THE EDGE: Organized Crime, Business and Labor Unions For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Washington, D.C. 20402 Commissioner Rodino, in view of his position as Chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary of the United States House of Representatives, takes no position concerning the recommendations included in Section Eleven of this Report. Pursuant to Executive Orders 12435 and 12507, as well as Public Law 98-368, I present the report on labor and management racketeering of the President's Commission on Organized Crime. Since you appointed the Commission and designated me as Chairman, our investigation has turned its attention to the ways in which organized criminal groups infiltrate and exploit the processes of the legitimate economy. Our public hearings and our previous report on money laundering have emphasized the importance of devising ways to deny organized crime the means to earn the vast sums of money that are its life-blood. No such effort can be complete without implementing a program designed to attack organized criminal groups who operate in the economic marketplace by means of labor and management racketeering and infiltration of legitimate businesses. This report examines the scope and extent of these practices, which have afflicted certain unions and segments of the economy for decades. Our investigation is the first comprehensive survey of this enduring problem in nearly three decades. The Commission examined the ways in which racketeers employ new, more sophisticated means to exploit union members and to infiltrate the marketplace. It has also brought to light information confirming the involvement of organized crime in union locals and board rooms in our country. We have complied with your mandate to the Commission to evaluate federal statutes and law enforcement strategies. Moreover, we have followed your direction to propose improvements in the law and the administration of justice that will enhance our ability to eliminate organized crime. Our report, in addition, analyzes existing racketeering enforcement efforts. The Commission recommends a concerted and coordinated national strategy against organized crime participation in our economy. This includes suggestions for improved investigative procedures, increased penalties for racketeering practices, and the voluntary cooperation of private industry and labor unions, which desire the elimination of organized crime from the marketplace. The combined efforts of the private sector and various branches of government can reduce and eventually eliminate the pernicious involvement of those who exploit our economy by illegal practices. Sincerely, Tuning R. Kaufman Irving R. Kaufman |