NY Gov Calls for Probe After Workers Say Union Sabotaged Snow Removal
- Posted on December 30, 2010 at 12:46pm by
Jonathon M. Seidl
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It was a union protest job.
That’s what a New York City Councilman says some sanitation workers confessed to him regarding the slow snow removal that plagued New York City this week and may have led to numerous deaths. Now, New York’s governor is calling for an investigation.
“They sent a message to the rest of the city that these particular labor issues are more important,” Councilman Dan Halloran (R-Queens) told the New York Post after he said a group of guilt-ridden sanitation workers confessed that the union instructed them to sabotage the snow removal. The union was upset over recent budget and worker cuts.
Halloran told the Post he met with three plow workers from the Sanitation Department and two Department of Transportation supervisors. They say there were told to not plow most streets and work slower than normal.
That news enraged outgoing New York Gov. David Patterson. In an interview with WOR radio this morning he called for a criminal investigation.
“This would be a very, very serious breach,” the Post reported him saying. And while he cautioned jumping to conclusions until an investigation does take place, that didn’t stop him from wondering what could happen if the accusations are true.
“I would have to look through the criminal law to find exactly which one to prosecute people under,” Paterson said. “But criminality is a heightened sense of wrongdoing and there are examples of people whose lives were threatened severely.”
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Comments (171)
dmcote77
Posted on December 30, 2010 at 1:07pmMunicipal unions have become a racket and are completely out of control. It’s time to give taxpayers the choice to remove these thugs.
Report Post »psst
Posted on December 30, 2010 at 1:05pmStart spreading the news
I’m leaving today
I wnat no part of it
NYYNY
I can’t make it here
I can make it anywhere else(except kal-y-4-nya)
NY NY
I wish these AH in NY would just shut the hell up.
Report Post »NY is a union town.
They vote for the pols who are in the pockets of the unions.
Now they are whining .
Shut up NY. Enjoy.
You voted for this. You got it.
Now deal w/ it.
Not to worry though. You’ll keep voting for the marxists and their union goons next time and everytime.
If you NYers need help call alBore.That globalony wamings snow will never ever happen again.
Sgt.Crust
Posted on December 30, 2010 at 1:10pmLOL, nice one Frankie!
Report Post »Sgt.Crust
Posted on December 30, 2010 at 1:26pmnow i can‘t get that freakin’ tune out of friggin head, thanks!
Report Post »psst
Posted on December 30, 2010 at 2:26pm@ Crust.
Report Post »I thought I recognized you.
Of course I am easy to recognize .
But what da hey.. Can’t say a few words here like at the old hangout.
Happy NY (no, not that NY) to ya.
dcwu
Posted on December 30, 2010 at 1:03pmPS And it might be possible to contract out these functions as well.
Report Post »LadyIzShy
Posted on December 30, 2010 at 1:02pmmaybe they should FIRE ALL these workers every single one from the top on down.. let them stand in line and apply for the job back ONLY AFTER thet sign papers saying they will not form a union..
ok s IM dreaming.. but one could hope
Report Post »dcwu
Posted on December 30, 2010 at 1:01pmEver get the feeling that a government needs contract solicitators, contract managers and auditors but nothing else in the way of employees.
Report Post »snowleopard3200 {cat folk art}
Posted on December 30, 2010 at 1:06pmYes, contractors often have a dual purpose, union support and scapegoats when either or both are needed.
Report Post »taskmaster78
Posted on December 30, 2010 at 1:00pmIf there is any proof to this accusation then the union should be fire and all employees along with them, life and safety. These thugs need to be exposed as what they are, greedy losers.
Report Post »jakartaman
Posted on December 30, 2010 at 1:00pmI have one question – Was the good mayor in the city during the storm?
Report Post »If so, did he not figure out that something was wrong – Joe the plumber did!
This is very serious when people die and serious consequences need to be meted out!
Lets see the good mayors follow thru or will he just sweep it under the table.
UNIONISM = COMMUNISM
They only protect the weak and stupid
Sgt.Crust
Posted on December 30, 2010 at 12:58pmwhat do you expect from NY City, communist country!
Report Post »Sinista Mace
Posted on December 30, 2010 at 12:58pmThe police regularly do the same thing.
