Frank Schonfeld (1916-2011), a rabbi's son and grandson, was groomed to join the family profession. He attended Yeshiva College, where he received his Bachelor's degree in philosophy, psychology, and education. With World War II looming, Schonfeld concluded that he could not preach what he no longer believed. He turned to the labor movement because he considered it to be the most important contemporary force to counter fascism, racism, and war.
Schonfeld attended the Rochdale Institute and joined the cooperative movement, went into factory work, and took a one-year course at the New School with Roger Baldwin (founder of the American Civil Liberties Union), whose Social Action program provided Schonfeld with useful organizing tools and experience. Schonfeld joined the Merchant Marines in 1943. During the war, he married his lifelong companion, Jean, and the couple moved to the Amalgamated Clothing Workers' first housing cooperative in the Bronx in 1945. That same year, Schonfeld joined the Brotherhood of Painters, Decorators and Paperhangers of America (later the International Brotherhood of Painters and Allied Trades). His first official position in the union was as recording secretary of Local Union 1011, the Jewish local.
The membership of the Brotherhood of Painters in New York City generally reflected the various waves of immigrants coming into the country, the development of different political tendencies, and the tensions brought on by changes in the U.S. economy.
Racketeers were a major force in Painters District Council 9 (as they were in many other NYC building trades unions) until the membership, under the leadership of Louis Weinstock's Communist Party-oriented administration, attempted to break their hold in the 1930s. Weinstock's alliance (with its base in the Rank-and-File Clubs) had its own drawbacks, and some members felt that their interests were neglected in favor of the CP's all-out efforts in support of World War II, including the no-strike pledge.
In 1946, the Progressive Painters Club ran Martin Rarback as a new reform candidate for secretary-treasurer of the District, and he won the post in 1947. Rarback's promised militant program led to some progressive changes in the union, but he soon became a party to dubious practices that pre-dated his administration.
In part, it was the nature of the painting trades that provided easy opportunities for kickback schemes, bid-rigging, favoritism, conspiracy, and other forms of corruption. The jobs were isolated, largely unsupervised by the union, and highly seasonal; there was often a shortage of work. The union business agents, who wielded considerable power, were responsible for placing workers, surveying worksite conditions, and negotiating with contractors. Without significant reforms to the so-called "job trust" or to the District Council 9, the door was open to racketeering Martin Rarback was indicted in 1966 in a major New York City Housing Authority bid-rigging and bribery conspiracy.
After 1947, the Rank-and-File Club carried on its opposition fight, but the Cold War political climate and the conservative drift of the labor movement made for an uphill battle, and the group experienced several years of setbacks, including the expulsion of its key leaders from the union. In spite of undercurrents of discontent, there were no contested district-wide elections from 1953 to 1961, and the Rank-and-File Club was barely able to maintain its presence in a few locals.
By 1961, Rarback's blatant favoritism had created such dissatisfaction among members that organized opposition reasserted itself for the first time in many years. Reconstructing an opposition movement was hard work. Frank Schonfeld ran for District Coulcil 9 secretary-treasurer in 1961. He lost, but did so with 42% of the vote, a considerable turnout against Rarback's machine. The day after the 1961 election, the Rarback administration sued Schonfeld and others for libel, and Schonfeld lost his job. In response to these actions, and to strengthen and protect the growing dissident movement, he launched a public campaign, with help from Herman Benson, who went on to form the Association for Union Democracy, and Burton Hall, a labor attorney. A meeting was organized to support the development of an independent inter-union judiciary, to be patterned on the United Auto Workers' public review board. Speakers included Norman Thomas, the noted socialist, Dan House of the UAW, Herman Benson, and Schonfeld.
The fight was on, in New York as well as in other parts of the country. Dissidents were physically beaten, and two, Dow Wilson and Lloyd Green, were assassinated in San Francisco. Others were dragged into court, and a running war of internal union charges and counter-charges ensued. The International, which in general supported the incumbent administration, was required to step in and impose a trusteeship in DC 9, a move that served to buffer the Rarback machine. Schonfeld was blocked from running in 1964. In 1966, in one of the many legal tactics he undertook with the assistance of Burton Hall, Schonfeld successfully challenged the trusteeship (Schonfeld v. Raftery). Schonfeld subsequently ran again for DC 9 secretary-treasurer, benefiting from the actions of the U.S. District Court Judge, who not only ordered a supervised, district-wide election, but also required the union to mail a copy of his 67-page opinion on the corrupt tactics of the incumbents to each union member. Schonfeld won. He held office for two terms, and was opposed almost continually during that time.
Schonfeld carried out several reforms during his administration. These included revising the District Council by-laws to require that the American Arbitration Association (AAA) supervise district elections; ending restrictive nominating procedures (as well as the "packing" of locals during nominations); and stipulating that union insurance fund trustees be elected directly by membership. Shop stewards were limited to one-year terms and stewardships were distributed to the locals by lottery, thereby decentralizing Rarback's former network. Schonfeld also convened numerous district-wide membership meetings. In 1972, Schonfeld was brought up on internal union charges (see Penza v. Schonfeld). He was found guilty by the union trial board on charges later determined to be unfounded. The ousted machine campaigned heavily against him, and in 1973, Schonfeld lost his position to James Bishop, a candidate promoted by Rarback's Progressive Painters Club.
While Schonfeld's status as an officer in the District Council ended with the 1973 election, he continued to fight for reform. He served as trustee of the insurance fund in 1977, and president of Bronx Local 19 in 1978. In 1977, Schonfeld's campaign against corruption in the District Council led to the imposition of another trusteeship. The 1977-78 trusteeship, imposed by the International union, helped consolidate the eighteen Painters locals into six, and established citywide election of business agents, with elections supervised by the AAA. However, the Bishop administration was successful in its attempts to evade the monitors, and at this point mob domination of the District Council solidified. Bishop was murdered by the mob in 1990, and the steady attrition of the District Council leadership through indictments, guilty pleas and jail sentences revealed the layers of corruption that had pervaded the Council since Schonfeld's ouster.
After retiring from the union in 1982, Schonfeld remained very active in political and community affairs, serving on the board of the Amalgamated Housing Corporation as treasurer, while studying and volunteering at Lehman College in the Bronx, and working with Herman Benson and the Association for Union Democracy. He died on November 2, 2011.
