7 ms·

Head of California's largest union arrested for theft, fraud

121 points by rsj_hn 5y ago

rsuelzer 5y ago
Good riddance. Too many people in the labor movement who are not there for the right reasons.
Proven 5y ago
The real news is how all the others have managed to avoid getting caught so far.
1cvmask 5y ago
Jimmy Hoffa came to mind when I saw the headline. Although it seems there was no organized mafia element to their fraud. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Hoffa https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Hoffa
- cletus 5y ago
  Fun fact: Jimmy Hoffa remained president of the union even after being convicted and imprisoned. He only resigned as part of his commutation agreement with Nixon.
  - rsj_hn 5y ago
    As someone who comes from Europe, I find the culture and corruption of American unions to be very puzzling. It seems to be the case from the very beginning of the American labor movement, and in the past the corruption seemed to have been at an even higher level. I'd love to see someone explain this. Why does the task of organizing workers promote corruption in the U.S. more than in Germany? And can anything be done to change this? Shedding this image would certainly help promote unionization.
    - 1cvmask 5y ago
      It doesn't. There was the famous Volkswagen union corruption scandal: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/12/business/vw-expenses-fraud.html https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/12/business/vw-expenses-frau...
    - dragonwriter 5y ago
      > Why does the task of organizing workers promote corruption in the U.S. more than in Germany? That task doesn't. (Neither does the task of law enforcement, or government, or corporate management.) America’s corruption isn't task specific.
    - truffdog 5y ago
      The very beginning of the labor movement was super violent- pitched battles to keep scabs from crossing picket lines. Organized crime came from the same neighborhoods and communities as striking union workers, so they helped provide muscle for the workers. Then they stuck around. I think this is mostly a relic of the past though- most union members are in government or the service industries now, without any of those ties or history.
- NtochkaNzvanova 5y ago
  > Although it seems there was no organized mafia element to their fraud. Other than their association with the Democratic Party.
  - dang 5y ago
    Using HN for political flamewar will get you banned here. No more of this, please. Edit: and please don't use HN for political or ideological battle generally. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
bruceb 5y ago
Basically she and husband didn't report all income and used campaign money for personal expenses. Yes paying taxes is annoying, but these people earn solid money, why throw it away for relatively small savings. Say they saved 36% on a mil, spread over 6 years, Was it worth the extra $60K a year between the two of them when they had good jobs, political power, clean records? Especially when you are union, thus generally pro gov't spending so are pushing everyone else to pay taxes. "Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office alleges the pair under-reported more than $1 million in income over the past six years, including $176,000 in 2016, $416,000 in 2017, and $666,000 in 2018. The complaint also alleges Hernandez unlawfully took political campaign money for personal use in 2014 and 2015."
- ffggvv 5y ago
  in california that number is closer to 50% than 36%, but yeah i agree that its probably not worth it though maybe they thought they were untouchable due to their position
- lapsed_pacifist 5y ago
  It looks pretty bad when the husband of a union boss was paying workers off the books, which denies worker protections to employees. And they may not have reported the income because it didn't come from legitimate sources.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - truffdog 5y ago
    This is California, they were probably undocumented, which will make people less mad at him.
    - da_big_ghey 5y ago
      I can not tell, is it better because he employ them or worse sense he probably pay them below market and so is "exploiting"? Sometimes it is hard to find how Californian thinks.
CameronNemo 5y ago
This is the union: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Service_Employees_International_Union https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Service_Employees_Internatio...

121 points by rsj_hn 5y ago

rsuelzer 5y ago

Good riddance. Too many people in the labor movement who are not there for the right reasons.

Proven 5y ago

The real news is how all the others have managed to avoid getting caught so far.

1cvmask 5y ago

Jimmy Hoffa came to mind when I saw the headline. Although it seems there was no organized mafia element to their fraud. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Hoffa https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Hoffa

cletus 5y ago
Fun fact: Jimmy Hoffa remained president of the union even after being convicted and imprisoned. He only resigned as part of his commutation agreement with Nixon.
- rsj_hn 5y ago
  As someone who comes from Europe, I find the culture and corruption of American unions to be very puzzling. It seems to be the case from the very beginning of the American labor movement, and in the past the corruption seemed to have been at an even higher level. I'd love to see someone explain this. Why does the task of organizing workers promote corruption in the U.S. more than in Germany? And can anything be done to change this? Shedding this image would certainly help promote unionization.
  - 1cvmask 5y ago
    It doesn't. There was the famous Volkswagen union corruption scandal: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/12/business/vw-expenses-fraud.html https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/12/business/vw-expenses-frau...
  - dragonwriter 5y ago
    > Why does the task of organizing workers promote corruption in the U.S. more than in Germany? That task doesn't. (Neither does the task of law enforcement, or government, or corporate management.) America’s corruption isn't task specific.
  - truffdog 5y ago
    The very beginning of the labor movement was super violent- pitched battles to keep scabs from crossing picket lines. Organized crime came from the same neighborhoods and communities as striking union workers, so they helped provide muscle for the workers. Then they stuck around. I think this is mostly a relic of the past though- most union members are in government or the service industries now, without any of those ties or history.
NtochkaNzvanova 5y ago
> Although it seems there was no organized mafia element to their fraud. Other than their association with the Democratic Party.
- dang 5y ago
  Using HN for political flamewar will get you banned here. No more of this, please. Edit: and please don't use HN for political or ideological battle generally. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

bruceb 5y ago

Basically she and husband didn't report all income and used campaign money for personal expenses. Yes paying taxes is annoying, but these people earn solid money, why throw it away for relatively small savings. Say they saved 36% on a mil, spread over 6 years, Was it worth the extra $60K a year between the two of them when they had good jobs, political power, clean records? Especially when you are union, thus generally pro gov't spending so are pushing everyone else to pay taxes. "Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office alleges the pair under-reported more than $1 million in income over the past six years, including $176,000 in 2016, $416,000 in 2017, and $666,000 in 2018. The complaint also alleges Hernandez unlawfully took political campaign money for personal use in 2014 and 2015."

ffggvv 5y ago
in california that number is closer to 50% than 36%, but yeah i agree that its probably not worth it though maybe they thought they were untouchable due to their position
lapsed_pacifist 5y ago
It looks pretty bad when the husband of a union boss was paying workers off the books, which denies worker protections to employees. And they may not have reported the income because it didn't come from legitimate sources.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- truffdog 5y ago
  This is California, they were probably undocumented, which will make people less mad at him.
  - da_big_ghey 5y ago
    I can not tell, is it better because he employ them or worse sense he probably pay them below market and so is "exploiting"? Sometimes it is hard to find how Californian thinks.

CameronNemo 5y ago

This is the union: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Service_Employees_International_Union https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Service_Employees_Internatio...