Bridge bad-welds flap took on life of its own By Phillip Matier, Andrew Ross, San Francisco Chronicle
Tipster complained of conditions, not work
It turns out that the whistle-blower whose call to the FBI triggered the big investigation into alleged faulty welds on the new Bay Bridge hadn't even been calling about welds.
In fact, apprentice welder Gustave Link, who phoned the FBI's public corruption hot line in February, more than a year after he quit his job, was only complaining about what he thought were dangerous working conditions at the bridge site -- issues that he says had fallen on the deaf ears of both construction managers and his union bosses.
'If it wasn't for the FBI bringing it up, the issues of welding would have probably been buried in concrete,' Link, 38, told us last week after the story broke.