Federal prosecutors have asked a judge to hold New York City's carpenters' union in contempt for changing the union's job referral system without government approval, arguing that the changes will encourage more corruption. Prosecutors argued that the changes give construction contractors far more leeway to hire whichever carpenters they want, irrespective of length of unemployment. They argue also that corruption will be easier under the new system because contractors will have more power to pressure unemployed carpenters to do their bidding.
See "Job Rules of Carpenters' Union Encourage Corruption, U.S. Charges", Steven Greenhouse, The New York Times, September 14, 2005