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Mobsters, Unions, and Feds: The Mafia and the American Labor Movement Kindle Edition

4.3 out of 5 stars 28

“This worthy successor to Gotham Unbound . . . is an exhaustive . . . survey of the grip La Cosa Nostra has exerted on the country's most powerful unions.” –Publishers Weekly
 
Nowhere in the world has organized crime infiltrated the labor movement as effectively as in the United States. Yet the government, the AFL-CIO, and the civil liberties community all but ignored the situation for most of the twentieth century. Since 1975, however, the FBI, Department of Justice, and the federal judiciary have relentlessly battled against labor racketeering, even in some of the nation's most powerful unions.
 
Mobsters, Unions, and Feds is the first book to document organized crime's exploitation of organized labor and the massive federal cleanup effort. A renowned criminologist who for twenty years has been assessing the government's attack on the Mafia, James B. Jacobs explains how Cosa Nostra families first gained a foothold in the labor movement, then consolidated their power through patronage, fraud, and violence and finally used this power to become part of the political and economic power structure of twentieth century urban America.
 
Since FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover's death in 1972, federal law enforcement has aggressively investigated and prosecuted labor racketeers, as well as utilized the civil remedies provided for by the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO) statute to impose long-term court-supervised remedial trusteeships on mobbed-up unions. There have been some impressive victories, including substantial progress toward liberating the four most racketeer-ridden national unions from the grip of organized crime, but victory cannot yet be claimed.
 
“A must read book for anyone interested in the problem of union corruption and what to do about it.” —
Industrial and Labor Relations Review

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

NYU law professor Jacobs further burnishes his reputation for advancing the study of organized crime in America with his latest work of scholarship, billed by the publisher as "the only book to investigate how the mob has distorted American labor history." This worthy successor to Gotham Unbound and Busting the Mob is an exhaustive, albeit sometimes repetitive, survey of the grip La Cosa Nostra has exerted on the country's most powerful unions. While many will be familiar with the broad outlines of the corruption that riddled the Teamsters, which is recounted by the author, his summary of some lesser-known examples of pervasive labor corruption help illustrate his thesis that the entire American union movement has suffered from the intimidation and fear the mob used to gain and maintain control of unions. Especially valuable is Jacobs's examination of the relatively recent use of the RICO law to bring dirty unions under the control of a federally appointed independent trustee, and the book's posing of hard questions about the mixed success those monitorships have had. (Jan.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Jacobs, legal scholar and expert on the Mafia, sets out to show how the Mob has distorted American labor history, explaining the relationship between organized crime and organized labor, as well as recent federal efforts to clean up unions. Unions are susceptible to organized crime because they receive a constant flow of funds from members automatically deducted by employers; AFL-CIO rules prohibit challenges to representation once a union has been recognized; and oversight of unions is difficult for both insiders and outsiders because few union members are interested in governance and because violence, intimidation, and control of information make monitoring costly and risky. Jacobs insists the book is prolabor and notes that unions do not have exclusive claim to fraud and corruption, given the well-known examples in corporations and the government. Jacobs concludes that union problems are difficult to solve because "the most distinctive feature of corruption in the labor movement is its association with the infiltration and exploitations of the Cosa Nostra organized crime families." Mary Whaley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B002WVGEFU
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ NYU Press (January 1, 2006)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ January 1, 2006
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 3181 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 519 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 out of 5 stars 28

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James B. Jacobs
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Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
28 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Reviewed in the United States on April 3, 2013
Professor Jacobs has written a book that deserves the attention of everyone. Many in this Country and Canada are enamored with the mafia and organized crime. It is really a shame because its existence would be quickly terminated; if only the public joined with the victims? Standing together and demanding that their elected officials (those not already entangled in the criminal web) act and act now. Today, the followers of Cain are armed with the best Attorney's and public relations firms who paint a picture projecting these pillagers as upstanding citizens who support charities and other humane causes. The pubic and in some circles the media, elected officials and even some religious organizations heap praise on this criminal organization.

Great job Professor

Ronald Fino
Reviewed in the United States on January 8, 2017
This book reveals just how deeply the mobs have infiltrated America's labor unions and the steps the federal government took to prosecute the labor racketeers. It was well written with more than enough historical details to make the author's point.
Reviewed in the United States on November 4, 2014
Mobster's influence into some of US Trade Unions

Received this book today by mailman into a good shape.

Containing very interesting stories, like to know on a clearly way what really had been happened about the mob influence into some sections of the American Labor Movement and their workforce, and other forms of conspiracy between politicians and Mafiosi, extorsion and bribery of big companies by other dubiously persons, like Frank Sinatra! And don't forget the Kennedy clan, headed by Joseph Kennedy sr. from New England, who had the hand in it by himself by paying Mafia bosses in Chicago for winning elections for is sons!
Reviewed in the United States on August 15, 2010
James B Jacobs is the foremost expert on labor racketeering in America, and the effort to rid that evil by the government and ordinary trade unionists. A great read.
2 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on July 9, 2021
This book gives an interesting peek into the connection between organized crime and organized labor. It’s academic and dry but also highly informative. However, it is shockingly poorly edited. Every few pages, there is an error in grammar or punctuation that leaps off the page at me. It’s very distracting.
Reviewed in the United States on September 21, 2013
A great book that delves into just how powerful the mob is with organized labor. Professor Jacobs, cleary explains the inner workings of labor racketeering
Reviewed in the United States on August 1, 2013
This book explores the connections between 'the mob' and the labor unions. It also details the federal effort to get a handle on the connection.
One person found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on August 13, 2013
If your looking for the Godfather, or Jimmy Hoffa, forgettabodit, but if you love case history and reference this book will do the job.
2 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Labour
Reviewed in Canada on October 22, 2020
Good book. Ive been in / currently in 5 unions. Informative about non union /union labour. Eye opener
Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Great historic book
Reviewed in Canada on August 16, 2020
Finally received book
With pandemic shipping took 8 extra weeks

Its in great shape and time to read
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