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.
On May 10, Gary Day, former field representative of Laborers International Union of North America Local 1180, was sentenced in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania to three years probation for embezzling funds from the Harrisburg union. He also was ordered to pay $10,518 in restitution and a $100 special assessment. Day pled guilty in January. The guilty plea and sentencing follow a probe by the U.S. Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.
On May 10, 
On May 20, Crystal Lynn Croston, former office secretary for Local 1015 of the Laborers International Union of North America, was charged in the Municipal Court of Stark County, Ohio with theft in the amount of $1,344.08 from the Canton local. The charge follows an investigation by the U.S. Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.
On May 19, Lisa Wright, former treasurer of the Transit Employees Union, was sentenced in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio to three years probation for embezzling $71,470.50 in funds from the Bedford (suburban Cleveland) union. She also will have to make full restitution. Wright pleaded guilty in February. The sentencing and guilty plea follow an investigation by the Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, is a case of "too big to fail." At least a number of members of Congress see it that way. And they are planning 
On May 19, Stacey Spalding, former bookkeeper of International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 215, pled guilty in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana to embezzling $29,516 in funds from the Evansville union. She had been charged in March. The guilty plea follows an investigation by the Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.
On May 12, Warren Demmin, formerly president of Local Lodge 449 of the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, was sentenced in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin to four months in prison, four months electronic monitoring and three years probation for embezzling $169.12 from the Sturgeon Bay union. The actual theft was a good deal higher, as evidenced by his previously having made $14,045.48 in restitution. Demmin, who also must pay a $100 special assessment, pled guilty in February. The actions follow an investigation by the U.S. Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.
More evidence that the GM IPO is being hurried for political purposes is found in the IPO registration filing yesterday. The company cannot assure the accuracy of its financial information because of weaknesses in its internal controls. How can GM offer and price shares if it cannot even attest to its own financials?
Admirers may still call her "the queen of American labor," but Anna Burger (see photo) is now without a throne. 
The divorce within the American labor movement five years ago is fast approaching reconciliation. Last Friday, the Laborers International Union of North America, or LIUNA, 
On May 12, Patrick James Brennan, former business manager and secretary treasurer of International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 711, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey to three counts of embezzlement of nearly $25,000 in funds and other things of value from the Egg Harbor Township (near Atlantic City) union. He used the district council credit card to make $4,862.12 in unauthorized charges; converted to his own use a union-owned vehicle worth about $11,000, and issued himself unauthorized holiday bonuses between December 2004 and December 2006 totaling $8,652. The guilty plea follows a probe by the Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.
If there is one position within the federal bureaucracy more than any other that requires impartiality it is Inspector General (IG). By law, the holder of this office must operate independently of his political beliefs. The nomination this past May of the next head of the Department of Labor's Office of Inspector General is putting this principle to the test. The Obama White House believes it has found the right man for the job in 
On May 11, Donald Woods, former president of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 217, pleaded guilty in Hamilton County (Ohio) Court of Common Pleas to one count of theft of union funds. He then was sentenced to six months probation. Woods previously had made restitution to the Cincinnati union in the amount of $1,376. The guilty plea and sentencing follow an investigation by the Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.
On May 11, Oscar Gatewood, former president of United Steelworkers of America Local 842 in Detroit, was charged in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan with an information count of concealing union records. The action follows a probe by the Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.
On May 6, Loretta Brown, former secretary-treasurer of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3491, was indicted in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana on two counts of embezzling $1,225 in funds from the Gary union. The indictment follows an investigation by the U.S. Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.
