COMMUNICATIONS WORKERS (CWA)
Ohio Boss Suspended Amid Mismanagement Charges
Gary Josephson, president of Communications Workers of Am. Local 4501 at Ohio State Univ., was suspended recently amid allegations of mismanagement of union funds. Union member Joe Baringhaus filed a complaint against Josephson July 7 after questions of the local's bookkeeping were raised at a local meeting.  Seth Rosen, spokesperson for CWA's district headquarters in Cleveland, said that it received a request for an audit of the local and that an outside auditor will be sent.

Josephson believes members have unfairly blamed him for difficulties during a recent strike against OSU. Recently, anonymous phone calls have been reportedly made to a local newspaper attacking Josephson's management of union funds. Josephson said these callers "obviously have political motives to approach the press. They're trying to impugn my character."

Union member Michael Harper said the charges were filed because of a history of mismanagement. "We would ask him at meetings to account for funds, and he would always say that he had the paperwork on his desk and that he would get to us and let us know. Finally, when we couldn't get a response, Joe Baringhaus filed a complaint with the union," Harper said. He added, "I'm just totally disgusted. I would never expect him to mismanage or embezzle funds." [Univ. Wire 7/14/00]

GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES (AFSCME)
DC37 Clean-Up Offical Charged with Vote Fraud
Trial testimony has implicated a Manhattan union boss, who is part of the "clean-up" effort in the scandal-scared Am. Fed'n of State, County & Mun. Employees Dist. Council 37, in union vote-fraud scam. Gary R. Tenenbaum, ex-boss of AFSCME Local 299, testified July 10 that Dennis Sullivan, DC37's chief negotiator, helped rig DC37's 1995 contract ratification vote.

Since DC37's embezzlement and vote-fraud scandal erupted in 1998, over thirty have been criminally charged and more than twenty have pled guilty. Yet, Sullivan has remained, helping lead efforts to negotiate a new contract with the Giuliani mayoralty. Sullivan was "so respected" that AFSCME president Gerald W. McEntee's lieutenant running the DC37 administratorship, Lee Saunders, named Sullivan a deputy. He is reportedly one of Saunders' closest aides, but he was also a top aide to DC37's disgraced ex-executive director Stanley Hill. Some consider Sullivan a top candidate to be the next DC37 executive director.

Reportedly, Sullivan denied Tenenbaum's allegations. Saunders said, "These are allegations that we're hearing for the first time. The testimony given by Tenenbaum today completely contradicts what he told our professional in-house investigation."

Tenenbaum's testimony was part of a trial of two other ex-AFSCME bosses on vote-rigging charges: Albert A. Diop, ex-boss of Local 1549 and an AFSCME int'l vice-president, and Martin Lubin DC37's associate director. In the trial, Tenenbaum for the first time publicly acknowledged taking part in the vote fraud, saying Lubin and Sullivan had told him to greatly exaggerate yes votes in a Local 299 voice vote. Adding to the list of DC37 guilty pleas, Tenenbaum recently pled guilty to vote fraud and fabricating and inflating reimbursement vouchers. He is scheduled to be sentenced to six months in prison and five years of probation.

Prosecutor Jane Tully told to the court that DC37 had a long history of vote fraud, dating to at least 1992. She said that one boss who had pled guilty admitted rigging elections at union locals for $1 a vote. If a candidate for a local's presidency needed 300 fake votes to win, the price would be $300, she said. DC37's ex-White-Collar Division director, John McCabe, who has also pled guilty, testified that the presidents of seven or eight locals bowed to top DC37 bosses' pressure to rig the vote count to help rescue the five-year contract and save Hill from embarrassment. [N.Y. Times 7/8, 7/12/00]

Clinton Gets Gift from Boss McEntee
AFSCME's top boss, Gerald W. McEntee, gave Bill Clinton a first edition copy of the Lincoln-Douglas debates at the AFSCME convention June 30, according to the union's website. He called Clinton: "the best friend Labor has ever had." Reportedly, Clinton, a "history buff,...hugged the book to his chest in an expression of thanks."  One online book reseller lists an 1860 first edition of these debates at $1,200.

