Word: cammillieri
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Straw Boss. Bateson received a six months' extension of its deadline, but by then it was obvious that what was needed was more practical assistance from Local 210. At the suggestion of Mafiosi already on the payroll, the contractor hired a "job coordinator"-Magaddino Capo John Cammillieri. In his sharply tailored suits, pointed-toe shoes, dark glasses and pinkie ring, Cammillieri was an unlikely looking straw boss for an office building construction gang. But his effect on the work force was immediate and far-reaching. For $7.10 an hour, Cammillieri did with one memo what Bateson foremen had tried...
...simply tacked a notice on the bulletin board at Bateson's Buffalo headquarters. In it he stated that the laborers' attendance record was a "disgrace." From then on, wrote Cammillieri, there was to be "no excuse" for missing work-not even illness. "If you are able to go to the doctor, you are able to come to work." Additionally, there would be no more leaves of absence for surgery: "We hired you as you are and to have anything removed would certainly make you less than we bargained for. Anyone having an operation will be fired immediately." Trips...
...example of Mafia morbidity: "Death (other than your own) is no excuse. If the funeral can be held in the late afternoon, we will be glad to let you off for one hour, provided that your share of the work is ahead." Should one of the workers die, Cammillieri wrote, his demise "will be accepted as an excuse. But we would like two weeks' notice, as we feel it is your duty to teach someone else your job." The grim humor was an adequate hint; Cammillieri is not known as a jokester in Buffalo Mob circles. He closed...
...building is now near completion, though the time lost before Cammillieri's arrival will still make the contractor about eight months behind the extended deadline in finishing the job-at a penalty rate of $917 a day. Federal agencies in Buffalo have been in chaos due to the delays. Leases on present space in other buildings are expiring, and one agency has attempted to move in despite the fact that the building is unfinished. The office workers must pick their way through mud and construction material to reach their still incomplete quarters. The role of the Mafia...
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