The Hod Carriers and Common Laborers Union was infiltrated by mobsters like Vincent Rao, Anthony Carfano and others. Led by Joseph V. Moreschi of Quincy, Massachusetts, the union featured Newburgh, New York thug Anthony Zawalick. Zawalick was paid to disrupt a 1938 Socialist featuring perennial Socialist presidential candidate Norman Thomas. Zawalick, a former pugilist, was paid by an unknown party to harass and egg Thomas while he was speaking. A labor racketeer, Zawalick had numerous aliases. He was likely paid by thugs employed by the Democratic Party.