On April 27, Jill Ragland, former president of Ohio Association of Public School Employees Chapter 782, an affiliate of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), was indicted in the Court of Common Pleas, Ross County (Ohio), on one count of theft in an amount of $1,385 from the Portsmouth-based union. The indictment follows a probe by the U.S. Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.
In the eyes of the AFL-CIO, a president can never lean too far leftward. But if President Obama hasn't made all the right moves, he's made enough of them to win its support. On March 13, the federation's 57-member executive council met in a closed-door session in Orlando, Florida to 
On November 14, Perry Taylor, former vice president of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 1820 in Pontiac, Mich., was sentenced in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan to two years probation and ordered to pay $5,897.60 in restitution and a special assessment of $25 for aiding and abetting union financial records fraud. He had pleaded guilty in July. The sentencing follows an investigation by the U.S. Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.
Unions for many years have been 
On September 28, Patricia Peoples, former secretary-treasurer of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 1820, was sentenced in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan to two years probation, with the first year to be served in home confinement, for embezzling funds from the Pontiac-based union. She also was ordered to pay $40,293.14 in restitution and a $100 special assessment. Peoples had pleaded guilty in June to one count of embezzling $39,019.67. The guilty plea and sentencing follow a probe by the U.S. Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.
On September 23, Grace Isley, former president of Local 2051 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees in Des Moines, was sentenced in U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa to five years probation for embezzlement of union funds in the amount of $11,943.82. She also will have to pay restitution and a $100 assessment. AFSCME Local 2051 represents employees of Prairie Meadows Racetrack and Casino in Altoona, Iowa. Isley pled guilty in June. The guilty plea and sentencing follow an investigation by the Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.
On September 7, William Edwards, former president of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 1820, was sentenced in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan to one year of probation for willfully failing to maintain financial records of the Pontiac, Mich.-based union. He previously had made restitution in the amount of $4,929.49. Edwards pleaded guilty in May. The sentencing follows a probe by the Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.
As "Occupy Wall Street" demonstrations have gone national, observers are taking note of the prominent role of labor unions in this anti-business crusade. The rote denunciations of "corporate greed" at these events could have been lifted from almost any AFL-CIO convention speech. That doesn't necessarily mean, of course, that union organizers are putting words in protestors' mouths. Yet it does strongly suggest that organized labor and street radicals recognize each other as natural allies.
On June 1, Tamika Dukes, former secretary-treasurer of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3492, pleaded guilty in the Circuit Court of the 12th Judicial Circuit of Will County, Illinois to theft and then was sentenced to one year of supervision and given an order to pay restitution of $1,600. She had been charged in December. The union is based in Addison, Ill. The actions follow a probe by the U.S. Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.
On July 26, Perry Taylor, former vice president of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 1820, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan with aiding and abetting others in failing to maintain accurate records of lost time claims, thus enabling him to illegally receive $4,624.13 in union funds. The local is based in Pontiac, Mich. Taylor had been charged in May. The guilty plea and charge follow an investigation by the U.S. Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Services.
