Ken Boehm

Boehm Predicts Resurgence of Legal Services Abuses if Reforms Are Gutted

Submitted by Peter Flaherty on Tue, 04/27/2010 - 18:32

Boehm testifying photoAt a House Judiciary subcommittee hearing, NLPC Chairman Ken Boehm was the lone witness opposed to reauthorization of the taxpayer-funded Legal Services Corporation (LSC). The April 27 hearing was chaired by Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), who favors the reauthorization bill that increases the LSC budget to $750 million and strips out important reforms instituted in 1996.

Boehm warned that the reauthorization would mean a new round of problems for the scandal-plagued program. LSC funds a network of lawyers in dozens of communities to provide civil (not criminal) day-to-day legal help to poor people. Many LSC-funded lawyers spend their time on left-wing political and social causes, instead of helping the poor. Click here to download a 14-page pdf of Boehm’s testimony.

New York Local Probed for Election Law Violations

Submitted by David Kendrick on Mon, 11/24/2003 - 01:00

Service Employees Int'l Union Local 32B-32J in N.Y.C. is being investigated for possible violations of a city campaign finance law in its political action efforts.  A subpoena was served Nov. 13 on Local 32B-32J by the office of Manhattan Dist. Atty. Robert M. Morgenthau. Local president Michael Fishman said officials were asked to provide information related to the local's "broad-based political action program" to support candidates in recently concluded city elections.

The investigation was apparently prompted by dissident Paul Pamias's Oct. 12 letter to Morgenthau's office. As previously reported in the UCU, Pamias told Morgenthau that the local was violating city law by "turning the union hall into a campaign headquarters" and compelling staff members to donate personal and vacation days to work on the losing mayoral campaign of city Public Advocate Mark Green (D), whose candidacy the local had endorsed.

New York Local Probed for Election Law Violations

Submitted by David Kendrick on Mon, 11/24/2003 - 01:00

Service Employees Int'l Union Local 32B-32J in N.Y.C. is being investigated for possible violations of a city campaign finance law in its political action efforts.  A subpoena was served Nov. 13 on Local 32B-32J by the office of Manhattan Dist. Atty. Robert M. Morgenthau. Local president Michael Fishman said officials were asked to provide information related to the local's "broad-based political action program" to support candidates in recently concluded city elections.

The investigation was apparently prompted by dissident Paul Pamias's Oct. 12 letter to Morgenthau's office. As previously reported in the UCU, Pamias told Morgenthau that the local was violating city law by "turning the union hall into a campaign headquarters" and compelling staff members to donate personal and vacation days to work on the losing mayoral campaign of city Public Advocate Mark Green (D), whose candidacy the local had endorsed.

Finally, LM-2s are on the Internet!!

Submitted by Michael Nelson on Mon, 06/10/2002 - 00:00

At long last, the Dep't of Labor unveiled June 3 its Internet disclosure system for unions' annual financial reports, such as the LM-2 form. The website, http://www.union-reports.dol.gov, allows easy access to union financial reports maintained by DOL's Office of Labor-Mgmt. Standards. Union members, investigative journalists, non-incumbent union candidates, employers, and anyone else may now view, via the Internet, the union reports and conduct data searches free of charge.

"What used to take weeks will now take seconds. It's a major breakthrough for holding unions and union bosses accountable," said NLPC Chairman Ken Boehm, commenting on the difficult process of securing copies of union annual reports, at the cost of the copies, from DOL before the new website became accessible. "It's free and you don't have to drive to to your local DOL office to see these reports. This will be a great resource for union members and anyone else wishing to keep track of the shenanigans that go on within unions. I encourage everyone to log on to DOL's new site today," said Boehm. "You never know what kind of corruption you might find."

New York Local Probed for Election Law Violations

Submitted by Michael Nelson on Mon, 11/19/2001 - 01:00

Service Employees Int'l Union Local 32B-32J in N.Y.C. is being investigated for possible violations of a city campaign finance law in its political action efforts.  A subpoena was served Nov. 13 on Local 32B-32J by the office of Manhattan Dist. Atty. Robert M. Morgenthau. Local president Michael Fishman said officials were asked to provide information related to the local's "broad-based political action program" to support candidates in recently concluded city elections.

The investigation was apparently prompted by dissident Paul Pamias's Oct. 12 letter to Morgenthau's office. As previously reported in the UCU, Pamias told Morgenthau that the local was violating city law by "turning the union hall into a campaign headquarters" and compelling staff members to donate personal and vacation days to work on the losing mayoral campaign of city Public Advocate Mark Green (D), whose candidacy the local had endorsed.

BBush to Replace White; Bad News for Trumka?

Submitted by Michael Nelson on Mon, 08/13/2001 - 00:00

Clinton's Manhattan U.S. Atty. Mary Jo White is on the way out, according to a Dep't of Justice official on Aug. 2. The official didn't say when President Bush would move adding that she may complete the Clinton pardon probe before leaving.

"White's impending exit may be very bad news for the AFL-CIO's Richard Trumka." said Nat'l Legal & Pol'y Ctr. chairman Ken Boehm. "By all accounts Trumka should have been indicted long ago for his role in the money-laundering scandal that brought down ex-Teamsters boss Ron Carey and his campaign team. It appears Trumka has greatly benefited from a very generous dose of prosecutorial discretion from White."

NLPC's Boehm Testifies Before Senate

Submitted by Michael Nelson on Mon, 04/24/2000 - 00:00

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Chairman of the Senate Rules Comm., held a hearing on compelled political speech on Apr. 12 focusing on unions. He said the hearing was on an "important civil rights issue...largely overlooked, perhaps intentionally, by so-called campaign finance reform advocates, their political allies and their admirers in the media."

McConnell stated, "the best way I can think of to protect workers from being forced to subsidize political speech with which they disagree is to ensure that they get an annual report of the ideological and political causes unions are supporting with their dues and fees. In that vein, I plan to introduce the Worker Information and Empowerment Act to make it easier for workers to determine if they want to...seek a refund."

Ken Boehm, Chairman of the National Legal and Policy Center, a union corruption watchdog, was one of six individuals before the committee.  Boehm agree with McConnell that reforms are needed and pointed out the nexus of union corruption and union compelled speech reforms. Boehm's testimony is at <http://www.nlpc.org>.

NLPC Blasts Luskin

Submitted by Michael Nelson on Mon, 11/30/1998 - 01:00

From NLPC Chairman Ken Boehm's letter-to-the-editor, "LIUNA reformer could use some reform himself," [Wash. Times 11/21/98]: "There they go again.  The preposterous attack on your paper by Laborers' International Union of North America spokeswoman Linda Fisher was just another episode of union spin ("LIUNA has worked hard to clean itself up," Letters, Nov.  16). Miss Fisher says LIUNA's "internal reform program is not only working, but working well." The real issue is for whom, or what, is it really working?

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