On September 25, Teresa Adkins, ex-business manager of International Association of Heat & Frost Insulators and Allied Workers Local 127, pleaded no contest in Waupaca County, Wisconsin Circuit Court to one count of theft and one count of forgery in connection with the disappearance of funds from the Clintonville, Wisc. union. She then was sentenced to five years of probation for the first count and three years of probation for the second count. She also was ordered to pay $73,618 in restitution and $8,418 in fines. Adkins, now in her late 40s, a resident of Green Bay, had been charged in February 2017 with one count of theft and nine counts of forgery for offenses committed during April 2013-February 2015. The charges follow an investigation by the Labor Department’s Office of Labor-Management Standards.… Read More ➡
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.
IATSE Secretary in Alabama Sentenced for Embezzlement
On September 28, David Hendricks, former secretary-treasurer of International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees Local 900, was sentenced in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama to five years of probation for embezzling $13,987 from the Huntsville-based union. He also was ordered to pay full restitution and a $100 special assessment. Hendricks, a resident of Huntsville, had pleaded guilty in May following a probe by the U.S. Labor Department’s Office of Labor-Management Standards.… Read More ➡
Oregon Independent Union President Indicted for Embezzlement
On September 19, John Burgess, former president of Pacific Stainless Products Employee Association Local 304, was indicted in U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon on one count of embezzling about $35,000 in funds from the St. Helens-based union and one count of concealing the thefts. The indictment follows an investigation by the U.S. Labor Department’s Office of Labor-Management Standards.… Read More ➡
New York Governor Cuomo Protects Forced Public-Employee Unionism
The Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision in Janus v. AFSCME was a stunning blow to over 40 years of public-sector union monopoly power. Union leaders for their part are pushing back. They have plenty of allies in state governments, and perhaps no state is as vociferous as New York. Indeed, on June 27, the day of the ruling, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed an executive order to protect union members from outside intimidation – ironic, given the pressure unions often use to collect dues. The State of New York also has begun deducting dues from the pay of government workers without even checking to see if they are members. And now a prominent lawmaker wants taxpayers to reimburse unions for foregone dues.
State and local officials across the country, especially in non-Right to Work states, are helping to lead a popular resistance to Trump administration policies and court … Read More ➡
HHS, Nonprofit Group Combat Union Medicaid Dues-Skimming Schemes
Few things say “money in the bank” to a public-sector union quite like Medicaid. A proposed federal rule would end this freebie. On July 12, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) posted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to bar states from using Medicaid funds as a source of dues for unions representing home health care providers. Workers still would have the right to join a union. But non-joiners no longer would be captive of a state agency deducting dues and forwarding them to a union. Over a dozen states now engage in this practice. For organized labor, this arrangement generates around $200 million a year. That’s why unions and the states are resisting the proposed rule in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s Janus ruling in June. A recent development in Washington State has strengthened the hand of reluctant dues payers while the department finalizes its rule.… Read More ➡
NYC Independent Union Boss Pleads Guilty to $1M+ Ripoff
At one time Rocco Fazzolari had bit parts in low-budget New York City crime movies. Little did people know that for a long time he starred in his own real-life version. Yesterday, on September 26, Fazzolari, former president of United Industrial and Service Employees Union Local 122, pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal court to three counts of embezzlement related to his theft of a combined more than $1.3 million in funds from the New York City-based union and a related benefit plan. Under the terms of the plea agreement, he will forfeit $941,828, pay additional restitution, and refrain from engaging in union-related activity for 13 years. The plea follows a joint investigation by the U.S. Labor Department’s Office of Labor-Management Standards, Office of Inspector General and Employee Benefits Security Administration.
United Industrial and Service Employees Local 122 is a modest-sized independent union. According to tax filings for the year 2017, … Read More ➡
Postal Workers President in South Carolina Charged with Embezzlement
On September 12, Dana Roush, former president of American Postal Workers Union Local 403, was charged in U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina with one count of embezzlement in the amount of $10,089 from the Spartanburg union. The charge follows an investigation by the Labor Department’s Office of Labor-Management Standards.… Read More ➡
Teamster President, Secretary in Southern Illinois Sentenced
Sometimes a marriage can be a partnership in crime. That was the case of Scott and Nancy Alexander. On August 24, the husband and wife, respectively, ex-president and ex-office administrator for International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 50, received identical sentences in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois of six months in prison and six months of home confinement, to be followed by three years of probation, for embezzlement and fraud against the Belleville, Ill.-based (near St. Louis) union. They also were ordered to pay $44,576.04 in restitution and a $200 special assessment. The couple had pleaded guilty in May after being indicted in June 2017. The actions follow an investigation by the U.S. Labor Department’s Office of Labor-Management Standards and Office of Labor Racketeering.
According to prosecutors, Scott and Nancy Alexander, Belleville residents ages 56 and 52, during January 2012-June 2016 engaged in a wide range … Read More ➡
Ex-Chrysler Executive Sentenced in UAW Training Fund Scandal
As a key figure in the Chrysler-United Auto Workers training fund scandal, Al Iacobelli expected a stiff sentence. And that’s what he got. On August 27, Iacobelli, former vice president of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, was sentenced in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan to 66 months in prison and 24 months of supervised release for attempting to bribe certain UAW officers with more than $1.5 million in cash and other things of value in 2015 in hopes of persuading them to drop contract demands, and for embezzling funds for his own use. Iacobelli was ordered to pay $853,522 in restitution, a $10,000 fine and a $100 assessment. He had pleaded guilty in January after being indicted last July. The actions follow a probe by the FBI, the IRS and the Labor Department’s Office of Labor-Management Standards and Office of Inspector General.
Alfons “Al” Iacobelli, now 58, a … Read More ➡
Whistleblower Accuses St. Louis-Kansas City Carpenters Council of Corruption
The United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners long has had corruption problems. The union’s St. Louis-Kansas City Regional Council might well qualify as its corruption leader. Two years ago, Jonathan Gould, a union member and former compliance officer for the council, filed a civil racketeering suit in Missouri state court accusing council officials of “embezzling money from members to inflate their own pensions and cash in on travel perks for spouses,” plus acts of sexual harassment, assault, drunk driving, and drug abuse. The council, which consists of 34 unions in Kansas, Missouri and Illinois representing about 22,000 members, has responded with a blitz of counterclaims. Matters have yet to be settled.
The roots of this legal tug of war go back several years. Jonathan Gould, a floor tile layer from Edwardsville, Ill. who still describes himself as a “strong union man,” during the summer of 2014 had accepted the nomination … Read More ➡