Melissa King, belatedly, has admitted to wrongdoing. But she still insists she's small-time. King, former benefits administrator for Local 147 of the Laborers International Union of North America, "the Sandhogs," pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal court on October 21 to embezzling union funds and filing false personal income tax returns. Though prosecutors have put her total take at more than $40 million, King believes that's inflated. "I plead guilty, but I don't plead guilty to millions of dollars," she told U.S. District Judge John Koeltl. Evidence, however, reveals a woman possessed of a limitless desire for material extravagance at the expense of the roughly 1,000-member New York City underground construction union. The exact total of the thefts will be determined later. She faces a maximum eight-year prison sentence in February.
The increasing overlap of labor and political activism is an insidious form of public corruption in this country. It enables union officials to deemphasize their role of representing workers at the bargaining table in favor of advocating policies to socialize the economy, building incestuous relationships with politicians, and fattening their bank accounts. This tendency was heavily felt in 2012, a presidential election year. Union leaders recognized the need to re-elect their ally and benefactor, President Barack Obama, over someone a wealthy Republican with a strong business background; i.e., someone they truly could despise. They got what they wanted. In the process, they further built a political infrastructure. Yet union leaders also experienced reversals of fortune at the state level - most of all, in Michigan - where they had been used to getting their way.
Melissa King is going to spend six years in prison. For union members, that can't be long enough. Their anger is understandable. King, formerly benefits consultant for Laborers International Union of North America Local 147, aka "the Sandhogs," 
Organized labor, masters of aggressive politics, had its share of triumphs in 2010. With Democrats, their natural ally, the previous year having taken control of the White House and the Senate while increasing their advantage in the House, this was to be expected. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and other union officials used their window of opportunity to pressure Congress into passing a health care overhaul mandating unprecedented degrees of government intrusion, and by extension, major opportunities for unionization of the health care labor force. They also secured key presidential appointments. 
Melissa King is learning about the high cost of services. And this time, she's paying rather than collecting. Ms. King, former benefits administrator for New York's Laborers International Union of North America Local 147, was indicted by a Manhattan federal grand jury this past February for fleecing the union of more than $40 million to feed an insatiable appetite for material things. It is one of the largest embezzlement cases in American labor history, if not the largest. Recently, she complained about the distinct possibility that 
The indictment of Melissa King may have been a formality, but members of the union from which she allegedly stole on a staggering scale are satisfied all the same. On February 17, King, former longtime benefits administrator of Laborers International Union of North America Local 147, better known as the "Sandhogs," was 
"We spent a fortune to elect Barack Obama - $60.7 million to be exact - and we're proud of it," Service Employees International Union (SEIU) President 
One would think a union office administrator who makes more than $500,000 a year wouldn't have to resort to stealing. But 
