Cleveland may have been the first family who infiltrated a union back in the 1920's through Tony & Frank Milano.
Unless I am overlooking or unaware of something, the earliest LCN involvement in a labor union, at least on a substantial level, is when Genovese captain Joseph "Socks" Lanza created Local 359 of the United Seafood Workers Union in 1923.
The top 3 families in the teamsters union historically was The Genovese through tony pro. Chicago through dorfman Lombardo and senese and the luchesses through Johnny dio and tony Ducks
Tony & Frank Milano from Cleveland through Bill Presser were tied to the highest level of the Teamster Pension Fund. Cleveland was knee deep in labor racketeering and just because they were a smaller family, their Teamster ties were as good as any other family. Yes, Tony Salerno represented Cleveland but ALL of the NY families and Chicago needed favors from Bill Presser and Maishe Rockman.
As Uncle Charlie used to say, "Never get into pissing matches with skunks."
