Pittsburgh’s Public Employees Don’t Know that a Plea Bargain is a Conviction?

When you hear people rail against public workers and their unions, there's a reason for it.

Not only do our taxes go to pay their salaries...and benefits...and pensions, they also go to pay their back pay when an arbitrator rules that not knowing that a plea bargain is a conviction doesn't constitute falsification of an application.

Last year, the city of Pittsburgh fired five Public Works employees after Team 4 found they did not disclose their criminal histories on job applications.

Those workers appealed and have gotten their jobs back, Team 4 reported on Monday.

In some cases, the employees argued that they did not deliberately lie about their records.

"The arbitrator decided he didn't deliberately falsify his application. The individual believed a plea bargain wasn't the same thing as a conviction," said Joe Rossi, of Teamsters Local Union 249.

The city is paying thousands of dollars in back pay to the five employees. [Emphasis added.]

Hopefully, these aren't the same public workers who read utility meters because, if they don't know that a plea bargain is a conviction and omitting that on an application is falsification, they sure as heck have no business reading those little doohickeys that spin around on the side of your house.

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“I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes.” Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776

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