It's the second time within a few months that the head of a newspaper back shop operations union in New York City has been charged with theft. It might soon be known as a trend. On December 14, Wayne Mitchell, former president of Local 14170 of the Communications Workers of America, also known as Mailers Local 6, was charged in Manhattan federal court with embezzling more than a quarter million dollars from his union over roughly three and a half years. Mitchell until May 2008 headed the 700-member union, whose members work at printing plants of the New York Times, the New York Post and the New York Daily News, facilities that also handle shipping for the Wall Street Journal, the Newark Star-Ledger and a Spanish-language daily, El Diario. Released on $100,000 bail on December 18, he faces up to five years in prison.
In any industry, one thing is certain about unions: They want members - the more, the better. Railroad and airline unions are no exceptions. Right now they are gearing up for a campaign to persuade Congress to rescind a provision in the House version of the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill (H.R.658), which passed last Friday. Title IX of the measure reverses last year's regulatory change by the three-member 
