Bruno, despite his reputation as the business-smart don, was letting Gambino affiliates deal on his territory while cutting out his own made men from doing the same. Not too smart.
I don't think they were in Bruno's family, they were in Gambino's family. They weren't just Gambino affiliates, they were Carlo's blood family. In the event of any sitdown they had the backing of the boss of an NYC family. I would think they could pretty much do what they wanted. As long as they didn't take from Bruno's family, what was he going to do about it?
