Union Corruption Update
Since 1997, NLPC has become a high-profile and credible source for information about America’s labor unions through our publication Union Corruption Update.
The newsletter has been referenced in many other media outlets including the New York Times, Chicago Tribune and National Journal.
Six-figure salaries, lavish consulting fees and private planes, among other amenities, aren't exactly unknown in the upper reaches of organized labor. But officials of International Brotherhood of Boilermakers (IBB), have been taking high living to a new level. That's the conclusion of 
On May 1, Ernest Milewski, former president of United Food and Commercial Workers, Northeast District Council, was sentenced in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania to 18 months in prison and three years of supervised release for embezzling funds from the Wilkes-Barre, Pa.-based council and a related health benefit program. He also will have to pay $257,590.26 in restitution and a $200 special assessment. Milewski pleaded guilty last August after being charged that July. The actions follow a joint probe by the U.S. Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards, Employee Benefits Security Administration and Office of Inspector General.
On April 27, Jill Ragland, former president of Ohio Association of Public School Employees Chapter 782, an affiliate of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), was indicted in the Court of Common Pleas, Ross County (Ohio), on one count of theft in an amount of $1,385 from the Portsmouth-based union. The indictment follows a probe by the U.S. Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.
The Department of Transportation and NHTSA have announced that a 
On April 25, Jeff Agee, former business representative of International Association of Machinists Lodge 10, was charged in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in an information count with embezzling funds from the Richmond-based union in the amount of $4,181.62. The charge follows an investigation by the Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.
On April 24, Salvador Carney, a former employee at the Washington, D.C. headquarters of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, was indicted in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California on 16 counts of embezzlement from the union totaling $7,258.92. The charges follow a probe by the Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards and Office of Inspector General.
Peter LoMauro was a person who for a fee could make a contractor's labor problems disappear. Now he himself is likely to disappear for a while. LoMauro, a business agent for United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 9, 
On April 17, Thomas Coffey, former president of United Auto Workers Local 912, was charged in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky with making false entries in financial records of the Lexington-based union for the years 2005-08. The charge follows a probe by the U.S. Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.
On April 10, Vicki Guynn, former president of American Federation of Government Employees Local 1612, was sentenced in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri to four months home confinement and three years probation for embezzling $16,081 in funds from the Clever (near Springfield) union. She pled guilty in December. The guilty plea and sentencing follow a joint investigation by the U.S. Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards and Office of Inspector General, and the Justice Department's Office of Inspector General.
In the world of high-level office politics, a leave of absence set against the backdrop of scandal all too often is a prelude to resignation. That's the way it played out at the Screen Actors Guild. On April 25, the union's longtime Producers Pension and Health Plans (SAG-PPHP) CEO, Bruce Dow, 
On April 9, Michael Martin, former president of American Postal Workers Union Local 3093, was sentenced in U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut to five years of probation, the first six months of which must be spent in home confinement with electronic monitoring, for acts of theft. He also will have to perform 200 hours of community service and pay restitution in the amount of $20,201. Martin had pleaded guilty in January to embezzling $11,320.61 worth of U.S. mail, plus another $8,880.78 in funds from the Norwalk-based union. The guilty plea and sentencing follow a joint investigation by the U.S. Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards and the U.S. Postal Service's Office of Inspector General.
On April 9, Richard Clemons, former financial secretary-treasurer for United Steelworkers of America Local 332, was indicted in Crawford County, Ohio, Court of Common Pleas, on one count of theft of between $5,000 and $100,000 from the Upper Sandusky union. The indictment follows a probe by the U.S. 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 April 4, Stacy Johnson, former cashier for Laborers International Union of North America Local 872, was found guilty by a jury in U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada of a dozen counts of embezzlement and three counts of falsifying union records in connection with the theft of $320,000 from the Las Vegas union. Six days later, on April 10, another Local 872 office employee, Aurora Rios, pleaded guilty to 21 counts of embezzlement and three counts of records fraud. The pair, along with another local office employee, Aundrea Valerio, had been indicted in 2010 for embezzlement totaling about $225,000. Valerio is being tried separately. Johnson and Rios are set for sentencing in August. The actions follow an investigation by the U.S. Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.
On April 6, Joseph Meizlik, former president of Security, Police, Fire Professionals of America (SPFPA) Local 454, was sentenced in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia to four years of probation for embezzling $9,122.44 in funds from the Fort Lee, Va.-based union. He also was ordered to pay full restitution and a $100 special assessment. Meizlik had been charged in December and pleaded guilty in January. The actions follow an investigation by the U.S. Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.