According in federal court documents, McEntee was implicated in the 1996 Teamsters scandal that ousted disgraced ex-Teamsters boss Ron Carey. Allegedly, McEntee improperly routed $20,000 to Carey's reelection campaign. Also, McEntee presides over one of the most corrupt unions in America today; in Jan. 2000, the N.Y. Times exposed an internal union document revealing that AFSCME suffered $4.6 million in corruption scandals in just over one year.

ELECTRICAL WORKERS (IBEW)
Suit Against Fund Tied to McAuliffe, May Settle in September
The U.S. Dep't of Labor's ERISA suit against two trustees of the Nat'l Elec. Benefit Fund charging improper dealings between NEBF and top Clinton-fundraiser Terry McAuliffe is scheduled to have a settlement conference on Sept. 7, according to a June 27 letter from U.S. Magistrate Judge Charles B. Day to the parties. This follows two failed settlement meetings in Jan. and Apr. 1999 before the suit was filed.

Among the May 1999's suit allegations was that NEBF trustee John Grau and ex-trustee Jack F. Moore imprudently lent over $6 million in pension assets. NEBF is operated jointly by the Int'l Bhd. of Elec. Workers, from which Moore retired as secretary in 1997, and the Nat'l Elec. Contractors Ass'n. The alleged scam involved a questionable $6 million loan in 1992 to a McAuliffe firm. The loan was in default from 1992-97, and DOL says NEBF should have known the loan couldn't be repaid in full with interest. DOL seeks the trustees to reimburse the fund for losses, plus interest.

According to the most recent court documents, the discovery phase of the suit is nearly complete. But there is a lot of back-and-forth about two document requests from DOL. The first is: "[a]ll monthly transaction and valuation reports and quarterly and annual performance reports pertaining to the assets and investments of [NEBF] that relate to the period from [Oct.] 1, 1997 to the present."  The second requests NEBF's IRS Form 5500s since 1998.  According court documents submitted by the defendants' attorney, James M. Kefauver, DOL missed a deadline and is attempting to get "a second bite at the apple" in its pursuit of these records. [Herman v. Moore, CA# AW99-1283 (D. Md.)]

FOOD & COMMERCIAL WORKERS (UFCW) / ELECTIONS & POLITICS
Unions Turn on Nevada Democrat Whose Vote Helped Wal-Mart
An eight-page political pamphlet being distributed by the Service Trades Council of S. Nev., a group of Las Vegas unions including the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 711, is being called "the most incendiary political flier to surface so far this campaign season." The piece features  photos of ill, burned or disabled children, was mailed to thousands of homes in early July in support of teacher Stephanie Smith, a N. Las Vegas City Council Member, challenging incumbent Clark County Commissioner Mary Kincaid. The two face off in a Sept. 5 Democratic primary.

The flier criticizes Kincaid's opposition in May to a new pediatric facility. It reads: "Kincaid voted against building a children's hospital...Doctors testified that sick children were being turned away from other hospitals because they didn't have insurance. ...Kincaid said we don't need a 'Taj Mahal of a hospital for sick kids.'"

Kincaid, who said she has received assurances from officials at both local hospitals that no children are being rejected for lack of insurance. She expressed anger over the mailer. "It's really disgusting. I can't believe [these unions] would exploit sick children for a political campaign," she said.

Smith said she has no qualms about her union backers using these images to support her because they are realistic and speak to the issue of children's health. She said she doesn't think the flier is exploitative or an attack on Kincaid. "There's a difference between negative personal attacks or calling someone names and simply pointing out their voting record. It is not a distortion of fact, " she said.

Kincaid was endorsed by most local unions in 1996 but fell out of favor with many union bosses after she opposed an ordinance that could have limited Wal-Mart's ability to open several Las Vegas Valley supercenters that sell groceries in addition to their retail operations. Wal-Mart employs nonunion employees. [Las Vegas Rev.-J. 7/6/00]

TEAMSTERS (IBT)
Minnesota Local Must Pay Overnite $30,000
Anoka County (Minn.) Dist. Judge James A. Morrow ordered Int'l Bhd. of Teamsters Local 120 to pay $29,873 in damages to Overnite Transp. Co. in connection with violence and misconduct that has occurred in the Minneapolis area during IBT's ongoing strike against Overnite. Local 120 boss C. Thomas Keegel also serves as IBT's secretary-treasurer, the number two post to IBT boss James P. Hoffa.

