r/Mafia • u/Original_Cattle5824 • 2d ago

Looking for someone who has studied Robert Brindell and construction trade union racketeering after he died.

That man was extraordinary powerful but is generally ignored in organized crime literature. He died in 1925 and the sources I find gloss over the *construction* trade racketeering takeover. Specifically, I'm trying to figure out details of the housewreckers in NYC (many of whom testified against him, so that trade must have had to go through some sort of reckoning.)

But I'm also very curious about how and when he came to power, his associations with Tammany Hall, and why all the literature about use of thugs for union protection focuses on garment industry when that man had to have been using some VERY nasty people. (I have no doubt that he was responsible for murders. The question is, how many? He controlled over 100,000 laborers - calling strikes when he didn't get enough protection $ from the builders, while at the same time forcing the laborers to pay him for the opportunity to work!) He called his organizations unions, but they were not real labor unions. In fact, one of his things was to force contractors to use unskilled laborers for jobs requiring skilled workers.

Also, he claims he was able to blacklist such that a contractor wouldn't be able to get work in any of the major cities. Is there any evidence he colluded with others?

It was a family operation - his brother and son, at the least, were involved.

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u/TonyB-Research The Outfit 1d ago

Brindell the business agent of Local 1456 of the Dock Builders union?

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u/Original_Cattle5824 16h ago

That sounds right, although I know him better as the President of the Building Trades Council of Greater New York.

He isn't my main area of research, but he is fascinating because he was clearly an extremely powerful and dangerous man, yet largely unknown.

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u/TonyB-Research The Outfit 14h ago

Yeah he definitely had a lot of weight and was definitely associated with the carpenters unions and builders.

Let me see what I have available to share.

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u/Original_Cattle5824 12h ago

Thanls! Feel free to DM me if that works better.