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Union Members' Right to Know - House GOP-ers are doing Democrats and John Sweeney a favor ~ WSJ.
The Wall Street Journal. ^ | July 10, 2003 | WSJ. Editorial Board

Posted on 07/10/2003 3:16:36 AM PDT by Elle Bee

Edited on 04/22/2004 11:49:22 PM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]

Politicians haven't missed a self-praising beat when it comes to the new corporate disclosure rules they passed post-Enron. We're about to find out if they care as deeply about union corruption and transparency.

Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao has proposed requiring unions with receipts of more than $200,000 a year to fill out expanded financial disclosure forms. This far from radical request would finally let the rank-and-file see how their mandatory dues are spent. But pro-labor House Members on both sides of the aisle are maneuvering to add a rider to a Labor spending bill today that would prohibit Ms. Chao from instituting this breath of fresh air.


(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Editorial; Government; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: aflcio; biglabor; campaignfinance; democratatm; johnsweeney; unions
National Legal and Policy Center -- Organized Labor Accountability Project

 

UNION CORRUPTION UPDATE

 

July 7, 2003 -- Vol. 6, Issue 14


For Influential Leaders & Important Decision Makers:

Information on America's most corrupt & aggressive unions




LABOR LAW REFORM
House Subcmte. Exposes Need for Legislation to Increase Union Democracy

Witnesses testified on June 24 before the House Employer-Employee Relations Subcommittee on the importance of three legislative proposals (H.Rs. 992, 993, and 994) introduced by Subcommittee Chairman Sam Johnson (R-TX) to reform the 1959 Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA).  Also known as the Landrum-Griffin Act, the LMRDA requires union officials to make certain disclosures to union members about their democratic rights and the union's finances. 

The Labor Management Accountability Act (H.R. 993) for the first time allows the Labor Secretary to assess civil penalties on unions and employers that either file late, or fail to file at all, financial disclosure reports.  The Union Members’ Right-to-Know Act (H.R. 992) clarifies that unions must disclose to union members certain information about their rights.  The Union Member Information Enforcement Act (H.R. 994) authorizes the Labor Secretary to investigate union member complaints of a union’s failure to meet LMRDA disclosure requirements and bring suit on their behalf to enforce the law.

The Johnson union democracy bills are intended to ensure greater transparency and accountability for rank-and-file union members, and guarantee that the Labor Department has the authority to safeguard the rights of millions of working union members across this country.

“It is clear that Congress expected through the passage of the LMRDA to ensure that union democracy would be the first line of defense against union corruption, and that, armed with knowledge, union members would elect leaders who work in their best interests, and rid themselves of corrupt union officials who serve their own interests,” Johnson said.  “Since 1959, the American workforce has changed. However, the LMRDA has not.”

Citing the fact that more than 43 percent of unions either filed their financial disclosure reports late or failed to file at all during 2002, Larry Yud, deputy director at the Department of Labor’s Office of Labor-Management Standards, testified that “a significant number of unions consistently fail to comply with the statutory requirements that they timely file annual reports with DOL detailing their finances. The end result is that unions may ignore the statutorily-imposed deadline [for filing under the LMRDA] ... without consequence.”

Because of deficiencies in current law, Yud said, the Department “does not have sufficient enforcement tools to protect and inform union members.” [U.S. House Cmte. on Education & the Workforce, 6/24/03]

LABORERS (LIUNA)
New Defendant Added to Buffalo Racketeering Indictment

On June 25, U.S. Attny. Michael A. Battle announced the return of a 14-count Second Superseding Indictment charging 15 members of Local 91 of the Laborers' Intl. Union of N. Amer. with extorting jobs and compensation from both local and out-of-town businesses and union and non-union employees.  The Second Superseding Indictment specifically accuses the defendants, including several high-ranking officers of the Niagara Falls-based Local 91, with:  racketeering conspiracy in violation of 18 U.S.C., Sec. 1962(d), 11 counts of extortion or attempted extortion (18, U.S.C., Sec. 1951), 1 count of interstate transportation in aid of racketeering (18 U.S.C., Sec. 1952), and 1 count of destruction of a motor vehicle engaged in commerce (18 U.S.C. Sec. 33).  This Indictment was returned in response to the recent Supreme Court holding of Scheidler v. National Organization of Women.

