I was browsing through my daily email from ENR magazine this morning and the headline read, "10 Indicted in N.Y. Carpenters Union Corruption Investigation" The article began with a brief synopsis of the situation:
C'mon Mike, surprised? New York labor unions have been tied in with organized crime groups forever, and you may be sad that the carpenter's union who publicly backed your upcoming bid for re-election is getting nailed for corruption, but certainly not surprised.
Incidentally, a video clip was recently released showing Michael J. Forde, the district council’s executive secretary-treasurer, who is now indicted, giving the mayor a robust introduction at a union event and confirming his support for Mr. Bloomberg with a hug.
From what I've read, the carpenter's union allowed contractors to do what non-union contractors are doing all over the place. In order to get a carpenter on a commercial job in a union town like New York City, you must hire from the union (and don't ask what if you don't hire from the union). The union will charge you about $85 per hour for an apprentice level carpenter, however the carpenter is paid only about $45. The rest goes to fringe benefits like welfare, pension, health insurance, vacation, etc. So the contractors, in all their wisdom, decided to bribe the union officials in exchange for allowing them to hire illegal alien workers to do menial carpentry work and pay them cash under the table with no benefits. The union officials allegedly accepted the bribe. So if the contractors paid them $10-15 per hour and billed them out at $85, you can see how quickly their profits can add up. The union officials are being charged with accepting bribes of over $1 million.
I still think that this little racket should have been caught through some kind of certified payroll check, but who knows, maybe the owner's in on the deal too.
At least we are moving swiftly toward ridding the country of crooked contractors and union officials - yeah right.
A grand jury Wednesday indicted New York City’s carpenters union chief and
nine other members and contractors following a sweeping investigation that
resulted in allegations of fraud, racketeering and accepting bribes.
I will tell you that I am shocked that something like this would happen in the construction industry. The typically straight as an arrow labor unions seem to be pulling shenanigans. And of all places, New York!
The truth is that if New York labor unions are as straight as an arrow, then the sport of archery would be far from an accurate method of nailing down a bison.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomburg commented that he was "surprised" and "sad" about the allegations.C'mon Mike, surprised? New York labor unions have been tied in with organized crime groups forever, and you may be sad that the carpenter's union who publicly backed your upcoming bid for re-election is getting nailed for corruption, but certainly not surprised.
Incidentally, a video clip was recently released showing Michael J. Forde, the district council’s executive secretary-treasurer, who is now indicted, giving the mayor a robust introduction at a union event and confirming his support for Mr. Bloomberg with a hug.
From what I've read, the carpenter's union allowed contractors to do what non-union contractors are doing all over the place. In order to get a carpenter on a commercial job in a union town like New York City, you must hire from the union (and don't ask what if you don't hire from the union). The union will charge you about $85 per hour for an apprentice level carpenter, however the carpenter is paid only about $45. The rest goes to fringe benefits like welfare, pension, health insurance, vacation, etc. So the contractors, in all their wisdom, decided to bribe the union officials in exchange for allowing them to hire illegal alien workers to do menial carpentry work and pay them cash under the table with no benefits. The union officials allegedly accepted the bribe. So if the contractors paid them $10-15 per hour and billed them out at $85, you can see how quickly their profits can add up. The union officials are being charged with accepting bribes of over $1 million.
I still think that this little racket should have been caught through some kind of certified payroll check, but who knows, maybe the owner's in on the deal too.
At least we are moving swiftly toward ridding the country of crooked contractors and union officials - yeah right.
Posts
The Carpenters Union didn't endorse Mr. Bloomberg. Unfortunately, Mike Forde and the NYCDCC as a separate organization too it upon themselves to give away "our" endorsement. We had no say, there was no poll. I concede Forde was the elected representative of the membership, but we had no say in this decision.
ReplyDelete