Not only does Big Labor limit your freedom by forcing people to join and pay union dues, they are now destroying the First Amendment: The Republican governor, who appeared before about 300 people at a public policy breakfast at Chicago’s…
Hot Air with a hot story about potential union corruption: We should send out another big tip of the hat to Mark Flatten at the Goldwater Institute for yet another piece of investigative journalism where he discovers some of the rather shocking collisions which take place at the intersection of public employee unions and taxpayer dollars. (A pause here, while I realize that it’s probably no longer shocking at this point.) This incident takes place in Phoenix, Arizona at the offices of AFSCME Local 2960, where one of their trustees – charged with monitoring the prudent spending of union funds – apparently exercised the poor judgement to ask if she should be auditing where some of that money goes, specifically in the handling of a large insurance fund. Natasha Nimer had a simple question: As a trustee in a local labor union representing City of Phoenix employees, did she have a duty to check the books of a taxpayer-funded insurance account it managed? So she asked the executive board of AFSCME Local 2960. The response was an emphatic “no.” She dropped the matter and thought it would end there. She was wrong. In the months that followed, union officials tried to strip Nimer of her duties as a trustee and steward. They tried twice to force her out of AFSCME, only to have the international headquarters order her reinstated.
Local business was promised a boost to the economy if the Democratic National Convention (DNC) came to Charlotte, North Carolina. But they were never told they would be discriminated against if they were not unionized.
President Obama continues to push a bailout for teacher’s union but it seems clear that in Oakland, there are at least 15% too many teacher’s. How else could 300 teachers, about 15% of all teacher’s,…
President Obama continues to push a bailout for teacher’s union but it seems clear that in Oakland, there are at least 15% too many teacher’s. How else could 300 teachers, about 15% of all teacher’s,…
From the US DOL we find that union corruption and criminal behavior continues. Here are some highlights from October: Patricia Moore, former employee and Secretary-Treasurer of the National Union of Protective Services Associations (NUPSA), located in Washington, D.C., with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud for obtaining $109,866.17 from NUPSA and the National Union of Law Enforcement Associations (NULEA) for her personal use. Frank Rago, former Representative of the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) and former President of ILA Local 1604 (located in Stoneham, Mass.), was sentenced to one year and one day incarceration followed by three years supervised release. Rago was also ordered to pay $216,384.57 in restitution. Freda Hensley, former President of Steelworkers Local 8-14505 (located in West Logan, W.Va.), pled guilty to a one count indictment of 29 U.S.C. 501(c) for embezzling $38,539.68 in union funds. The full list from DOL: On October 19, 2011, in the United States District Court of Massachusetts, Joseph Pavone, former President of Laborers Local 560 (located in Waltham, Mass.), pled guilty to three counts of receiving unlawful labor payments in the amount of $6,466.80, in violation of 29 U.S.C. 186(b)(1) and (d)(2). The guilty plea follows an investigation by the OLMS Boston District Office and the Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General. On October 17, 2011, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia, Freda Hensley, former President of Steelworkers Local 8-14505 (located in West Logan, W.Va.), pled guilty to a one count indictment of 29 U.S.C. 501(c) for embezzling $38,539.68 in union funds. The plea follows an investigation by the OLMS Pittsburgh District Office. On October 14, 2011, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, Dennis Lee McGee, Jr., former President of Steelworkers Local 9-9506 (located in Bynum, Ala.), pled guilty to three counts of 29 U.S.C. 501(c) for embezzling union funds totaling $1,950. McGee was then sentenced to three years probation and was ordered to pay $7,600 in restitution and a $300 special assessment. The guilty plea and sentencing follow an investigation by the OLMS Nashville District Office. On October 14, 2011, in the United States District Court for the Western District of New York, Thomas Wagner, former Financial Secretary of Steelworkers Local 897 (located in Cheektowaga, N.Y.), was sentenced to two years of supervised probation and was ordered to make restitution of $5,526. On June 26, 2011, Wagner pled guilty to falsifying union records. The sentencing follows an investigation by the OLMS Buffalo District Office. On October 13, 2011, in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, a criminal information was filed charging Patricia Moore, former employee and Secretary-Treasurer of the National Union of Protective Services Associations (NUPSA), located in Washington, D.C., with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud for obtaining $109,866.17 from NUPSA and the National Union of Law Enforcement Associations (NULEA) for her personal use, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 371. The charge follows an investigation by the OLMS Washington District Office, the Department of Labor’s Office of the Inspector General, and the Employee Benefits Security Administration. On October 13, 2011, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky, Max Messamore, former President of National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) Branch 2039 (located in Somerset, Ky.), was sentenced to two years probation, fined $500, and was ordered to make restitution in the amount of $2,293.77. He was also ordered to pay a special assessment of $25. On May 19, 2011, Messamore pled guilty to failing to maintain union records, in violation of 29 U.S.C. 439(a). The sentencing follows an investigation by the OLMS Cincinnati District Office. On October 12, 2011, in the County of Westmoreland in the state of Pennsylvania, Lesa Major, former Secretary-Treasurer of Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 14821 (located in Monessen, Pa.), was sentenced for Theft by Unlawful Taking which had been reduced to a misdemeanor at sentencing. Major paid restitution of $2,500 prior to sentencing and as stated in the plea agreement, probation was terminated when restitution was paid. The sentencing follows an investigation by the OLMS Pittsburgh District Office. On October 11, 2011, in the United States District Court for the District of Nevada, Nichelle Alstatt, former Secretary-Treasurer of the Professional Office Personnel Alliance (POPA), located in Las Vegas, Nev., was sentenced to five years probation, with a series of special conditions which included the successful completion of substance abuse and mental health treatment and the completion of 40 hours of community service. Alstatt was also ordered to pay $51,613.37 in restitution through a garnishment of her wages and a lump sum court assessment of $150. On June 8, 2011, Alstatt pled guilty to one count of embezzlement in the amount of $51,636.37, in violation of 29 U.S.C. 501(c); one count of making false entries in required records, in violation of 29 U.S.C. 439(c); and one count of making false entries in reports required to be filed under the LMRDA, in violation of 29 U.S.C. 439(b). The sentencing follows an investigation by the OLMS Los Angeles District Office.
Michelle Malkin looks at the Occupy Oakland’s dangerous “strike” follies and their relationship with Big Labor: The next stage of the Aimless Occupation of America is upon us: On Wednesday, rabble-rousers in the San Francisco Bay Area will walk off…
In New York state, a teacher who showed up late for class 101 times in a single school year and left early 47 times is still on the job. Thanks to the monopoly bargaining power of the teacher’s union, she…
Workers in the grocery stores in New York City and surrounding areas are forced to pay union dues and fees to keep their jobs. It appears this revenue is not enough for the union officials…