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 February 14, Federck Petro, former president of American Federation of Government Employees Local 2094, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York to one count of embezzlement of funds from the New York City union, which represents VA hospital employees. He had been charged and arrested in December 2011 with stealing more than $100,000. The actions follow a joint investigation by the U.S. Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards and the Department of Veterans Affairs' Office of Inspector General.
On February 7, Frank Juarez, former president of American Postal Workers Union Local 6768, was charged in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas with embezzlement of funds from the Plano-based union in the amount of $21,290.73. The charge follows a probe by the Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.
General Motors released its disappointing earnings report last week to the sound of crickets. While financial TV news networks (along with most analysts and journalists) ignored the negative aspects of the release, share price has fallen over 5% in less than a week since the news hit. The earnings release and subsequent SEC 10K (annual report) expose the fact that GM's recovery is not the success that the Obama Administration and media portray. The lack of the fanfare that typically comes with GM earnings releases is as good an indication of the meaning behind the numbers as is the decline in share price.
On January 28, Doris Taylor, former secretary-treasurer of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 2730, was sentenced in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri to five years of probation for wire fraud in the amount of $27,098.62. She also will have to pay restitution plus a $100 assessment. Taylor had pleaded guilty in November. The guilty plea and sentencing follow an investigation by the U.S. Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.
On January 24, Timothy Shell, former secretary-treasurer of Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) Division 561, was sentenced in Henrico County, Va. circuit court to four years (suspended) and 60 days in jail, plus seven years of probation, for embezzling at least $200 in funds from the Richmond-based union. Shell had been indicted last May and pleaded guilty in October. BLET is an affiliate of the Teamsters. The actions follow a probe by the U.S. Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.
On January 17, David Currie, former president and treasurer of American Federation of Government Employees Local 2583, pleaded guilty in the Superior Court of Washington, County of Clark, to theft from the Vancouver, Wash.-based union. He then was sentenced to 30 days in jail and ordered to pay $6,552 in restitution and a $500 fine. Currie had been charged last November. The actions follow an investigation by the Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.
On January 24, Curtis Reed, former staff representative for the United Steelworkers at the union's Pittsburgh headquarters, was sentenced in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania to eight months in prison for embezzling $3,694.32 in union funds. He had pleaded guilty last September after being indicted seven months earlier with another former staff representative, Robert Misuraca. Reed already has paid full restitution. The actions follow a probe by the Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.
On January 15, Joya Mills, former financial secretary of Local 2500 of the United Auto Workers, was sentenced in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan to one year of probation and 50 hours of community service, and ordered to pay a $25 assessment, for failure to maintain financial records following her theft of funds from the Detroit-based local. She previously had paid $11,600 in restitution. Mills pled guilty last October. The actions follow a probe by the U.S. Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.
On January 15, Melody Wouden, former president of American Federation of Government Employees Local 2342, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the District of South Dakota to one count of larceny from the Ft. Meade, S.D. union in an amount of under $1,000. The plea follows an investigation by the U.S. Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.
On January 9, Christopher Stansbury, former president of American Federation of Government Employees Local 1765, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois to embezzling nearly $500 from the Chicago-based union, which represents regional office employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs. He had been charged in December. The guilty plea follows a joint investigation by the Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards and the Veterans Affairs Department's Office of Inspector General.
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" - 
On January 9, Shelia Brown (first name not a misspelling), former treasurer of National Treasury Employees Union Chapter 67, was charged in U.S. District Court for the District of Utah with two counts of theft in connection with the embezzlement of $20,705.21 in funds from the Ogden-based local. An IRS employee, Brown during January 2009-April 2010 allegedly engaged in unauthorized ATM, checking and debit card transactions to divert union funds to her own personal use. Local officials in July 2010 had informed members that an investigation into missing funds was underway. The indictment follows an investigation by the U.S. Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.
On January 9, David Beard, president of Laborers International Union of North America Local 381, admitted in the Trial Court of Massachusetts, BMC Department, to sufficient facts in a Continuance without a Finding for three counts of larceny in amounts over $250 from the Boston-based union. He then agreed to make $7,709 in restitution. The plea and sentencing follow a probe by the Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.
On February 7, Tracey Tigner, secretary for District Council 91 of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT), was charged in Hammond, Indiana federal court for embezzling an undisclosed sum of funds from an affiliate, IUPAT Local 460 in Merrillville, Ind. District Council 91 covers all of Indiana, central Kentucky and a portion of Tennessee. The indictment follows an investigation by the U.S. Labor Department's Office of Inspector General and Office of Labor-Management Standards.
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 January 8, Chad Petras, former secretary-treasurer of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 342C, was indicted in the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas in Ohio on one count of funds from the Rising Sun, Ind.-based union in an amount of $1,000 or more. Petras committed the alleged violations in Ohio, though the union is based across the Ohio River in Indiana. The charge follows an investigation by the Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.
On January 7, Aundrea Valerio, former dispatcher for Laborers International Union of North America Local 872, was sentenced in U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada to six months of home confinement and three years of probation, and ordered to make restitution, for embezzling funds from the Las Vegas union. She pleaded guilty last September after being indicted in April 2010 with two other local office employees, Stacy Johnson and Aurora Rios, for stealing a combined more than $300,000; Valerio's share of the take was about $13,500. The actions follow a probe by the Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.
When is a union not a union? Apparently, it's when members say it isn't. Yet a change in terminology can't alter reality. Over the past several years, hundreds of organizations, known as ‘worker centers,' have established a presence in the labor movement, targeting retail and restaurant chains for organizing and picketing. While they don't like being called unions, for all practical purposes they operate as such. And they have the advantage of being outside the jurisdiction of labor law. At least one is a reconstituted key affiliate of the defunct radical network, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN).
On January 7, Connie Sayne, former financial secretary of United Auto Workers Local 3050, was charged in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana with embezzling $25,699.53 in funds from the Hagerstown, Ind. union. Sayne, 51, a resident of nearby Connersville, Ind., during June 2010-April 2012 allegedly wrote 64 unauthorized union checks to herself. The union represents employees of Autocar, a Hagerstown-based manufacturer of garbage trucks. The charge follows an investigation by the U.S. Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.