Since in Nov. 1999, Morrow has issued a series of orders to stop to violence, intimidation and other violations of the law at Overnite's facility in Blaine, Minn. Because of violence and property damage, Overnite brought a motion for contempt. Morrow found "overwhelming" evidence that IBT repeatedly violated the orders. Morrow's findings included:

1) Two separate instances where IBT picketers jumped onto Overnite vehicles. In one case, Morrow found a picketer opened a driver's door and attempted to grab an Overnite employee to pull him out of the truck.

2) Forcing an Overnite employee off the road while the employee was driving home in his personal vehicle and threatening to kill the employee.

3) Dozens of incidents of property damage to Overnite vehicles, including numerous instances of flattened tires, shattered windows and windshields, including many incidents where Overnite vehicles have been traveling on a roadway and had a window or windshield shot out.

4) Several instances of threatening behavior directed toward Overnite employees while operating vehicles on the highway, including swerving in front of trucks and slamming on  brakes.

5) Many instances of property damage to Overnite employees' personal vehicles while at work and at home.

6) Repeated threats of violence and intimidation directed toward employees and their families, as well as items being thrown at vehicles, including marbles, eggs, and human waste. [Overnite Transp. Co., Media Release 6/30/00]

The meetings will be chaired by the top AFL-CIO bosses, which may include secretary-treasurer Richard L. Trumka who invoked the Fifth Amendment to avoid federal investigators' questions on union corruption.

The first forum, chaired by AFL-CIO top boss John J. Sweeney, was June 29 in Philadelphia. Others are planned for Louisville, July 17; Atlanta, July 18; Cincinnati, July 20; Cleveland, July 26; Las Vegas, Aug. 5; Hartford, Aug. 8; Albuquerque, Aug. 9; and Charleston, W. Va., Aug. 23. [BNA 7/10/00]

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ADDITIONAL BRIEFS NOT INCLUDED ON THE FAX EDITION OF THIS UNION CORRUPTION UPDATE:

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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR (DOL)
Seattle Embezzler Gets 30 Months for $860,000 Theft
U.S. Dist. Chief Judge John C. Coughenour sentenced Bonifacio Garcia June 30 to thirty months' imprisonment for crimes relating to his embezzlement of over $860,000 from the U.S. Dep't of Labor's Office of Worker's Compensation in Seattle.

Garcia had been a DOL employee in Seattle for about 20 years, until Aug. 1998. Among Garcia's responsibilities were processing and computing federal disability benefits for qualified claimants.  He was also responsible for transferring, via DOL's computer network, authorizations for supplemental (lump sum) disability payments to claimants who were owed money by the OWCP.

Garcia was only one of two people at the Seattle office with the authority to transmit these lump sum authorizations. Once DOL in Washington, D.C., received the authorization, it would be forwarded to the Dep't of Treasury, which would direct-deposit the money into the bank account designated on the original authorization.

According to court documents, starting in Sept. 1994, Garcia began preparing and transmitting to DOL fraudulent authorizations for supplemental lump sum disability payments. These authorizations all listed legitimate federal disability recipients, but designated that the lump sum payment be direct-deposited into Garcia's own bank accounts.  Reportedly, Garcia concealed the embezzlements by supposedly "canceling" the lump sum payment authorizations on the computer system.  However, the so-called "cancellations" were entered only on the Seattle OWCP office's computer database.  They did not cancel the payment authorizations already transmitted to Washington D.C.  The money, in all cases, was deposited into one of Garcia's own bank accounts by the Treasury.  Garcia carried on this scheme for almost four years, and embezzled $861,508.91.

