87-7718
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA
686 F. Supp. 1139; 1988 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4700; 128 L.R.R.M. 2580; 111 Lab.
Cas. (CCH) P11,165
May 23, 1988, Decided
CORE TERMS: roofing,
contractor, convicted, jobsite, non-union, entity, affiliated, business
agent, violence, leadership, roof, tape, conspiracy, election, roofer,
membership, vandalism, leader, extortion, slate, collective bargaining
agreement, negotiation, employee benefit plan, special assessment, years
probation, imprisonment, extortionate, collection, trusteeship, elected
COUNSEL: [**1]
Edward S. G. Dennis, Jr., United States Attorney, James G. Sheehan,
Assistant U.S. Attorney, Chief, Civil Division, Edward T. Ellis, Assistant
U.S. Attorney, Catherine Votaw, Assistant U.S. Attorney, for Plaintiffs.
Michael Daly, Edward J. Daly, Philadelphia Pennsylvania
S. Traitz, Jr., E. Hurst, M. Magini, R. Crosley, M. Daly, D. Cannon, M.
Osborn R. Median, E. Williams, J. Nuzzi, S. Traitz, III, J. Traitz, R.
Schoenberger by: Ronald F. Kidd, Esq., Teresa N. Cavenagh, Esq., Duane
Morris & Heckscher, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Local 30/30B, United Slate, Tile & Composition Roofers, Damp & Waterproof
Workers, by: Richard H. Markowitz, Esq., Stephen C. Richman, Esq., Markowitz
& Richman, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
JUDGES: Louis C. Bechtle, United States District Judge.
OPINIONBY: BECHTLE
OPINION: [*1141]
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
LOUIS C. BECHTLE, United States District Judge
Presently before the court is the motion of the United States for a
preliminary injunction and appointment of a trustee
pendente lite.
For the reasons stated herein, the motion for a preliminary injunction will
be granted to the extent set forth, and the motion for appointment of a
trustee will be denied.
INTRODUCTION
On December 2, 1987, plaintiff United States of America ("United States" or
"the government" or "plaintiff") filed a complaint and a motion for a
[**2]
preliminary injunction seeking appointment of a trustee
pendente lite
under the civil injunctive provisions of the Racketeer Influenced and
Corrupt Organizations Act,
18 U.S.C. §§ 1961-1968 ("RICO"). The United States also requests that
defendants Stephen Traitz, Jr. ("Traitz"), Edward P. Hurst ("Hurst"),
Michael Mangini, a/k/a "Nails" ("Mangini"), Robert Crosley ("Crosley"),
Michael Daly ("Daly"), Daniel Cannon ("Cannon"), Mark Osborn ("Osborn"),
Robert Medina ("Medina"), Ernest Williams ("Williams"), James Nuzzi
("Nuzzi"), Stephen Traitz, III ("Traitz III"), Joseph Traitz and Richard
Schoenberger ("Schoenberger") be enjoined from holding office or
participating directly or indirectly in the affairs of defendant Locals 30
and 30B, United Slate, Tile and Composition Roofers, Damp and Waterproof
Workers Association and its affiliated benefit plans (hereinafter
collectively referred to as "the Roofers Union" or "the Union") and for the
court to appoint a trustee
pendente lite to conduct the affairs of
the Roofers Union.
On November 23, 1987, a federal court jury in this district returned a
verdict in a criminal action against the thirteen officers and employees of
the Roofers
[**3] Union who are named defendants in this civil
action. The defendants were found guilty of conducting and participating in
the affairs of the Roofers Union through a pattern of racketeering activity
(substantive RICO offense), RICO conspiracy, bribery of federal, state and
local public officials, mail fraud, extortion, illegal kickbacks from
providers to an employee benefit plan, embezzlement from the employee
benefit plan and collection of debts for organized crime.
The parties introduced evidence at a preliminary injunction hearing that
began on December 16, 1987 and continued with several breaks to completion
on February 5, 1988. The parties were given until March
[*1142] 15,
1988 to submit final proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law. On
March 15, 1988 the court took the matter under advisement.
Plaintiff presented its evidence in three parts: (1) the testimony of
approximately fifty (50) fact witnesses who described improper and/or
illegal acts allegedly committed by the individual defendants and/or the
Union and/or members or supporters of the Union; (2) approximately eleven
(11) of the audio tapes that were recorded in accordance with the Title III
wiretap Order authorized
[**4] in conjunction with the federal criminal trial
of the individual defendants (
United States v. Traitz, et al., 646 F. Supp. 1086) (although the
court received into evidence the entire set of 271 transcripts from the
criminal proceeding); and, (3) the testimony of expert witness, law
professor Clyde W. Summers. Plaintiff's evidence was received almost
entirely without contradiction except for a few scattered episodes of
primarily cosmetic and unrevealing cross-examination. Plaintiff's evidence
thus stands virtually unchallenged.
The thirteen individual defendants were collectively represented by Ronald
Kidd, Esquire until February 1, 1988, when Edward Daly, Esquire took over
the representation of his brother Michael Daly and Mr. Kidd continued to
represent the other twelve individual defendants. The individual defendants
presented the testimony of approximately one dozen witnesses and the
stipulated testimony of two (2) other persons to vouch for the individual
defendants' character and in regard to the extent of a possible injunction,
their need to continue to be able to work as roofers in the geographic
jurisdiction covered by the Union.
The defendant Union presented the testimony
[**5] of approximately nine (9) witnesses including
expert witness, business school professor Janice R. Bellace, and the
stipulated testimony of two (2) other persons. The Union's attorney, Bernard
N. Katz, Esq., was replaced with the consent of the court and Mr. Katz, by
Richard H. Markowitz, Esq. during the hearing.
The United States contends that the convictions of the thirteen defendants
in the criminal action, the evidence presented in this action and the expert
testimony of Prof. Clyde W. Summers prove by a preponderance of the evidence
that absent the injunctive relief requested including the removal of the
current newly-elected officers of the Union and the imposition of a
trusteeship, the persuasive and longstanding pattern of racketeering
activity is likely to continue in the Roofers Union. n1 The thirteen
individual defendants oppose the injunctive relief sought and in any event
ask the court to allow them to be allowed to work as roofers in the
geographic jurisdiction covered by the Union. Defendant Roofers Union
opposes removal of the current officers of the Union and the imposition of a
trusteeship. Defendant Roofers Union asks the court to deny all the
injunctive relief plaintiff
[**6] seeks and preserve the status quo or at most
to impose some sort of limited monitorship whereby the current officers
would continue to run the Union but would be monitored by a court-appointed
official. For the reasons stated herein the court will not grant the relief
plaintiff has requested, nor will it preserve the status quo as defendants
request; instead it will grant what it considers to be the appropriate
injunctive relief to protect the Union, its members and the public.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - Footnotes - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
n1 Section 1964(d) provides a statutory estoppel barring the individual
convicted defendants from denying the essential elements of the criminal
offense in a subsequent civil proceeding.
See n.10,
infra. In
addition, defendants failed to contradict almost all of that part of the
government's evidence which defendants are not statutorily estopped from
denying.
- - - - - - - - - - - - End Footnotes- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
FINDINGS
OF FACT
A.
Background
1. The Roofers Union is a labor organization headquartered at 6447
Torresdale Avenue in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that represents
approximately 2,000 persons employed in eastern Pennsylvania, southern New
Jersey and Delaware. At all times relevant to this action, the members of
the Roofers Union have
[**7] been employed in an enterprise affecting
interstate commerce within the meaning of RICO, 18 U.S.C. § 1961; the
Labor-Management Reporting
[*1143] and Disclosure Act of 1959 ("LMRDA"),
29 U.S.C. §§ 401, et seq.; and the Employee Retirement Income
Security Act ("ERISA"),
29 U.S.C. §§ 1001, et seq. [Govt. Exh. 21].
2. The Roofers Union has, since at least the 1960's, negotiated collective
bargaining agreements with two employer associations in the Philadelphia
area. Local 30 (which has also been referred to by some as Local 30A), is
the commercial roofing segment of the Union and has had an agreement with
the Roofing and Sheet Metal Contractors Association of Philadelphia and
Vicinity. Local 30B, the residential reroofing part of the Union, was formed
in 1969 and has since that time had an agreement with the Roofing Metal and
Heating Associates, a contractors' association. These agreements are
re-negotiated approximately every three years, but terms other than wage and
fringe benefit rates have remained essentially the same since the 1960's.
[Exhs. D-11, D-12].
3. The Roofers Union purports to be governed by the Constitution and Bylaws
of the United Slate, Tile and Composition Roofers,
[**8] Damp and
Waterproof Workers Association, an international labor organization, and the
Local 30/30B Constitution and Bylaws. [Govt. Exhs. 20A, 20B].
4. The Constitution of the Roofers Union created the following offices:
Business Manager
President
Vice President
Recording Secretary
Five Executive Board Members
The chief executive of the Union is the business manager. [Govt. Exh. 20B,
p. 16].
5. The Constitution and Bylaws of the Roofers Union provide that all
officers are elected by and from the membership of Locals 30 and 30B. [Govt.
Exh. 20B].
6. There has not been a contested election (
i.e., more than one
candidate) for the office of business manager in at least the past twenty
years, except during this suit in December 1987. [N.T. 1007].
7. The Roofers Union also employs salaried business agents and organizers,
who are appointed by the business manager. The duties of business agents and
organizers include obtaining the agreement of non-Union roofing companies to
become signatories to one of the industry-wide collective bargaining
agreements; ensuring compliance with those agreements; and handling problems
for members
[**9] either in their employment or in relation to
the Union benefit plans.
