On January 5, Wayne Mitchell, former longtime president of Communications Workers of America Local 14170, was sentenced in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York to two years in federal prison to be followed by three years supervised release for embezzling funds from the New York City union, also known as Mailers Local 6, which represents mailroom employees at several area daily newspapers. He also will have to pay restitution in the amount of $373,555. Mitchell pleaded guilty in April 2010. During October 2004-May 2008, prosecutors charged, he wrote himself about $250,000 worth of payroll checks to himself and diverted more than $100,000 in union funds for personal expenses. Mitchell's successor, Larry DeAngelis, also pled guilty last April to embezzling some $60,000 in union funds.
One of the defining features of union activism during the Obama years has been a heavy reliance on federal agencies and courts to do things that Congress isn't likely to do, especially now that Republicans hold a majority in the House. Sometimes merely waiting for the right ruling can pay off. On December 16, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia 
On March 25, James Drury, former secretary-treasurer of Communications Workers of America Local 3121, was sentenced in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida to two years in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release for the theft of $306,757.53 during December 2005-March 2009 from the Hialeah, Fla. union. He also will have to pay $186,757.53 in restitution and a $100 special assessment. Drury had been charged in December 2010 and pleaded guilty in January. The sentencing follows an investigation by the U.S. Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.
For years the leaders of New York City's Communications Workers of America Local 1101 have treated their union as a personal ATM machine. Now three dissenting board members have decided to deactivate it. The result has been virtual civil war - and a bit of supreme irony. The CWA national executive board recently appointed a monitor to oversee the affairs of the local. Triggering this action was 
