When it comes to intimidation in the pursuit of economic interest, organized labor long has been a master of the art. Such behavior is especially noxious and costly among construction unions. This past Monday through Wednesday, February 11-13, National Review Online published three articles under the title "Goon City" - here, here and here - on how Philadelphia's construction unions are imposing their brand of justice on open-shop contractors, workers and project sites. Assault, threats, harassment, vandalism, and arson are simply ways of doing business. Union bosses and their lawyers rationalize this behavior. Victims usually don't publicly complain about it. And the city council has every incentive to wink at it. The three-part series brings home with force the reality that union violence, in Philadelphia and elsewhere, is hardly "a thing of the past."
On March 15, James Dalton, former executive secretary-treasurer of United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners, Northeast Regional Council of Millrights, was indicted in the Trial Court of Massachusetts, BMC Department, on one count of larceny totaling $15,297 from the union, which is based in the Allston neighborhood of Boston. The indictment follows an investigation by the Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.
On March 1, Dawn Carson, former office manager for United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners Local 247, was charged in U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon with one count of embezzling $6,900 in funds from the Portland union. The charge follows an investigation by the U.S. Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.
On October 2, Victor Rovani III, former business representative for United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners Local 454, was sentenced in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania to three years of probation, including one year of home confinement, for embezzling funds from the Philadelphia union in the amount of $8,322. He also was ordered to pay a $3,000 fine to be paid in $100 monthly installments and a special assessment of $300. Rovani previously had paid restitution. He pled guilty in April. The actions follow an investigation by the U.S. Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.
On September 7, Laura Dixon, former office secretary for the Ohio and Vicinity Regional Council, United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners, was sentenced in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio to 18 months of incarceration followed by two years of supervised release for stealing $170,216 from the Cleveland-based union. She also was ordered to pay full restitution and a $100 assessment, and undergo mental health and alcohol counseling. The union, formerly based in Toledo, since has merged into a Cleveland-based organization, the Indiana/Kentucky/Ohio Regional Council of Carpenters. Dixon was charged in February, and pleaded guilty in March. The actions follow a probe by the U.S. Labor Department's Office of Inspector General and Office of Labor-Management Standards.
On September 4, Lori Fowler, former office manager for United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners Local 764, pleaded guilty in the First Judicial Parish Court of Caddo Parish, Louisiana, to one count of forgery and one count of theft in the amount of $25,117.74 from the then-Shreveport-based union. She then was sentenced to five years at hard labor and three years of probation, and ordered to pay restitution. Fowler had been charged in July. The actions follow an investigation by the Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.
Marqueeta Tibbs was too clever for her own good. Worse, she had a true believer in her husband. On August 24, Mrs. Tibbs, former office secretary of United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners Local 437, 
On July 3, Lori Fowler, former office manager of United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners Local 764, was charged in the First Judicial Parish Court of Caddo Parish, Louisiana with one count of theft from the Shreveport-based union in the amount of $25,417.74. The charge follows a probe by the Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.
