Rodrigues indictment may change landscape

The sweeping federal fraud charges leveled against labor leader Gary Rodrigues this week — if sustained — could substantially alter the union landscape in Hawai‘i.

In fact, even if it turns out that Rodrigues is not guilty as charged, his power and influence will likely have been diminished.

The fight to defend against the charges will preoccupy Rodrigues and inevitably lessen his ability to be heard elsewhere.

U.S. Attorney Steven Alm said Rodrigues engineered a complicated scheme in which medical and dental premium payments by union members were inflated to create money that went secretly back into the pockets of Rodrigues and his daughter.

At this point, Rodrigues has said little. He will receive a summons within the next few weeks and then will appear in court.

Friends of the veteran labor leader are puzzled by the allegations. He has a reputation for being tough and uncompromising in defense of his union members and their rights.

Thus, they wonder why he would create a scheme that would require those members to pay more than necessary for crucial medical and dental insurance.

While the base of Rodrigues’ strength is his leadership of the 11,300-member United Public Workers, his influence is felt in many other areas as well. He sits on a number of powerful boards and commissions, including the committee that recommends names for Hawai‘i judgeships.

His counsel is sought through a wide spectrum of local society.

For instance, he was widely acknowledged as being a powerful force in the 26-member Governor’s Economic Revitalization Task Force that was otherwise dominated by business interests.

All of this, and more, is involved with this indictment. For that reason, it is imperative that the federal prosecutor move quickly on this case.

Far more than the future of the Rodrigues family, or even the leadership of the United Public Workers, is at stake in this.

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