All of the charged offenses are punishable by a maximum term of imprisonment of twenty years, a fine of $250,000, or both.  Additionally, the defendants will be ordered to forfeit any interest maintained or acquired in Local 91, including their management positions within the union, should they be convicted of the racketeering charge.

According to U.S. Attny. Battle, the Indictment alleges that from at least October 1995 to May 15, 2002, high ranking officers of Local 91, including current Business Manager Michael "Butch" Quarcini, Assistant Business Manager Albert Celeste, President Mark Congi, and now retired, past-President Dominick Dellaccio, directed Local 91 members whose principal objective was to force employers to hire workers selected by the defendants.  The Indictment alleges that the defendants tried to enforce and enforced their demands by threatening to commit and by committing acts of bodily harm, destruction of property, and workplace sabotage.

The Indictment also alleges that the violence committed by the defendants was not confined to construction sites, and included violence perpetrated against innocent bystanders and persons suspected of cooperating with law enforcement.

The Indictment adds as a defendant Joel Cicero, the administrator of the Local 91 Training Fund and former commissioner of the Niagara Falls Bridge Commission.  Mr. Cicero, who was replaced earlier this year on the Commission, is charged with one count of extortion by attempting, through his position as Commissioner, to obtain jobs from contractors involved in the construction of a Pizza Hut in 2001/2002 at the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge.  He is also charged with causing an individual to travel in interstate commerce as part of the alleged extortion.  The new Indictment also alleges as acts of racketeering the attempted extortion by defendants Mark Congi, Salvatore Bertino and Andrew Shomers of Vulcan Shaw Floors and the Louis P. Ciminelli Construction Company during the 1996 construction of a Target store in Niagara Falls, New York.

U.S. Attorney Battle reported that the Indictment was the product of a 4-year investigation.  Mr. Battle praised the tireless efforts of the investigating agencies and agents who actively participated in this long-term investigation:  the Federal Bureau of Investigation under the leadership of Special Agent in Charge Peter J. Ahearn, the United States Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General under the leadership of Special Agent in Charge John McGlynn, the New York State Police under the leadership of Captain Thomas M. Fresenius, Detail Commander, Special Investigation Unit, the Niagara County Sheriff's Department under the leadership of Sheriff Thomas Beilein, and the Niagara Falls Police Department under the leadership of Superintendent Christopher Carlin.

The prosecution is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys William J. Hochul, Jr., Charles B. Wydysh and Brett A. Harvey. [U.S.A.O., W.D. NY, 6/25/03: Buffalo News, 6/27/03]

GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES (misc.)
Ex-NY Secy.-Treasurer Convicted of Taking Bribe

Patricia Ford was convicted on June 19 of accepting a bribe when she was secy.-treasurer of the New York Public Employees Fedtn. (PEF), AFL-CIO, in 1997.  The Albany-based union represents white-collar state govt. workers.  Ford was secy.-treasurer from Aug. 1994 until July 1997, when she and other office holders led by PEF president Jim Sheedy were ousted by a slate of candidates led by the current president, Roger Benson. 

During her trial in the U.S. Dist. Ct. for the Northern Dist. of NY, in Albany, Ford was accused of receiving free campaign materials from publicity consultant Peter Bynum in exchange for a promise to place him on retainer from the union if she won.  Later, Bynum allegedly submitted a $58,200 invoice for work performed in '97 for the union's campaign against state budget cuts that included the materials he provided for Ford's reelection campaign.  Ford was also tried for embezzling union funds, but was acquitted by the same jury that found her guilty of the bribery charge. [Albany Times-Union, 6/10, 6/11, 6/18, 6/21, 2003]

Calif. President Confesses to Embezzlement
The frmr. president and treasurer of the Clovis Public Works Employees' Assn. has admitted stealing $58,628 over 12 years.  In Feb., Robert Gilstrap claimed a balance of $55,536 in the union's acct.  The union's new treasurer, Ed Staub, now reports that the assn. has only $1,440 in the bank.

At the union's June meeting, a letter from Gilstrap admitting to the embezzlement was read.  Over several years, he wrote checks for his personal use, as well as using the union's credit card, and he falsified the union's check register to cover up the theft.  While referring to his wife's medical costs that were not covered by insurance, Gilstrap said that "this or any excuse is not justification for what I did."

