National Legal and Policy Center -- Organized Labor Accountability Project
 
UNION CORRUPTION UPDATE
 
February 17, 2003 -- Vol. 6, Issue 4

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

 
ELECTRICAL WORKERS (IBEW)
Convicted Violent Union Boss Steps up to IL Labor Secy.
A Rockford-area union boss convicted of slashing the tires of a non-union truck outside a Wal-Mart is IL Gov. Rod Blagojevichs choice to run the states Labor Dept.

In 1997, Michael Fenger, the Bus. Mgr. of Intl. Bhd. Of Elec. Wrkrs. Local 364 was attending a union protest of non-union workers building the store. Several militants surrounded the truck of a non-union worker as he tried to leave the site. With the truck stopped, two police officers saw Fenger use a five-in. awl to puncture all four tires. Sterling police were videotaping the protest and recorded him puncturing at least one of them.

Fenger was charged with felony criminal damage to property and two misdemeanor charges of property damage and reckless conduct. In a plea agreement, Fenger pled guilty to the misdemeanor charges, and was fined $1,500. Last year, he succeeded in getting the case expunged from the record, but disclosed the incident to Blagojevich aides before his appointment.

Fenger denied any involvement in the tire-slashing, and claimed to have pled "no contest." But Whiteside County States Attny. Gary Spencer, who prosecuted Fenger, said that no such plea exists in IL law. [Chicago Tribune 2/13/03]

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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