8. The Roofers Union is associated with the following employee benefit plan
funds that are subject to federal regulation:
(a) Local 30 Pension Fund
(b) Local 30B Pension Fund
(c) Local 30 Health and Welfare Fund
(d) Local 30B Health and Welfare Fund
(e) Local 30 Pre-Paid Legal Services Fund
(f) Local 30B Pre-Paid Legal Services Fund
(g) Local 30 Vacation Fund
(h) Local 30B Vacation Fund
9. Officers of the Roofers Union sit on the boards of trustees of each of
the funds identified above. An equal number of management trustees sit on
each fund except for the two Vacation Funds, which are controlled solely by
the Union.
B.
Union Violence Against Roofing Contractors To Coerce Unionization
10. Beginning in approximately 1968, the leaders of the Roofers Union
conceived a plan to govern and exploit the roofing industry in the
Philadelphia area by forcing roofing companies to sign collective bargaining
agreements with the Roofers Union and to operate their businesses in a
manner that suited the Union leadership. The plan included use of physical
coercion, violence, threats of violence, and terrorism to extort agreements
[**10] from
non-Union and Union contractors alike, and use of arson and violence to
drive out of business any contractor who refused to submit to Roofers Union
control. [Findings of Fact 10-56].
11. The leaders of the Roofers Union and the sponsors of this policy at that
time
[*1144] included William Stearn ("Stearn"), John
McCullough ("McCullough"), Jack Kinkade, and Traitz. n2 Stearn was convicted
in 1972 in this court of Hobbs Act extortion
(18 U.S.C. § 1951), and was required to give up his Union office by
virtue of
29 U.S.C. § 504. [Govt. Exhs. 21, 22A].
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - Footnotes - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
n2 McCullough was murdered on December 16, 1980. Stearn was the president of
the Union.
- - - - - - - - - - - - End Footnotes- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
12. In about 1968 or 1969, the Roofers Union hosted a meeting of
approximately 100 contractors at the Rifle Club on Tabor Road in
Philadelphia. Two of the contractors present were Richard Kaller, of Kaller
Roofing Company, Ardmore, Pennsylvania, and Thomas Hudecheck, of Hudecheck
Roofing, Downingtown, Pennsylvania, both of whom testified as witnesses for
the government at the preliminary injunction hearing. [For a more detailed
recitation of the Union interaction with the Kaller Roofing Company and
Hudecheck Roofing,
see Findings of Fact 24-34
[**11] and
75-78,
infra, respectively.] At the Rifle Club meeting, McCullough
and Traitz attempted to obtain the agreement of the approximately 100
contractors present to the industry-wide collective bargaining agreement for
residential roofers. When certain contractors objected, McCullough stated,
"Get that guy's name." The Union leaders of the meeting threatened the
contractors that failure to agree would cause the Union to resort to
physical retaliation against such contractors including stealing the
contractors' ladders while workers were on a roof, breaking their equipment,
burning their shops, and attacking them with baseball bats. Union officials
made these threats over an open microphone to the approximately 100
contractors at the meeting. [N.T. 141-145, 297-99].
13. During the months and years after the 1968 or 1969 Rifle Club meeting,
the leadership of the Roofers Union carried out many of the threats made at
that meeting, as part of official Union policy.
Altemose Construction Company
14. On June 5, 1972, the Roofers Union played a leading role in the unlawful
intrusion and physical destruction of an Altemose Construction Company
("Altemose") jobsite at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.
[**12]
Altemose was a large non-Union builder. Traitz and other leaders of the
Roofers Union arranged for the rental of seven buses that arrived in a
caravan with other vehicles on the Valley Forge jobsite at 7:30 a.m. The
vehicles discharged approximately 1,000 men, many of whom were officers or
members of the Roofers Union, who proceeded to storm the jobsite and destroy
virtually all property on the site. The destruction included leveling 4000
feet of cyclone fence; firebombing of an office building, a guard hut, and a
construction trailer; destruction of a number of pieces of heavy
construction equipment; overturning other vehicles, and preventing fire
trucks from extinguishing the blazes started by the mob. Damage to Altemose
equipment and property exceeded $ 300,000.00. [Govt. Exh. 7].
15. Traitz and more than 100 others who he led were arrested on June 6, 1972
for refusal to comply with a state court injunction prohibiting picketing at
the site. [Govt. Exh. 7].
16. A number of Roofers Union members were arrested and charged with crimes
by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in connection with the June 5, 1972
Altemose attack. Eleven members of the Union were convicted of various
crimes
[**13] and served prison terms. The Roofers Union
used Union funds to pay for the legal criminal defense of the eleven members
charged, and has made six annual payments to them during their term of
incarceration and since their release from prison. The Union has also paid
for and had installed at the Union Hall a plaque listing each of the eleven
convicted roofers honoring them for their role in the Altemose matter. [N.T.
1256-1261].
Kitson Brothers, Inc.
17. Kitson Brothers, Inc. ("Kitson Bros.") is a non-Union commercial roofing
contractor that has resisted the Roofers Union since 1972.
18. In early 1972, Union officials Traitz, Jack Kinkade, Carlton Brown
("Brown") and others tried to organize the Kitson
[*1145]
Bros. workers, sponsoring a dinner for them at the Waterfall Lounge. There
were approximately twenty (20) workers from Kitson Bros. and six or seven
business representatives of Local 30 present. A vote as to whether a
representation election should be held by the National Labor Relations Board
("NLRB") was held. The ballot box was in the room with Brown, who was
visibly armed with a handgun. The Roofers Union received enough votes that
evening to have an election, but it later lost
[**14] the
representation election. [N.T. 526-529].
19. Thereafter, on May 7, 1972, seven of Kitson Bros.' trucks were
firebombed. Later that month, members of the Roofers Union beat two Kitson
Bros. employees. [Govt. Exh. 7].
20. From 1972 to 1979, Kitson Bros. endured threats, violence and vandalism
on at least eight jobsites from a variety of Roofers Union agents and
members, including Traitz (three times), Joseph Enright ("Enright"), Jack
Kinkade, Brown, McCullough, Mangini (three times) and Michael Daly (two
times). Union representatives threatened Kitson Bros. employees with death,
attacked them with rocks, firecrackers, and clubs, and destroyed their
vehicles and work. The Kitson Bros. business office building was defaced
when it was sprayed in 1977 with an asphalt roofing material in a pattern
that read "30-30-30," [Govt. Exh. 10F], a practice of vandalism repeated on
a job Kitson Bros. was working at the time, and again two years later in
1979 on Kitson Bros. jobsites in Mount Laurel, New Jersey and northeast
Philadelphia. Although the persons responsible for the vandalism have not
been apprehended, the court finds from the weight of the evidence that some
or all of the then leaders
[**15] of the Roofers Union or their designees were
responsible for this criminal conduct. [N.T. 529-577].
21. From 1979 to 1982, the Roofers Union caused Kitson Bros. substantial
vandalism on three additional jobsites. The damage occurred at night when
the jobsites were vacant, and as a result no Union officials have been
identified as responsible; however, the court finds that these incidents fit
a deliberate pattern and policy of prior and subsequent vandalism, and that
the Roofers Union was responsible. [N.T. 529-577].
22. On May 9, 1985, defendant business agents Traitz, III and Schoenberger
assaulted Kitson Bros. employee Peter Snow ("Snow") and damaged his truck on
a jobsite, on the ground that Snow was a non-Union roofer who rebuffed their
organizing pitch. When Snow filed assault charges in state court, he
received threatening phone calls from members of the Roofers Union. At the
preliminary hearing, Joseph Traitz, Traitz, Traitz III and Schoenberger
appeared and tried to intimidate Snow by staring him down and bumping him on
the shoulder whenever they walked by. Kitson Bros. filed unfair labor
practice charges with the NLRB on behalf of Snow, resulting in a $ 50,000.00
contempt
[**16] of court fine against the Roofers Union.
[N.T. 577-588, 1255-1256].
23. The effect of the Roofers Union's campaign of violence, terrorism and
vandalism on Kitson Bros. has been to terrorize Kitson Bros.' employees and
to increase Kitson Bros.' costs by making retention of employees difficult
and by making jobsite security expensive. [N.T. 555-556].
Kaller Roofing Company
24. Richard A. Kaller, a non-Union contractor, runs three roofing companies:
R. Kaller and Sons, J. A. Miller and H. L. Smith. The three companies employ
about 50 people and operate out of the Philadelphia suburbs. Approximately
60% of their work is residential and 40% is commercial. [N.T. 140].
25. Richard Kaller attended the 1968 or 1969 Rifle Club meeting where Traitz
explained the plan for organizing residential roofers. [N.T. 141-143]. In
the early 1970's and the ensuing ten years, Traitz had several conversations
with Richard Kaller, with the intent of threatening Richard Kaller in order
to get him to have his companies join the Union or to get out of the roofing
business. Through these conversations Traitz made the threat: "You'll
[*1146] find
yourself in the hospital if you are not careful." [N.T. 146-147].
26. On
[**17] a morning in or about 1976 Richard Kaller
was on a shingle roofing job at Seamen's Church in Center City,
Philadelphia. Two cars of men, including Enright, identifying themselves as
Union officials of Local 30, arrived at the jobsite. Enright threatened Tom
Kirby, the job foreman, with injury for refusing to join the Roofers Union.
[N.T. 148-156].
27. In or about 1978 at McGowan Ford, a jobsite in West Chester,
Pennsylvania, Richard Kaller's crew was threatened by three men who drove to
the jobsite in a truck with a Local 30B sticker on it. n3 The driver of the
truck threatened, "You scabs better get out of here. If your equipment is
here tonight, it will be wrecked. If we see you on the job, we'll beat you
up." [N.T. 159-161].
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - Footnotes - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
n3 One of the Union's methods of making sure it could distinguish friend
from foe in the group of employers it dealt with was to issue a large "Local
30-30B" Union logo sticker to be prominently affixed to the friendly
employers' trucks.
