According to hearing documents obtained by the Center for Union Facts, the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America (UBC) confirmed that leaders from its Pacific Northwest Regional Council rigged votes and double-paid leaders. 

The Council was placed under a trusteeship during the investigation which began last October. The Council notified the UBC that it would “welcome” an independent investigation after it noticed many irregularities following a ratification vote for a Master Labor Agreement in western Washington. UBC obliged and this is what was found:

• In 2021, the Associated General Contractors of America’s agreement with the region was up for ratification. After two votes failed, the Pacific Northwest Regional Council’s executive secretary-treasurer, Evelyn Shapiro, came up with a plot to fix the vote. 
• Shapiro, along with Juan Sanchez, the Council’s Director of Organizing, began using the voter identification numbers of members who had not yet voted to tip the scales in their favor. The scheme fell apart after many members began to receive notices that they could not vote because they had already voted. 
• This wasn’t Shapiro’s first rodeo. The investigation uncovered that she had also ordered Dan Hutchins, the Council’s Contract Administrator, to “fix the fucking vote” during the Eastern Washington Master Labor Agreement, which Hutchins admitted doing. 
• Shapiro also failed to disclose that the union’s pension was underwater. To top things off, she also failed to increase the liability insurance on the pension – which could have helped mitigate the losses. (Shapiro resigned from the union mid-investigation.)
• While digging into Shapiro’s mess, the investigation also found that Ken Ervin, a Council Representative, and Kristine Cole, his Lead – both officers of Local Union 129 – had established a double-dipping pay scheme in which Ervin collected overtime pay to attend meetings for the Local. After Ervin was outed for double-dipping, he turned on Cole and told investigators that Cole remodeled her home while claiming to be a worker for the union. She was only able to get away with this because Ervin covered for her. 
• Auditors found that the union had multiple serious irregularities, including excessive political donations beyond the legal limits, failure to file a scholarship fund with the state, failure to collect dues, and even providing a pension and a vehicle to non-members. 
• The union also had excessive hiring of staff – including one hilariously inept comptroller who “did not understand the rudimentary obligations of her position” more than 8 months into the job. Another full-time employee reported that he visited one job site per week and took occasional calls from home. 

The Pacific Northwest Regional Council of Carpenters embodied the incompetence and unethical behavior unions have championed for years. The investigation should outrage members, but it shouldn’t surprise them. 

We’ve got the latest round-up of union rackets just in time for the Holidays. Check out some of the most recent additions to Big Labor’s naughty list.

In Texas, Brian Walker, former Vice President of International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) Local 1504-8 (located in Galveston, Tex.), pleaded guilty to one count of false entries.

In Michigan, Verdine Day, former Treasurer of Detroit Fire Fighters Association, International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) Local 344 (located in Detroit, Mich.), pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud for embezzling $220,044.

In Ohio, Anthony F. Rockman, former Secretary Treasurer of Textile Workers Local 1 (located in Cleveland, Ohio), was sentenced to five months in prison and five months of home confinement, followed by three years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay a $100 special assessment. On July 16, 2021, Rockman pleaded guilty to a one-count information for obstruction of justice (destruction, alteration, or falsification of records in federal investigations and bankruptcy).

In Michigan, Earl Roberts, former President of United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial Service Workers International Union (USW) Local 4 (formerly located in Yale, Mich., now disbanded), pleaded guilty to three counts of embezzlement of union funds totaling $45,916.

In Michigan Circuit Court, Robyn Williams, President of National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) Branch 320 (located in Waterford, Mich.), was charged with one count of false pretenses of $1,000 or more but less than $20,000, one count of false pretenses of $200 or more but less than $1,000, and one count of larceny by conversion of $1,000 or more but less than $20,000.

All of the Whos down in Whoville better watch their pocketbooks. Big Labor is going on tour in hopes to secure more dues in the new year.

Senator Bernie Sanders is hitting the road on a “Pass the PRO Act: Holiday Tour” that is sure to be as exciting as finding a lump of coal in your stocking. Sanders will be joined by his un-wise men, the Worker Power Coalition, which consists of the SEIU, the Democratic Socialists of America, United Auto Workers, and many others.

Like Jingle Ball but with more socialists, the tour will be making stops in several cities to promote the Protect the Right to Organize Act (PRO Act) – a disastrous policy that is good at lining the pockets of labor unions and Democrat politicians, but bad at protecting actual workers and their jobs.

The PRO Act, which passed the House in March, is loaded with radical policies, including outlawing right-to-work laws in several states and allowing unions to bypass secret ballot elections, leaving workers vulnerable to intimidation and coercion. The PRO Act also aims to rope independent contractors and gig workers into unions by turning them into full-time employees. The bill’s main goal is obvious: force more workers to join unions after decades of declining union enrollment.

A study from the Institute for the American Worker found that the PRO Act would leave workers with less money and less influence over their workplace. A separate study found that unions stand to make more than $1 billion if the PRO Act becomes law. (Queue the Scrooge music.)

Fortunately for workers, the PRO Act has stalled in the Senate. Like the ghost of Christmas future, Senator Kyrsten Sinema has been trying to warn members of her party that the PRO Act will leave the country worse off – and she’s succeeded, for now.

But because no good deed goes unpunished in Congress. Sanders made the first stop of his holiday tour in Phoenix, Arizona, outside Sinema’s office. The tour will also target Republicans who oppose the bill in Wisconsin (Ron Johnson) and Indiana (Mike Braun and Todd Young).