Ever called 911 and got a busy signal or an answering machine?
Report Post »SHOESHINEBOY
Posted on December 30, 2010 at 12:56pmOkay…so this “investigation” will go no where..Investigate the Union’s who put him into power and keep him there..yea sure..right..and that isn’t snow outside…it is ticker tape from the bow down and praise the unons parade..
Report Post »DJM319
Posted on December 30, 2010 at 12:56pmIf it turns out to be true, then any deaths or injuries caused by intentional slowdown will be blamed on the government entities who put lives in danger to save a couple of bucks. Union workers will not be blamed for this at all. When all the dust settles, it’ll be the politicians fault, the gov’t or city departments who hold the contracts will be held libel and (wait for it)… the people will need to cover the forthcoming lawsuits.
System seems to work just fine.
Report Post »SlimnRanger
Posted on December 30, 2010 at 1:28pmthey will blame it on Bush
Report Post »Passerby
Posted on December 30, 2010 at 12:56pmThe head of the department said there was no slowdown. Immediately fire him.
Report Post »Alvin691
Posted on December 30, 2010 at 1:03pmDid the head of the department know what the union was doing? Did they push this directly to the workers?
Report Post »jakartaman
Posted on December 30, 2010 at 1:04pmAbsolutely!
Report Post »Passerby
Posted on December 30, 2010 at 1:22pmIf he wasn’t involved, he’s incompetent or lying now.
Report Post »No reason to delay firing him, the criminal prosecution can come later.
rlmeals
Posted on December 30, 2010 at 12:56pmLives were threatened? No, governor, lives were LOST because emergency workers couldn‘t get through since the snow hadn’t been plowed. If this is true, I hope the union bosses are prosecuted to the full extent of the law. They play their stupid little political game, never thinking of the consequences their actions have on other people. How many examples can we cite of unions ruining something? Let’s see…negotiating ridiculous wages and benefits that are unsustainable and way higher than market value and often twice as high as a non-union worker’s wage. Making it impossible to fire union employees, even for serious breaches. Raising costs to consumers because of inflated wages. Using union dues for political contributions and lobbying Congress. I will concede that there was a time when unions protected the workers, but they have become a monster and its time to get rid of them.
Report Post »Dodot
Posted on December 30, 2010 at 12:55pmIf this is true which I think it is then the Unions have blood on their hands. How do u sleep at night. And this is not the first one.
Report Post »8jrts
Posted on December 30, 2010 at 12:54pmAnother example of Unions strutting their power…they’ve resorted to outright killing people….time to put an end to them….they represent all that is corrupt with elites trying to squash the rest of us!!!
Report Post »jblovesAmerica
Posted on December 30, 2010 at 12:52pmGov-people died due to road conditions-Union thugs need to be held accountable.
Report Post »Union bosses gave the word-just like NAZI’s -
ShineTheLightBrighter
Posted on December 30, 2010 at 12:52pmUnions may have and may still have a reasonable purpose for the line worker but union management seems to have gotten out of control. It is said power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. That is why our form of tripple check government has lasted so long. Somebody needs to pay the piper for the deaths that resulted from emergency personnel not getting to the victims in need if this slow down order is confirmed. Let‘s see how the New Yorker’s feel now that this is coming to light?
Report Post »NancyBee
Posted on December 30, 2010 at 2:44pmThey are way out of control……it’s all about the money
Report Post »knotaclu
Posted on December 30, 2010 at 12:52pmsome serious probing needs to happen…. Probe em all….Probe em where the sun dont shine…. Probe em till the sun goes down….and start with the crazy mayor and work your way down…Seriously, would love to see some lawsuits come from this one…..
Report Post »IndyGuy
Posted on December 30, 2010 at 12:52pmIf folks did in fact die because others purposely didn’t do their jobs…Heads Need To Roll…
Report Post »LadyIzShy
Posted on December 30, 2010 at 12:52pmwaiting for the head of the unions to go to JAIL for the deaths caused by the slow down.. I wont hold my breath..
Report Post »AzDebi
Posted on December 30, 2010 at 1:05pmYou are correct…don’t hold your breath! Isn’t that just awful that we even say that…would our parents or grandparents have allowed it to be “just another incident”…not sure about my parents, but I know my grandpa would never have let up on this!
