John Tartamella was consigliere

Consigliere

Consigliere is a position within the leadership structure of Sicilian and American Mafia crime families. The word was popularized by Mario Puzo's novel The Godfather , and its film adaptation...

 for over 30 years to Joseph Bonanno

Joseph Bonanno

Joseph Charles Bonanno, Sr. was a Sicilian-born American mafioso who became the boss of the Bonanno crime family. He was nicknamed "Joe Bananas," a name he despised.-Early life:...

 and his family. He was considered a very wise and shrewd elder-statesman who was respected throughout La Cosa Nostra. Born in Castellammare del Golfo

Castellammare del Golfo

Castellammare del Golfo is a town and comune in the Trapani Province of Sicily. The name is roughly translated "Sea- Fortress of the Gulf", deriving from the medieval fortress in the harbor...

, Sicily

Sicily

Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...

, he "devoted much of his time to the cause of the barbers." His son was Sereno (Bobby T) Tartamella - a Bonanno soldier and top aide to rebel faction bosses Gaspare DiGregorio and Paul Sciacca

Paul Sciacca

Paul Sciacca was a New York City mobster who became boss of the Bonanno crime family.-Bonanno family war:In 1964, a rivalry in the Bonanno crime family started when boss Joseph Bonanno promoted his son Salvatore "Bill" Bonanno to the position of consigliere over senior capo Gaspar DiGregorio...

 acting as a courier between them and Stefano Magaddino

Stefano Magaddino

Stefano Magaddino was an Sicilian mafioso who became the boss of the Buffalo crime family in western New York. His underworld influence stretched from Ohio and Southern Ontario as far north as Montreal, Quebec...

, boss of the Buffalo crime family

Buffalo crime family

The Buffalo crime family, also known as the Magaddino crime family and The Arm, is an Italian American criminal organization based in Buffalo, United States. As part of the American Mafia the family operates throughout Western New York and Canada.The Buffalo crime family, gained power during the...

 during the bloody "Bonanno War" during the mid/late 1960s. Sereno became a union official for the Beauty Culturist Union. He also was well known for his "joke telling", able to make even the most vicious mob boss smile.

Tartamella worked as a union organizer in Brooklyn

Brooklyn

Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...

 where he led his "local" into the CIO

Congress of Industrial Organizations

The Congress of Industrial Organizations, or CIO, proposed by John L. Lewis in 1932, was a federation of unions that organized workers in industrial unions in the United States and Canada from 1935 to 1955. The Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 required union leaders to swear that they were not...

 after a break with the AFL

American Federation of Labor

The American Federation of Labor was one of the first federations of labor unions in the United States. It was founded in 1886 by an alliance of craft unions disaffected from the Knights of Labor, a national labor association. Samuel Gompers was elected president of the Federation at its...

. He was expelled by the Italian-American Labor Council "because of his radical views".