Working Hard Or Hardly Working? A union boss lives down to the union fat cat stereotype

By LaborUnionReport | 10:00 PM on May 29, 2013

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Whether it’s justified or not, there is a well-established “fat cat” stereotype of union bosses that has existed for many, many years that goes something like this:

Union bosses are fat, lazy, corrupt, drive big cars and don’t do much for the exorbitant salaries their union members pay them.

Again, whether one agrees with that stereotype of not, is irrelevant because, as matter of fact, there is ample evidence to support it.

Here are just a few examples that give cause to the “fat cat union boss” stereotype:

Given the well-established stereotype, it is little wonder that New York union boss Mark Rosenthal cause a minor stir earlier this week behaving like a very, very well fed union fat cat–eating and napping on the job.

According to the New York Post, Rosenthal is the 400-pound president of Local 983 of District Council 37–the city’s largest blue-collar municipal-workers union–which means that New Yorkers’ taxes are paying the city workers who then pay union dues for a union boss to eat and sleep on the job.

“He eats lunch when he arrives at work at 2 p.m. Then, like clockwork, he goes to sleep with a cup of soda on the table and the straw in it,” said Marvin Robbins, a union vice president.

“Then he wakes up, looks at his watch and says, ‘I have to get out before the traffic gets bad.’ He’s usually out by 4 p.m. after being at the office two hours.”

What makes this matter even more disgusting is that because New York is not a right-to-work state, AFSCME members who are paid through taxpayers’ money are required to pay union fees or lose their jobs.

Despite pictures being worth a 1,000 words, Rosenthal claims allegations against him are part of a “smear campaign” by a rival running for his spot in the union.

He told the Post “it’s normal for executives to take power naps.”

Rosenthal has headed the union since 1998, when he won an election under the platform of ridding the union of corruption and alleged mob ties. At the time, he called the union a “cesspool.”

Ironically, this 400-pound union fat cat is a friend of soda-banning Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

View more pictures and read more about this fat cat’s shenanigans at the New York Post because, really, you just can’t make this stuff up.
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“Truth isn’t mean. It’s truth.”
Andrew Breitbart (1969-2012)

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