Most business activities are often associated with various vices that are designed to cut short how normal operation procedures are conducted. Whether you are buying or selling goods or services, consultation, seeking contracts, and contract negotiations, some people will always have an ulterior motive towards personal gains. One such vice that has continued to eat up business sector is labor racketeering. This is a term commonly used to refer to mishandling, infiltration, and/or misuse of a labor union or employers for personal criminal gains.
Generally, this business malpractice can occur in various forms where it will involve different players like employers or union members. For instance, an employer of a certain corporation can be forced into honoring ghost workers salaries, to bribe corrupt officials to win a government tender, or to avoid court process due to securities fraud. On the other hand, union members may be willingly or unwillingly contribute funds towards their pension kitty just to find out that the money is managed for the interest of few corrupt individuals.
Labor racketeering negatively impacts different parties of the economy such as workers, employers, businesses, and the taxpayers. What this thing does is reduce wages and benefits that could have to be enjoyed by employees. In addition to that, the act of racketeering affects the cost of production of both goods and services as well as suppressing competitive business opportunities hence creating a tough business environment for both local and foreign investors. As a result, Office of Inspector General (OIG) in conjunction with Department and Ministry of Labor have rolled out various corporate compliance programs aimed at combating the stinking act of labor racketeering in labor unions.
However, over the years, the fight against this criminal labor act has faced challenges and some of them are brought about by the fact that it’s often an organized group of mobsters who are involved. Therefore, sometimes, it proves to be a challenge to track them down and bring them to book. Otherwise, through the OIG, fraudulent business schemes such as extortion and embezzlement of funds can be uncovered and proper corporate governance rules and regulation can be applied.
Labor Racketeering involve a number of criminal offenses and their punishments will depend on specific factors surrounding each crime. However, the common punishments include fines, probation, jail time and loss of profits from illegal activities. In conclusion, under Racketeer Influenced and Corruption Organizations Act, you can file a criminal case and sue the parties involved for money losses resulted from racketeering.