³ÉÈËXÕ¾

SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES

New York union leader sleeps off two hour work day

May 31, 2013, 1:23 PM | Updated: 4:00 pm

Mark Rosenthal makes $156,000 a year as President of New York’s Local 983 of District Council...

Mark Rosenthal makes $156,000 a year as President of New York's Local 983 of District Council 37. But colleagues say he only works two hours a day, and sleeps most of that. (Photo: NYPost.com)

(Photo: NYPost.com)

For $156,000 a year, Mark Rosenthal’s colleagues say he comes in to work at 2 p.m., eats his lunch, and falls asleep at his desk.

“Then he wakes up, looks at his watch and says, ‘I have to get out before the traffic gets bad.’ He’s usually out by 4 p.m. after being at the office two hours,” .

Dori immediately thought about the fast food protests in Seattle led by Good Jobs Seattle.

“The local effort to get fast food workers $15 an hour – a lot of that is labor organizers. They want to unionize fast food workers,” said Dori.

Dori doesn’t think labor leaders like this would have workers’ best interests in mind.

Rosenthal’s records show he racks up over $1400 in food bills paid for by the union between events and work-related meals. His colleagues say he consistently over-orders and takes multiple boxes of food home.

Rosenthal, however, says he falls asleep because of medication he takes for back pain, from when he fell through a chair at a McDonald’s restaurant last year.

“I’m 60 years old, so if I eat during my lunch hour and take a little medication, can’t I close my eyes?” he told the Post. “Is it so outrageous?”

He says he works 12-14 hour days – not two – and that much of that work is in the field. He claims that his colleagues are engaged in a smear campaign so he won’t get reelected later this year.

The union represents over 3,000 workers who are some of the lowest-paid municipal employees. But they still pay an average of $1,080 each in yearly membership dues.

Please follow our Community Guidelines

Seattle News Archives & Features

Associated Press

Mountain lion bites 4-year-old on popular Olympic National Park trail, injuring child

PORT ANGELES, Wash. (AP) — A mountain lion bit a 4-year-old who was walking with their family over the weekend on a popular trail in Olympic National Park in Washington state, park officials said Monday. The child was injured during Sunday’s attack and flown to a trauma center in Seattle for treatment, according to a […]

20 days ago

Tom Brock

Bear Gulch Wildfire near Lake Cushman growing in size

A wildfire burning near Lake Cushman continues to grow in the Olympic National Forest.

22 days ago

Associated Press

Seattle man charged with string of burglaries at the homes of NFL and MLB stars

SEATTLE (AP) — A Seattle man was charged Friday with a string of burglaries at the homes of prominent current and former football and baseball players, marking the latest example of well-known athletes being targeted in home thefts. Earl Henderson Riley IV, 21, was charged with several counts of residential burglary in both occupied and […]

2 months ago

Associated Press

Campgrounds closed along Pacific Crest Trail in search for man wanted in daughters’ deaths

SEATTLE (AP) — Authorities have closed a wide swath of popular campgrounds and backpacking areas along the Pacific Crest Trail in Washington as they search for a former Army soldier wanted in the deaths of his three young daughters. Dozens of additional law enforcement officers from an array of agencies joined the investigation and search […]

2 months ago

In this undated photo released by the Thurston County Sheriff's Office, a cache of military weaponr...

Associated Press

2 arrested with arsenal and Nazi paraphernalia after base robbery were ex-military, prosecutors say

SEATTLE (AP) — Two men arrested in Washington state with an arsenal that included grenade launchers and body armor, along with Nazi paraphernalia, were former military members who attacked a soldier with a hammer while stealing gear from Joint Base Lewis-McChord last weekend, investigators say. Levi Austin Frakes and Charles Ethan Fields were arrested Monday […]

2 months ago

Associated Press

Authorities are searching for a Washington state father of 3 dead girls

WENATCHEE, Wash. (AP) — A Washington state father is wanted for murder after his three young daughters were reported missing and then found dead. Police on Tuesday asked the public for help in finding the father of the girls, Travis Decker, 32. He is wanted for three counts of murder and kidnapping, the Wenatchee Police […]

2 months ago

New York union leader sleeps off two hour work day