UNION WHISTLEBLOWERS beaten and harassed after they accused bosses of looting.

Unionized phone company employees say they were beaten or threatened after they accused their labor bosses of looting their coffers through various scams.

One member of Communications Workers of America Local 1101 said that after he reported a time-sheet padding scheme, a thug beat him so badly his spine was injured.

Another says he found a dead rat in his locker, while a third said a union officer warned that suspected informants should be brought off company property and “taken care of.”

The threats come to light as the U.S. Labor Department is probing charges that union bosses lined their pockets at the rank-and-file’s expense.

Shocking.

UPDATE: A reader emails:

Please keep my name private if you choose to post this rant. I too am a member of a public employee’s union that recently put up a vote for additional withholding for a strike fund. It failed as most of the members learned for the first time that nearly all of our dues go to Washington to pay enormous salaries and benefits for union bosses, and to fill the coffers of Democratic politicians who promise that the gravy train will never end.

For what its worth, I make less than I could in private practice, but about equal with private agencies. Given my family size, I am just below the poverty line.

Ouch. But I think that if public employee unions learn more about the finances, their enthusiasm for the unions will cool.