Ironwoker: Local 401's boss knew of the "night work"

For most of the last five years, union ironworker James Walsh honed a reputation for living hard and fighting harder, using fire and fisticuffs to persuade nonunion contractors to hire only members of Philadelphia's Local 401.

On Wednesday, the 50-year-old Walsh appeared at the federal racketeering trial of union boss Joseph Dougherty and proved that even legendary toughs cannot beat the passage of time. Beard and hair snowy white, complaining of liver damage from too much drinking, Walsh hobbled to the witness stand with a cane, the result of an on-the-job accident and motorcycle crash.

On the stand, Walsh seemed to struggle to recall details of his career as an ironworker. He spoke slowly, pausing for 10 seconds or more before responding to questions from Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert J. Livermore and defense attorney Fortunato N. Perri Jr.

At times, Walsh seemed to get lost in the transcripts of the court-ordered wiretaps of phone calls between him and other Local 401 officials.

Walsh was one of 11 Local 401 members who pleaded guilty in last year's federal indictment of Dougherty, and the third to testify for prosecutors trying to prove the veteran union business manager operated the local as a criminal enterprise.

Prosecutors say Local 401 officials, trying to tamp down the increasing use of nonunion steelworkers during and after the recession, staged nighttime raids on about two dozen nonunion sites around the region between 2008 and 2014.

Usually the vandals bent or broke anchor bolts, which join a steel column to the foundation, causing delays and added expense for contractors. They also set fires and damaged equipment.

If found guilty of racketeering, conspiracy, and related charges involving attacks by Walsh and others, the 73-year-old Dougherty could spend the rest of his life behind bars.

By testifying against Dougherty, Walsh said, he hopes prosecutors will recommend that U.S. District Judge Michael M. Baylson sentence him to a prison term below the mandatory minimum of 35 years he now faces.

Like two previous cooperating union witnesses, Walsh could not say that Dougherty, a Local 401 fixture for 50 years, had ordered acts of vandalism.

But Walsh also said he was confident that the union boss knew of and approved of the "night work" - the local's code for after-dark acts of arson, vandalism, and intimidation - he was doing for the union.

The alleged link between Dougherty and the "shadow gangs" preying on nonunion sites might be solidified Thursday when former Local 401 business agent Edward Sweeney will testify.

Sweeney, 56, also pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. Walsh, according to testimony, was a member of his "crew," but Sweeney talked regularly with Dougherty about union matters and strategy.

In addition to his memory problems, Walsh on Wednesday contradicted some key elements of earlier testimony by the owner of a Texas-based antenna tower service company.

Suzanne Lee, co-owner of Ultimate Tower Service, told the jury about her experience in 2013 when she hired Walsh in an effort to placate Dougherty and let her nonunion crew replace antennas on a Roxborough television tower.

Lee said Walsh regularly argued with and threatened her husband, refused to climb the tower, and on one occasion dropped all his tools from the 1,000-foot structure.

Within days, Lee testified, she was on the phone with Dougherty, demanding that Walsh be fired. Dougherty agreed, she said.

Questioned by Perri, Walsh described the incidents as routine workplace disputes "that were resolved."

Walsh said the tool incident was an accident, caused because Lee's company supplied him with an unfamiliar safety harness.

He denied threatening anyone and insisted that he was not fired from the job with Dougherty's consent.

Walsh also praised Dougherty as a union leader, telling the jury Dougherty gave him his first job when he joined Local 401 in 1998.

"He was very generous," Walsh told the jury. "He'd reach into his pocket if you needed money.

"I have no personal vendetta against Mr. Dougherty at all."