Gilstrap argued that if the union presses charges against him and he is sent to jail, he won't be able to repay the stolen funds.  But at the June meeting, some members wondered how Gilstrap can repay that much money.  The union's lawyer acknowledged that an audit is necessary to verify that Gilstrap did not take more money than he has admitted.  But at a cost of $3,000 to $4,000, the union can't afford it.  And Clovis police are having trouble finding records as they investigate possible embezzlement charges against Gilstrap.  "[I]t is extremely time-consuming to try to track down the funds over this period of time," said Clovis Police Dept. spokeswoman Janet Stoll-Lee.

Clovis City Mgr. Kathy Millison said that since Gilstrap's misconduct apparently does not involve his work with the city, he will not be fired.  "The conduct in the private life of an employee has no connection or bearing on the duties and responsibilities in the job with the employer," Millison said: "They are seen as totally separate universes." [Fresno Bee, 6/27/03]
   
GLASS WORKERS (GMP) / SHEET METAL WORKERS (SMW)
Western States' Pension Plan Deep in Red

The pension fund representing glaziers, glass workers, and sheet metal workers in four western states is between $75 and $90 million in the red.  The pension fund's frmr. administrator has been indicted on nine counts of mail fraud for misleading the fund's trustees.  William Seay has pleaded not guilty to failing to disclose his part-ownership of a 157-acre landfill in Carson California. 

Based on his advice, the Southern California, Arizona, Colorado and Southern Nevada Glaziers, Architectural Metal and Glassworkers Pension Plan paid $33 million for the land in 1990, ostensibly planning to build a mall.  But in 1997, state regulators sued the Plan to force them to clean up the toxic waste site.  The pension plan responded by suing oil companies and cites that dumped trash at the site.  In 1999, the property was pitched as the home of a new Los Angeles team in the Natl. Football League.  To this day, the property remains undeveloped and unsold.  Seay is also accused of misleading the pension trustees about the property's value and potential return on investment. [San Diego Daily Transcript, 6/26/03: London Financial Times, 4/11/02]

- - - - - - -

ADDITIONAL BRIEFS NOT INCLUDED ON THE FAX EDITION OF THIS UNION CORRUPTION UPDATE:

- - - - - -

FOOD & COMMERCIAL WORKERS (UFCW)
Ex-President of Missouri's Largest Union Pleads Guilty to Lying

The frmr. president of Missouri's largest local union admitted lying about using union staff to perform personal work on July 1.  Nick Torpea pled guilty to one count of lying to a federal agent.  According to the plea agreement, the U.S. Dept. of Labor began investigating Torpea in Oct. 2002 after receiving a complaint that he was using union staff for personal business on union time.

Labor dept. investigators observed 8 staffers moving Torpea's belongings to his new home on Dec. 12.  When asked about the move in Jan., Torpea claimed that the union workers used their own vacation time, a statement he knew as false.  In February, Torpea abruptly resigned as head of the 15,000 member union.  Sr. U.S. Dist. Judge Stephen Limbaugh (E.D. MO, Reagan) scheduled Torpea's sentencing for Sept. 18, when he will face up to 5 yrs. in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 7/2/03]

GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES (AFSCME)
Ex-Milwaukee Treasurer Pleads No Contest to Embezzling Pension Funds

Alvin Madison resigned from the Milwaukee Pension Bd. in late June after pleading no contest to embezzling $56,000 from the pension fund for city workers.  Last Oct., officials from the Amer. Fedtn. of State, County & Municipal Employees removed Madison from the office of Treasurer of AFSCME Local 33 after discovering the misappropriation.  The Milwaukee Dist. Attny. filed charges against Madison in April.  He is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 3. [Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, 7/2/03]

LABORERS (LIUNA)
Convicted Massachusetts Boss Back in Jail after Violating Parole

U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton (Mass., G.H.W. Bush) revoked the federal supervised release of Clement H. Porter II on June 26, and sentenced him to 6 months in prison in connection with Porter's contact with a convicted felon while on supervised release, in violation of his release conditions.

