It’s a good thing that International Association of Machinists Local S6 is insured. Otherwise, it might not be able to recover from losses created by Ryan Jones. Last week, Jones, former Local S6 secretary-treasurer, was indicted in U.S. District Court for the District of Maine for embezzling more than $280,000 in funds over a four-and-a-half-year period from the union, which represents workers at the Bath Iron Works shipbuilding complex. The indictment follows a joint investigation by the FBI and the U.S. Department of Labor. If convicted, Jones faces up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
Bath Iron Works (BIW), located along the Kennebec River in Bath, Maine, is one of the nation’s largest shipbuilders. A subsidiary of General Dynamics since 1995, BIW is the fifth-largest employer in the state. As many of its 6,000 employees are unionized, that translates into a sizable pot of member dues. Ryan … Read More ➡
International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 25 has a well-earned reputation as the bad boys of Boston-area organized labor. Indeed, the union has few peers anywhere when it comes to intimidation. A Boston federal jury last Thursday finished hearing several days of testimony in the case of four local members accused of terrorizing Padma Lakshmi, host of Top Chef, and other members of the popular reality TV show’s nonunion production crew, back in June 2014 for crossing a picket line. The incident occurred outside a restaurant where a segment was to be filmed. Lakshmi 
On July 6, Fonda White, former secretary-treasurer of Communications Workers of America Local 2390, was indicted in the Circuit Court for Prince George County, Maryland (suburban Washington, D.C.) on one count of theft of property with a value of at least $10,000 but less than $100,000, one count of embezzlement, and two counts of theft of property with a value of more than $1,000 but less than $10,000 from the Maugansville (near Hagerstown), Md. union. The indictment follows an investigation by the U.S. Labor Department’s Office of Labor-Management Standards.… 
With a certain reluctance, Chrysler Corporation accepted the Obama administration’s forcible transfer in 2009 of company stock to the United Auto Workers. The Auburn Hills, Mich.-based automaker now is feeling an aftershock. On July 26, Alphons Iacobelli, the company’s former labor negotiator, and Monica Morgan, the widow of UAW Vice President General Holiefield, 
On July 7, Jay Roy, former secretary-treasurer of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation (SMART) Local 1245 – Transportation Division, was sentenced in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia to two months in prison and two years of probation for embezzling funds from the Locust Grove, Ga.-based union, and was ordered to pay $83,417 in restitution plus a $100 special assessment. Roy had pleaded in March to one count of theft in the amount of $2,125, though he had stolen far more. The actions follow an investigation by the U.S. Labor Department’s Office of Labor-Management Standards.… 
Sometimes the U.S. Department of Labor has to investigate its own employees for union corruption. That’s why Lon Sullivan is now an ex-employee. On June 28, Sullivan, former treasurer of American Federation of Government Employees Local 644, was sentenced in U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware to three years of probation and 200 hours of community service for wire fraud against the Baltimore union. He also was ordered to pay $59,809 in residual restitution, having already paid $37,000. Sullivan, a Delaware resident who had worked for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, had pleaded guilty in February immediately after being charged. The actions follow a probe by the Labor Department’s Office of Labor-Management Standards and Office of Inspector General.… 
On July 7, Lonzell Moore, former president of American Postal Workers Union Local 1730, was charged in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois with one count of embezzling $18,857 from the Des Plaines, Ill. union. Five days later, on July 12, he pleaded guilty. The charge and plea follow a probe by the U.S. Labor Department’s Office of Labor-Management Standards.… 
On June 27, Kimberly Steinhoff, former treasurer of United Steelworkers Local 87, was charged in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan with one count of embezzlement in the amount of $12,751 from the Munising (Upper Peninsula)-based union. The charge follows a probe by the U.S. Labor Department’s Office of Labor-Management Standards.… 
On June 21, Tamika Bullock, former secretary-treasurer of International Brotherhood of Boilermakers Local 684, was indicted in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on one count of embezzling $24,600 in funds from the Chesapeake-based union. The indictment follows an investigation by the U.S. Labor Department’s Office of Labor-Management Standards.…