Thread: NAWER 1974 introduction

Why do you not go to the original sources here I wonder if there is a problem? Do you know about the IRS 990's and FCC for donation reports? In those places all that is reported is legally above board unlike the union paid for TPM CAFE.

I see you come from Michigan which is a state where you can be fired if you do not want to join a union. Thank the stars then that the people of Michigan are about to throw off the yoke of Labor and might just become a Right to Work state in the near future. Are you not supporter of a Right to Work law for your state? Should your friends and fellow citizens not decide if they want to pay union dues and be free of union intimidation? I think I know how you will respond but I thought since this is reasonable debate that I should ask you that.

Labor union corruption in Michigan this year:

COMMUNICATIONS WORKERS (CWA)

Secretary-Treasurer in Michigan Indicted for Embezzlement

On August 31, Denise M. Nichols, former secretary-treasurer of Communications Workers of America Local 4050, was indicted in federal court for the Eastern District of Michigan on one count of embezzling union funds in the amount of $3,804.20 and two counts of cover-up through false record-keeping. The local is based in Detroit. (OLMS, 9/21/07).

ALLIED-INDUSTRIAL WORKERS (PACE)

Michigan Local President Sentenced for False Record-Keeping

On August 15, Claudia R. Thompson, former president of Local 513 of the Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers International Union, was sentenced to one year of probation, ordered to pay $26,201.68 in restitution, and ordered to attend a substance-abuse program. She had pleaded guilty in May to one count of willfully making false entries in financial records to conceal her embezzlement of union funds in the same amount. PACE merged with the United Steelworkers of America in 2005. (OLMS, 8/18/07).

GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES (AFGE)

Treasurer in Michigan Pleads Guilty to Making False Statements

On August 9, Brad Harper, former treasurer of AFGE Local 1629, pled guilty in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan to one count of making materially false statements on the union’s annual financial reporting form. He had been indicted in June on three counts of filing false reports. The union represents employees at the VA hospital in Battle Creek. (OLMS, 8/19/07).

AUTO WORKERS (UAW)

Former Local Financial Secretary in Michigan Pleads Guilty

Willie Haynes had enjoyed a three-year streak until he pushed his luck too far. On Monday, July 9, Haynes, formerly financial secretary of United Auto Workers Local 362 in Bay City, Michigan, pleaded guilty in federal court to falsifying union records. Prosecutors had not charged him with embezzlement, yet made clear that his alteration of financial reports was intended to cover up thefts. As such, he faces up to six months in prison, the same sentence he would face if he had been charged with stealing between $5,000 and $10,000.



During fiscal years 2001, 2002 and 2003, Haynes, now 61, knowingly made false statements on the Department of Labor’s LM-2 annual financial reporting form. His lawyer, Peter Jensen, thinks this is all a misunderstanding. His client, he argues, had taken about $10,000 over the three-year period, got caught by DOL auditors, and repaid the money by the end of 2004. Yet in the face of this, Labor Department investigators alerted the Justice Department, which in turn decided to prosecute. Haynes merely had taken advantage of a system that allowed his to take time off to conduct business for the union, which represents workers at the General Motors Powertrain plant in Bay City; the plant assembles engine and transmission components. The union was supposed to pay him for the time on the condition that GM would not. Yet Haynes never took four-hours-per-week time off as he had promised, and collected the money anyway, something even his attorney admitted. Haynes, unavailable for comment, had denied stealing funds until now. (Bay City Times, 7/11/07).

ALLIED-INDUSTRIAL WORKERS (PACE)

Michigan Local Treasurer Secretary Sentenced for Theft

On June 12, Linda Holden, former financial secretary of Local 6-639 of the Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers International Union, was sentenced in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan to two years probation, including 180 days of home confinement. She also was ordered to pay $74,090.09 in restitution. Holden pleaded guilty last August to one count of embezzling union funds in that amount. PACE formally no longer exists, having merged in 2005 with the United Steelworkers of America. The sentencing follows an investigation by the Labor Department. (OLMS, 7/5/07).

GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES (AFGE)

Ex-Treasurer in Michigan Indicted for Filing False Reports

On June 5, Brad Harper, formerly treasurer of Local 1629 of the American Federation of Government Employees, was indicted in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan on three counts of filing false LM-3 financial reports to the Department of Labor. The local is based in Battle Creek. (OLMS, 6/15/07).

ALLIED-INDUSTRIAL WORKERS (PACE)

Michigan Local Ex-President Pleads Guilty to Concealment

On May 15, Claudia R. Thompson, formerly president of Local 513 of the Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan to one count of making false entries in financial records. She had concealed her embezzlement of $26,201 in union funds during the period June 2004-August 2005. The local represents employees of Marsh Plating Corp. and Finishing Systems, Inc., each based in Ypsilanti. PACE in April 2005 formally merged with the United Steelworkers of America. (U.S. Department of Justice, 5/16/07; OLMS, 5/30/07).

STEELWORKERS (USWA)

Detroit-Area Official Charged with Embezzlement, Bank Fraud

For seven years Alan Raines thought he could outsmart his union. Then reality caught up. Raines, financial secretary for Local 1358 of the United Steelworkers of America, recently was charged in Detroit federal court with embezzlement and bank fraud. During 1999-2006, say federal prosecutors, Raines stole nearly $275,000 in funds from the 300-member Southfield, Mich. union, forging a third-party name on union checks, and using the proceeds to pay for personal expenses. (Detroit News, 5/14/07).

COMMUNICATIONS WORKERS (CWA)

Michigan Secretary-Treasurer Sentenced for Cover-up of Thefts

On March 22, Tammara Schultz, formerly secretary-treasurer of Communications Workers of America Local 4101, was sentenced in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan to two years probation, including six months home confinement, for making false entries in union records. Last December, Schultz, 33, pleaded guilty to one count of falsifying union records in order to conceal various acts of embezzlement. She admitted in court that during February 2003-January 2006 she engaged in acts of theft that included ATM cash withdrawals from the Bay City, Mich. union’s bank account, unauthorized personal charges on the union’s credit cards, and union checks issued to herself and a third party on her behalf. She will be forced to make $22,499.93 in restitution to the insurance company that covered union losses. (Saginaw News, 3/22/07; OLMS, 3/30/07).

AUTO WORKERS (UAW)

Michigan Financial Secretary Sentenced for Embezzlement

On December 19, Michael Winchester, former financial secretary for United Auto Workers Local 651, based in Flint, Michigan, was sentenced in federal court to 12 months and one day in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release for embezzling union funds. He also will have to make restitution to a bonding company, Zurich North America, in the amount of $20,401.46 and pay a $100 special assessment. He pleaded guilty in September. The sentencing follows a joint investigation by the Labor Department’s Office of Labor-Management Standards and the Office of Inspector General. (OLMS, 1/9/07).

That is ten cases of Labor union corruption in Michigan --how can you trust anything unions say?