U.S. Holds Off On Taking Over Laborers Union
By MIKE STANTON
Journal-Bulletin Staff Writer
Federal prosecutors have given no indication that they intend to
take over the Laborers' International Union or remove its leader, Arthur A. Coia, despite
an agreement allowing them to do so beginning this week, a union lawyer
said yesterday.
"My understanding is that our internal reforms are on track
and moving forward unless we hear otherwise," said the lawyer, Robert D. Luskin.
In February, Coia signed a unique agreement with the Justice
Department giving him 90 days to demonstrate his willingness to purge the union of
longstanding corruption and organized-crime influence.
After the 90 days, which ran out Monday, the
government can take over one of the country's largest unions and oust Coia and other top
executives, as it did with the Teamsters union in 1989.
The Justice Department has made no move to do so, and would not
comment yesterday on its intentions. The government can take over the union any time
during the next three years if not satisfied with Coia's reforms.
Luskin said the union has not heard from the
Justice Department, and "there's no reason to expect" a government takeover is
imminent.
Coia, who was unavailable for comment, is preoccupied with other
matters.
Earlier this week, he huddled in Washington with other national
labor leaders plotting an historic challenge to veteran AFL-CIO president Lane Kirkland.
Coia, a prominent Democratic Party supporter and friend of President Clinton, even allowed
that he would be interested in succeeding Kirkland.
Today, as part of his new internal reforms, Coia is expected to
testify at a union disciplinary hearing in Chicago. The hearing is for Laborers' vice
president John Serpico of Chicago, who was suspended by Coia in January
for alleged organized-crime ties.
Serpico's lawyer vows to quiz Coia about the agreement he
negotiated with the government, and about the union leader's own alleged mob ties -
allegations that surfaced in a Justice Department draft complaint last November.
"I'd like to know how it came to pass that
the Justice Department originally sought to remove Mr. Coia, then they turn around and say
he can stay," said the lawyer, Matthias A. Lydon.
Luskin declined comment on the hearing, calling it an internal
union matter.
Last week, the Laborers submitted an extensive report to the
government, summarizing the progress that it has made in the last 90 days.
Luskin declined to release a copy, or discuss its contents.
"It's a document responsive to a government
request," he said. "It includes matters of disciplinary actions that we're
taking."
Previously, Luskin and Coia have hyped their reforms, which
include hiring former federal prosecutors and ex-FBI agents to investigate corruption.
Prosecutors are reviewing the union's report as they deliberate
the Laborers' fate. But a Justice Department spokesman, John Russell, said there is no
timetable for a decision.
Russell, too, declined to release a copy of the
union's report, and he said the department would have no further comment.
Luskin said the Laborers and the Justice Department have had
discussions during the last three months about the union's progress in
fostering reform.
The government's position throughout, he said, has been to allow
the union to pursue a cleanup internally.
The February agreement between the government and
the union left Coia - whom prosecutors had threatened to remove last fall - in charge.
As part of that threat, the government last
November sent the Laborers a draft of a civil racketeering complaint that it put together
after a three- year investigation.
The unsigned draft was never filed in court; it surfaced only
recently, as an exhibit in court battles between Coia and other union officials over the
course of reform. The existence of the draft complaint and Coia's internal union struggles
were reported by the Journal-Bulletin on Sunday.
The draft complaint said that Coia had associated with and been
controlled by organized-crime figures, and that the union president, who is from
Providence, conspired as recently as last year to funnel money from
upstate New York locals to the Buffalo Mafia.
Coia denies the allegations. Luskin characterized the draft
complaint as a bargaining tool that, while raising some legitimate concerns, was off the
mark regarding Coia.
The government delivered the draft complaint
with an ultimatum that it would file it as a racketeering lawsuit and seek a government
takeover unless the union responded appropriately within two weeks.
That led to three months of negotiations, during which the
government dropped its demand for Coia's removal. Coia, meanwhile, suspended two vice
presidents for alleged mob connections: Serpico and Samuel J. Caivano, a longtime ally
from New Jersey.
Serpico and Caivano both sued, contending that Coia had sacrificed
them to preserve his own position.
On Wednesday, Caivano and the Laborers settled
their dispute. The union dropped its disciplinary charges against Caivano and reinstated
him as vice president. In return, Caivano, 75, retired immediately and
agreed to drop his lawsuit.
Luskin said the agreement will allow Caivano to collect his full
union pension.
Copyright © 1997 The Providence Journal Company.
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