1.)The treasurer of the union at the time was indicted and sent to jail for stealing $21675 from the union.
2.)The local was selling "privilege cards" to nonunion men at $2.50 a week for a journeyman and $1 for a helper.
3.)The jobs handed out were based on race and religious affiliation. Catholics, who were mostly irish, controlled most of manhattan. Therefore they recieved a majority of the work in the city. It was very had for a jewish man to gain work in Local 3 because of this.
4.)Helpers undercut journeyman in gaining work by offering to do a journman's job for a helper's job pay. The helpers never wanted to become journeymen because they were steadily employed for their hard work and cheap labor.
5.)Local 3 meetings ran wild. Gambling and drinking went on as the meetings went on. Little business could be transacted. Order was not in place at these meeting,. They actually found 20 electrical contractors at a meeting and only four of them were union members.
6.)Union shops owned and operated nonunion shops and vice versa. Nonunion contractors were allowed to continue working their nonunion employees on strictly union jobs.

Chapter 2

Ruffini explains that the union that Harry Van Arsdale, Jr. joined in 1925 was by all accounts, "a labor scandal." Please provide six examples to support this statement.

On November 25, 1783, the British were supposed to leave New York after being defeated in the revolutionary war by the colonies. The British did everything that was agreed to by the two sides, except remove their flag from Fort George. The flag stood high on a pole, and was nailed to it. The pole, which was covered in grease, had been impossible to climb in order to get the flag down, Until John Van Arsdale came. He first attempted to climb the pole but failed. He than fixed cleats to the pole and was able to get high enough to secure a ladder. He than removed the British flag and proudly placed the American Flag on top of the pole.
I think Ruffini used this story in the introduction, to give the reader a brief understanding that the Van Arsdale family had an impact on American History before Harry Van Arsdale Jr.'s time.
www.famousamericans.net

Harry Van Arsdale- Chapter one

What "exploits" furnished the Van Arsdale descendents with a story that "extends back into the genesis of American history?" Why do you think Ruffini included this information in the book? Find a link with more information on this event and link it your post.