"Mystic River" was the first feature film to be shot in Mass. in two years. Local 25 has been under investigation since 2000 for allegedly extorting job favors for organized crime associates on the sets of such films as "The Perfect Storm," "The Cider House Rules," and "Good Will Hunting." On the set of "What's the Worst that Could Happen," Local 25 boss George Cashman approved the beating of a female snack truck driver who refused to turn her concession contract over to a Teamster member.
The Globe reported that fed. agents twice asked LA teamster Dillon for permission to disguise an undercover agent as a driver on the "Mystic River" set, but that Dillon refused. IBT spokesman Brett Caldwell denied that any teamsters cooperated in any undercover investigation. Caldwell did claim that Dillon contacted IBT officials at their Washington, DC headquarters after filming began in September about his dealings with Local 25, and that they referred him to the U.S. Attny. in Boston.
Allegedly, Local 25 officials demanded several non-contractual benefits after filming began in the fall, incl. the placing of a non-driver on the payroll, to which the production company agreed. The moviemakers also hired a company called Location Connection, run by Local 25 boss James P. Flynn, to provide rental vehicles on the set. The grand jury was already investigating allegations that past producers were forced to hire Flynn's company. Now, they are looking into the Flynn hiring on the "Mystic River" set. [Boston Globe 3/3/03]
LONGSHOREMEN (ILA) / TEAMSTERS (IBT) / CARPENTERS (UBC)
Extortion of Union Charges against Genovese Clan Thrown out
Sr. U.S. Dist. Judge Leo Glasser (E.D.N.Y., Reagan) has dismissed charges
that the Genovese crime family committed extortion
against the Intl. Longshoremen's Assn. (ILA) by exercising control over
its elected officials.
Glasser issued his ruling in response to the U.S. Supreme Court's Feb. 26 decision in Scheidler v. Natl. Org. of Women(NOW). The High Ct. ruled, 8-1, that anti-abortion protesters could not be sued for extortion under the Racketeering Influenced Corrupt Organizations (RICO) act. The Ct. held that sit-downs at the doors of abortion facilities, though intended to prevent legal abortions, did not constitute the taking of "property," which NOW had defined as the right to procure and perform abortions.
In the Genovese case, Judge Glasser ruled that under the new precedent, the denial of ILA members' right of free elections could not be considered the extortion of "obtainable property." Consequently, U.S. Attnys. cannot bring RICO charges against Genovese head Vincent "The Chin" Gigante and seven associates for the denial of the members' democratic rights.
Still standing are charges of defrauding the pension funds of the ILA, the Intl. Bhd. of Teamsters and the United Bhd. of Carpenters by forcing them to use a Genovese associate as their investment adviser, who allegedly kicked back fees to the crime family. [WNBC-TV 3/13/03]
IRONWORKERS (IAIW)
Atlanta Workers Sue Hierarchy for Violating Free Speech Rights
Two dissidents from Atlanta Local 387
sued the Intl. Assn. of Iron Wrkrs. on Feb. 25 for using union discipline
to squash their efforts to ferret out corruption in the troubled Local.
Carl Bishop has been a union member for 20 years, and a member of Local 387
for seven. Oscar Ingram has been a trustee of the Local since Feb.
2000.
The two have joined other members in trying to get information about the Local's finances for years. In April of last year, Steven Jones, the Local's ex-secy. treasurer, was sentenced for embezzling $90,000 from the Local and an apprenticeship fund. Throughout the Spring, Bishop and Ingram sought to verify that Local bus. mgr. Hugh Dryden Jr. had reimbursed the Local for personal airfare they believed he had charged to the union credit card. They also tried to obtain records of Dryden's cell phone usage, paid for by Local 387.
After being rebuffed by the Local hierarchy, Bishop contacted the U.S. Dept. of Labor (DOL) and NLPC in June to find out what legal right he had to the information. On July 25, acc. to the lawsuit, Dryden launched a verbal tirade at Bishop and Ingram at a Local meeting, inciting the members to "an unruly mob" that demanded their expulsion. Soon after, Dryden and Billy Joe Walker, the Intl. liaison to Local 387, instigated the filing of union charges against Bishop and Ingram. The two were accused of violating the Ironworkers constitution by not exhausting all internal procedures, inciting dissension among the members, and revealing information about the union and its bosses to outside organizations, incl. the DOL.
On Sept. 5, a "jury" of 12 members, eight of whom had signed the charge against Ingram, found him guilty and fined him $1,000, though he could escape the fine by apologizing to the hierachy and resigning his position as trustee. Two weeks later, Bishop was also found guilty and fined $10,000. Bishop and Ingram appealed to the Intl. HQ in Washington, D.C. Ingram's fine was upheld, while Bishop's was reduced to $5,000.
For filing charges against the two dissidents on the basis of their contacting DOL and NLPC, their attorney argues that the union hierarchy violated their right of free speech in the union, guaranteed by Title I of the Labor-Mgmt. Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA). The two members asked the U.S. Dist. Ct. for Wash. D.C. to throw out their "convictions" and to strike those provisions of the union constitution under which Bishop and Ingram were charged for expressing themselves.
