In yet another example of the failure of LIUNA’s sham “internal reform effort,” the Daily News reported that N.Y. boss Gregg McCarthy “was savvy enough to see trouble coming two years ago when corruption investigators sent by the national union started probing his allegedly mob-tied Laborers local.”
To elude the limited reach of the “reform effort” and its ethically-challenged “in-house prosecutor” Robert D. Luskin, McCarthy swapped his $100,000-a-year job as Local 958 boss to become administrator of the local’s $14 million benefit funds. McCarty convinced the funds’ trustees to give a seven-year contract at $90,000-a-year with annual increases, a Christmas bonus and a fully-loaded 1999 Olds Aurora. When the “reform effort” finally took over the local, McCarthy had solidified his contract ensuring that he was safe. Thus, even if McCarthy was fired, as the local’s trustee is currently attempting, McCarthy’s contract protects him or entitles him to handsome damages.
McCarthy’s father, Jack McCarthy, was described by a U.S. Senate panel in 1967 as one of N.Y.’s premier racketeers. The father was jailed four times for corruption. His brother, Bryan McCarthy, has been indicted for corruption within the Teamsters. Fortunately for McCarthy, LIUNA’s “internal reform effort” can’t punish McCarthy with jail time — another example why the “reform effort” is inadequate.
One positive note, N.Y. state investigators, apparently unsatisfied with the “reform effort” and Dep’t of Justice’s actions, have launched a probe of the local’s alleged mob dealing. [Daily News 5/3/99]