- - - - - - - - - - - - End Footnotes- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
28. In late 1979, Richard Kaller began a large commercial roofing job at
Sutton Terrace, a condominium complex in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania. The
Roofers Union undertook a campaign of terror and intimidation to force
Richard
[**18] Kaller to withdraw from the job unless he
signed a Roofers Union contract. Richard Kaller's subcontractor, Jack Spears
("Spears"), even though he was a Local 30B signatory, was unable to complete
his job for Richard Kaller at Sutton Terrace due to pressure from Traitz.
[N.T. 164-167].
29. Richard Kaller phoned Traitz to discuss why Spears was thrown off the
job. Traitz told him that he wanted Richard Kaller out of the roofing
business and Richard Kaller should talk to Francis "Franny" McCullough, the
Roofers Union business agent for the area. [N.T. 168].
30. Shortly thereafter, Francis McCullough, Jack Kinkade, Joseph Kinkade,
Traitz and others in a group of ten arrived unannounced early in the morning
at the Sutton Terrace jobsite while Richard Kaller was there to supervise
the lifting of a tar kettle to the roof. [N.T. 170-171]. The kettle was
being lifted to the roof to protect the kettleman from Union violence
because he would otherwise be left on the ground while the rest of the crew
was up on the roof. When the kettle was being lifted Francis McCullough said
in the presence of his nine Union confederates that he was going to beat up
Richard Kaller and put him in the hospital.
[**19] In addition, a group of Union men had a
brief discussion in front of Richard Kaller about who should beat him up.
[N.T. 171-173].
31. A few days thereafter, Richard Kaller met with Union representative Jack
Kinkade in the Sutton Terrace parking lot. Jack Kinkade had a handgun laying
on the seat between him and Richard Kaller. Jack Kinkade, in an effort to
intimidate and threaten Richard Kaller, told him that the situation did not
have to turn into gunplay. Richard Kaller left that meeting thinking that he
was going to quit the roofing business and believed he was on his way to the
hospital. [N.T. 177-178].
32. After several more weeks of similar threats on the jobsite, Richard
Kaller, at the urging of the condominium developer, went with the
developer's representative to a meeting at the Union Hall. At that meeting
Richard Kaller agreed to put four of his employees into Local 30 and to
accept Local 30 men on the Sutton Terrace jobsite. [N.T. 179-185]. After
these people began work for Kaller, the roofers supplied by the Union
sabotaged and further disrupted the job and Kaller's equipment, and
continued to threaten Kaller with physical harm for perceived infractions of
the Union rules.
[**20] [N.T. 185-190]. In this atmosphere the job
ended in early 1980. [N.T. 195].
33. Curtis Kaller, the brother of Richard Kaller, operates C. Kaller, Inc.,
a small non-Union roofing company. In June or July of 1985, Roofers Union
business agents Osborn and Schoenberger approached him when he bid on a
large commercial roofing job at Trinity Church in Ambler, Pennsylvania.
Osborn and Schoenberger asked him to meet them at the Union Hall. Since
Curtis Kaller feared
[*1147] that he would be beaten if the meeting
was held at the Union Hall, he refused to go there and Osborn and
Schoenberger met Curtis Kaller at the Horsham diner. In an effort to induce
Curtis Kaller to sign the Local 30B agreement, Osborn told him that the
Roofers Union would ignore the wage rates he paid his men as long as he paid
dues and benefit payments regularly. Osborn told him, "Well, if you don't
get involved with the Union, if you don't get in the Union, you could get
hurt and you could have accidents." Despite this inducement, Curtis Kaller
did not sign the Local 30B agreement. [N.T. 234-240].
34. Shortly thereafter, in the beginning of 1986, when Curtis Kaller was
nearing completion of this same Trinity Church job, the
[**21] windows
of his four roofing vehicles in the parking lot of his shop were shattered.
The vandals were not caught. No other vehicles present were smashed and
Curtis Kaller knew of no one else who would do such vandalism to him. [N.T.
240-241]. These circumstances easily lead the court to the conclusion that
the Roofers Union, through its agents, was responsible.
I. Alper Company
35. I. Alper Company ("Alper"), is a non-Union roofing company located in
Camden, New Jersey. The Alper family and Alper employees have been victims
of Roofers Union violence and destruction since the 1960's, all in an effort
to force the company to sign a Union agreement and become a Union
contractor. For about 20 years between 1960-1980 on many occasions, Union
business agents destroyed roofs where Alper was working, and instructed
Union members to slash tires on Alper's vehicles. [Govt. Exh. 16-T-5].
36. In May 1985, Union business agents Joseph Kinkade and McBride offered to
end Roofers Union-sponsored vehicle and jobsite vandalism, as well as any
troubles Alper might have with other labor unions, if William and Hyman
Alper, the company owners, would sign a Local 30 collective bargaining
agreement. The
[**22] Alpers declined. [Govt. Exh. 16-T-5].
37. Steven Alper was job foreman at a roofing job on a pharmacy in Margate,
New Jersey on May 15, 1980. He was approached on that jobsite by Roofers
Union business agent Daly and another man. Daly told him to stop the job or
"there is going to be an awful lot of trouble. . . ." [N.T. 112-115].
38. The next day, May 16, 1980, Steven Alper was foreman on the roof on a
job at Crane Plumbing in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Daly and five other men
stole an Alper dump truck and burned it. [N.T. 115-120].
39. Craig Alper, Steven Alper's cousin, has been with I. Alper Company for
16 years. Craig Alper was at a roofing job in late summer of 1971 at the
Pennsauken Industrial Center when three Local 30 men with bats walked up and
said: "This is a union job, and you are a nonunion contractor. You can't be
working here. Get the fuck out of here or we'll beat the shit out of you."
[N.T. 1172-1174].
40. Other instances of harassment and/or physical damage by the Roofers
Union against the Alper companies include occurrences at the following
jobsites: Hancock School in Lansdale, Pennsylvania (Summer 1981 - business
agent Brown); AMTRAK 30th Street Station (Summer
[**23] 1982 -
$ 200,000.00 damage); Greenberg School in Northeast Philadelphia (Summer
1983); Martin Luther King High School (Summer 1983 - $ 80,000.00 damage);
Martin Luther King High School (Summer 1984 - ladder pulled away from roof
and truck firebombed). [N.T. 1175-1197].
41. In 1985, on the Fels Junior High School ("Fels") job by Alper, Traitz
was the impetus behind the Occupational Safety and Health Administration
("OSHA") conducting an unwarranted safety inspection. [N.T. 120-122]. Both
Traitz and his accomplice, OSHA Area Director Bernard Dillon, have been
convicted of bribery and corruption for actions that occurred shortly after
the inspection of the Fels job, and the court concludes in this civil case
that the corrupt relationship extended to the unwarranted 1985 Fels
inspection by OSHA as well. [Govt. Exh. 4B, 4C].
[*1148] Steven Kurtz Roofing, Inc.
42. Steven Kurtz ("Kurtz"), another victim of Roofers Union violence, began
business as a roofing contractor in 1970. Two or three years later in 1972
or 1973 he voluntarily approached the Roofers Union to discuss unionizing
his company, which then consisted of about three employees. [N.T. 456].
After those discussions, he decided not
[**24] to do so. Shortly after Kurtz's visit to the
Union Hall, business agents Brown and Williams came to his house, and during
a brief discussion there, threatened that they might burn the house down.
[N.T. 457]. Kurtz had no significant involvement with the Union from 1973 to
the spring of 1983. In 1983, Union agents or members vandalized a roof Kurtz
was installing and stole two tar kettles owned by Kurtz's company. After
each incident, Kurtz received a late night anonymous threatening phone call
about the roofing equipment damage and thefts. [N.T. 459-462].
43. By this time, the Kurtz business had expanded to about twenty employees,
and performed an occasional commercial roofing job. In early 1983, the Kurtz
company was removed from a commercial roofing job in Manayunk, Pennsylvania,
that was one-half completed because the owner of the building wanted to
finish the job with a Union company. [N.T. 463-464].
44. Soon after this removal, Union business agents Joseph Kinkade and
McBride visited Kurtz's office in Chestnut Hill, Pennsylvania, to attempt to
Union organize his company. Traitz and Medina arrived at Kurtz's office
shortly thereafter. Kurtz told these four Union agents that he
[**25] was
willing to join the Union if the men wanted to join the Union. He arranged
for business agents to meet privately with his employees to discuss joining
the Union. After meeting with Kurtz's employees, business agent Joseph
Kinkade told Kurtz that the Union had been unable to generate sufficient
support among the employees to win a representation election. He asked Kurtz
to sign a collective bargaining agreement notwithstanding the opposition of
his employees. Kurtz refused. [N.T. 464-467].
45. Kurtz then experienced a period of almost two years during which his
contacts with the Union were minimal. His workforce grew to about 30 men.
This period of tranquility was broken on May 8, 1985 when two unidentified
men attacked Kurtz as he got out of his jeep at his shop at about 6:30 a.m.
The men beat and kicked Kurtz in the head and ribs repeatedly, severely
bruising his face and cracking three ribs. [Govt. Exh. 14]. During the
attack, Kurtz asked his attackers "why," to which one of them responded:
"Because you won't join the union." [N.T. 467-470].
46. The following night, May 9, 1985, at approximately 10:00 or 11:00 P.M.,
a telephone caller identifying himself only as "Billy" said:
[**26]
"Steven, I just want you to know that this is only the beginning." He also
called Kurtz a "scab." Kurtz signed an agreement with the Roofers Union
during the summer of 1985. [N.T. 473-474].
D & D Roofing, Inc.
