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LABORERS INTERNATIONAL INSPECTOR ASKING QUESTIONS ABOUT LOCAL 91

By Mike Hudson

The man responsible for bringing down the corrupt leadership of Laborers Local 210 in Buffalo during the mid-1990s was in Niagara Falls last week. And he didn't come for the spectacular views.

Philip D. Smith -- who retired from the Federal Bureau of Investigation following a 25-year career that included a stint as Agent in Charge of the Buffalo FBI office -- now covers upstate New York for the Inspector General's office of the Laborer's International Union of North America (LIUNA).

Smith and other former federal agents became involved with the Laborers in 1995, when the Justice Department entered into a consent decree with the union. In exchange for cleaning up its own act, LIUNA staved off a federal racketeering suit. Under the decree, former top FBI official Douglas Gov was appointed Inspector General of the International, and he immediately began recruiting ex-FBI men to oversee Laborers locals in different regions of the country.

The results were immediate. International President Arthur Coia resigned, pled guilty to a felony, and paid a $100,000 fine. Other top LIUNA officials drew stiffer sentences.


"There have been allegations and, if they're true, it's something the Inspector General's office would be interested in." -- Philip D. Smith

But in some areas, the Laborers' ties with organized crime and, indeed, their participation in it, were too firmly entrenched to be deterred by the goings-on in Washington. In Cleveland, union leaders drew prison sentences. In New England, Chicago and Buffalo, most were simply expelled from the union locals, which then entered into consent decrees of their own.

At any time, if Justice Department officials decide LIUNA is not living up to the conditions of the consent decree, it can be revoked, and the entire International placed under federal trusteeship.

Which brings us to Niagara Falls.

While Smith declined to discuss the specifics of his inquiry into the activities of Laborers Local 91 during a brief visit to the Reporter offices, it is known that a federal grand jury has been sitting in Buffalo for nearly 30 months taking testimony concerning allegations of the Niagara Falls local's use of threats, intimidation and physical violence in establishing a "climate of fear" that has driven the cost of construction in Niagara County up 40 percent and more.

And just as interesting to investigators as the beatings, bombings and work site vandalism are allegations of corruption by Local 91 leadership in which the union members themselves are the victims.

In particular, investigators are looking into reports that a top Local 91 official redeemed significant numbers of gift certificates awarded by the union in other people's names at Sam's Club discount supermarket, and the incomplete record-keeping and shoddy math evidenced in filings since 1995 by the local's political action committee. Copies of those records were retrieved by grand jury investigators from the Niagara County Board of Elections.

Also receiving scrutiny is an Oct. 9 burglary of the local's Seneca Avenue headquarters described as "an inside job" by city police. Desks were ransacked and $6,000 was taken in that incident.

In a recent Buffalo News article by Dan Herbeck, defense attorneys for top Local 91 officials were quoted as saying that "a number of indictments" were expected to be handed down soon, and that "the federal government may be trying to take over Local 91 like they did with Local 210."

Smith's presence in the Falls last week would lend credence to that theory.

"It's the (Inspector General's) job to help the union take care of its own problems in order to comply with the consent decree," he said.

Just how would the International go about taking over Local 91? In the case of Local 210, it was as simple as walking through the door of the Franklin Street union hall, Smith said.

"(Federal Judge Richard J. Arcara) issued a court order and we just took it over there," he said. "It was beautiful."

Local 210 was the first Laborers local taken over as a result of LIUNA's consent decree in 1995. In fact, it was the testimony of Ron Fino, a former Local 210 official turned government informant, that led to the systemic overhaul of LIUNA's leadership. Fino is now in the Federal Witness Protection Program.

More than 80 members were expelled from the local, and those who remained were required to sign affidavits pledging to stay away from organized crime associates. Elections were suspended, and local officials were appointed by an overseer brought in by the International.

The old guard of Local 210 bristled at what they called "outside interference," and on March 31, 1996, a group of insurgents under the leadership of John S. Tomasello took over the union hall, ejecting the appointed officials and running the day-to-day business of the union themselves.

That lasted until April 22, when Arcara issued his order and Smith went to work. Under the terms of the order, failure to surrender the hall could result in fines and imprisonment for the insurgents.

"I said, 'Please tell me you're not going to comply,'" Smith remembered with a smile. Smith's presence angered some in the old guard, who remembered him as head of the Buffalo FBI office.

"It's like we're fighting Big Brother," insurgent union member Bruce Curvin told reporters at the time of the takeover.

The question of whether Local 91 will be taken over by the International may be answered by the federal grand jury.

If indictments are handed down against the local's leadership, LIUNA's Inspector General's office would be left with little choice but to step in. Smith said he is not privy to what is going on behind the closed doors of the grand jury room, but is simply checking things out on his own.

"There have been allegations and, if they're true, it's something the Inspector General's office would be interested in," he said.


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Niagara Falls Reporter www.niagarafallsreporter.com April 2 2002