Article

2005-06-09 -Short Attention Span Theater-

Children Allegedly Placed on Union Payrolls to Get Seniority

The state is investigating allegations that longshoremen's union locals in Boston have placed children as young as 2 1/2 on the payroll in a scheme to give them higher wages as adult dockworkers.

Massachusetts Port Authority officials have turned their records over to Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly's office and the State Police, said Kurt Schwartz, chief of the attorney general office's criminal bureau. Reilly's office has launched a grand jury probe. Because seniority is determined by when a union member first receives a union card, regardless of the number of hours worked, union members who got their children enrolled are believed to have ensured that their children would receive higher pay, Schwartz said in a statement Wednesday.

OK, it's crooked. But, damm that's clever.

"The attorney general is investigating allegations that the seniority of some union members has been fraudulently exaggerated, resulting in excessive wages being paid," Schwartz said. An industry official involved in the investigation told The Boston Globe the alleged scam was uncovered earlier this year when shipping officials noticed that a new union member had the same name as the 10-year-old granddaughter of a prominent longshoreman. A check of her Social Security number confirmed who she was, the official said, and a more thorough review of records showed that as many as 30 children had been put on the payroll for a few hours a year going back as far as 1986. "We were absolutely shocked," Massachusetts Port Authority spokeswoman Danny Levy told the Boston Herald. "When Massport was made aware of the discrepancy, we contacted the attorney general and began our own internal audit."

"I'm shocked, shocked to find out that there's corruption in the Longshoremen's union"
"Your campaign contribution, Mr. Levy."
"Why, thank you."

John F. McMahon, a lawyer for the International Longshoremen's Association, said he had heard about the investigation of three locals, and declined to comment further. The three locals reported a total membership of 250 in 2000. International spokesman James McNamara said the union's ethical practices office will investigate the allegations "if there is something concrete ~~tied to a body in the harbor~~."

Gotta have a lot of seniority to get a job in the ethical practices office...

The industry official told the Globe that payroll checks were issued in the children's names, but that it was unclear who had cashed them or how much money was involved.

Posted by Steve 2005-06-09 11:14|| || Front Page|| [11136 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 I'm shocked! Shocked!This happened at MASSPORT!!
I'm surprised their kid's frozen embryos aren't on the payroll...

Posted by tu3031 2005-06-09 11:43|| 2005-06-09 11:43|| Front Page Top

#2 You know you've lost faith in the family genes when you expect your granddaughter to grow up to be a dockworker. Nothing else is shocking about this article. Unions are monopolies and unfair by definition. They screw the employers, why wouldn't they screw each other?

Posted by BH 2005-06-09 12:03|| 2005-06-09 12:03|| Front Page Top

#3 tu - I worked a temp job at Massport many moons ago. Did you know there are offices between the inbound and outbound decks of the Tobin Bridge? Yep, worked in that office for four months.

Posted by Raj 2005-06-09 12:14|| 2005-06-09 12:14|| Front Page Top

#4 BH - they also screw their own members.

Posted by CrazyFool 2005-06-09 12:38|| 2005-06-09 12:38|| Front Page Top

#5 "It's for the childrenâ¢"

Posted by Frank G">Frank G 2005-06-09 12:46|| 2005-06-09 12:46|| Front Page Top

#6 when you expect your granddaughter to grow up to be a dockworker.
No, he expects her to grow up to be a union official. By the time she graduates college, she'll have enough seniority to step right into the front office.

Posted by Steve ">Steve 2005-06-09 12:54|| 2005-06-09 12:54|| Front Page Top

#7 LOL I didn't know you could get a union card without getting a job. Did they form a diaper fillers local 1 of the AFL/CIO in Boston?

Posted by Cyber Sarge">Cyber Sarge 2005-06-09 13:20|| 2005-06-09 13:20|| Front Page Top

#8 Looks like they DID have a "job" for a few hours, Sarge.

Posted by too true 2005-06-09 14:05|| 2005-06-09 14:05|| Front Page Top

#9 Just doing their duty, Sarge.

Posted by BH 2005-06-09 14:45|| 2005-06-09 14:45|| Front Page Top

#10

Now I understand

Posted by BigEd 2005-06-09 19:26|| 2005-06-09 19:26|| Front Page Top

#11 Not the first time I've heard this. Back during my summer visits to Brooklyn in the late 60s, I heard stories about 11-12 year old boys being taken by a family member early in the morning to the loading docks, given a pair of gloves and told to stay near "but outta the way", then packed off to school.

These Boston guys just got greedy.

Posted by Pappy 2005-06-09 19:36|| 2005-06-09 19:36|| Front Page Top

#12 Big Ed and others:

The Bob the Builder picture was wreaking havoc due to its size and the way it was included in the comment. If you include pics by IMG SRC tag do two things, please:

first, include 'height=150 width=150' in the tag and
second, include a delimiter tag of 'slash' 'img'

Posted by rkb 2005-06-09 20:10|| 2005-06-09 20:10|| Front Page Top

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