A book that really shows people how the mob got into the unions and began destroying businesses. Here people standing up to them or wanting to be killed stops people from wanting to fight back. When Kennedy and others fight back they become bigger and stronger on both sides. Really a good book. You see how the mafia gets into a place and can destroy from the inside out. You also begin to see the beginning fight between Kennedy and Hoffa and other Mafia members. This is a good book.

This was a straight-forward history of unions and the mafia and early police forces. It took me some time to really get into it but I think anyone interested in this topic would find it interesting.
**I voluntarily read and reviewed this book

It took me forever to get through this one, I just could not get into it. And usually all things mob-related is right up my alley. But it was dry and could not hold my attention for long periods of time. There is an audience for this book, it is well-researched and incredibly detailed. History is my thing, I LOVE research and details, so my boredom surprised me. An engaging delivery of the material was lacking.

Witwer and Rios do an excellent job detailing the complex relationship between unions, politicians, and organized crime during the early years of the Cold War. The authors offer a fair portrayal of unions caught between their abhorrence of organized crime, but also their need to pay protection to racketeers to gain security not afforded them by local politicians and law enforcement. This moral ambiguity is present throughout the book. Witwer and Rios also succeed admirably in capturing the various ideological strains of organized labor in the postwar years. Far from being uniformly radical leftists, as many assume, Labor incorporated a broad swath of ideologies, from communist to conservative. The purge of communists from many of the ranks of organized labor, aided by the anti-communist hysteria of the early 50s and the revelation of Stalin's atrocities after his demise, truly mark a moment of relative accommodation between big business and organized labor during the Cold War

The greatest strength of the work is its ability to humanize the organizers that put their lives on the line to organize garment workers, and other industries. The murder of William Lurye, and the attempted murder of Walter Reuther and other prominent labor figures, shows that men and women were willing to die for the cause of unionism and the quest for greater economic equality. A valuable look at the moral compromises of labor in the 1950s and the lasting impact these actions had in shaping public perceptions of unions in the postwar era.

Witwer and Rios open this account of corruption in the union movement with the 1949 murder of unionist William Lurye in broad daylight in New York's packed Garment District. Despite abundant witnesses and an allegedly intense investigati0n, the organised crime figures identified as the perpetrators were never caught.


The authors detail the exact processes by which mobsters managed to infiltrate trade unions using protection rackets and physical violence, leading to a situation where union leaders did not have much choice other than to accede to their demands. This lay the foundation for the corruption uncovered in the 1950s by Robert Kennedy and the Senate Labor Rackets Commission, including Kennedy's spectacular clashes with Teamster boss Jimmy Hoffa.


While the corruption and the resulting decline in union power is undeniable, the book makes it clear that, in the beginning, unions were victims of organised crime, but the authorities refused to help them. Essentially, the law drove them into the arms of the lawless, and then punished them for the result. This book is also a sobering reminder of just how much ordinary people risked in order to win for us rights at work that we all now take for granted.

Lot of research went into this book.
It gives back the true history of the Unions in the US and probably will be an eye opener for many of us who only have a minor understanding of the struggle.
I had to smile when at the beginning of the book the author described some company tactics these days how there is no need for a Union and that a Union will only cost the worker with added benefits. A lot of us have encounter that scenario in or work lives.
The book brings to light how the mafia got involved on both sides (Unions and Non Unions).
In a lot of case the police was on the side of the ones trying to breakup the Union support. FBI and politicians were of very little help.
This book is not written as a novel but I would say rather as a documentary of the struggles of the Unions and workers in the USA. It might be more information that you wanted to know but for anybody that wants a better understanding this is a good book even if you might like to skip some pages here and there. Don't skip to many. A better option would be to take a break with another book when you feel you are getting an overload and go back to it afterwards which is what I did.

I feel this book would be enjoyed by true crime and history lovers and recommend the book for both types of readers

Meticulously researched and well written. I learned a lot of history reading about the political and Mafia forces that greatly influenced labor unions at the height of their usefulness and popularity. Corruption was as rampant during the timeframe discussed in the narrative as it is now. Well worth the time I took to read about the history of labor unions.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book to read and review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

David Witwer and Catherine Rios: Murder in the Garment District: The grip of organized crime and the decline of labor in the United States. 2020. The New Press

The authors provide a deep probe into the economic and political forces that affected the influence of labor unions through the 1950s. Although events later in the century are noted, the focus is on activities in the garment industry between 1930 and 1960. Best coverage is during the 1950s and might be approached after reading “The Age of Eisenhower: America and the World in the 1950s” Simon & Schuster, 2019 by William I. Hitchcock. Hitchcock emphasizes the impact of Cold War politics on a broad range of matters, including labor unrest. Witwer and Rios provide a broader and richer examination of that unrest. Readers will encounter politicians (e.g., Barry Goldwater and Robert F. Kennedy), union leaders (e.g., Walter Reuther, George Meany, Jimmy Hoffa), mobsters (an abundance!), and local members of unions to flush out the many levels of conflict that affected the growth and suppression of union activity. The role of the press is explored, as well as examination of police and criminal court activities. Relying on an extensive array of source materials and images of key figures, the authors provide a text well worth exploring. An interest in labor unions is not required and anyone willing to gain insight to the political dynamics during the middle third of the century will be rewarded. Additional analyses of issues that would link the text to current day labor matters would have enhanced the authors’ commentary.

As a New Yorker the Garment District is legendary it was fun interesting to read about its history .Reads like a mystery with all the blood& guts Highly recommend #netgalley#newpress

As my entire family has worked and owned businesses in the garment district since the 30s, I found this history to be fascinating. I have heard some stories from family members and this book nicely fleshes out the history of this time. I recommend it.