In 1999, Porter was convicted of embezzling $24,595 from Local 243 of the Laborers Intl. Union of N. Amer. between July 1994 and December 1997, where he was serving as the Treasurer at the time.  Porter was sentenced to a term of 1 year and 1 day in prison, to be followed by 3 years of supervised release.

The evidence showed that on May 25, 2003, the Provincetown Police Department responded to a disturbance at a local hotel parking lot.  The police encountered Porter and a convicted felon involved in an argument in a truck parked nearby.  Porter was questioned by police, but he was not arrested.  Subsequently, Porter filed with the U.S. Probation Office a false monthly report in which he failed to disclose his contact with police and his contact with a convicted felon. [U.S.A.O. MA, 6/27/03]

UNION DUES
Tulsa Judge Declares Oklahoma’s Right to Work Law Unconstitutional in Questionable Lawsuit

In a ruling that severely jeopardizes Oklahoma’s recently enacted Right to Work amendment, Judge David Patterson of the Oklahoma State District Court for Tulsa County ruled on June 26 that the constitutional amendment enacted by the voters is somehow unconstitutional.

Judge Patterson issued the order in Eastern Oklahoma Building and Construction Trades Council v. Ralph Pitts, a recently discovered “collusive lawsuit” filed quietly in May with the apparent intention by both parties (union and employer) of voiding the state’s Right to Work law without serious arguments made by a party that sincerely supports the law.

Learning of the stealth suit, National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation attorneys – representing Stephen Weese, a Tulsa-area employee – filed a motion two weeks ago to intervene in the suit to ensure that the law was vigorously defended. However, the court granted summary judgment for the union and declare that the Right to Work amendment – which protects employees from being fired for refusal to pay union dues – is unconstitutional.

Legal documents show that the employer defendant, electrical contractor Ralph Pitts, is represented by an attorney who has previously represented International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 584, a member of the plaintiff trades council and the “real party in interest” in this lawsuit. This attorney filed only a perfunctory “opposition” to the union’s motion for summary judgment.

Earlier this week, the Foundation filed a formal request under Oklahoma’s Open Records Act with Attorney General Drew Edmondson for all internal documents that reflect discussion as to why the attorney general refused to intervene to defend state law and the will of Oklahoma voters. Aside from telling the media that the attorney general does not “usually” get involved in district court cases challenging the constitutionality of state law, the attorney general’s office has not yet responded to this request. In fact, the attorney general has intervened in similar cases.

“The shenanigans that have taken place in this lawsuit raise serious questions,” said Stefan Gleason, Vice President of the Foundation. “This appears to have been an inside job from the beginning.”

As a “defendant intervenor,” Weese and Foundation attorneys could make arguments to defend his direct financial and liberty interests at stake in the preservation of the Right to Work amendment. Foundation attorneys vow an appeal of the judge’s ruling.  [NRTWLDF, 6/27/03]

STEELWORKERS (USW)
Indicted Ex-V.P. Makes Trifecta in Cleveland Local

On June 18, Murdytha Stubbs was indicted in the U.S. Dist. Ct. for the Northern Dist. of Ohio on three counts of embezzlement, conspiracy to embezzle and falsification.  He is the 3rd frmr. officer of United Steel Wrkrs. Local 3586 to be fingered for embezzlement charges in the last three months.

From Dec. 1998 to Dec. 1999, Stubbs allegedly signed union checks payable to himself, ex-financial secy. Cynthia Barner and ex-Treasurer Enner Ree Edwards for "expenses," "expense trip," lost time" and "catering."  The "catering" check was actually made payable to Charmaine Ray, but shared between the three officials.  In all, acc. to the indictment, Stubbs was responsible for stealing $4,309.  Barner and Edwards pled guilty to embezzlement on April 3.  All three were charged following an investigation by the Cleveland branch of the U.S. Ofc. of Labor-Mgmt. Standards. [U.S.A.O., N.D. OH, 6/18/03]

ALLIED-INDUSTRIAL WORKERS (PACE)
Ex-Secy.-Treasurer Indicted for Theft and Falsification in Fed. Court

On June 18, in the U.S. Dist. Ct. for the Northern Dist. of Ohio, Darryl C. Maynard, frmr. secy.-treasurer of Local 7-816 of the Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers Intl. Union, was indicted for embezzling $7,509 and falsifying union records.  The charges were brought following an investigation by the Cleveland branch of the U.S. Ofc. of Labor-Mgmt. Standards. [OLMS, 6/26/03]

