National Legal and Policy Center -- Organized Labor Accountability Project
 
UNION CORRUPTION UPDATE
 
November 25, 2002 -- Vol. 5, Issue 24

For Influential Leaders & Important Decision Makers:
Information on America's most corrupt & aggressive unions

 
GOVERNMENT WORKERS (AFSCME)
Uncovered Audit Reveals More Problems in NYC's DC37
A three-year-old audit of a NYC local govt. union came to light in early Nov., revealing unexplained cash payments to the union's frmr. president, payments for his wife's airplane trips, and nearly $2 million spent on a new HQ that remains a dilapidated shell. Disturbingly, neither the NYC D.A. or a union trustee took any action after the audit was completed in 1999.

For 30 years, until he finally lost an election this spring, James Butler was president of Local 420 of the Amer. Fedn.. of State, County & Municipal Employees (AFSCME). Local 420 is part of the corruption-riddled Dist. Council 37, where more than two dozen officials have been convicted of embezzlement and vote-rigging.

In 1999, KPMG accountants conducted an extensive audit of all 56 Dist. Council locals covering 1995 through 1998. Acc. to the auditors, Butler charged $27,430 to the union for travel and lodging without any documentation of connection to the union. KPMG also found $58,720 in charges by a number of Local 420 officials for food and drinks, also without any documentation. Butler's wife, Eloise, took 32 trips, incl. eight 1st-class flights to Bermuda and the Caribbean. Finally, the auditors found that the union had spent $1.8 million for a new headquarters that is still far from completion.

Butler kept the report secret, and argued that he had done nothing wrong since the Local 420 board had approved all the expenditures. Citing that approval, NYC D.A. Robert Morgenthau and Lee Saunders, appointed by the natl. AFSCME union to oversee DC37, took no action against Butler.

Butler finally lost an election to Carmen Charles this spring, and Charles made the audit public. [New York Times 11/9/02]

Union Corruption Update is made possible by the generous contributions from readers like you. NLPC, PO Box 6821, Falls Church, VA 22040. Thank you. Union Corruption Update is part of NLPC's Organized Labor Accountability Project which is investigating and exposing corruption 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.

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 (http://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.
 
Looking for a LM-2, LM-3, or LM-4 Annual Financial Report from the Department of Labor? Visit http://www.dol-union-reports.gov.

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