47. Douglas Dardaris ("Dardaris"), a roofing contractor doing business as D
& D Roofing, signed a Local 30B agreement in 1979 after Traitz, Joseph
Traitz and several other Roofers Union agents and members assaulted him in
front of his employees on a jobsite, breaking several ribs. The Union had
earlier defaced a Roy Rogers building for which Dardaris had done roofing
work by pouring liquid asphalt roofing material on the building. He was
required to post a $ 500.00 cash "bond" to "join" the Union, which has not
been returned. When the individual defendants were indicted, Dardaris
withdrew from the Union. During the seven years of their membership, his
employees never received any Roofers Union cards. [N.T. 622-647].
Small Roofing Contractors
48. The campaign of violence, fear and terrorism sponsored and carried out
by the Roofers Union leadership to coerce companies into dealing with the
Union impacted upon many very small contractors as well as the larger
employers discussed
[**27] above.
49. Alex Kolosenko ("Kolosenko") has been a roofing contractor in
Philadelphia since about 1973, usually working alone.
[*1149] In
1982, he was performing subcontract work for Local 30B contractor Fred
Wallace ("Wallace"), a man who has held various positions within the Local
30B employers association. He quit working for Wallace in early September
when Wallace refused to pay him more money. Between 7:00 and 8:00 A.M. on
September 17, 1982, while parking his truck at a jobsite on Red Rambler
Drive in northeast Philadelphia, Kolosenko was physically assaulted and
cursed at by three members of the Roofers Union, including Osborn and at
least two others whose surnames were Devenney and McCullough. The three
punched and kicked Kolosenko, threw him to the street, and left him
semi-conscious next to his truck as they drove away. The court finds that
the purpose of the assault was to coerce Kolosenko into signing a Union
contract. Several days later, Kolosenko went to the Union Hall and signed
the Local 30B collective bargaining agreement. [N.T. 18-24, Tape 11].
50. In October 1985, out of fear that he would be beaten again, Kolosenko
acquiesced to the demands of Roofers Union business agents
[**28] Medina
and Schoenberger that he pay to the Union "dues" payments equivalent to 100
hours per month ($ 60.00) regardless of whether he worked those hours ("the
100-hour policy"). [N.T. 27-29].
51. In the summer of 1987, after Kolosenko quit the Union, persons believed
to be Local 30/30B agents, together with a Bruce Reas ("Reas"), threatened
him with physical harm in front of his daughter while he was working on the
rooftop of a job as a non-Union contractor in his own neighborhood.
Kolosenko was asked by a man wearing a Roofers Union jacket and hat if he
was a Union member. He answered "no." The man left and returned with Reas
and a third man. Reas asked the third man to bring him a hatchet. Reas
attempted to climb the ladder, hatchet in hand, but Kolosenko kept shaking
it. Around the same time, the Roofers Union also sabotaged his truck by
cutting tires 21 times and removing the nuts from the bolts that hold the
front spring together. [N.T. 27-35].
52. Ronald Wanner was a summer employee of his father's roofing business in
August, 1975 when Roofers Union business agent Daly and another large man
threatened him and beat him up because he was doing a small commercial job
without being
[**29] a Union member. The assault left Ronald
Wanner with various injuries, including a cracked nose and a black eye.
[N.T. 397-405, 407-408]. In 1974 and 1975 Daly threatened John Wanner,
Ronald's father, with trouble and damage. [N.T. 413-419]. Daly said: "Well,
you better become union or something could happen to your truck. It would be
a shame if something happened to your truck." [N.T. 414]. At a job for
Rittenhouse Freight Company, he told John Wanner: "You better just clear out
of hear [sic] and leave these jobs alone, because you are going to get into
trouble." [N.T. 415]. After the attack on his son, John Wanner began to
carry a gun on the job. Eventually he virtually withdrew from roofing work
because of fear of the Union. [N.T. 420].
53. William Unangst ("Unangst") was a temporary non-Union employee of Mynar
Roofing on December 28, 1982, when he was viciously assaulted outside a bar
at night by Traitz III, Joseph Traitz, Schoenberger, Robert Hammond
("Hammond") and fellow Mynar employee David Nestor. Hammond, a member of the
Union, was a close friend of the Traitz family who frequently participated
in assaults on behalf of the Roofers Union. During the December 28th attack,
the
[**30] assailants tore Unangst's ear half off, cut
his face, punctured his eardrum and injured his ribs. They also assaulted
and knocked unconscious Joe Salvino ("Salvino"), a friend of Unangst who
tried to help him. The attack occurred because Unangst was not a member of
the Roofers Union. [N.T. 421-432; Govt. Exh. 11C].
54. Within a week after Unangst and Salvino filed criminal charges in state
court against those members of the Union, Traitz called them to a meeting at
the Montgomery County Boys Club, where Traitz was involved as a boxing
trainer. Present were Traitz, Unangst and Salvino, the co-owners
[*1150] of
Mynar, and McBride. The atmosphere was threatening and intimidating to
Unangst and Salvino. Traitz threatened Unangst and Salvino. He threatened
that Unangst's friends would be out of work, and intimidated the two into
dropping the criminal charges. After the incident, Mynar gave Unangst less
and less work, and eventually Unangst quit. His fear of the Union continues
to the present. [N.T. 432-439].
55. Hans Martin Glang ("Glang") is a German immigrant who came to the United
States in 1982, and began operating as a small non-Union roofing company in
the Philadelphia area in 1983. During
[**31] the fall of 1984 two Roofers Union business
agents, one of whom visibly carried a gun, visited Glang on a jobsite at the
Abington Pharmacy, leaving a business card to call Traitz. They urged him to
join the Union. In a later telephone conversation Traitz also urged Glang to
join the Union. Glang refused, and took steps to avoid the Union by moving
his location and changing his phone number. [N.T. 886-892, 902].
56. During this period, Glang also held a part-time job as a doorman at an
American Legion Post in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania. On the night of January
5, 1985, Traitz, Schoenberger, and at least eight other Roofers Union agents
and members approached the door of the bar/club and asked for Glang. He
appeared at the door and went outside to meet with the group of roofers.
Without provocation, Traitz pulled Glang by the hair and knocked him down. A
brawl ensued between the eight or so Roofers Union members and a group of
doormen who came to Glang's aid. Glang's hand was broken in the fight, which
lasted about thirty minutes before police intervened. After this assault,
Glang gave up his roofing business. [N.T. 893-899, 908, 912, 917].
C.
Sabotage And Vandalism Against Non-Union [**32]
Contractors
57. In addition to resorting to face-to-face violence against persons and
property, the Roofers Union program, to achieve its goals and demands, has
also included clandestine vandalism and sabotage often coupled with threats
of violence.
58. In the case of non-Union roofer George Geyer ("Geyer"), for example, the
Roofers Union relied exclusively on sabotage of Geyer's vehicles, extensive
vandalism to a roof, theft of equipment, and a threat that "There is no way
you are going to do that job as a non-union contractor" from business agent
Joseph Kinkade. After several such experiences, Geyer agreed to sign a
collective bargaining agreement in the summer of 1985. [N.T. 774-776,
788-794].
59. James L. Miller ("Miller") of Schuylkill Haven, Pennsylvania, a
non-Union contractor, bid on a school job near Reading, Berks County,
Pennsylvania, in June of 1985. The day after Miller won the bid, Union
business agent Phillip Cimini ("Cimini") called him and made an appointment
for a meeting regarding the job. Shortly thereafter, Cimini visited Miller's
shop and tried to secure his consent to sign a Roofers Union agreement. At
the end of a half-hour discussion that had been amicable
[**33] in
tone, Cimini told Miller: "Either you join or we'll get you." [N.T.
736-743].
60. About halfway through the school job that had precipitated Cimini's
organizing efforts, the jobsite was vandalized; holes had been torn in the
roof; and Miller's equipment had been damaged. This background, coupled with
the fact that roofers' tools were required to tear such holes in the roof
and Miller left no such tools at the jobsite, causes the court to draw the
reasonable inference that the Union was responsible for this vandalism. The
total damage exceeded $ 80,000.00, and the insurance claim eventually caused
Miller to lose insurance coverage for his business. As a result, Miller
stopped doing business in the territory covered by the Roofers Union. [N.T.
744-751].
61. Roof-Vac, Inc. ("Roof-Vac"), a specialty company from Baltimore,
Maryland, operates a roof washing and vacuuming business and uses a machine
called an "aqua-vac," which is used to clean dirt and gravel from roofs in
preparation for re-roofing. J.J. Urethane Company ("J.J. Urethane"),
[*1151] a
Local 30 contractor, hired Roof-Vac in the summer of 1984 to remove the
gravel and clean the roof of a school in Boyertown, Pennsylvania, where
[**34] J.J.
Urethane was the prime roofing contractor. During the job, various agents
and members of the Union came to the jobsite on a Saturday night and
destroyed the aqua-vac and other Roof-Vac equipment on the jobsite. Traitz
admitted responsibility for the destruction in a conversation with John
DiNenna ("DiNenna"), owner of J.J. Urethane, several days later, and blamed
the damage on the fact that Roof-Vac was a "scab rock-sucker," meaning a
non-Union vacuuming company. [N.T. 722-727].
62. In the summer of 1986, J.J. Urethane again hired Roof-Vac as a
subcontractor, this time on a job on Delaware Avenue in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania. Roofers Union business agent Williams demanded that for the
duration of the job Roof-Vac employees join the Union and that the dues be
paid by J.J. Urethane. [N.T. 727-728].
D.
Economic Pressures On Non-Union Companies
63. The Roofers Union on many occasions has attempted to make doing business
unnecessarily more difficult and expensive for non-Union roofing companies.
Preventing equipment dealers from renting to or servicing non-Union
companies was one of the means of doing this. Edward Alston ("Alston"), a
roofing equipment supplier located in New
[**35] Jersey, has been so intimidated and coerced
by the Union business agents that he has an informal policy of not dealing
with non-Union roofing contractors for fear of equipment damage or personal
injury. One of the non-Union contractors to whom Alston has refused to rent
equipment is the Sensenig Roofing Company of Ephrata, Pennsylvania. [N.T.
