The International Longshoremen's Association in Brooklyn has been accused of being controlled by two New York mob families for roughly fifty years. Federal prosecutors have sought to take over the union, arguing that the dockworkers' association "continues to be a vehicle for organized crime influence in the nation's ports." The union claims that the federal prosecutors are "perpetuating an outdated image" of the I.L.A.
See "U.S. Suit, Claiming Mob Control, Seeks Takeover of Dock Union", William K. Rashbaum, The New York Times, July 6, 2005