On January 16, Melissa Gustafson, former bookkeeper for International Union of Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers Local 84110, was indicted in U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois for embezzling $12,059.37 from the union, which has branches in Moline, Ill. and Davenport, Iowa, and is an affiliate of the Communications Workers of America. Prosecutors allege Gustafson, 36, a resident of Moline, stole the funds during June 2008-June 2011. She is scheduled for a hearing on February 15. The indictment follows a probe by the U.S. Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.
On February 21, James Killingsworth and Billie Jo Killingsworth, respectively, former president and treasurer of Communications Workers of America Local 84555, each pled guilty in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan to one count of embezzling funds from the Webberville, Mich.-based union in the amount of $19,197.02. They previously had been charged in November. The charges and guilty pleas follow an investigation by the U.S. Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.
On November 14, James Killingsworth and Billie Jo Killingsworth, respectively, former president and treasurer of Communications Workers of America Local 84555, were charged in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan with aiding and abetting each other in the embezzlement of $19,197.02 in funds from the Webberville, Mich. (southeast of Lansing) union. The defendants allegedly made unauthorized ATM and cash withdrawals from the union bank account. The charges follow an investigation by the Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.
On November 14, Dennis Earley, former financial secretary of Communications Workers of America Local 87140, pleaded guilty in Hennepin County Court of Minnesota to theft by swindle of more than $5,000 from the Minneapolis-based union. He then was sentenced to 10 days in a work house and three years of probation, and ordered to pay a $500 fine. Earley had been charged in August. The actions follow an investigation by the U.S. Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.
On August 6, Dennis Earley, former financial secretary of Communications Workers of America Local 87140, was charged with one count of theft in an amount greater than $5,000 from the Minneapolis-based union. The charge follows an investigation by the U.S. Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.
On July 31, Lynda Nordyke, former president of Communications Workers of America Local 1302, pleaded guilty in Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Essex County District Court, to theft in the amount of $1,438 from the Lynn union. She then was sentenced to 30 days of probation and required to make full restitution. The plea and sentencing follow a probe by the Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.
On March 29, Tammy Greene, former financial secretary for Local 83793 of the Communications Workers of America, was indicted in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama on one count of embezzlement totaling $31,076.07 from the Selma-based union. The indictment follows a probe by the U.S. Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.
On February 6, Michelle Jean Nelson, former president of Communications Workers of America Local 7272, was sentenced to 45 days home confinement and 10 years probation for theft from the Erskine, Minn. (near Grand Forks, N.D.) union. She also was ordered to pay $4,634.22 in restitution, plus a $100 fine and $160 in special assessments and fees. Nelson in November 2011 entered an 
On January 10, Natasha Bever, former treasurer of Communications Workers of America Local 4202, was indicted in U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois on one count of issuing unauthorized payroll checks to herself in the amount of $117,378. The union is based in Rantoul, Ill., near Champaign-Urbana. The indictment follows a probe by the U.S. Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.
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. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia 
