Razzle Dazzle
'Busfellas' Wheel is Turning

By RICHARD STEIER

If Federal prosecutors are to be believed, candidates for president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1181 have had a much easier time dealing with their electorate than, say, those aspiring to run Transport Workers' Union Local 100. In the case of the temporarily deposed incumbent, Sal Battaglia, the only voter he had to satisfy was Matthew "Matty the Horse" Ianniello.

During the Nov. 20 bail hearing for Mr. Battaglia after he was arrested on extortion and labor racketeering charges, Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Treanor stated that his position had been secured in 2003 by going to Mr. Ianniello's home, where he "received his blessing to continue to be the person who would continue operating the union Local on behalf of the Genovese organized crime family."

Mr. Ianniello, who has been identified as one of the bosses of that family, in September pleaded guilty to exercising control over Local 1181 and assisting unnamed officials of the local in receiving illegal payments from school bus company owners with whom the union dealt.

'Just the Latest' Front Man

SUBTLER KIND OF THREATS: Raymond LaRoche, one of the dissident bus drivers at Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1181, says that supporters of President Sal Battaglia - currently awaiting trial on labor racketeering and extortion charges - never overtly threatened him, but their words and body language were part of a pattern of intimidation at the union.

This was not, Mr. Treanor emphasized, a new arrangement at the local: "It had been operated in such fashion for many, many years and Mr. Battaglia was just the latest of individuals to step forth and head up this effort."

He estimated that between $200,000 and $300,000 a year was being paid illegally by bus company owners and other vendors, "a large percentage of which went into Mr. Battaglia's own pocket during the past two years ... There have been numerous instances of intimidation and threats by Mr. Battaglia and individuals associated with Mr. Battaglia."

In one case, Mr. Treanor continued, Mr. Battaglia was involved in patting down the owner of a medical center utilized by Local 1181 members "in an effort to determine if that individual was cooperating and was involved in efforts to intimidate that individual not to cooperate with the government."

Having earlier in the hearing identified Mr. Battaglia as an associate of the Genovese family, Mr. Treanor added that "there are other individuals associated with organized crime who remain at the union. It is not our belief that with this arrest we've removed everybody."

He called Mr. Battaglia "the primary person at the intersection" of Local 1181 officials and the Genovese family.

One of Mr. Battaglia's lawyers, Charles G. Fiore, replied that his client "fully and firmly denies" being a member of the Genovese family, and he questioned Mr. Treanor's grounds for having him held without bail as a danger to possible witnesses.

The indictment against Mr. Battaglia, Mr. Fiore argued, didn't provide "any specifics about actual use of force. There appears to be threatened use of force which still represents a danger, but as I read the Pre-Trial Services report, Mr. Battaglia doesn't have any significant prior criminal history at all," aside from an old grand larceny charge.

Mr. Treanor had cited threats made against union dissidents, but Mr. Fiore pointed out that no such threats were alleged in the new indictment, and an indictment brought against his client in the summer of 2005 charged him with obstruction of justice, not witness intimidation.

'Trying to Squeeze Him'

"I find no overt acts, no names, no dates, no times, no indication of violence by anybody," Mr. Fiore said in reference to the new indictment. "I think what this is an effort on the part of the government to try to force Mr. Battaglia to cooperate with them; something he's not willing to do and will not do. He asserts his innocence. He has no intention of trying to do anything other than defend the case."

The prosecutor noted that when dealing with threats from organized crime, "it's obviously quite difficult to source the threat because they oftentimes get passed through hands before they're communicated."

In interviews last week after a copy of the bail hearing transcript was obtained, union dissidents concurred with that argument, saying that they had been subjected to harassment and menacing by supporters of Mr. Battaglia but there was no way to trace it directly to him. Even the words that were used, they said, might not be perceived as threats except for the circumstances and the tone of voice used.

Shortly after Raymond LaRoche was featured prominently in this column in May, he said he was approached at his bus garage at 5:30 a.m. by a group of men led by Michael Cordiello, the recording secretary of Local 1181 (who briefly became acting president after Mr. Battaglia's second indictment, until the International ATU placed the local under trusteeship the following day).

Wasn't a Compliment

According to Mr. LaRoche, Mr. Cordiello began by saying, "You take a nice picture." As his comrades backed Mr. LaRoche against a wall, Mr. Cordiello told him he didn't appreciate comments he had made suggesting that money had been misappropriated from the union's strike fund. The group didn't push it any further, Mr. LaRoche said; when he told them he had to get to his bus, they let him pass. He got the message, however.