While Sinema and others have stood strong against the PRO Act, Sanders and his crew have still been working to weasel parts of the bill into President Biden’s Build Back Better legislation.

Among the provisions that made it in are policies that could allow companies to be fined for even minor or highly technical labor law violations without any chance to fix their errors. Notably, the money from these fines will go toward the National Labor Relations Board, rather than to workers. Of course, unions wouldn’t be subject to the same fines when they violate the law.

The bill would also allow union members to write off up to $250 in union dues, a move that would essentially allow taxpayers to subsidize union membership. This is despite the fact that a large chunk of union dues go to fund left-leaning causes. In fact, workers who are not union members but still pay agency fees (which don’t support political activity) are not eligible for the tax deduction.

The PRO Act is the fruitcake of bad policies that no family wants to have stuffed in their faces this holiday season. Lawmakers must do what they can to ensure every part of the PRO Act is left behind in 2021.

• Members elect their local union leadership through secret ballot election.
• Members ratify their agreements through secret ballot election.
• Members elect delegates to represent them to national conventions through secret ballot election.

From embezzlement and misappropriation to fraud and theft, check out the latest fall fails from labor bosses below: 

In Pennsylvania, Joseph Whitbeck, former Vice President of National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) Branch 274 (located in Allentown, Pa.), pleaded guilty to 10 counts of honest services wire fraud and 10 counts of wire fraud.

In Georgia, Savannah Division, Connie Deal, former bookkeeper for International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 508 (located in Savannah, Ga.), was charged with one count of embezzlement in the amount of $243,003 and one count of making a false entry.

In Illinois, Patrick King, former President of Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees, Division of IBT, Lodge 2401 (located in Cicero, Ill.), was charged with three counts of continuing financial crimes enterprise totaling $11,203 and one count of misappropriation of financial institution property totaling $2,000.

In the District of Columbia, Donnell Owens, former Secretary to the Communications Director of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) National Union (located in Washington, D.C.), pleaded guilty to one count of embezzlement from a labor organization for embezzling $275,524 from the union.

In Tennessee, James Michael Foote, former Treasurer of Steelworkers Local 9-137 (located in Manchester, Tenn.), pleaded guilty to one count of embezzlement of union assets, in the amount of $86,268.

In the District of Columbia, Roderick Bennett, former Chief of Staff for the Laborers International Union of North America (LIUNA), located in Washington, D.C., was sentenced to 24 months in prison followed by 12 months of supervised probation. He was also ordered to pay $155,638 in restitution. On November 20, 2018, Bennett pleaded guilty to one count of embezzlement from a labor organization, in violation of 29 U.S.C. 501(c). Additionally, on July 30, 2021, Bennett was found guilty after a jury trial of one count of health care fraud.

In Virginia, Richmond Division, Nintay Edwards, former Financial Secretary of Steelworkers Local 694 (located in Richmond, Va.), pleaded guilty to one count of embezzlement from a labor organization for embezzling $66,684 from the union.

In Massachusetts, Joshua Fernandes, former Treasurer of the New Bedford Police Union (located in New Bedford, Mass.), pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud of union funds totaling $48,631.

In Texas, Michael Paul Garza, former President and Secretary-Treasurer of American Postal Workers Union (APWU) Local 1093 (located in Brownsville, Tex.), was charged with one count of theft of property by a public servant, in the amount greater than $2,500 and less than $30,000, and one count of theft of property from a non-profit organization, in the amount greater than $2,500 and less than $30,000.

In the District of California, Rachel Marie Gleason, former Treasurer of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Union (SMART) Local 1700 (located in Perris, Calif.), was sentenced to 36 months of probation. She was also ordered to pay $10,698 in restitution and a $100 special assessment. On June 30, 2021, Gleason pleaded guilty to one count of embezzlement of union funds.

In Virginia, Richmond Division, Nintay Edwards, former Financial Secretary of United Steelworkers Local 694 (located in Richmond, Va.), was charged in a criminal information with one count of embezzlement from a labor organization for embezzling $66,684.

The United Auto Workers (UAW) union may claim to hold union funds “in sacred trust,” but a years long corruption investigation into UAW says otherwise. So it was only fitting that this week, a top official at UAW Local 412 – “one of the largest amalgamated locals” – was hit by embezzlement charges only one day before a court-appointed monitor faulted the UAW for falling short in reform efforts.

Federal prosecutors claim Tim Edmunds, the financial secretary and treasurer of Local 412 embezzled “about $2 million” in union funds and used the money to bankroll “high-end shopping sprees,” “child support payments,” and “gambling binges.” If convicted, Edmunds faces up to twenty years in prison.  

The alleged embezzlement is so severe that the Local’s president called for placing the Local under administratorship. The Local’s president also claimed the embezzlement was “very elaborate,” but in reality, Edmunds simply spent years making “unauthorized transfers” to “an unknown [bank] account,” totaling around $1.5 million. A professor at the University of Michigan’s business school commented the theft was “hard to miss if you had your eyes open.”

Meanwhile, Neil Barofsky, the UAW’s federal court-appointed monitor, chided the union in a court filing this week for failing to excise the union’s “toxic’ culture,” including “favoritism,” “nepotism,” and a continued fear among some employees that they will be retaliated against for reporting concerns. Barofsky also disclosed that he has opened 15 separate “investigations” into UAW officials – despite the union’s initial refusal to cooperate. 

While announcing the charges against Edmunds, acting United States Attorney Saima Mohsi proclaimed UAW members “deserve a union free of corrupt and crooked leadership.” We could not agree more. The question is: will that ever be possible at the UAW?