LABORERS (LIUNA)
Boss Coia Out!?! BNA: Coia to Plead Guilty, Resign
On Sep. 30, the Bureau of Nat'l Affairs broke a story that Laborers'
Int'l Union of No. Am. boss Arthur A. Coia will likely plead guilty this
month to an improper association. Coia will allegedly be forced to resign
from LIUNA as part of the plea.
A government source told BNA that Coia is expected to announce his resignation by Oct. 15. Reportedly, Coia's resignation would be followed a few weeks later by a guilty plea on one felony count tied to his purchase of a Ferrari from a R.I. car dealer who was also a LIUNA vendor. The plea deal was reportedly negotiated by the Dep't of Justice. Under the likely deal, Coia would avoid a prison sentence, the source said. But, he would be barred from any future interaction with LIUNA. [BNA 9/30/99]
LIUNA could not muster much of a response, but LIUNA spokesman David Roscow said, "For the past four years, certain law enforcement officials have engaged in irresponsible leaks designed to pursue their own agenda and tarnish the union and Mr. Coia." [Wash. Times 10/2/99]
Coia's forced resignation would be a major step forward in the fight against union corruption. The Nat'l Legal & Policy Ctr., a union corruption watchdog, has been calling for it since 1995. It is further evidence that DOJ made a mistake allowing LIUNA to "reform" itself. The internal clean-up is a failure. If it were a credible effort, Coia would already be gone. "In-house prosecutor" Robert D. Luskin is sure to posture that he had something to do with the ouster. But if left to the machinations of Luskin's efforts, Coia would remain in office. DOJ should take over LIUNA today.
For a full report on LIUNA's failed "internal reform effort" please visit:
Union Corruption Update is made possible by the generous contributions from readers like you. Thank you.
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 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.
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 (by Union)
Union Corruption Update Article Index (by State)
Organized Labor Accountability Project