499-517, Govt. Exh. 16-T-3].
64. The Roofers Union leadership also attempted to eliminate any low bidding
advantage experienced by non-Union contractors by making non-Union work
expensive. For example, this has occurred by the Union's sabotage and
vandalism of non-Union jobsites as previously stated, which often caused
non-Union employers to incur the additional cost of security necessary to
protect property, equipment and supplies which raised their cost of doing
business.
65. In order to prevent vandalism from members of the Union, the Alper
Company has been forced to place 24-hour security guards on any jobs it
performs in the City of Philadelphia in order to prevent vandalism. [N.T.
1185-1186]. The Miller company, after experiencing the $ 80,000.00 damages
from vandalism as described in finding of fact 60 above, placed guards with
dogs on
[**36] the jobsite throughout the repair and
completion of the job. [N.T. 750]. The Geyer company suffered damage to the
roof it was working on as well as $ 750,000.00 damage to property of
Freelance, Inc., the owner of the jobsite building vandalized in 1984. [N.T.
775; Finding of Fact 58]. Richard Kaller testified to substantial sabotage
by Roofers Union workers during the Sutton Terrace job in 1979-80. [N.T.
185-191; Finding of Fact 32].
66. The plain meaning of the taped conversation between the Alper brothers
in 1985 and Roofers Union business agents Joseph Kinkade and McBride was
that the Union-caused inconvenience and extra costs to the Alper Company
would disappear once the company signed a Roofers Union agreement. [Govt.
Exh. 16-T-5].
E.
Violence To Dominate And Control Union Contractors
67. Over the past twenty years, the Roofers Union leadership has used, as
its primary tactic, threats and violence in lieu of lawful and more
conventional means for resolving disputes with Union-signatory contractors.
Robert Kryszczak
68. Robert Kryszczak ("Kryszczak") is the chief estimator and corporate
secretary for Kulzer Roofing, Inc. ("Kulzer"), a large Union roofing
contractor in
[**37] Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In February
1985, Kryszczak became involved in pricing and setting up roofing repair
work on a building in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, owned by Leaseway Corporation
("Leaseway"). Due
[*1152] to the necessity for prompt repair,
Leaseway awarded the job to Kulzer on a "time and materials" basis. [N.T.
69-73].
69. When Local 30 Union shop steward Michael Sullivan ("Sullivan") learned
that the job was awarded on a "time and materials" basis, he demanded that
Kryszczak "load" the job with unnecessary roofers from Local 30. Kryszczak
refused to do so. At a meeting on the roof of the building, n4 six Local 30
representatives viciously punched and kicked Kryszczak into
semi-consciousness. His assailants included Roofers Union business agents
Joseph Kinkade, Joseph Traitz, Traitz III and Schoenberger, shop steward
Sullivan and another unidentified male. Kryszczak suffered a permanently
dislocated jaw, permanent neurological damage, dental damage, bruises and
abrasions, and psychological damage. [N.T. 77-88].
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - Footnotes - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
n4 The testimony made it clear that on many occasions the Union insisted
that confrontations between Union representatives and employer
representatives take place on the roof of the buildings being worked on. In
many instances the meetings on the roof were intended by the Union to be
dominated by fear of physical force and personal injury.
- - - - - - - - - - - - End Footnotes- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
[**38]
70. After the beating, Kulzer threatened to fire Kryszczak if he carried
through his announced intention of suing the Union for the assault. [N.T.
88].
71. Despite this, Kryszczak did sue the Union as well as the six individuals
who attacked him. [Govt. Exh. 6A]. Settlement of the case will cost the
Union treasury approximately $ 1 million, including damages to Kryszczak and
the legal cost of defending the case. [N.T. 1251-1255; Govt. Exh. 39].
Michael Kobithen, III
72. Michael Kobithen, III ("Kobithen") signed his roofing company up with
the Roofers Union in 1978, shortly after he went into business as a roofing
contractor, to avoid trouble with Local 30/30B. In 1981, Roofers Union
official Joseph Kinkade called Kobithen into the Union Hall, accused him of
cheating on his hours and insisted that he employ a Roofers Union shop
steward. [N.T. 258-260].
73. In 1983, Kobithen began having problems with employees about overtime
hours, and installed a time clock as a corrective measure. In November 1983,
Union officials McBride, Medina and two other men came to his office. They
assaulted him in front of his employees, using their fists, a large iron
monkey wrench and an ax, causing
[**39] broken bones in his face, a punctured
eardrum, and badly bruised ribs. Medina also threatened one of Kobithen's
employees who tried to aid Kobithen during the beating. The Union
representatives also wrecked Kobithen's office. Only later did he learn that
the time clock caused the beating. He did not report the attack to any
tribunals out of fear of the Roofers Union. [N.T. 260-271].
74. In 1985, Local 30/30B required Kobithen to pay Union dues for 100 hours
per month regardless of whether he worked those hours, and his Union shop
steward forced him to buy unwanted tickets to political fund raisers and
benefits on several occasions. [N.T. 271-274].
Thomas Hudecheck
75. Thomas Hudecheck owns a roofing company in Downingtown, Pennsylvania.
Hudecheck attended the Rifle Club meeting in 1968, signed a collective
bargaining agreement in 1969 with Local 30B and has been a Local 30B
contractor continuously since then, even though most of his work was
commercial and would probably be governed by a Local 30 agreement. [N.T.
296-297].
76. In the summer of 1983, Roofers Union business agent Daly contacted
Hudecheck on three separate occasions to complain that Hudecheck had bid
successfully
[**40] on commercial jobs that Daly did not want
him to have because he was operating under a 30B residential agreement. Daly
insisted that Hudecheck back out of the jobs. When Hudecheck refused, Daly
then demanded that Hudecheck subcontract the jobs to Michael Gravely, a
commercial roofing contractor affiliated with Local 30. Hudecheck complied
with this. [N.T. 299-303].
77. On August 23, 1983, the Hudecheck office in Downingtown was firebombed,
[*1153] causing considerable damage. At about
7:45 A.M. on that date, as the fire company arrived to extinguish the fire,
defendant Daly also arrived. Daly said to Hudecheck: "It looks like you have
a problem here, and things like this happen when you piss people off." Given
the history of the dealings between Daly and Hudecheck, Daly's appearance at
the fire scene, and his statement to Hudecheck, the court finds that
defendant Daly, and thus the Union, was responsible for the firebombing of
Hudecheck's office. [N.T. 303-304].
78. On July 29, 1985, Daly, Traitz III, and another individual came to
Hudecheck's office, and in the presence of Hudecheck's attorney, Steven
Mascherino, assaulted Hudecheck, punching him to the ground and kicking him.
Based on what
[**41] Daly said to Hudecheck during the attack,
the reason they assaulted Hudecheck was because Daly
thought
Hudecheck had used a non-Union employee. [N.T. 306-310, 329-332].
Thomas Zimmerman
79. Thomas Zimmerman ("Zimmerman") has been a residential roofing contractor
since 1969. He joined Local 30B as an employer when he started the business
so that his employees could enjoy better benefits. For about 18 months to 2
years in the early 1980's, Zimmerman was a member of the Board of Directors
of the Roofing, Metal and Heating Associates, Inc., the Local 30B employers'
association. In the early summer of 1983, at a board meeting of the
contractors' association, Zimmerman raised the issue of hiring a
professional negotiator to bargain with the Union. About a week later, he
was summoned to the Union Hall for a meeting with business agents McBride
and Joseph Kinkade, who accused him of badmouthing the Union. Zimmerman
later clearly understood this meeting to be a warning to him not to speak
out at meetings of the contractors' association contrary to Union interests.
[N.T. 352-355].
80. In late October or early November, 1983, shortly before the collective
bargaining agreement with the
[**42] Union was up for renewal, Zimmerman spoke
out at a contractors' association board meeting against a Roofers Union
proposal for a contract clause whereby each employee would pay 3 or 4 cents
per hour by check-off to a political action committee. Zimmerman convinced
the board to turn down that Roofers Union proposal. [N.T. 355-358]. Within a
week or two of that board meeting, and because of Zimmerman's position on
the contractual issue, Roofers Union officials Joseph Kinkade and McBride
visited Zimmerman's shop. Joseph Kinkade told the contractor in front of his
three employees that he had "a big mouth" and was finished as a Union
contractor. Joseph Kinkade removed the employees from Zimmerman's company,
and told them that if they came back to work for Zimmerman they would be
non-Union and would be beaten up. [N.T. 358-361]. Kinkade also punched
Zimmerman. [N.T. 362]. After Kinkade and McBride left, Zimmerman contacted
the contractors' association for help. The only help or support the
association would provide was to suggest that he go
alone to the
Union Hall and meet with Union officials. [N.T. 362-363].
81. Within a week, Zimmerman met with Roofers Union officials Jack Kinkade,
[**43] Joseph
Kinkade, McBride, Medina, Schoenberger, Hurst and others at the Union Hall.
Zimmerman went to the Union Hall meeting alone and was surrounded by six to
nine leaders and members of the Union. Jack Kinkade was the principal
spokesperson for the Union. Zimmerman was told at this meeting that he was
shut down for his big mouth, and that in order to get back in business, he
would have to (a) resign from the Board of Directors of the contractors'
association, (b) buy $ 750.00 worth of tickets to a charitable benefit, and
(c) accept in place of his own long-term employees workers the Union would
select and send him from the Union Hall. During the meeting, Medina
threatened that he would break Zimmerman's arms, and Hurst threatened him
that if he spoke against the Union's proposals again, "we'll put you in the
fucking hospital." [N.T. 364-370].
Harry Rohlfing
82. Harry Rohlfing ("Rohlfing") is a roofing contractor who, with his
brother,
[*1154] began a roofing business in 1981.
