ORGANIZED LABOR ACCOUNTABILITY PROJECT
Since 1997, NLPC has been a high-profile and credible source for information about America’s labor unions. From 1997 to 2021, NLPC published Union Corruption Update, now consisting of an archive of more than 4,000 entries. It may be accessed at NLPC.org. The archive has been cited as a source for articles appearing in the New York Times, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, National Journal, Readers Digest, and other publications.
NLPC is a longstanding critic of “reform” regimes imposed by the federal government on national unions like the Teamsters and Laborers as being ineffective. NLPC was a critic of the auto industry/UAW bailouts that spanned from 2008 to 2014, costing taxpayers $10.2 billion. In response to NLPC’s demand, General Motors in 2014 recalled 1.3 million vehicles with a power steering defect.
United Auto Workers Strike Strategy Under Fire
Shawn Fain was elected president of the United Auto Workers in March in large part because he made corruption an issue in the wake of financial scandals that sent a small parade of UAW officials off to prison. It should have been good news...
Iron Workers Business Agent in Indiana Sentenced for Extortion
To Thomas Williamson Sr., assault was just a way to do business – nothing personal. Given his new residence, he may need that skill. Last Monday, May 3, Williamson, former business agent for Portage, Ind. -based Iron Workers Local 395, was sentenced in U.S. District...
Southern California UFCW Secretary-Treasurer Pleads Guilty
On April 22, Kurt Kittleson, former secretary-treasurer of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 151D, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California to one count of making a false statement in a financial report on behalf of the...
Ex-Head of IBEW Credit Union in Western Pennsylvania Pleads Guilty to $2M+ Theft
How Stacey Shaw managed to avoid detection isn’t certain. But it is fair to say that the union whose interests she allegedly represented isn’t happy. On April 16, Shaw, former president of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 712 Federal Credit Union,...
Western New York Treasurer Charged with Embezzlement; Pleads Guilty
Scott Merritt had plenty of time to steal from his union. Now he may be facing time of a different sort. On April 22, Merritt, former financial secretary of Ironworkers Local 470, was charged in a one-count information in U.S. District Court for the Western District...
AFSCME Local Treasurer’s Daughter in New Jersey Sentenced
On April 20, Jennifer Rogers, a former member of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 2254, was sentenced to six months of electronically monitored home confinement and two years of probation for aiding and abetting her mother’s...
Treasurer of AFGE Local in Louisiana Charged with Forgery
On April 16, Michael Wood, former treasurer of American Federation of Government Employees Local 3957, was charged in an information with one count of forgery against the Grant, La. union. The charge follows an investigation by the U.S. Labor Department’s Office of...
New Orleans-Area AFGE Local President Sentenced for Forgery
On April 21, Matthew Cuomo, former president of American Federation of Government Employees Local 1047, was sentenced in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana to three years of probation for forging more than 50 checks totaling about $15,000 from...
Brooklyn Carpenters President Convicted in Bribery Conspiracy
Joining Sal Tagliaferro’s union was easy: Just pay the man in cash. Now it’s the boss’s turn to pay. Yesterday, Tagliaferro, president of United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners Local 926, was found guilty by a Manhattan federal jury of one count each of...
NLRB Rules Against Dissenting Delaware Poultry Workers in Dispute with UFCW Local
One of the more enduring principles of labor law in America is that workers who are unhappy with their union representation have the right of exit. The current National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) seems determined to narrow if not eliminate this right. On April 21,...
Michigan Health Care Union President Pleads Guilty to Embezzlement
The thefts by Hasan Zahdeh from his union were apparently a lot more than originally suspected. On April 13, Zahdeh, president of the Michigan Union of Healthcare Workers, an affiliate of the National Union of Healthcare Workers, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court...
Steelworkers President in Arkansas Pleads Guilty to Embezzlement
On April 6, Trey Huffty, former president of United Steelworkers Local 1731, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas to embezzling funds from the White Hall (near Pine Bluff) union in the amount of $37,368. He had been charged in...
Letter Carriers Vice President in NE Pennsylvania Indicted for Wire Fraud
Part of Joseph Whitbeck’s job was watching out for fellow union members. Little did they know, he also was ripping a number of them off. On April 13, Whitbeck, former vice president of National Association of Letter Carriers Branch 274, was indicted in U.S. District...
Steelworkers Local President in Oklahoma Pleads Guilty
On April 8, Thomas Burkhart, former president of United Steelworkers Local 145, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma to embezzling $19,900 in funds from the Sapulpa-based union. He had been charged on March 25. The actions follow...
Former Longshoremen President, Vice President in Texas Indicted
On March 10, Rodney Priestley and Brian Walker, respectively, former president and vice president of International Longshoremen’s Association Local 1504-8, were indicted in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas for embezzling funds from the...
Los Angeles-Area UFCW Secretary Charged with Making False Statement
On March 18, Kurt Kittleson, former secretary-treasurer of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 151D, was charged in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California in a one-count information with making a false statement in a financial report on behalf...
Civilian Technicians President in Maryland Indicted for Thefts
On March 25, Lamar Elliott, former president of Association of Civilian Technicians Chapter 134, was indicted in Prince George’s County (Md.) Circuit Court on one count each of theft and embezzlement from the Clinton-based union. The alleged theft totaled between...
San Francisco Bay Area Teachers Union Treasurer Sentenced for Bank Fraud
Those who steal from teacher unions aren’t necessarily employed by public schools. The case of Kenneth Morris is instructive. On March 24, Morris, treasurer of American Federation of Teachers Local 2240, was sentenced in U.S. District Court for the Northern District...
Court Rules in Favor of Injured Stuntwoman; SAG Benefit Plan Board Remains in Denial
If someone claimed severe trauma after decades of falling down stairs, getting into car crashes, getting dropped to the floor head first, and leaping from rigged explosions, one would tend to believe that person. Yet the Screen Actors Guild Pension and Health Plan...
Steelworkers President in Oklahoma Charged with Embezzlement
On March 25, Thomas Burkhart, former president of United Steelworkers Local 145, was charged in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma with one count of embezzling funds from the Sapulpa (near Tulsa)-based union in the sum of $19,900. The charge...
AFL-CIO Detroit Branch Treasurer Charged with Embezzlement
Cathy Long had an impressive skill set. Unfortunately for her, those skills were illegal. On March 12, Long, former treasurer of the Metro Detroit Branch of the AFL-CIO and the Laborers International Hall of Fame (LIHOF), was charged in Wayne County (Mich.) District...
