Today's Hoot!

Arrogant `king' reigned over corruption, Teamsters say:

But when he and the rest of the union's chain-smoking staff moved into a new union hall in 2002, they were told by local president Charles Crawley that the building would be smoke free.

Crawley, known among the membership as "King Kong Chuck," however, didn't outlaw chewing tobacco.

The cigarette ban, along with security cameras mounted in nearly every worker's office and a new telephone system that allowed Crawley to listen undetected to anybody else's phone calls, pushed the union employees to their limit, McCormick says.

But it was Crawley's dipping habit that sent them over the edge -- and into the arms of the FBI.

"We were not allowed to smoke in the building, but it was all right for him to dip and spit into Styrofoam cups," McCormick says. "And, then, he'd leave those cups all around for us to pick up. To be honest with you, it started over smoking."

The employees shared allegations with federal and union investigators that Crawley arranged kickbacks, embezzled union funds and tampered with ballots.

Lots of hijinks by following the link, but my favorite isn't even illegal:

The new $1.7 million union hall opened on Aug. 10 last year with a brisket barbecue and national notoriety.

The Chronicle reported the day before the grand opening that nonunion construction workers built the 16,246-square-foot structure because Local 988's leadership decided union contractors cost too much.

Ruh Oh!