LABORERS (LIUNA)
Ex-Bookkeeper Charged with Theft and Falsification in Penn. Fed. Court

On June 10, in the U.S. Dist. Ct. for the Middle Dist. of Pennsylvania, an information was filed charging Amy Pulaski, former bookkeeper for the Eastern Penn. Dist. Council of the Laborers Intl. Union of N. Amer., with one count of making materially false record entries to conceal her theft of $3,602.  The charges were brought following an investigation by the Philadelphia branch of the U.S. Ofc. of Labor-Mgmt. Standards. [OLMS, 6/26/03]

MARINE ENGINEERS (MEBA)
Fla. Union Chief's Racketeering Trial Put off until September

Walter Browne won a postponement of his trial on racketeering charges until September.  The president of the Nat'l Fedtn. of Public & Private Employees (a.k.a., Marine Engrs. Beneficial Assn. Dist. 1) headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, was indicted in Nov. 2001 on charges that he stole more than $400,000 from the union and four companies through embezzlement and bribery.  Also charged was Browne's sister, Patricia Devaney, a union staffer.  The postponement for both defendants was granted by U.S. Dist. Judge Jose Martinez (Sou. Dist., FL, G.W. Bush). [Miami Herald, 6/19/03]


Union Corruption Update is made possible by the generous contributions from readers like you. NLPC, PO Box 6821, Falls Church, VA 22040. Thank you. Union Corruption Update is part of NLPC's Organized Labor Accountability Project which is investigating and exposing corruption in the Teamsters, LIUNA, AFL-CIO and many other union organizations. NLPC is a nonpartisan, nonprofit foundation promoting ethics and accountability in government through research, education and legal action.

In addition to the unions and organizations covered in this Union Corruption Update, readers can look forward to news and information on other corrupt and abusive unions in future editions.  All back issues of the Union Corruption Update can be viewed at NLPC's website (http://www.nlpc.org).  Also available is a union-by-union and state-by-state index of all Union Corruption Update articles. If you have story ideas or suggestions for future editions of Union Corruption Update, please email NLPC at nlpc@nlpc.org.  Thank you.
 
Looking for a LM-2, LM-3, or LM-4 Annual Financial Report from the Department of Labor? Visit http://www.dol-union-reports.gov.


Email NLPC

Union Corruption Update Article Index (by Union)

Union Corruption Update Article Index (by State)

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1 posted on 07/10/2003 3:16:37 AM PDT by Elle Bee
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To: All
The former President disembarks from his airplane after a trip back to Arkansas. Although the hoopla is less now that he is out of office, Clinton still occasionally finds himself greeted by military personnel. This is one such occasion.

He climbs down the stairs, carrying two huge pigs, one under each arm. He gets to the bottom, and nods his head in return to the soldier's salute. "Son, what do you think about these?" he says. "Nice pigs, SIR!" comes the reply. Clinton gets mildly miffed and lectures, "I'll have you know these aren't just pigs but the finest of Arkansas Razorbacks. Top notch. I got one for Hillary, and one for Chelsea. What do you think about that?"

"Nice trade, SIR!

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2 posted on 07/10/2003 3:17:47 AM PDT by Support Free Republic (Your support keeps Free Republic going strong!)
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To: Elle Bee
bump!
3 posted on 07/10/2003 4:29:45 AM PDT by MonroeDNA (huh.)
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To: Elle Bee
If a GOP majority can't rally enough of its own Members to defend a Republican Administration that is standing up for dues-paying union members, we might as well elect Democrats.

Enough said!

4 posted on 07/10/2003 6:51:26 AM PDT by TroutStalker
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To: Elle Bee
Union-lovers always present themselves as "fighting for the little guy" against "corrupt corporations" and they sucker in the Regular Joe voter with that myth. If these Regular Joes actually saw how members were exploited purely for financial and political power for those at the top, they might just intelligently consider how to vote rather than act on blind obedience to Democrats.
5 posted on 07/10/2003 8:11:05 AM PDT by Tamzee (Peace is the prerogative of the victorious, not the vanquished.... Churchill)
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