July 7, 2005
U.S. Suit, Claiming Mob Control, Seeks Takeover of Dock Union
By WILLIAM K. RASHBAUM
Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn filed a civil racketeering suit against the International Longshoremen's Association yesterday in an effort to take over the union, which they said has been controlled by two New York mob families for roughly 50 years.
The lawsuit, which federal authorities said was based on recent criminal prosecutions and decades of evidence of corruption and mob influence in the union and waterfront businesses, was the first civil racketeering case brought against the association, although such a suit was brought against a local in 1990.
The lawsuit asks a federal judge to permanently bar five top leaders of the association -- including the president, John Bowers; the secretary-treasurer, Robert E. Gleason; and the executive vice president, Albert Cernadas -- from any role in the union or in any of its pension benefit or welfare funds. It seeks to bar several reputed mob figures from involvement with the union or its funds and names nearly a dozen other mob associates as co-conspirators. Prosecutors say the men are part of the Gambino and Genovese families, which they say control the union.
The lawsuit said the union ''continues to be a vehicle for organized crime influence in the nation's ports.''
A union statement said its leadership was ''disappointed that the government has chosen to perpetuate an outdated image of the I.L.A. while ignoring longstanding efforts by the I.L.A. leaders to strengthen union members' rights and to eradicate any unlawful conduct.'' The statement said the lawsuit would have ''devastating consequences'' on the union and the industry.
A union lawyer, Howard W. Goldstein, said, ''The I.L.A. has taken extraordinary steps over thee years to ensure the integrity of the international, and rather than engage in a dialogue with us, the government decided to, for lack of a better word, invoke the nuclear option of a RICO case to take over the international.''
The complaint said the five top union leaders -- Mr. Gleason, Mr. Bowers and Mr. Cernadas, along with a vice president, Arthur Coffey, and the assistant general organizer Harold J. Daggett -- are associates of the Genovese family.
Mr. Daggett and Mr. Coffey have been charged in federal court in Brooklyn with extortion conspiracy and mail and wire fraud conspiracy. Mr. Cernadas has been charged with mail and wire fraud conspiracy. The three men are on paid leave from the union, a spokesman has said.
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