Making It in America: The Almost Impossible Quest to Manufacture in the U.S.A. (And How It Got That Way)

by Rachel Slade

Once alcohol was legal again, the underworld had to find other revenue streams. Gangsters worked their way into the apparel industry via trucking—and eventually took over union leadership using ill-gotten gains to buy off politicians, the police, and DAs. At one point, some labor unions were completely run by organized crime. The ILGWU, along with other major unions, continued to grow in membership and influence. But as they expanded, union-busting became a big, dirty business in which the mob was playing both sides. To fend off organizing efforts, some apparel manufacturers paid the mob for protection from union infiltration. Mob muscle was used to rough up labor reps to keep them away from nonunion shops. Union organizers cried foul but were forced to make unholy alliances with mobsters to protect themselves and their members when they realized that the government and law enforcement were in the pocket of the mob. Officials summarily dismissed workers’ reports of violence and coercion, leaving them without recourse. In the 1940s, fully 30 percent of all Americans carried union cards. The Great Depression, Roosevelt’s pro-worker agenda, and Prohibition had combined to simultaneously buoy unions and the underworld. In other words, these two forces in America grew up side by side—brother and sister—problematic but close crib mates.