The scheme ended in July 1998, when a random audit at the OWCP office uncovered the unusual number of cancellations entered into the database by Garcia.  DOL officials initiated a full-scale investigation, Garcia resigned from his position, and in Oct. 1998, fled to the Philippines.  He remained there until his arrest by local police officers, accompanied by the FBI, on Jan. 18, 2000.  After being transported back to Seattle to face charges, Garcia pled guilty on Mar.14, 2000 to three counts: theft of government property, wire fraud, and filing a false income tax return.  In the plea, Garcia admitted to the total loss of $861,508.91; reportedly, Garcia spent or gambled away, all of the money.

In addition to the prison sentence, Coughenour imposed a three year's of supervised release, and ordered Garcia to pay restitution in the amount of $861,508.91.  [USAO, W.D. Wash., Media Release 6/30/00]

TEACHERS (NEA) / ELECTIONS & POLITICS
Internal NEA Political Documents Raise Tax Questions
The Nat'l Educ. Ass'n, which reports to the IRS that it spends no union dues on politics, spent millions of dollars to help elect "pro-education candidates," produce political training guides and gather teachers' voting records, internal documents show. NEA documents reviewed by AP provide a rare window into the internal workings of one of the most powerful unions in the country.

The documents state that NEA since 1994 has budgeted or spent money from its general account "funded by about $200 million a year in teachers' dues" on activities ranging from recruiting teacher-friendly candidates to helping state affiliates raise political action committee funds. A July 1999 plan states NEA budgeted $4.9 million for the 2000 election for such things as "organizational partnerships with political parties, campaign committees and political organizations." Part of the money, the document said, would be spent on a "national political strategy" that involves "candidate recruitment, independent expenditures, early voting, and vote-by-mail programs in order to strengthen support for pro-public education candidates and ballot measures."

Two former top IRS officials told AP that the documents raise questions about whether the group has properly accounted for political activities on its tax returns. NEA, which represents 2.5 million teachers, reported no political expenses on its returns for each year from 1993-98.

NEA attorney Richard Wilkof responded:"It comes down to a legal question. And that is something that we have taken a position on that we have disclosed everything properly. And that is what we stand by."

NEA also discloses its spending plans at annual conventions and in annual reports. Those expenses include $397,461 in 1994-95 for a "Political Datasystems and Services" project that among other things purchased voter registration records, a November 1995 document shows. The document states the union gleaned "voter history data" and added it to "membership files" in the database. The union uses the information to target its communications with members. For example, Republican-registered teachers would get Republican endorsement lists during the primaries, and Democrats would get issue information about their party's endorsed candidates.

The documents detailing expenditures from the NEA's union dues fund were gathered by Landmark Legal Foundation, a conservative group that is planning to file complaints against the union with the FEC and IRS. Landmark pursued a lawsuit that last year that forced the IRS to disclose documents identifying members of Congress "Republican and Democrat" who had asked the agency to audit political opponents.

"The issue is whether the NEA leadership in Washington is complying with federal tax laws and whether it is fully informing America's teachers and the public about the enormous reach of its political activities," said Landmark President Mark Levin.

NEA has tax-exempt status as a union but must report political expenses "direct and indirect" on its tax return. Some of those expenses could be considered taxable by the IRS. The IRS defines a political expense as "one intended to influence the selection, nomination, election or appointment of anyone to a federal, state, or local public office."

Other items listed in NEA's documents include: 1) $872,535 for "state-specific campaign...aimed at electing bipartisan pro-education candidates" in the 1998 election. $792,422 spent in 1994-95 for "campaign assistance" to state affiliates. The report stated that "support was provided in 34 states for gubernatorial races." 3) $2.2 million budgeted in 1996-97 to "increase the association's capacity to provide assistance to recommended candidates."

Among the ideas listed in a 1996-97 "strategic focus plan and budget" was to "recruit and support pro-education candidates," "expand PAC fund-raising" and find new ways to "effect election results." The NEA also spent $310,000 in 1994-95 to develop a three-part training series "to elect pro-education candidates." One booklet used in that training describes how to organize campaign volunteers and notes "our association can provide valuable assistance to a candidate." It estimates that if a third of NEA members volunteered to help candidates, it would equal a "$6 million contribution to friendly candidates."

