Robert Scola

Robert Scola (November 13, 1926 New York City, New York - August 28, 2007 Voorhees Township, New Jersey a.k.a ""Bobby Scola" was an Italian-American Lucchese crime family associate of capo Paul Vario and the president of the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers.

Biography

Scola was the president of the Bricklayers' Union from the 1950's to the 1960's. He was responsible for giving Lucchese family associate Jimmy Burke a legitimate job as a union bricklayer. With the help of Scola and Paul Vario, Burke also got his son Leonard and Henry Hill jobs as bricklayers. Hill later found out that Vario told Scola to extort the builders to put the two men on the payroll. However, Hill and Leonard Burke viewed their positions as mob "no show" jobs and refused to report to work. They also refused to pay their union dues to Scola.

Finally, Scola complained to Vario that the two men were causing problems. Scola said that the authorities were investigating the union and the building contractors were getting nervous. Vario finally allowed Scola to fire Hill and Leonard Burke.

References

Pillegi, Nicholas "Wiseguy: Life in a Mafia Family" New York: Simon & Schuster, 1985. ISBN 055213094X