Defector Says Unions Give Mafia Power

A former high-ranking New York mobster told Senate investigators Friday that “our real power, our real strength” has come from control of Teamsters Union locals and other labor organizations.

Vincent (The Fish) Cafaro, who defected last year to the FBI as a top lieutenant to mob leader Anthony (Fat Tony) Salerno, appeared publicly for the first time to give testimony about life as a member of the Vito Genovese organized crime family in Manhattan.

Cafaro, 53, endorsed remarks by Sen. Sam Nunn (D-Ga.), chairman of the Governmental Affairs permanent investigations subcommittee, that inroads made by the Mafia into the management of some labor unions remain one of the nation’s gravest law enforcement challenges.

“My family made a lot of money from gambling and the numbers (lottery) rackets,” Cafaro told senators, referring to his Mafia “family.”

‘Could Shut Down the U.S.’

“We got our money from gambling, but our real power, our real strength, came from the unions. With the unions behind us, we could shut down the city--or the country, for that matter--if we needed it to get our way,” said Cafaro, a trim man with thinning gray hair and heavy-rimmed glasses.

Cafaro was among 15 mob figures, including Salerno, who were indicted in late 1986 on charges of racketeering, extortion and conspiracy for allegedly seeking to corrupt the New York construction industry as well as the Teamsters Union. Although Salerno and the others are awaiting a jury verdict on those charges, Cafaro was removed from the case after he agreed to cooperate with the FBI.

However, Cafaro acknowledged that he had a change of heart last October, deciding that he could not testify against Salerno, who was “like a father to me” for 36 years. Prosecutors, upset over his reversal, put him back in jail where he is awaiting his own separate trial.

Hoping to Win Leniency

Apparently hoping to win leniency for cooperating with Congress, Cafaro agreed to testify in connection with Senate hearings observing the 25th anniversary of mobster Joseph Valachi’s appearance before the same panel, in which Valachi ripped the veil from the inner workings of organized crime in nationally publicized hearings.

Cafaro did not seek or receive immunity from prosecution for what he said.

He testified that the Genovese crime family had longstanding control over Teamsters Local 560 of Union City, N.J., through the local’s leader, Tony Provenzano, who Cafaro said was “a family member.”

That union was placed under court-supervised trusteeship three years ago after the Justice Department brought a civil racketeering lawsuit to remove its top leadership, a move the department also has been preparing to make for several months against the national executive board of the Teamsters Union.

Monthly Salary From Crime

Provenzano, now imprisoned, formerly received $6,500 a month from Salerno from the proceeds of crime, Cafaro testified. He said the late Paul Castellano, another Mafia chieftain, who was murdered three years ago, helped the mob gain influence over the New York concrete industry by controlling Teamsters Local 282, which represents concrete truck drivers.

Similar mob influence continues to be exerted over the hotel workers’ union and the International Longshoremen’s Assn., Cafaro said.