Rohlfing promptly signed a Local 30B collective bargaining agreement because
he thought, based upon his perception of the Union's violence, it would be
impossible to operate a roofing business safely in the City of
[**44]
Philadelphia without having the Local 30B decal stickers on his vehicles.
[N.T. 380].
83. In late July or early August 1984, the Rohlfing company hired for a
day's work a 23 year old man who was not a member of the Roofers Union. The
employee was injured on the job, requiring hospitalization. Within two weeks
of the injury, Medina called Rohlfing to the Union Hall. Inside the Union
Hall meeting room, Medina and eight or nine other Roofers Union officials
and/or members surrounded Rohlfing, cursing and shouting at him about the
non-Union employee. One of the men struck Rohlfing repeatedly on the face.
Members of the group threatened to put him in the hospital if he resisted or
defended himself. [N.T. 481-488].
84. Rohlfing was so intimidated from that meeting that he closed up his
business several months later and moved to Florida. [N.T. 488].
Keystone Roofing: Fred Laincz
85. Fred Laincz ("Laincz"), was a superintendant and not a Union member for
Union contractor Keystone Roofing located in Pennsauken, New Jersey. He
found it necessary to do some roofing work personally on a supermarket in
Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, during the summer of 1978 because Union
roofers had left the
[**45] job unprotected during a rainstorm. In
response, McBride, then a steward and since named a business agent by the
Union, accused Laincz of doing roofer's work (meaning work reserved by the
agreement for Union members). Laincz denied any wrongdoing. McBride's
response was to beat Laincz repeatedly when Laincz arrived at later time at
the Keystone offices. McBride told Laincz: "Don't ever lie to me again,
motherfucker, because a lot worse is going to happen the next time." [N.T.
671-676].
86. In or about the summer of 1978, superintendent Laincz visited a jobsite
to deliver paychecks. The crew on the jobsite in question had been hired
through the Roofers Union Hiring Hall and Laincz had been having trouble
with them. Laincz parked his car next to the worker who operated the kettle
containing hot asphalt. When Laincz left the site he drove approximately two
miles down the road when his car began to make a slamming noise and it
stopped. When the engine was removed and examined, asphalt was found inside.
[N.T. 681-684]. The court draws the only reasonable and compelling inference
that the Union kettleman and maybe other members of that Union-sent crew
vandalized Laincz's car by putting
[**46] roofing asphalt into the oil-fill part of
the engine.
William Szili
87. William Szili ("Szili") is a suburban roofing contractor who signed a
Local 30B contract in December 1982. [N.T. 599]. When Szili signed the
agreement, business agent Medina orally announced additional contract
requirements for Szili's business that did not appear in the written
contract. [N.T. 601-602]. In March 1985, Szili was working on a large
commercial job in Norristown, Pennsylvania, when Medina called him and told
him to come to the Union Hall for a meeting. Szili complied. Medina then led
Szili into the business agents meeting room, where he was surrounded by six
to eight Union members and officials. Medina screamed at Szili that he was
underreporting his hours worked. Medina struck Szili, knocking him to the
floor, and told him he was out of the Roofers Union. [N.T. 604-610].
88. Several weeks later, Traitz III and Joseph Traitz met with Szili and he
signed a new Local 30B agreement. During this meeting, Traitz III told Szili
that if Szili would notify the Union of activities of non-Union contractors,
they'll be taken care of. [N.T. 611].
F.
Criminal Offenses For Which The Individual Defendants [**47] Were
Convicted
89. In September 1985, the Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI") obtained
a federal court order under Title III,
18 U.S.C. § 2510, et seq., permitting placement of
[*1155]
electronic surveillance devices inside the Roofers Union business offices at
6447 Torresdale Avenue, Philadelphia. The electronic surveillance under this
court Order continued from September 26, 1985 to approximately February 20,
1986.
90. By superseding indictment filed in this district in October 1986, the
government charged thirteen officials of the Roofers Union with violations
of RICO, 18 U.S.C. §§ 1961-1968, RICO conspiracy, and with numerous
predicate criminal acts. The thirteen indicted officials in that criminal
case are the same individual defendants named in this civil case. n5 [Govt.
Exh. 1].
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - Footnotes - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
n5 There are five other defendants in the criminal case who remain to be
tried.
- - - - - - - - - - - - End Footnotes- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
91. By jury verdict of November 23, 1987, all of the defendants were found
guilty of a combination of 152 counts of racketeering, RICO conspiracy, and
predicate criminal acts, as follows:
(a) Traitz, business manager, was found guilty of one count of substantive
RICO, RICO conspiracy, eight counts of mail fraud, three
[**48] counts
of solicitation of kickbacks and gifts to influence the operations of an
employee benefit plan, three counts of embezzlement from an employee benefit
plan, four counts of bribery of a public official, two counts of collecting
credit and claims by extortionate means, and two counts of interstate travel
in aid of a racketeering enterprise.
(b) Hurst, president, was found guilty of one count of substantive RICO,
RICO conspiracy, three counts of solicitation of kickbacks and gifts to
influence the operations of an employee benefit plan, and three counts of
embezzlement from an employee benefit plan.
(c) Mangini, business agent, was found guilty of one count of substantive
RICO, RICO conspiracy, one count of solicitation of kickbacks and gifts to
influence the operations of an employee benefit plan, one count of
embezzlement from an employee benefit plan, one count of bribery of a public
official, and one count of extortion.
(d) Crosley, business agent, was found guilty of one count of substantive
RICO, RICO conspiracy, one count of solicitation of kickbacks and gifts to
influence the operations of an employee benefit plan, one count of
embezzlement from an employee benefit plan,
[**49] one count of bribery of a public official,
eight counts of extortion, and six counts of collection of credit by
extortionate means.
(e) Daly, recording secretary and business agent, was found guilty of RICO
conspiracy and one count of bribery of a public official.
(f) Cannon, dispatcher and business agent, was found guilty of RICO
conspiracy, one count of extortion, and one count of collection of credit by
extortionate means.
(g) Osborn, organizer, was found guilty of one count of substantive RICO,
RICO conspiracy, four counts of extortion, and three counts of collection of
credit by extortionate means.
(h) Medina, business agent, was found guilty of one count of substantive
RICO, RICO conspiracy, eight counts of mail fraud, thirteen counts of
extortion, and ten counts of collection of credit by extortionate means.
(i) Williams, business agent, was found guilty of one count of substantive
RICO, RICO conspiracy, three counts of extortion, and two counts of
collection of credit by extortionate means.
(j) Nuzzi, organizer, was found guilty of one count of substantive RICO,
RICO conspiracy, and two counts of interstate travel in aid of racketeering.
(k) Traitz III, organizer, was found
[**50] guilty of one count of substantive RICO,
RICO conspiracy, four counts of extortion, and three counts of collection of
credit by extortionate means.
(
l) Joseph Traitz, organizer, was found guilty of one count of
substantive RICO, RICO conspiracy, six counts of extortion, and five counts
of collection of credit by extortionate means.
(m) Schoenberger, organizer, was found guilty of one count of substantive
RICO, RICO conspiracy, seven counts of extortion,
[*1156] and
six counts of collection of credit by extortionate means. [Govt. Exh. 2].
92. As a result of their convictions, the defendants have been sentenced as
follows:
(a) Traitz - fifteen years imprisonment, five years probation, $ 50,000.00
fine, $ 18,075.00 restitution, and $ 1,100.00 special assessment.
(b) Hurst - eight years imprisonment, five years probation, $ 40,000.00
fine, and $ 300.00 special assessment.
(c) Mangini - ten years imprisonment, five years probation, $ 10,000.00
fine, and $ 300.00 special assessment.
(d) Crosley - ten years imprisonment, five years probation, $ 10,000.00
fine, and $ 950.00 special assessment.
(e) Daly - nine years imprisonment, five years probation, $ 5,000.00 fine,
and $ 100.00 special assessment.
[**51]
(f) Cannon - three years imprisonment, five years probation, and $ 150.00
special assessment.
(g) Osborn - eight years imprisonment, five years probation, $ 5,000.00
fine, and $ 450.00 special assessment.
(h) Medina - fourteen years imprisonment, five years probation, and $
1,650.00 special assessment.
(i) Williams - nine years imprisonment, five years probation, $ 10,000.00
fine, and $ 350.00 special assessment.
(j) Nuzzi - three years imprisonment, five years probation, $ 10,000.00
fine, and $ 200.00 special assessment.
(k) Traitz, III - eight years imprisonment, five years probation, $ 5,000.00
fine, and $ 450.00 special assessment.
(
l) Joseph Traitz - eight years imprisonment, five years probation,
and $ 650.00 special assessment.
(m) Schoenberger - eight years imprisonment, five years probation, and $
850.00 special assessment.
93. These convictions and evidence at the criminal trial establish that the
Union's officials used the Union to conduct the following criminal schemes:
(a) Union officials interfered with interstate commerce by extortion, in
violation of
18 U.S.C. § 1951(b)(2), by using threats and violence to extort monthly
"dues" payments from roofing contractors. Under
[**52] this
"100 hours" scheme, contractors were forced to pay dues of 60 cents per hour
on 100 hours of work each month ($ 60.00), whether they worked those hours
or not. Some of the contractors were called into the business agents
conference room at the Union Hall and threatened, and sometimes beaten to
enforce compliance with this "100 hours" program.
(b) Some contractors were threatened or beaten to coerce them to pay money
to the Union or affiliated employee benefit plans described at the trial, in
violation of
18 U.S.C. § 894, prohibiting the use of extortionate means to collect
and attempt to collect extensions of credit and to punish debtors.
