Undercover Boss: ABM & 9/11

Just finished watching an episode of the TV show Undercover Boss.

A show in which the CEO or boss of a company takes up positions on the lower ranks of their company,

unbeknownst to the employees picked to train them and faces what it's like to work as a peon.

The show had a compassionate message of bosses realizing the people "beneath" them are human.
 There was a truly positive vibe surrounding the entire show with janitors & such sharing heartfelt moments ultimately resulting in the boss revealing their identity & helping them out with their struggles.

Admittedly, while my girlfriend was subsequently shedding tears & warm smiles,

I was at times questioning the true intent of the show.

I've boiled it down to a similarity with the Lottery,

false hope for the bottom feeders, trying to convince them there's an easy way out.

In real life, most bosses fail to see people, and can't get beyond profits.

This in itself is not the purpose for this article.... 

During the episode, 9/11 kept springing up, excessively.

One of the employees was a survivor, and another lost a family member in the tragedy.

The boss ended up donating money to a 9/11 charity in their honor as well as pavers for victims.

The name of the company rang bells: ABM Industries.

So I decided to research the connection between ABM & 9/11,

I figured the company seemed maintenance based & started with the staff.

Instantly it became all too clear that the entire episode was nothing more than a PR ploy to repair the companies tattered image... 2 words: William Rodriguez!

The hero of 9/11, steamrolled by the media due to the fact that he was also one of its largest whistleblowers.

'Willy' was a caretaker for the World Trade Center whom risked life & limb repeatedly rescuing victims and then rushing back into the building to salvage more, nearly being killed in the aftermath.

He was revered in the headlines until he began to voice his beliefs that explosives were used in WTC.

 Willy like many of those who escaped the basement sternly declared they had experienced bombs.

Going so far as to file a lawsuit against George Bush for his complicity in the event.

 

In an interview with George Galloway on his program The Real Deal,

Willy had this to say about his former employer (ABM):

"They sacked me because I became a whistleblower. The company I worked for received $3 million, because they have insurance on the people inside the building. And they were going around asking all the people they have contracts with to donate to a fund to help the victims. But they put the three million dollars in their pocket. And I did a press conference, and I pinpointed them. Of course I was blackballed automatically."

For starters it's horrendous this company would fire Mr. Rodriguez for actively voicing his eyewitness accounts in such a monumental disaster. 2nd it's absolutely disgusting the company would take out life insurance policies on it's employees, though this doesn't surprise me as the practice has become all too familiar in these feudalistic times.

In researching I've become aware that another witness who insisted incendiary devices were used to bring down the towers, also was stationed in the basement & worked for ABM:

Kenneth Johannemann, 9/11 survivor, whistleblower & ultimately the victim of a suspicious suicide, whose accounts immediately after the event stuck with me for many years:

not sure what became of Kenny's employment with ABM, just pointing out he worked for them.

-ABM wins landmark verdict in 9/11 lawsuit