March 9, 2021

Good luck building in Philadelphia without paying off Big Labor. The building-trades unions have maintained a choke-hold on construction in the city, including through violence and intimidation. An indictment last week shines light on business as usual.

The case involves John “Johnny Doc” Dougherty, the boss of Philadelphia’s International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 98, and his 28-year-old nephew, Gregory Fiocca. Federal prosecutors say the two men used “force and violence, and threats of violence and economic harm” to extort a contractor into paying Mr. Fiocca for a no-show job.

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