Arrested by Feds
Ex-Teamster Boss Misused Staffers

By MEREDITH KOLODNER

Federal prosecutors arrested the former president of the city Teamsters Joint Council Dec. 18 on charges of extortion and forcing union staffers to perform personal services for him, including repairing his roof and picking up his daughter's wedding dress.

GREGORY FLOYD: Matches worst caricature.

The indictment also accused Anthony Rumore, the former president of Teamsters Local 812 and Joint Council 16 of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, of forcing Local 812 employees to collect donations from members to pay his legal fees in 2004, when he was accused of similar abuses by the Independent Review Board that oversees the IBT. It charged the ex-Teamster with halting all regular union business until the approximately $30,000 he needed was obtained from the local's 3,000 to 4,000 mostly soft drink and brewery drivers.

'A Blatant Abuse'

"If these allegations are true, it's just a blatant abuse of authority," said Greg Floyd, the president of Teamsters Local 237 and a member of the Joint Council. "It sounds like everything you see on TV about the Teamsters, but nothing I've ever known since working with the Teamsters."

Local 812 staffers spent two weeks installing a new roof, skylight and deck on Mr. Rumore's house in Lakeview, Pa., about 150 miles from the city, according to the charges. They were also allegedly forced to return to mow the lawn and clean the gutters.

The indictment states that the local employees complied with Mr. Rumore's demands because they feared their refusal would get them fired.

Mr. Rumore was president of Local 812 from 1988 until Sept. 10, 2004, inheriting the post from his father, who was later expelled from the union after the IRB found him guilty of associating with the Gambino Crime Family.

The younger Mr. Rumore, who was never accused of mob ties, ran the Joint Council from 1997 until Sept. 10, 2004. After the IRB found him guilty in July 2004 of many of the same charges outlined in the Federal indictment, the Teamsters concurred with the report and permanently expelled him.

The use of union staffers allegedly went on throughout his reign at Local 812. In 2000, employees were made to wait at Mr. Rumore's daughter's apartment for the delivery of a wall unit and then install it, the indictment states.

Like Family Servants

The following year the union president allegedly had staffers move his daughter's furniture from her old apartment to a new one. That same year, one staffer had to drive Mr. Rumore's family to a wedding in Baltimore, MD, while another followed in a car filled with the female family members' gowns.

Mr. Rumore pleaded not guilty and was released on $250,000 bond. If convicted, he faces up to 25 years in prison.