More unions screwing the public...
 

I want more money and I don't want to work...

I read about this yesterday. Ain't that something now.

This is not a case of the union screwing the public.

It is a case of dishonest RR employees screwing the Pension and Retirement fund.

Eleven people, including two orthopedists and a former union official, have been charged with conspiracy in a decadelong fraud that authorities say poisoned the pension system used by employees of the nation's largest commuter railroad.

I cannot believe that the union, it's members and officials were not involved in a decade long fraud which could have cost over $999 million- can you?

Considering people pay to take the train, yeah, and they screwed their fellow union workers too. (if they really did it that is)

And if you think that's bad you can imagine what goes on in Chicago is probably 10x as bad.

It's members were certainly involved............they work for the RR.

I don't see any data that supports the position that the union officials were involved in their official capacity.

Your reference to a "former union official" does not allow you to conclude that the union was a party to this fraud.

Don't spoil the party Brian.

I cannot believe that the union, it's members and officials were not involved in a decade long fraud which could have cost over $999 million- can you?

I really don't like to make conjectures regarding guilt without some evidence. This happens all the time in the press and it tends to cause me pause.

I'm certainly no advocate of unions, however, unless you view them from the perspective of the average union member. In that case, they are excellent.

That these things go on is not new. I can remember a similar thing among the management at a division of a big oil company about 25 years ago. It was a very hush-hush thing, but if you found out about it you were cut in and everybody was happy. It revolved around vendor kick-backs.

But then one guy found out and decided to take it upstairs to someone he knew would not stand for it. When the CEO found out about it the company suddenly had a 're-org' and about 80% of the management staff was gone.

I remember coming in one day and asking where all the managers were. 'Gone' was the answer. Then we tried to figure out who was in charge and determined that I was, so I yelled at everyone to get back to work. Then I passed out a feedback form on my management style and reported back to them that the results showed me receiving a 100% approval rating. Then the real new boss showed up, so we told him how we had spent the day. He gave us an award for hitting a new production high since we had really done something that could pass as work. We never knew what he was talking about, but we put the award cert up in the break room since it was the only management recognition we had ever received.

So this Railroad thing is supposed to have cost the Pension Fund a billion dollars? That might be high or it might be low, but the thing I am talking about cost the company about $200,000,000 a year over a ten or twelve year period. That is not just a guess, by the way. We did get a note from a guy that had moved to Italy thanking us for the $2,000,000 and the Yacht.

A crook is a crook no matter if they are wearing overalls or a suit. If you think only Union members do this sort of thing then you are not paying attention to the real crooks in our economy.

Trust me, they are everywhere.

Thievery is one of man's many failings. Look at Barney Madoff for example. It doesn't require a grand conspiracy. It does require one or a few clever people to do the deed, a few colleagues to ignore or disbelieve the obvious and lax enforcement. That combination is depressingly common. As is thievery.

And GREED, on the part of the thief as well as the victim. Madoff's victims jumped at the chance to get a much better than average return on their investments. They were greedy, too.
20 odd years ago, in Maryland, we had a similar thing. A Savings and Loan was giving much better rates than anyplace else, and people rushed to deposit their money. They the scheme came apart, and the S&L failed. Those of us who didn't have money in that S&L ended up paying for a state bailout of those who did. Sometimes prudence doesn't pay==especially if politicians get involved.

You can't cheat an honest man.

I knew some folks that put money into an oil production scam which turned out to be a classical Ponzi scheme. Greed was their downfall, and even though they swore they had learned their lesson 20 years later they were investing in such get rich quick schemes again.

Anyway.... Hopefully this Railroad thing will get busted wide open and others will learn that if it sounds to good to be true then it probably is. And if criminal activity is involved on their part.........

I say throw the book at 'em.

Just like those lazy good for nothing union workers at the Mercedes plants in Germany. I can't stand those freeloading SOBs.