Some union members said Matassa has been more of a disruptive force than a leader. We're not all affiliated with crime. It's the men that are the ones that suffer. They are the ones that have that stigma on them. Jim McGough, a spokesman for the union reform group Laborers for Justice, bemoaned how long it took to oust Matassa.
Due process takes too long.
The members don't have the patience. The Chicago District Council was placed in trusteeship following 19 days of closed hearings in 1997 that included testimony from 45 witnesses, including some former mobsters. Chicago labor lawyer Robert E. Bloch was named trustee after the hearing showed mob influence and corruption in the Chicago council, including that the district failed to hold contested elections for 25 years. Copyright Laborers.org 1998.