New York Teamster charged: RISE uncovers corruption before its demise

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In one of its last acts before Edwin Stier dissolved the project, RISE uncovered the derelictions of Anthony Rumore and brought the facts to the Independent Review Board, the federal court-appointed body charged with exorcising crime from the Teamsters union. Rumore is president of Joint Council 16 in New York and of the 3,900-member Local 812. He is charged before the IRB with forcing his business agents to act as his bag men and as his personal errand boys.

Two years ago, Rumore faced earlier charges at the IRB when he was accused of inviting Barry Feinstein to address an official Teamster gathering. Feinstein had been ousted from the union on corruption charges and Rumore’s invitation violated the IRB ruling barring Feinstein from participation in Teamster affairs. For that violation, Rumore was suspended very briefly from office. That trial cost him $88,000 in legal fees, and he was determined, it is charged, to get that money back by squeezing it out of his defenseless Local 812 membership.

Rumore stands accused of ordering his business agents --- and not very gently --- to put the arm on every member to kick in toward his "defense" fund. Some members, understandably not enthusiastic, ducked. Rumore, according to the charges, ordered the business agents to cancel arbitration hearings on behalf of 17 members, some of whom faced discharge. They had failed to contribute.

And Rumore is accused of demanding even more from his suffering business agents. His father, Louis Rumore, had been forced out of the union on charges of membership in the Gambino crime family. At the IRB, Rumore is charged with ordering BAs to drive Louis, now an old man, to his doctor’s appointments. This would constitute a kind of double violation: consorting with a barred individual and misusing union resources. Moreover, it is charged, the BAs were turned into involuntary chauffeurs and handymen for the whole Rumore family, driving around his wife and daughter on demand, and doing chores around his house. It is not clear which the BAs resented more: serving as bag men or as errand boys.

In its report on this case, the IRB commends RISE for helping to bring these charges. It is obvious now that when Hoffa first agreed to a RISE program, he did not have that kind of role in mind.