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 convince 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 proving that even
legendary toughs cannot beat the passage of time. Beard and hair snowy white,
hobbling to the witness stand with a cane after an on-the-job accident and
motorcycle crash, Walsh seemed to struggle to recall details of his career as
an ironworker.
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 that the veteran union business manager operated
Local 401 as a "criminal enterprise."
If found guilty of racketeering, conspiracy, arson and
related charges involving attacks by Walsh and others on nonunion job sites,
the 73-year-old Dougherty could spend the rest of his life behind bars.
By testifying against Dougherty, Walsh said he hopes
Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert J. Livermore will recommend to U.S. District
Judge Michael M. Baylson to sentence to a prison term below the mandatory
minimum 35 years he now faces.
Walsh spoke slowly, pausing for 10 seconds or more before
responding to questions from Livermore and defense attorney Fortunato N. Perri
Jr.
At times he seemed to get lost in the transcripts of the
court-ordered wiretaps of phone calls between him and other Local 401
officials.
Like the two previous cooperating union witnesses, Walsh
could not say that Dougherty, a Local 401 fixture for a half-century, had
ordered acts of vandalism.
But Walsh also said he was confident that the union boss
knew of and approved of the "night work" - acts of arson, vandalism
and intimidation - he was doing for Local 401.
Questioned by Perri, Walsh contradicted some key elements
of testimony Tuesday 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 when she hired Walsh in 2013 as part of 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 where her crew was working, 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 Walsh be fired. Dougherty agreed.
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 that Dougherty gave him his first job when he joined Local 401 in
1998.
"He was very generous," Walsh said. "He'd
reach into his pocket if you needed money."
"I have no personal vendetta against Mr. Dougherty
at all," Walsh told the jury.
Source: Philly.com
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