Pete Panto
Encyclopedia
Peter "Pete" Panto was a longshoreman and union
activist who was executed by the mob for attempting to revolt against union leadership.
, who ran the International Longshoremen's Association
[ILA]. Corruption was rampant among ILA leaders and working conditions were deplorable. Panto attempted to expose this corruption via the Brooklyn Rank-and-File Committee, a group of "left wing" dockworkers. He and the Rank-And-File Committee held open air assemblies attracting over 1500 longshoreman at a time. This was a serious threat to Ryan, Anastasia, and other corrupt officials. Panto was lured from his home on July 14, 1939 following a phone call from an unknown individual and was never seen again. His body was later found during January 1941, in a lime pit in Lyndhurst, New Jersey
. Albert Anastasia
was suspected of ordering the execution but Abe Reles
, the chief witness, died in 1941 while supposedly trying to escape from custodies. He either "jumped or fell" from a room held guard by six police officers. Panto's murder was allegedly carried out by Mendy Weiss of Murder Inc. Although Anastasia and Weiss were never indicted, Weiss would receive the electric chair in 1944 for a separate murder, whereas Anastasia was murdered by rival mobsters in 1957. Ryan resigned in 1953 following New York State Industrial Commissioner Edward Corsi and Governor Thomas E. Dewey's investigation into corruption charges.
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
activist who was executed by the mob for attempting to revolt against union leadership.
Revolt
Pete Panto was the leader of a revolt against Joseph P. Ryan and his colleagues, many of them allegedly mafiaMafia
The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
, who ran the International Longshoremen's Association
International Longshoremen's Association
The International Longshoremen's Association is a labor union representing longshore workers along the East Coast of the United States and Canada, the Gulf Coast, the Great Lakes, Puerto Rico, and inland waterways...
[ILA]. Corruption was rampant among ILA leaders and working conditions were deplorable. Panto attempted to expose this corruption via the Brooklyn Rank-and-File Committee, a group of "left wing" dockworkers. He and the Rank-And-File Committee held open air assemblies attracting over 1500 longshoreman at a time. This was a serious threat to Ryan, Anastasia, and other corrupt officials. Panto was lured from his home on July 14, 1939 following a phone call from an unknown individual and was never seen again. His body was later found during January 1941, in a lime pit in Lyndhurst, New Jersey
Lyndhurst, New Jersey
Lyndhurst is a township in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township population was 20,554.Lyndhurst was originally formed as Union Township on February 19, 1852 from portions of Harrison Township...
. Albert Anastasia
Albert Anastasia
Albert Anastasia was boss of what is now called the Gambino crime family, one of New York City's Five Families, from 1951-1957. He also ran a gang of contract killers called Murder Inc. which enforced the decisions of the Commission, the ruling council of the American Mafia...
was suspected of ordering the execution but Abe Reles
Abe Reles
Abe "Kid Twist" Reles was a New York mobster who was widely considered the most feared hit man for Murder, Inc., the enforcement contractor for the National Crime Syndicate. Reles later turned government witness and sent several members of Murder, Inc...
, the chief witness, died in 1941 while supposedly trying to escape from custodies. He either "jumped or fell" from a room held guard by six police officers. Panto's murder was allegedly carried out by Mendy Weiss of Murder Inc. Although Anastasia and Weiss were never indicted, Weiss would receive the electric chair in 1944 for a separate murder, whereas Anastasia was murdered by rival mobsters in 1957. Ryan resigned in 1953 following New York State Industrial Commissioner Edward Corsi and Governor Thomas E. Dewey's investigation into corruption charges.
Trivia
- A screenplay, titled “The Hook”, portrays Panto’s "doomed attempt to overthrow the feudal gangsterism of the New York docks."