Waterfront
In the early 1960s, Greene worked steadily as a longshoreman at the Cleveland docks years before the work was unionized by the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA). In his free time he read about Ireland and its turbulent history. He began to think of himself as a "Celtic warrior". Some writers have speculated that reading about such warriors inspired his criminal ambitions. In 1961, the president of the local union was removed from office by the ILA and Greene was chosen to serve as interim president. He handily won the next election. Once president, Greene had the union office painted green and installed thick green carpeting. He was known to drive a green car, wear green jackets, and often handed out green ink pens. In office, he raised dues 25% and pushed workers to perform "volunteer" hours to assist in providing a "building fund". Those who refused often found themselves losing work. He fired more than 50 members while denouncing them as "winos and bums" to other workers. Greene led sometimes violent protests and strikes to force the stevedore companies to allow the ILA to oversee the hiring of dockworkers. As a prerequisite to landing a job as a longshoreman, many workers had to unload grain from the ships on a temporary basis and turn their paychecks over to Greene. Said to have been collected to build a union hall, most of the funds ended up in Greene's personal bank account. An unidentified ILA member would later recall about Greene, "He read On the Waterfront. He imagined himself a tough dock boss. But he was thirty years too late. He used workers to beat up union members who did not come in line, but he was never seen fighting himself. He was a spellbinding speaker and a good organizer."
As a union organizer, Greene sometimes declared work stoppages, as frequently as 25 per day, to demonstrate to company owners his authority on the docks. On one occasion, he threatened to murder the two children of one owner; the FBI put the man's house and family under protection. After Sam Marshall, a courageous investigative reporter, collected affidavits that supported charges of extortion, Greene was exiled from the union and convicted of embezzlement. The conviction was later overturned on appeal. Rather than face a second trial, he pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of falsifying union records, was fined $10,000 and received a suspended sentence. Afterward, he did not pay the fine or receive any prison time. After returning to his rackets, Greene met and befriended Teamsters boss Louis Triscaro. He introduced Greene to Jimmy Hoffa. After the friendly meeting, Hoffa later reportedly said to Triscaro, "Stay away from that guy. There's something wrong with him." Marty McCann of the Organized Crime Division of the FBI recruited Greene as an informant. He became a top-echelon confidential informant. Greene passed along information to the FBI, but only that which suited his personal needs and would not hurt those close to him. His codename was "Mr. Patrick", a reflection on his Irish pride. It was his confirmation name and that of his beloved Irish saint. Protected by his informant status, Greene increased his criminal activities. By 1964, the members of the union were fed up with Greene's behavior. The Plain Dealer began writing a nine-part investigative series about him. The series brought Greene unwanted attention from the U.S. Attorney, the Internal Revenue Service, the Labor Department, and the Cuyahoga County prosecutor.
The ILA began its own investigation and soon removed Greene from office. Eventually, Greene was convicted in federal court of embezzling $11,500 in union funds as well as two counts of falsifying records. The verdict was overturned by an appeals court, and federal prosecutors finally settled for Greene's guilty plea to two misdemeanor charges. He was fined $10,000, but paid only a fraction of it. Some think that his FBI connections worked to lessen his punishment.
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