Another dissident, Jonas Fleur, a driver and union member for 17 years, said he was confronted on several occasions at different bus yards and garages as he handed out flyers from the dissident group, Members for Change, about a press conference at City Hall in early June to address the problems within Local 1181.

Outside a yard in Brooklyn's East New York section, Mr. Fleur said, after a couple of drivers took flyers from him, a man approached and began cursing him, then told the other drivers, "You better throw them in the garbage." The man then told Mr. Fleur, "You better not come here no more, or you're going to regret it."

More Intimidation

A few days later, Mr. Fleur said, at the headquarters of Atlantic Express in Canarsie, after he handed a flyer to a female driver, he was approached by a man he later learned was a Local 1181 shop steward and told, "Nobody wants your f------ papers. Get the f--- out of here."

He said the man then walked over to Mr. Fleur's car and, speaking on a cell phone, read off the license plate number to the person at the other end of the line.

Since the trusteeship was imposed, veteran driver Warren Zaugg said, several drivers have complained about being pressured to sign a petition asking the trustees to retain those members of the Local 1181 board who have not stepped aside. (Besides Mr. Battaglia, who took a leave of absence as a condition for bail being granted, Julius "Spike" Bernstein, the longtime secretary-treasurer of Local 1181 who admitted that Mr. Ianniello had been the best man at his wedding, had to vacate his post.)

None of the drivers was threatened with violence if they refused to sign, Mr. Zaugg said; instead they were told that they would be given older buses or additional routes to drive without extra compensation.

From the Horse's Mouth

Several Genovese family members besides Mr. Ianniello have pleaded guilty to improprieties in connection with Local 1181, but a reputed Genovese capo, Ciro Perrone, was acquitted last month on charges that included influence over the union. That case, however, produced a potentially damning piece of evidence against Mr. Battaglia: a tape recording of him telling Mr. Perrone in January 2005 that "a message came in from Florida to stay away." Mr. Ianniello spends his winters in Florida, and at the time, testimony during the Perrone trial showed, FBI agents were questioning various union officials.

Disputes Extortion Rap

During the bail hearing, Mr. Fiore took issue with the charge in the indictment that Mr. Battaglia had extorted money from school bus company owners in return for not organizing their employees, allowing them to pay lower wages and benefits. He pointed out that under the terms of the owners' contracts with the Department of Education, they are required to pay the prevailing wage for titles such as bus driver and matron, and so "they'd have no reason to pay [Mr. Battaglia]" not to organize.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Treanor retorted, "Well, that's true unless you don't pay the prevailing wage. Of course, there are rules, but the rules are violated. The union is supposed to be policing this industry and representing the workers. Mr. Battaglia is not there to help the bus company drivers. He is there to bilk them. He is there to take money and make money for the Genovese Crime Family ..."

Despite those arguments, U.S. Magistrate Judge Theodore H. Katz denied the request that Mr. Battaglia be held without bail, and alternately, that he be confined to his home until his trial, which is scheduled for Jan. 20 but may be postponed because his primary attorney, David Lewis, is recovering from major surgery.

Out on $1.5M Bond

Instead, the judge permitted Mr. Battaglia to be released on a $1.5 million personal recognizance bond, secured by the equity in his home and two homes of his children for which he is listed as the owner. He required him to take a sabbatical from his union position and ordered him not to travel outside the state.

Since the trusteeship was imposed by the International ATU, there have been a couple of positive developments, according to the dissidents. Ann Chiarovano, who had remained as director of the Local 1181 pension and welfare funds even though she pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice in early August, was removed earlier this month.

Eddie Kay, a veteran union organizer who has assisted Members for Change, called it "unbelievable" that the International had continued to entrust Ms. Chiarovano, who is Mr. Bernstein's girlfriend, with the benefit funds for four months following her conviction.

As a countervailing pressure against the petition to retain the board members, Mr. Kay called for their removal, even though they have no role in the operation of the union during the trusteeship.

Different Attitude

Mr. LaRoche said that he had been encouraged by a Dec. 15 meeting with representatives of the trusteeship. He said both the questions they asked and the manner in which they listened suggested they were intent on cleaning up the union.

Mr. Fleur contrasted that atmosphere with what Members for Change encountered Oct. 31 when, with two ATU International vice presidents present, the dissidents sought to have last year's officers' election re-run. The meeting was tabled after five minutes, he recalled, and when the dissidents tried to plead their case, the vice presidents literally turned their backs on them.

As Mr. Fleur left the meeting site, John Adams High School, one of Mr. Battaglia's supporters followed him and yelled, "If you don't like the union, why don't you leave?"

Mr. Fleur recalled, "I said, 'No, I'm not going. You leave.'''