(c) Traitz was also convicted of collecting unlawful debts for the
Scarfo-organized crime family which is the Philadelphia and Southern New
Jersey faction of the La Cosa Nostra ("LCN") Organized Crime family, in
violation of
18 U.S.C. § 894.
(d) Traitz and Medina participated in a mail fraud scheme by reporting as
stolen a car which Medina had wrecked while driving under the influence of
alcohol.
(e) Traitz, Mangini, Crosley and Hurst were convicted of embezzling funds
from the Union's Prepaid Legal Services Fund in 1983, 1984 and 1985. These
[**53]
defendants exacted a kickback of 10% of all legal fees paid by the Union
under its legal services plan. The money generated by this scheme was used
to bribe public officials.
(f) Union officials bribed OSHA Area Inspector Bernard Dillon.
(g) Union officials bribed many Philadelphia and other judges, court
officials, policemen, prison officials, an employee of the Philadelphia
District Attorney's Office, and an official of the Pennsylvania Department
of Labor. [Govt. Exhs. 1, 2, 3, 4].
G.
Organized Crime
94. The court-approved electronic surveillance established that sometime in
1981,
[*1157] shortly after Roofers Union Business
Manager John McCullough was murdered in an organized crime "hit," Traitz
made an agreement with Nicodemo Scarfo ("Scarfo"), head of the LCN in
Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey. Traitz was shown to have done favors
for Scarfo such as collecting debts and resolving disputes between labor
unions and LCN affiliated contractors. [Govt. Exh. 4, 4T; Tapes 52, 20, 93,
190, 225]. Evidence at the criminal trial showed that in return for
supporting Traitz, Scarfo obtained influence over the organizing efforts of
the Union and gave permission, in some instances, to the Roofers
[**54] Union
concerning targets of physical violence. The tapes demonstrate that Traitz
valued very highly his association with Scarfo. [Govt. Exh. 4, 4T; Tape 52,
13-14]. Traitz personally benefited from the relationship by obtaining power
from his association with Scarfo. [Govt. Exh. 3, 4, 4T; Tape 52, p. 4; Tape
27, p. 2; Crim. N.T. 1432]. Nicholas Caramandi, a/k/a "Crow," and Thomas
DelGiorno stated in the criminal trial that Scarfo controlled labor unions
through Traitz; if a labor problem arose, Scarfo relied on Traitz to solve
it. [Govt. Exh. 3, Crim. N.T. 1360-61, 1432].
95. The beginning of this relationship was explained by Traitz to Scarfo
associate Harry Joseph on October 10, 1985, in what has been referred to as
the Traitz "takeover" tape. [Govt. Exh. 4; Tape 52]. On that tape recording,
Traitz is heard explaining that a power struggle developed within the
Roofers Union in early 1981 shortly after McCullough was murdered. Traitz,
seeking control of the Union, sought Scarfo's aid in getting the opposing
faction to withdraw its bid to take over the Union. Scarfo, in collaboration
with former Roofers Union President Stearn, agreed to support Traitz.
According to Traitz, a meeting
[**55] of the two Union factions occurred in 1981
and the opposing faction withdrew its bid for power. Traitz's faction,
headed nominally by Jack Kinkade, then assumed control of the Roofers Union
and Traitz became indebted to Scarfo.
96. Throughout October, November and December, 1985, Traitz met with his
inner circle (Mangini, Crosley and Hurst) and Scarfo associates Saul Kane,
Harry Joseph and Alfonso J. Parisse when Scarfo business was discussed. [
E.g.,
Govt. Exh. 4; Tapes 72, 73, 74].
97. The tape recordings in evidence contain discussions of a list referred
to by Traitz which revealed that: (1) he had received permission from Scarfo
to let business agent Daly beat up a Scarfo-affiliated contractor over a
personal dispute [Govt. Exh. 4; Tape 79]; (2) Scarfo, together with other
organized crime families, had been involved in at least two Union organizing
efforts in which contractors had sought Scarfo's aid in resisting the Union
[Govt. Exh. 4; Tapes 20, 25, 93]; and (3) Scarfo wanted Traitz to help
collect two debts, one involving Roofers Union member Richard "Rip" Kinkade
("Rip Kinkade") and the other involving John Arena, a real estate developer
and entrepreneur. [Govt. Exh.
[**56] 4; Tapes 6, 9, 92, 106].
98. The subject of Count 42 of the superseding indictment was the
extortionate collection of $ 15,000.00 from Rip Kinkade, the brother of
retired business manager Jack Kinkade. Rip Kinkade was a member of the Union
as were his brothers Robert, Jack, and Joe.
99. The subject of Count 43 was the attempted extortionate collection of a $
350,000.00 drug debt allegedly owed by John Arena to Scarfo and some
"Colombians."
100. Traitz was convicted of extortion on both Count 42 and Count 43. [Govt.
Exh. 2].
H.
Abuse Of Union Power And Funds
101. The individual defendants and their allies and associates have managed
the assets and used the power of the Union over the past twenty years in
such a way as to benefit themselves rather than the membership of the Union.
102. Annually from 1980 through 1985, the Roofers Union made payments by
check to the eleven members convicted for their criminal conduct in the
Altemose riot.
[*1158] The payments total $ 16,640.00 [Govt.
Exh. 42; N.T. 1260].
103. In 1983, 1984 and 1985, the Union made payments totalling $ 51,050.00
in legal fees on behalf of the eleven men convicted for their criminal
conduct in the Altemose rioting. [Govt. Exh.
[**57] 42; N.T. 1260-1261; Findings of Fact 14-16].
104. During the time the eleven men were in prison, the Roofers Union paid
or arranged to be paid to those men "full benefits and pay for their
families," according to the Union minutes of June and July, 1980. [Govt.
Exh. 42; N.T. 1258-1259].
105. As a result of the attack on contractor Kryszczak on February 13, 1985
by defendants Schoenberger, Joseph Traitz, and Traitz III, business agent
Joseph Kinkade and shop steward Sullivan, the Union has paid the following:
(a) $ 276,580.00 to Kryszczak, his wife and attorney;
(b) $ 21,132.00 legal fees for defense of the Union;
(c) $ 30,548.90 legal fees for defense of the six individuals.
The settlement agreement with Kryszczak calls for additional payments of
more than $ 650,000.00 to Kryszczak and his attorney. [Govt. Exh. 39; N.T.
1251-1254].
106. The Roofers Union paid legal fees and bail bonds out of the Union
treasury for each of the defendants convicted on November 23, 1987, broken
down as follows:
| |
Fee |
Bond |
Total |
| Stephen Traitz, Jr. |
$ 255,382.29 |
$ 40,000.00 |
$ 295,382.29 |
| Edward P. Hurst |
40,442.65 |
2,500.00 |
42,942.65 |
| Michael Mangini |
29,521.75 |
15,000.00 |
44,521.95 |
| Robert Crosley |
40,216.48 |
20,000.00 |
60,216.48 |
| Michael Daly |
44,550.00 |
10,000.00 |
54,550.00 |
| Daniel Cannon |
37,090.43 |
10,000.00 |
47,090.43 |
| Mark Osborn |
49,494.82 |
10,000.00 |
59,494.82 |
| Robert Medina |
65,039.51 |
10,000.00 |
75,039.51 |
| Ernest Williams |
34,500.00 |
20,000.00 |
54,500.00 |
| James Nuzzi |
53,568.75 |
10,000.00 |
63,568.75 |
| Stephen Traitz, III |
45,368.50 |
15,000.00 |
60,368.50 |
| Joseph Traitz |
68,707.95 |
10,000.00 |
78,707.95 |
| Richard Schoenberger |
29,150.00 |
30,000.00 |
59,150.00 |
| |
| |
$ 793,033.10 |
$ 202,500.00 |
$ 995,533.10 |
[**58] In
addition, the Union treasury paid out $ 17,821.24 for investigative support
to the criminal defense team and $ 26,704.00 for catered lunches during the
two month criminal trial. The total of all expenditures known at present on
behalf of the thirteen convicted officers and business agents in connection
with the criminal case is $ 1,040,058.34. [Govt. Exhs. 26-33; N.T.
1239-1245].
107. All thirteen defendants were convicted of multiple crimes on the basis
of a tidal wave of indisputable evidence, that in great measure came out of
the defendants' own mouths and nearly all of which must have been known by
the defendants and possibly even their lawyers before the trial. The Union
derived no benefit from the expenditure of more than $ 1 million in Union
funds.
108. In July 1986, the Local 30/30B Executive Board, and subsequently the
membership as a whole, fearing that the Union treasury was in danger of
being depleted by legal criminal defense costs on behalf of the thirteen
indicted officials, voted to fund the legal defense by increasing the hourly
dues check-off deducted by Roofers Union employers from the Union members'
paychecks. The membership vote on this item was purportedly
[**59] by
secret ballot. [Govt. Exhs. 35, 36; N.T. 1247-1250].
109. The Local 30/30B official meeting minutes reflect numerous efforts in
1986 and 1987 to protect the leadership from the consequences of the FBI
criminal investigation.
[*1159] The executive board voted in June 1986 to
pay all officers and business agents who wanted to take the Fifth Amendment
and be jailed for contempt in the investigation; to give Traitz a car if he
was forced to vacate his Union position; to pay his salary if jailed; and in
July 1986, voted to give a fifteen percent raise to anyone indicted. In
April, 1987, the members voted "for BA's to keep automobiles if trial goes
against them," and to pay the criminal fees and fines and for the criminal
defense lawyers. This resolution in the Union's records appears again in
November 1987, along with another vote to pay Traitz's attorneys fees in the
event state court criminal charges were filed. [Govt. Exhs. 34-38; N.T.
1245-1251].
110. Traitz has demonstrated his willingness to abandon and betray his own
Union members when his personal ambition and personal goals interfere.
