Funny, halzogbe. I just mentioned that book on another site. Here's what I had to say about it:

That was a decent book, but they overstated Phil Barretti's importance by a mile. And the cop, Rick Cowan, really wanted you to believe that he was the second coming of Donnie Brasco. But that seems to be the case with most of these guys who dramatize their life stories from BOTH sides of the law. I swear to God, I don't know whose egos are bigger, the cops or the crooks .

I spent 25 years in that Local (IBT Local 813), which covers private sanitation and funeral service employees here in New York. 813 also covers some airport jobs and car rental agencies, but to a much smaller degree. Anyway, I worked on the funeral side of the local, but I crossed over quite a bit because I was a business agent for my last seven years on the job. And I'm no mob apologist, but Sal Benedetto was a whiny little bitch who got himself jammed up because he put himself in a position to be jammed up. Then he ran to the law like a scared little girl.

But like I said, the book was a pretty good read. They got a lot of it right about Ponte and the waste paper association. Francolino, too.