Josh Slocum: Union Boss Talks Like a "Godfather" Character,

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Many Americans are generally sympathetic to what unions claim they stand for, honest pay for honest work. Even though they lean in different directions on unions, both liberals and conservatives can imagine scenarios where corporate power gets out of control and becomes exploitative, and it needs to be met with an opposing force.

But it’s a lot harder for most of us to sympathize with union bosses and the corrupt way in which they operate. As the nation sits through the first day of a Longshoreman’s union strike—47,000 dock and port workers on the east coast—that could cripple the supply chain worse than the government-bungled pandemic response, the head of the union is raising eyebrows.

Harold Daggett is the president of the International Longshoremen’s Association (the striking union). He sat down in front of a camera and delivered a list of dire consequences to other industries and his fellow Americans if the union’s demands aren’t met. Auto dealers out of cars? Too bad. President screaming at my guys to go back to work? Too bad. “I will cripple you,” Daggett said, looking and sounding like a movie mafioso, down to the vulgar gold chain.

Listen for yourself:

It gets better. Turns out—surprise!—Daggett has a past.

Daggett makes almost a million dollars a year, owns multiple yachts, and drives a Bentley. To be fair, union bosses aren’t asked to take a vow of poverty, as disproportionate as such compensation might seem.

But what about the fact that he’s been charged with racketeering by the Department of Justice (he beat both cases)? What about the fact that one of his co-defendants was found rotting in a car during the trial?