LABORERS (LIUNA)
Trusteeship Sought for Chicago Local 2
The ethically-challenged Luskin
also announced May 3 that he is seeking a trusteeship over Local 2 in Chicago.
The complaint to the "internal judge" Peter F. Viara alleges that "[s]ince
at least 1985, Local 2 has been corrupted by the influence of organized
crime... The influence of organized crime has been perpetuated through
the longstanding abuse of democratic process and has resulted in ongoing
financial malpractice and in Local 2's inability to carry out legitimate,
constitutional objectives of a LIUNA affiliate such as independently fulfilling
its obligation to address allegations of mob control." Luskin targeted
Local 2 bosses John Matassa, Dominick DiMaggio and Vincent DiVarco. Reportedly,
Matassa has admitted under oath to a pattern of close associations with
organized crime for more than 25 years. Matassa is already facing
related internal charges that could lead to his expulsion. [BNA 5/5/99]
Curiously, despite this appearing to be a slam-dunk case, the Dep't of
Justice has not taken any action against Local 2 or Matassa -- neither
was cited in DOJ's 1994 212-page draft racketeering complaint against LIUNA.
In addition to the unions and organizations covered in this Union Corruption Update, readers can look forward to news and information on other corrupt and abusive unions in future editions.
All back issues of the Union Corruption Update can be viewed at NLPC's website (www.nlpc.org). Also available is a union-by-union and state-by-state index of all Union Corruption Update articles.
If you have story ideas or suggestions for future editions of Union Corruption Update, please email NLPC at nlpc@nlpc.org. Thank you.
Union Corruption Update is part of NLPC's Organized Labor Accountability Project which is investigating and exposing corruption and extremism in the Teamsters, LIUNA, AFL-CIO and many other union organizations. NLPC is a nonpartisan, nonprofit foundation promoting ethics and accountability in government through research, education and legal action.
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