George Scalise was the former president of the

Building Service Employees International Union Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is a labor union representing almost 1.9 million workers in over 100 occupations in the United States and Canada. SEIU is focused on organizing workers in three sectors: healthcare (over half of members ...

(BSEIU) who was convicted of

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

due to the exposure of labor racketeering by newspaper columnist

Westbrook Pegler Francis James Westbrook Pegler (August 2, 1894 – June 24, 1969) was an American journalist and writer. He was a popular columnist in the 1930s and 1940s famed for his opposition to the New Deal and labor unions. Pegler aimed his pen at president ...

, who won a

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...

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

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

to represent

janitor A janitor (American English, Scottish English), also known as a custodian, porter, cleanser, cleaner or caretaker, is a person who cleans and maintains buildings. In some cases, they will also carry out maintenance and security duties. A simil ...

elevator operator An elevator operator (North American English), liftman (in Commonwealth English, usually lift attendant), or lift girl (in British English), is a person specifically employed to operate a manually operated elevator. Description Being an effec ...

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

strike Strike may refer to: People * Strike (surname) Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm *Airstrike, military strike by air forces on either a suspected ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

'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, prosecutor, and politician who served as the 47th governor of New York from 1943 to 1954. He was the Republican candidate for president in 1944 and 1948: although ...

, 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-American organized crime syndicate or crime family based in Chicago, Illinois, tha ...

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, Illinois, the attorney ...

Edward J. Brundage of consorting with

gangster A gangster 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 ''mob'' and the suffix '' -ster''. Gangs provide a level of organization and ...

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

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

tax evasion Tax evasion 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 reduce the taxp ...

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

. Capone sought control BSEIU in order to

embezzle Embezzlement is a crime that consists of withholding assets for the purpose of conversion of such assets, by one or more persons to whom the assets were entrusted, either to be held or to be used for specific purposes. Embezzlement is a type ...

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 the business or practice of engaging in Sex work, 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, n ...

, 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 The Genovese crime family, () also sometimes referred to as the Westside, is an Italian-American Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City and New Jersey as part of the American Ma ...

, 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

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. 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

{{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)