The documents also detail a transfer of $400,000 from NEA headquarters in 1996 to its Washington state affiliate, which was trying to defeat two education-related ballot initiatives on school vouchers and charter schools. The transfer prompted a state investigation. Ultimately, the NEA and Wash. Educ. Ass'n were fined and the state affiliate was forced to refund some union dues to members. NEA officials contend the state law was ambiguous. [AP 6/22/00]

TEAMSTERS (IBT)
Ex-Seattle Boss, Football Star Dies
Arnie Weinmeister, the Pro-Football Hall of Fame defensive tackle who played for the N.Y. Giants in the 1950s and held a second career as head of a Seattle Teamsters union, died June 28 in Seattle of heart failure. After leaving football in 1956, Weinmeister became an organizer for IBT. He was director of the 13-state, Seattle-based Western Conference of Teamsters in the 1980-90s, which is same the IBT organization the corrupt boss David Beck ran in the 1950s. Weinmeister also served as IBT's second vice president, and as IBT Joint Council 28's president covering 20 Teamsters locals in Wash., Idaho and Alaska, and as IBT Local 117's secretary-treasure in Seattle before retiring in 1992.  It's safe to assume he drew income (double-dipped) from each of these posts.

In 1988, when the Dep't of Justice filed a racketeering suit to remove IBT's senior bosses, charging that it had made a "devil's pact" with organized crime, it accused Weinmeister and the 17 other members of the executive board of failing to root out corruption. Under a 1989 consent decree, scores of union bosses were removed by overseers. Weinmeister remained in office. He said in a 1988 deposition that he had no knowledge of organized crime other than what he had read in the newspapers or had seen in the "Godfather" movies. [N.Y. Times 7/7/00]

GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES (AFSCME)
Florida Boss' Punishment for Racist Email Overturned
A Florida union boss can't be punished for making racially offensive email because it was written in the course of union business, ruled arbitrator Roger I. Abrams.

Fla. State Univ. issued a three-day suspension for a unnamed clerk-typist, who also served as president of an Am. Fed'n of State, County & Municipal Employees local.  The suspension was based on the contents of an e-mail that the typist sent to FSU's inspector general criticizing his questioning of an AFSCME steward concerning the alleged fixing of parking tickets.

AFSCME argued that the e-mail was entitled to constitutional protection and that "tolerance [should] be shown for someone who expresses the viewpoint of the oppressed."

Abrams ruled that just cause did not support the typist's suspension. The typist was conducting union business in her capacity as union president at the time she sent the e-mail, which was intended to protect the union steward.  Abrams reasoned that while her impassioned speech and name-calling were regrettable, these errors were commonplace in labor relations.

Abrams concluded that FSU couldn't discipline a union boss for offensive speech made in the course of conducting union business. A suspension for this type of speech could chill union bosses from performing their union functions, he reasoned.  Abrams directed FSU to make the typist whole for the suspension period and to expunge the discipline from her personnel records. [Nat'l Public Employment Rep. 7/5/00]

ELECTRICAL WORKERS (IBEW)
Antitrust Suit Filed Against New York Local
Two telecommunications firms, U.S. Information Systems, Inc., and Odyssey Group, Inc., recently filed a federal suit in Manhattan alleging antitrust violations by Int'l Bhd. of Elec. Workers Local 3 and contractors that employ Local 3 workers.  The suit alleges that Local 3 and the contractors are conspiring to take over the market for installation of telecommunications wiring and systems in the N.Y. metropolitan area.

According to the complaint, the following actions by Local 3 are part of a concerted effort to exclude USIS and Odyssey from telecommunications installation work in the area: 1) threats of disruptions and delays in construction projects unless Local 3 electrical contractors also do the telecommunications work; 2) false statements about the plaintiffs and their businesses; and 3) jobsite intimidation, harassment and vandalism  Local 3's tactics to extend their electrical installation monopoly into telecommunications allegedly include statements that buildings are "Local 3 only" buildings and threats that there will be labor unrest if Local 3 workers are not employed. USIS and Odyssey reportedly employ Communications Workers of Am. members. [King & Spalding, Media Release 7/6/00, N.Y. Times 7/6/00]

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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.

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