 The meeting had been called to decide who should be the next president of the BSEIU in the event of Horan's death.The conspirators supported Burke, who was the Third Vice President of BSEIU, and a well-known labor racketeer.Burke had the backing of a majority of the mob figures, but the group felt he would be opposed by a majority of the BSEIU Board of Directors due to his public ties with organized crime.