Crime Inc. — Season 1, Episode 5: The Mob at Work
Documentary, Crime • 50 min • 1 season, 7 episodes
Episode synopsis
Patterned after the model of the Family in Sicily, mafia activities in America centered in large industrial centers, such as New York and Chicago. Part of the mob's success was its ability to deliver jobs. It was only natural that its influence would be felt in organized labor. The film looks at those ties and practices, and the unsolved case of Jimmy Hoffa. This episode tells the history of the mafia involvement through the unions. Only after violent protests did unions establish themselves in the USA, and from early on the mafia became involved. Strikes by the unions were broken up by thugs hired by the employers. In turn the union hired gangsters to 'fight fire with fire'. Fratianno tells how he started this way, being hired to lead gangs to protect the workers and fight the opposing thugs in pitch battles in the numerous strikes of the 1920's.
About Crime Inc.
With archive film including home movies and FBI surveillance material, the award-winning Crime Inc. tells the true story behind the world's most powerful crime syndicate, the Mob, La Cosa Nostra or The Mafia. Interviews with mob members turned informants, including former boss Jimmy 'The Weasel' Fratianno, reveal the inner workings of the mafia, from the ritual of becoming a "made" man and their code of honor, to the harrowing and detailed descriptions of their work, accompanied by equally graphic images and film footage.