Report Post »DagneyT
Posted on December 30, 2010 at 12:51pmMeant Halloran or Patterson.
Report Post »DimmuBorgir
Posted on December 30, 2010 at 12:51pmwhat a bunch of worthless people. Everyone from the bottom to the top in these unions are the problem. Even the worker who is “forced” into union jobs is a part of the problem. Down with all unions and regulations that get in the way of business. Hell they could have paid all the kids in NY half of what these guys take and the shoveling would have been done by dinner.
Report Post »hickoryrat
Posted on December 30, 2010 at 1:13pmDeath to unions
Report Post »Hirllr21
Posted on December 30, 2010 at 12:50pmLet’s start with employee theft for stealing time.
Report Post »Alvin691
Posted on December 30, 2010 at 1:01pmWe must honor those who came forward, at least they showed some backbone and blew the whistle. Protect them.
Report Post »CatB
Posted on December 30, 2010 at 12:49pmAt least 2 are dead because of these hacks (I am being kind).
Report Post »kaydeebeau
Posted on December 30, 2010 at 1:21pmAll the more reason why there should never be Public employee unions
Report Post »JCoolman
Posted on December 30, 2010 at 4:11pmIts time to prosecute these criminals. Not the workers. The union bosses. Then get rid of the unions.
Report Post »DagneyT
Posted on December 30, 2010 at 12:49pmA woman lost her newborn baby 9 hours after she called for EMT assistance, and a 75 yr. old woman died for the same reason. Try MURDER Bloomberg!
Report Post »ShineTheLightBrighter
Posted on December 30, 2010 at 12:57pmAccording to the AP she called 911 multiple times and it wasn’t until the baby was born unconcious that they finally decided to dispatch emergency personnel. Guess what, only took 12 minutes for EMS to get there onced dispatched but baby was dead. So maybe we have more culprits then just the road crews.
Report Post »Cobra Blue
Posted on December 30, 2010 at 1:02pmLike the governor didn’t know what the union was up to….Blah…blah…blah…Nothing to see here. Just business as usual for the lib progressives.
Lantern
Posted on December 30, 2010 at 1:04pm“I would have to look through the criminal law to find exactly which one to prosecute people under,” Paterson said.”
Doesn’t New York have an Attorney General and lawyers to do the job? They can sure as hell prosecute for any other little incident when it’s NOT the unions.
snowleopard3200 {cat folk art}
Posted on December 30, 2010 at 1:05pmMurder, manslaughter, and various conspiracy charges would seem most likely if any crimes have been commited. Also, could not breech of contract and possibly even extortion charges – they sought to use the emergency to get more pay and funds if I understand what other sights are saying.
http://www.artinphoenix.com/gallery/grimm
Report Post »Cobra Blue
Posted on December 30, 2010 at 1:05pmRemember..the subjects just get in the way of them moving forward with their agenda.
CatB
Posted on December 30, 2010 at 1:15pmNot to worry .. these were the “expendable” humans under Obamacare … the baby was just over the cut off for abortion .. and the old just didn’t get the “death counceling” as promised.
Report Post »PatriotAmerican
Posted on December 30, 2010 at 1:15pmIt‘s time to disband the Unions and it’s corrupion. Our union dues is paying taxes directly to the democratic and progessive parties.
Report Post »rlmeals
Posted on December 30, 2010 at 1:15pmI hadn’t heard that it only took 12 minutes to reach her once they decided to go, but then I found this article. They talk about the newborn on page one, but the details you described can be found on page 2 of the article.
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/12/29/2010-12-29_help_arrives_too_late_to_save_baby.html
Report Post »DarKangelAZRAEL
Posted on December 30, 2010 at 1:15pm@Lantern,
Exactly. It appears if you are union they need to refer to a special law “playbook” for them alone. There was once a time unions did a “little” good with safety regulations ETC for industrial jobs. They have outlasted their need and we need to find a way to abolish the damn things.
Report Post »Polwatcher
Posted on December 30, 2010 at 1:22pmUnions do this sort of thing. It is called a strike and screw anyone who is against a unions right to strike.
