Pucker up and get ready to kiss the Plumber's crack. According to a memo issued by the City of Chicago Department of Water Management personnel, Tom McManus will be present to discuss questions about the contract and other concerns at the Chicago Local 130 Plumbers Hall. The Plumbers Hall is located at 1340 West Washington Chicago Illinois. The meeting is September 10, 2009. Everyone is invited. In typical Local 130 manner, the invitation was not on City or Union letterhead. When you attend tomorrow, make sure you ask what the hell this union has done for your working rights. Ask why the dues are so high. Ask about his family favors while Local 130 members starve. Ask why he still needs a job when mandatory retirement means he should be out of a job and some other slob get the B.A. position. Ask what he does all day and how much money, in total he makes all year. Ask who Local 130 picks up all the legal fees for, while you and your family eat dirt. Then turn around and show these people your version of this picture. And ask for a reduction in union dues, wait for your answer. Ask why Local 130 did not let you vote on the changes in the contract with the City of Chicago. Photo touched up by Patrick McDonough.
Comments
why??? whatever the answer will be, is why I left City of Chicago employment and local 130 and went into business myself
Posted by: chuck | September 10, 2009 11:40 AM
In the state where I live unions have nowhere near the influence they do in Illinois. Kudos to you Mr. McDonaugh for doing everything possible to disband all of these corrupt organizations.
Posted by: Anonymous | September 10, 2009 11:23 PM
Chicago building inspector took bribes, witness testifies
Bribery
Justice System By Jeff Coen
Tribune reporter
September 11, 2009
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When it came to getting illegal building projects through City Hall, former permit "expediter" Catherine Romasanta testified Thursday that she knew what it took to get things done in Chicago: an envelope stuffed with cash.
Romasanta, 60, told a federal jury she often passed bribes from developers to city inspectors to grease the way for plans that wouldn't normally be approved or to have changes made to a mainframe computer that kept building and zoning information.
One of those inspectors was Michael Reese, she said, who is on trial on conspiracy charges at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse.
Reese was among a group of inspectors Romasanta said she knew she could turn to when a builder who had hired her to handle permit issues told her he was willing to do "whatever it takes" to get a project through.
In one instance in 2003 or 2004, she said, a contractor she was working for asked her to get a final inspection pushed through for a South Side development. Reese told her he would go, Romasanta testified, "and it would cost $1,500."
The developer was willing to pay, she said, and Romasanta served as the intermediary to get the money to Reese.
"I met him in the parking lot of Comiskey Park," she said. "He was in his truck, and I had the money in a brown envelope."
Romasanta said Reese would sometimes fudge paperwork for her, showing that a property headed for a hearing on code violations had been found to be in compliance, and would other times pull quick permits for her or change data on city computers.
In all, Romasanta said, she passed about $187,000 in bribes to corrupt building and zoning officials in Mayor Richard Daley's administration between 2001 and 2007, when she became a mole for the government in the investigation known as Operation Crooked Code. That bribery probe has netted more than two dozen people allegedly tied to bribe-taking.
Among the contractors Romasanta allegedly worked for was Beny Garneata, who pleaded guilty to bribery charges and has been sentenced to 2 years in prison.
jcoen@tribune.com
Posted by: Chicago Clout Bribes continue | September 11, 2009 6:40 PM
are you trying to
disband the unions( Response) No, many of the Unions have given up the fight for their members. Many Chicago Unions are not taking care of their members. To have Unions continue, you must continue the struggle. It seems many union leaders feel the end is around the corner and they want to take what they can before it is all over.
Posted by: rich | September 11, 2009 11:00 PM