Eco James Coli (February 15, 1922 – December 1982) was an alleged labor racketeer in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. Starting in 1945, Coli's arrest record included attempted hijacking and assault and battery. He also was questioned in the murder of a Republican ward committeeman. During the 1950s, Coli received one year on probation for contributing to the delinquency of a minor. In 1952, Coli was sentenced to eight-to-ten years imprisonment for stealing

slot machine A slot machine, fruit machine (British English), poker machine or pokie (Australian English and New Zealand English) is a gambling machine that creates a game of chance for its customers. A slot machine's standard layout features a screen disp ...

s from a suburban

country club A country club is a privately-owned Club (organization), club, often with a membership quota and admittance by invitation or sponsorship, that generally offers both a variety of recreational sports and facilities for dining and entertaining. Ty ...

, but the

Illinois Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Illinois is the state supreme court, the highest court of the judiciary of Illinois. The court's authority is granted in Article VI of the current Illinois Constitution, which provides for seven justices elected from the fiv ...

overturned his conviction in 1955. Coli was also involved in the

Teamsters Union The International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) is a labor union in the United States and Canada. Formed in 1903 by the merger of the Team Drivers International Union and the Teamsters National Union, the union now represents a diverse members ...

. He served as a secretary-treasurer for Chicago

Local 727, made up of parking lot attendants, funeral drivers, directors, embalmers and others. Coli instituted pensions, health insurance and negotiated lucrative contracts for his members during his tenure. Coli would run this local for 20 years up until his death. During the 1969 Chicago

Columbus Day Columbus Day is a national holiday in many countries of the Americas and elsewhere, and a federal holiday in the United States, which officially celebrates the anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the Americas. He went ashore at ...

Parade, Coli made headlines by walking the parade route next to Chicago Mayor

Richard J. Daley Richard Joseph Daley (May 15, 1902 – December 20, 1976) was an American politician who served as the mayor of Chicago from 1955, and the chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party from 1953, until his death. He has been called "the last of ...

and Illinois Governor

Richard Ogilvie Richard Buell Ogilvie (February 22, 1923 – May 10, 1988) was an American attorney and law enforcement officer who served as the 35th governor of Illinois from 1969 to 1973. A wounded combat veteran of World War II, he became known as the ma ...

. Both Daley and Ogilvie claimed ignorance of Coli's criminal background. James Coli died in 1982 from natural causes. Teamsters Local 727 is now run by James Coli's grandson, John Coli.

References

*Sifakis, Carl. ''The Mafia Encyclopedia''. New York: Da Capo Press, 2005.

External links

July 4 2004 Chicago Sun Times, Sons of the mob step up in family business -- unions
by Robert Herguth {{DEFAULTSORT:Coli, Eco James 1922 births 1982 deaths American trade unionists American gangsters of Italian descent