Union Thuggery
by Matt at Apr 8th, 2008
I’ve had my own experience with union thugs, so I can’t say this story surprises me one bit.
Construction union thugs used the state Department of Motor Vehicles database to target nonmember workers and their families for violence, property damage and threats of sexual assault, federal officials said Tuesday as they announced the arrests of 12 union leaders and members.
The president of Operating Engineers Local 17, Mark Kirsch, and several other high-ranking officials and members were charged with extortion and racketeering in an eight-count indictment detailing a 10-year reign authorities said stunted economic growth in a struggling part of the state.
“At the end of the day, it cost the job sites and the developers and the workers millions of dollars in property damage, millions of dollars in lost jobs,” U.S. Attorney Terrance Flynn said.
At job sites big and small where non-Local 17 members were hired, union members caused more than $1 million in damage to more than 40 pieces of heavy machinery by pouring sand and grinding compound into the oil systems, breaking windows, destroying tires and cutting fuel lines, investigators said.
The investigation has been going on since 2003, and criminal activity has ben uncovered dating from the present all the way back to 1997. Maybe now people will realize that unions are corrupt and have too much power. It’s time to do something about this, because I am sure there’s a lot more out there we don’t know about yet.