111. In September, 1982, long-time Traitz associate Donald Offner ("Offner")
viciously attacked his
[**60] own employee, David DeFelice ("DeFelice"),
with a steel pipe, beating him on the back, and then destroyed DeFelice's
automobile with a log, in the apparent belief that DeFelice had reported a
contract infraction to the Union. At the time, Offner was the owner of
Montgomery County Roofing, a Union contractor, and DeFelice was his employee
and a member of Local 30B. Seeking redress for the attack, DeFelice called
the Union Hall. He received no response. Unfortunately for DeFelice, Offner
had been one of the Union "honored" eleven who were arrested in the Altemose
riot in 1972, and he was also associated closely with Traitz's boxing
activities in the Montgomery County Boys Club. Rather than supporting his
member's position, Traitz threatened DeFelice and attempted to coerce him
into dropping charges he had filed against Offner with the Montgomery County
District Attorney's Office. Offner fired DeFelice. The Roofers Union did not
assist DeFelice. Indeed, Offner pleaded guilty to two misdemeaner counts
concerning the DeFelice matter and was ordered to pay for DeFelice's ruined
car. [N.T. 760-762, 863-874, Govt. Exh. 12B].
112. In 1985, Union member Rip Kinkade became involved in a card
[**61] game,
at the end of which he owed a substantial sum of money to an organized crime
figure. Traitz was convicted in the criminal case of extortionate collection
of credit by reason of his efforts in collecting payment from his supposed
colleague and fellow Union member Rip Kinkade for organized crime figures.
The pertinent tapes from the criminal case evidence the divided loyalty
Traitz felt and demonstrated in such matters. [Govt. Exh. 4; Tape 92].
I.
The December 1987 Election Of Officers
113. The Roofers Union decided to conduct an election to replace the
officers who had been convicted on November 23, 1987.
114. The American Arbitration Association ("AAA") was engaged as an
impartial agency to oversee the election process, including the nomination
meeting held on December 2, 1987. [N.T. 1719-1721].
115. The "Crosley slate" in the December 1987 election was as follows:
| Business Manager |
Joseph Crosley |
| President |
Thomas Pedrick |
| Vice-President |
Jack Conway |
| Recording Secretary |
David McBride |
| Executive Board |
John Devenny |
| |
Ed Smith |
| |
Dan Conway |
| |
Mark Goodwin |
| |
Mike O'Malley |
[**62] [Exhs.
D-6, 20; N.T. 1002-1006].
116. Joseph Crosley is the brother of defendant Robert Crosley, a former
business agent who was one of the thirteen convicted on November 23, 1987.
[N.T. 1565-1566; Govt. Exh. 2]. Thomas Pedrick and John Devenny were members
of Traitz's "SWAT Team," a group of "tough guys" occasionally sent to
terrorize recalcitrant employers. [Govt. Exhs. 16B, 16C, 16T-1, 16T-2]. Mark
Goodwin is a former boxer who was trained by Traitz at the Montgomery County
Boys Club and who lived with the Traitz family for a time and has been
involved in payments to judges that were part of the racketeering enterprise
established in the criminal case. [N.T. 1482-1483; Govt. Exh. 4, Tape 230].
[*1160] David McBride is the brother of Gary
McBride.
117. Local 30 member Sullivan, a former Union shop steward who had been
appointed by Traitz as an instructor at the Roofers Union apprenticeship
school, organized an opposition slate to run against the slate headed by
Joseph Crosley. The "Sullivan slate" was as follows:
| Business Manager |
Michael Sullivan |
| President |
William McAndrews |
| Vice-President |
Dan McNeill |
| Recording Secretary |
Bob Dunphy |
| Executive Board |
George Kuc |
| |
George Lees |
| |
Don Powers |
| |
Tim Roach |
| |
Mike McKenna |
[**63] [Govt.
Exh. 24; N.T. 588-590, 1002-1006].
118. David McCullough, brother of the late John McCullough, was also a
candidate for business manager, but he did not figure significantly in the
December 1987 election. [Def. Exh. 20].
119. On December 2, 1987, the day of the nomination meeting, Mangini, who
had been acting as business manager due to the house arrest of Traitz,
learned that Sullivan planned to run against Joseph Crosley, and fired
Sullivan from his job as apprenticeship school instructor. Mangini also
fired Richard Bozzi, the head of the apprenticeship school because he was a
political supporter of Sullivan. [N.T. 591-595].
120. The nomination meeting for the December election occurred on the
evening of December 2, 1987, at McCullough Hall, on the 6300 block of
Torresdale Avenue, Philadelphia, which is within one block's distance of the
6447 Torresdale Avenue Union Hall.
121. The members of the Sullivan slate, together with presidential candidate
William McAndrews ("McAndrews"), arrived at the meeting with a group of
supporters and entered McCullough Hall shortly before the meeting. As
McAndrews entered McCullough Hall, Schoenberger (despite having been
convicted nine days
[**64] earlier in federal court) threatened to
punch him, saying he was "going against Stephen," an obvious reference to
Traitz. [N.T. 1011-1017].
122. Schoenberger and McAndrews talked for about ten minutes, during which
Schoenberger threatened McAndrews with "an ass kicking," breaking his bones,
putting him "in a fucking body cast," and "I'm going to fucking kill you."
During this time, Donnie Sherman, a 340 pound former boxer who was also part
of the Traitz group, spoke of McAndrews repeatedly, also threatening him in
similar profane and abusive language. [Govt. Exhs. 16T-1, 16T-2, 16B, 16C;
N.T. 1015-1019].
123. McAndrews was subjected to further threats from Schoenberger during the
nomination meeting, and was bumped in an offensive fashion by supporters of
the Crosley slate. Schoenberger also intimidated a Sullivan slate supporter
into not distributing his campaign literature at that meeting. [N.T.
1020-1025, 1076, 1101, 1118].
124. During the election campaign, convicted business agent Daly threatened
Sullivan, McAndrews and Sullivan slate supporter Charlie Slenner
("Slenner"). Daly and/or his associates also damaged Slenner's car, and Daly
threatened Slenner with loss of his job on
[**65] account of his opposition to the Crosley
slate, which Daly supported. [N.T. 1026-1028, 1082-1086].
125. Roofers Union officials also removed other Union members opposed to the
Crosley slate from their shop steward positions or barred them from
obtaining work through the Union's Hiring Hall. Convicted business agent
Cannon in effect campaigned for the Crosley slate at a jobsite on Union
time, in violation of federal law. [N.T. 1079-1082, 1397-1399]. Two Sullivan
supporters were refused a work reference from the Union Hiring Hall.
126. Sullivan supporters received anonymous telephone threats during the
campaign. [N.T. 1063-1068, 1087].
127. On December 21, 1987, the AAA conducted the election of officers. Out
of approximately 1500 eligible members, 1046 voted as follows:
| |
VOTES |
| BUSINESS MANAGER |
| Joseph M. Crosley |
757 |
| Michael H. Sullivan |
242 |
| David McCullough |
32 |
| |
| PRESIDENT |
| Tom Pedrick |
732 |
| Bill McAndrews, Sr. |
297 |
| |
| VICE PRESIDENT |
| Jack Conway |
752 |
| Danny McNeill |
267 |
| |
| RECORDING SECRETARY |
| David McBride |
737 |
| Bob Dunphy |
277 |
| |
| EXECUTIVE BOARD |
| Johnny Devenney |
719 |
| Edward Smith |
685 |
| Dan Conway |
739 |
| Mark Goodwin |
712 |
| Mike O'Malley |
710 |
| George Kuc |
239 |
| George Lees |
249 |
| Joseph Mulraney |
112 |
| Donald Powers |
241 |
| Tim Roach |
239 |
| Mike McKenna |
262 |
[**66]
[*1161] 128. Several members of the Sullivan
group who had made it known that they were to testify at this trial, later
received anonymous threatening phone calls up to twelve hours before their
appearance in court. The purpose of these calls was to suppress truthful
testimony from Union member-witnesses. Karen McAndrews, the wife of William
McAndrews, and Sullivan slate supporter Patrick Costello testified as to
such phone calls. [N.T. 1067-68, 1127].
129. Similar intimidation occurred in the criminal case when Leroy Owens, a
boxer and the adopted son of Traitz, together with a Traitz neighbor, tried
to threaten one of the jurors. [Govt. Exh. 3, Crim. N.T. 3079-3089]. Several
roofers also testified in this case about attempts by the Traitz group to
intimidate them in other criminal cases. [N.T. 432-39, 549, 586-87].
130. Since taking office on December 21, 1987, the current officers of the
Roofers Union have reappointed the following former business agents:
Joseph Kinkade
Gary McBride
Phillip Cimini
Edward Gregory
Charles Murtaugh
Mitchell Henderson
Newly elected officers Thomas Pedrick, David McBride and John Devenny
[**67] were
also appointed business agents. [N.T. 1478-1481].
131. Joseph Kinkade, Gary McBride, Cimini and Gregory are recommended
subjects of criminal charges in a Pennsylvania investigating grand jury
presentment issued November 23, 1987. [Govt. Exh. 5]. Murtaugh has a
criminal record and has spent time in prison. [Govt. Exh. 44; N.T.
1323-1325]. Henderson was a member of the Traitz "SWAT Team." [Govt. Exhs.
16B, 16C, 16T-1, 16T-2].
132. The thirteen officials convicted on November 23, 1987, have now been
removed from office by the newly elected slate, an action that would have
been accomplished by operation of law at time of sentencing in the criminal
case.
29 U.S.C. § 504.
133. The nine Roofers Union members who hold office by virtue of the
December 1987 election are long time associates and allies of the thirteen
defendants convicted on November 23, 1987. This is established by their
participation in unlawful activities prior to holding office; by the Traitz
group's vocal and physical support during the December 21, 1987 election;
and by their reappointment of the same business agents that had served the
Traitz group during much of the corrupt regime that led ultimately to their
conviction.
[**68] In a tape recorded conversation with