George Scalise was the former president of the Building Service Employees International Union (BSEIU) who was convicted of

racketeering Racketeering is a type of organized crime in which the perpetrators set up a coercion, coercive, fraud, fraudulent, extortionary, or otherwise illegal coordinated scheme or operation (a "racket") to repeatedly or consistently collect a profit. ...

due to the exposure of labor racketeering by newspaper columnist Westbrook Pegler, who won a

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

in 1941 for his reporting. The BSEIU (known as the Service Employees International Union since 1968) was founded in 1921 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 ...

to represent

janitor A cleaner, cleanser or cleaning operative is a type of Industry (economics), industrial or domestic worker who is tasked with cleaning a space. A janitor (Scotland, United States and Canada), also known as a custodian, Facility Operator, porter ...

elevator operator An elevator operator (North American English), liftman (in English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English, usually lift attendant), or lift girl (in British English), is a person specifically employed to operate a manually operat ...

s, and window washers. Membership increased significantly with a 1934

strike Strike may refer to: People *Strike (surname) * Hobart Huson, author of several drug related books Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm * Airstrike, ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

's Garment District. Scalise, who rose to head the union due to his connections with organized crime, was indicted by New York District Attorney

Thomas E. Dewey Thomas Edmund Dewey (March 24, 1902 – March 16, 1971) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 47th Governor of New York from 1943 to 1954. He was the Republican Party's nominee for president of the United States in 1944 and ...

, charged with extorting $100,000 from employers over three years. Convicted of labor racketeering, Scalise was sentenced to 10–20 years in prison.

Organized crime infiltration of BSEIU

Scalise succeeded

Jerry Horan Jeremiah J. Horan"Obituary," ''Chicago Daily Tribune,'' April 30, 1937. (aka Jerry Horan) (May 1886-April 28, 1937)"Jerry J. Horan, Flat Janitors' Leader, Is Dead," ''Chicago Daily Tribune,'' April 28, 1937. was an organized crime figure and Presi ...

, the corrupt head of the union, as president in 1937. Under Horan's presidency, the union's ties to the

Chicago Outfit The Chicago Outfit, also known as the Outfit, the Chicago Mafia, the Chicago Mob, the Chicago crime family, the South Side Gang or the Organization, is an Italian Americans, Italian American American Mafia, Mafia crime family based in Chicago, I ...

deepened. In 1933, Horan was accused by former

Illinois Attorney General The Illinois attorney general is the highest legal officer of the state of Illinois in the United States. Originally an appointed office, it is now an office filled by statewide election. Based in Chicago and Springfield, the attorney general ...

Edward J. Brundage of consorting with

gangster A gangster (informally gangsta) is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from ''Organized crime, mob'' and the suffix ''wikt:-ster, -st ...

Al Capone Alphonse Gabriel Capone ( ; ; January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947), sometimes known by the nickname "Scarface", was an American organized crime, gangster and businessman who attained notoriety during the Prohibition era as the co-foun ...

and seeking to improperly influence James H. Wilkerson, the judge overseeing Capone's 1931

tax evasion Tax evasion or tax fraud is an illegal attempt to defeat the imposition of taxes by individuals, corporations, trusts, and others. Tax evasion often entails the deliberate misrepresentation of the taxpayer's affairs to the tax authorities to red ...

trial. Horan, however, initially attempted to avoid being put under the influence of Capone and his

. Capone sought control BSEIU in order to embezzle funds from the national union's treasury.Biles, ''Big City Boss in Depression and War: Mayor Edward J. Kelly of Chicago,'' 1984; Bukowski, ''Big Bill Thompson, Chicago, and the Politics of Image,'' 1997. But Big Tim Murphy had been gunned down in 1928, leaving Horan without protection. Horan could not turn to Chicago Mayor Bill Thompson, either, for Thompson was closely linked to the Capone mob. In March 1931, an intimidated Horan made peace with Capone. By 1933, Horan was taking his orders from Murray "The Camel" Humphreys, Capone's liaison to unions."Scalise Sentenced to 10 to 20 Years," ''New York Times,'' October 8, 1940. In 1934, the Capone mob forced Horan to hire George Scalise as a union organizer. Scalise, a 38-year-old from

, had been involved in interstate

prostitution Prostitution is a type of sex work that involves engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, no ...

, labor racketeering and other organized crime activities since the early 1920s. A protégé of Anthony "Little Augie Pisano" Carfano,Fulton, "Scalise Linked to Underworld In Union Plans," ''Chicago Daily Tribune,'' August 20, 1940.Fulton, "Testifies Gang Placed Scalise On Union Throne," ''Chicago Daily Tribune,'' August 27, 1940."Scalise Depicted As Tool of Gang," ''New York Times,'' August 27, 1940. a former Capone associate who had moved to

and joined what was then known as the Luciano crime family, Scalise had used his mob connections to establish several small union locals with the Teamsters.Dwyer, "How Murderers Rode to Rule in Elevator Union," ''Chicago Daily Tribune,'' March 23, 1943. With Carfano's help, he then built several large locals of building janitors and elevator operators, began skimming members' dues and receiving kickbacks from employers, and then affiliated the locals with the BSEIU. In 1934, Scalise asked Carfano to use his Chicago Outfit connections to help Scalise become the Eastern Representative for BSEIU, a position which put him in control of all BSEIU locals on the East Coast. Horan agreed to the deal, and Scalise was not only appointed to the position but Scalise also received 50 percent of the dues from any newly organized members in the East."Scalise Jury Gets 2 Success Stories," ''New York Times,'' August 16, 1940."List Scalise's Withdrawals At $1,500,000," ''Chicago Daily Tribune,'' May 3, 1940. In 1935, when the Fifth Vice President position on the BSEIU Board of Directors opened up due to a retirement, Scalise worked with Carfano and Horan to win appointment to the position. Because of Horan's mob connections, BSEIU grew tremendously during Horan's presidency. The mob received more money the more union members there were, so there was every incentive to bring in new members. Mob enforcers intimidated employers into permitting unionization of their employees, and existing locals swelled with members while new locals proliferated. BSEIU grew from 10,000 members in 1932 to 40,000 members in 1936 and 75,000 members in 1939.Slater, ''Public Workers: Government Employee Unions, the Law, and the State, 1900-1962,'' 2004.

References

External links

*SEIU / BSEIU union corruption and racketeerin

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scalise, George Trade union officials convicted of crimes Presidents of the Service Employees International Union Year of birth missing Year of death missing Trade unionists from New York (state) People convicted of racketeering Prisoners and detainees of New York (state)