DarKangelAZRAEL
Posted on December 30, 2010 at 1:29pmScrew their right to strike i am against them 100%. Unions should not be able to skirt or subvert laws simply because they are a special interest. Funny how you progs are so against special interests and tend to forget the BIGGEST ONES are unions. They are the new entitled and have propped themselves up as the new middle class elite and do nothing but harm this nation. They are thugs and wannabes. They extort more than they are worth in the open market and drag everything down around them INCLUDING their members. Sooner or later that is, but still it’s “what they do”.
Report Post »oldoldtimer
Posted on December 30, 2010 at 1:30pmDecertify the union. This goes on all the time. Almost every union tells its member to work slow so the employer has to hire more workers and to keep up the overtime hours. Work slow downs are more common than people think. I wonder if these workers have the guts to tell who instructed them to not do thie jobs properly and timely? I think ultimately unless there is a civilian law suit absolutely nothing will be done. AS usual.
Report Post »TXPilot
Posted on December 30, 2010 at 2:00pmThey are gonna launch a “probe”????? Um, how about launching some criminal charges….Like negligent homicide, on behalf of the poor people, including that newborn that died, because some left-wing traitors decided to use a disaster to prove some Socialist point? How about also several million charges of reckless endangerment, for all the rest of the citizens of New York who were all placed in needless jeaopardy in being deliberately abaondoned by the people that their tax dollars pay to support them in times of danger?…….Oh well, maybe if they start their probe…it will grow to an inquiry…….oooh…or maybe even get really serious and they will appoint a “blue ribbon panel”…now thats some serious action there!………..what a joke!!
Report Post »America First
Posted on December 30, 2010 at 2:10pmI would definitely call this an act of murder. Lives could have been saved except for the selfishness of unions. These union workers must be fired and the unions investigated and punished.
Report Post »EgoBrain
Posted on December 30, 2010 at 2:32pmThis changes the whole story.
Report Post »Steverino
Posted on December 30, 2010 at 3:13pmI think it may be a good time to use some of those many street cameras that NYC has installed.
Let’s couple that with satellite imaging of the roads that were being addressed.
Then, we time stamp the whole cleanup effort, and cross reference. It should become readily apparent if the priorities were in line, or if the strategy was indeed designed to “punish the people”.
TURN BIG BROTHER ON ITSELF!!!
If it is concluded that this was an intentional act of malfeasance, it should not be hard to determine the districts, supervisors, and who is truly responsible.
Then, let the cards fall where they may, with the strictest prosecution of any and all infractions, up to, and including negligent homicide, and / or MURDER. This, admittedly, would be difficult in the union stronghold of NYC, but there MUST be further inquiry. MUST BE.
This could well be one of my most cogent posts, EVER, if I don’t say so myself.
Happy New Year to all,
Report Post »Steve
http://stephencharles-poppin-off.blogspot.com/
Polwatcher
Posted on December 30, 2010 at 4:40pmIf you or I did what the unions did here we would be prosecuted for Murder.
Report Post »walkwithme1966
Posted on December 30, 2010 at 5:55pmThis is so wrong on many levels – and someone does need to take responsibility for those 2 deaths.
Report Post »http://maboulette.wordpress.com
grandmaof5
Posted on December 30, 2010 at 6:15pmThey need to start at the top, prosecute to the fullest extent of the law and work their way down the food chain. This is a prime example of why unions are no longer relevant to the cause but a detriment. They may have to sacrifice lives to get to the end goal – literally.
Report Post »jds7171
Posted on December 30, 2010 at 6:38pmanyone have the link to the story about the baby dying?
Report Post »gman46
Posted on December 30, 2010 at 7:49pmDagnyet said,
Try MURDER Bloomberg!
That’s exactly it!
Report Post »RepubliCorp
Posted on December 30, 2010 at 9:40pmNow people die because UNION thugs run the show but even worst:
Report Post »Twelve Americans are murdered every day by illegal aliens, according to statistics released by Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa. it translates to 4,380 Americans murdered annually by illegal aliens. That’s 21,900 since Sept. 11, 2001. This makes the 9/11 death numbers look small, we went to war over 9/11 and TSA feels us up at the airport…….
WVdad
Posted on December 30, 2010 at 10:05pmGet the unions out of government jobs
Report Post »