Joseph Glimco

Who was Joseph Glimco?

Joseph Paul Glimco was an Italian American labor leader and well-known organized crime figure based in Chicago, Illinois. He was considered "Chicago's top labor racketeer" in the 1950s. One high-ranking Chicago Teamsters leader noted in 1954, "He is the mob. When he opens his mouth, it's the syndicate talking." Glimco was active in the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and a close associate of Teamsters president Jimmy Hoffa. He was a capo in the Chicago Outfit, an organized crime syndicate, and oversaw the syndicate's labor racketeering efforts. He worked closely with Tony "Joe Batters" Accardo, who led the Chicago Outfit from 1943 to 1957, and Sam "Momo" Giancana, who led the syndicate from 1957 to 1966. A United States Senate committee once claimed that Glimco ran "the nation's most corrupt union."

Among his numerous aliases were Joey Glimco, "Tough Guy" Glimco, Joseph Glinico, and Joseph Glielmi. He was also known as "Little Tim Murphy," a reference to Timothy "Big Tim" Murphy, a Chicago mobster and labor racketeer whom the Chicago Outfit feared and subsequently murdered in 1928.