HOTEL & RESTAURANT EMPLOYEES (HERE)
Latest Report Details Corruption at the Top of Union
An 80-page report, released Sep. 22 by the U.S. Attorney's Office for
N.J details discipline taken against 24 bosses of the Hotel Employees &
Restaurant Employees Int’l Union have been disciplined under an internal
reform process supervised by the U.S. Justice Dep’t. The "Fourth Report
of the Monitor of HERE" describes the corrupt practices at the highest
levels of the union including: Edward T. Hanley, who stepped down as general
president in July after serving in that capacity for 25 years (see:
UCU 1.4 7/27/98); and his son, Thomas Hanley, HERE’s director
of organization until Aug. 31 (see: UCU 1.8
9/21/98). Others disciplined include locals bosses in Chicago, Milwaukee,
Buffalo, Pittsburgh and Cleveland many of whom were linked to organized
crime. The report is full of financial mismanagement, fraud, cronyism,
nepotism, inadequate internal controls and undemocratic practices. It illustrates
union officers using union funds for their own personal expenses; officers
and their wives using its jet for personal purposes; consulting relationships
with individuals who did little or no work; and, misuse of union owned
vehicles. In one case the monitor notes that over a 17-year period the
union provided a former Hollywood actor with a Cadillac Seville, health
insurance coverage, and as much as $25,000 per year to provide the union
with a "celebrity presence." The report also describes concerns over the
union's interactions with former House Ways & Means Committee Chairman
Dan Rostenkowski, who acted as a consultant to the union. Muellenberg said
this fourth report is not the "final" report. The final report will be
produced when pending charges against five individuals are resolved, he
said, and it also will include financial data about the monitorship. [BNA
9/24/98]
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 (www.nlpc.org). Also available is a union by union index of all Union Corruption Update articles.
If you have ideas or suggestions for future editions of Union Corruption Updatte,please email NLPC at nlpc@nlpc.org. Thank you.
Union Corruption Update is part of NLPC's Organized Labor Accountability Project which is investigating and exposing corruption and extremism 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.
Union Corruption Update Article Index