The case has been assigned to Dist. Judge Gladys Kessler (Clinton). [U.S.D.Ct., D.C. 1:03CV00344]
NURSES (ANA)
Bookkeeper Fired, Accused of Stealing over $400 K from MI Union
Debra Lewis, an 18-year employee of the Mich. Nurses Assn. until her recent
firing, as admitted to embezzling at least $418,000 from the union.
She has not been charged, but is cooperating with an investigation by the
Meridian Township Police Dept.
Although Lewis, as the state union's office mgr., has always been responsible for paying the union's bills, her apparent theft was only discovered at the end of February, when auditors began looking for some missing cancelled checks. According to the Union's 2001 LM-2 disclosure form filed with the U.S. Dept. of Labor, an audit failed to uncover the missing funds. "It's shocking," said union spokeswoman Carol Feuss. "We are trying to figure out how it happened and how we can prevent it from happening again." Lewis made $47,474 in 2001.
Lewis's attny. has contacted the Ingham County prosecutor's ofc. According to the attorney, Lewis is remorseful, and is aware that she faces a decade in prison and could be required to fully repay the stolen funds. [Lansing State Journal 3/11/03, WILX-TV 3/12/03]
LABORERS (LIUNA)
Iowa Officials Sentenced for Embezzlement
Two frmr. union officials have been sentenced for working together to embezzle more than $120,000 between them from
Des Moines Local 177 of the Laborers Intl. Union of N. Amer. On
Feb. 28, frmr. president Fred T. Risius and ex-VP Henry Jannenga were sentenced,
followed by local member Norval Craig Michael
on March 6.
Risius was sentenced to 15 mos. in prison, followed by three yrs. of supervised release, and was ordered to repay the union for the $100,000 he embezzled from Local 177 through payments to, and kickbacks from, a phony construction firm, payments to fictitious picketers, and personal purchases on the union credit card.
Jannenga received three months in prison, and was ordered to repay the $22,500 he embezzled from the Iowa State Laborers' Training Fund. Michael was sentenced to five yrs. probation, and was ordered to join with Risius in repaying $16,900 he received from Risius, ostensibly for materials Michael sold to the union but which he and Risius split between themselves. [U.S. Ofc of Labor-Mgmt. Standards 3/13/03]
OPERATING ENGINEERS (IUOE)
Ex-Bus. Agent Sentenced for Embezzling Strike Funds in Penn. Fed. Ct.
Sr. U.S. Dist. Judge William Standish (W.D. Pa., Reagan) sentenced John Dorrier on Feb. 28 to a year in prison and ordered
him to repay $56,195 he stole from Local 66 of the Intl. Union of Operating
Engineers. Dorrier must begin paying $1,000 a month in restitution
after his release.
From 1993 through 1998, Dorrier cashed $137,645 in vouchers for fictitious picketers, of which he kept $41,795 for himself while he paid the rest to relatives and friends and to some of the supposed "picketers" to keep them silent after they received IRS tax forms for their false picketing payments. Dorrier pled guilty on Nov. 14 last year to embezzlement, forgery and tax evasion after a joint investigation by the Pittsburgh branch of the U.S. Ofc. of Labor-Mgmt. Standards and the Criminal Investigative Div. of the IRS. [OLMS 3/11/03, Butler Eagle 3/4/03]
COMMUNICATIONS WORKERS (CWA)
Frmr. Ala. Officer Indicted for Embezzlement, Falsification
A grand jury indicted Ana Lorena Phillips for embezzlement and falsification
of records on Feb. 25, in the U.S. Dist. Ct. for the N. Dist. of Ala.
According to the indictment, Phillips used her position as secy.-treasurer
of Comm. Wrkrs. of Amer. Local 3974 to embezzle $48,360 from Sept. 12, 1999
to Nov. 24, 2001. She was also indicted for falsifying and destroying
checks and check stubs from the union's bank acct. to hide her theft.
Finally, Phillips is charged with filing a false LM-3 disclosure form with
the U.S. Dept. of Labor on Dec. 31, 2002. The indictment follows an
investigation by the Nashville branch of the U.S. Ofc. of Labor-Mgmt. Standards.
[U.S.A.O. N.D. AL, OLMS 3/11/03]
UTILITY WORKERS (UWUA)
Ex- President Charged with Larceny of Union Funds in Mass. State Court
On Feb. 27, in the Mass. Dist. Ct. in Lynn, Edward P. Martin, frmr. president
of Utility Workers Union of Amer. Local 446, was charged with larceny in
the amount of $22,568 following an investigation by the Boston branch of
the U.S. Ofc. of Labor-Mgmt. Standards. [OLMS 3/11/03]
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ADDITIONAL BRIEFS NOT INCLUDED ON THE FAX EDITION OF THIS UNION CORRUPTION UPDATE:
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GOVERNMENT WORKERS (AFGE)
Ex-Secy.-Treasurer Confesses to Bank Fraud in Ohio Federal Court
Thomas M. Payne pled guilty on Feb. 28 to one count of bank fraud (18 U.S.C.,
Sec. 1344) in the U.S. Dist. Ct. for the Southern Dist. of Ohio, Western
Division. From March 1998 until his resignation on Sept. 1, 2000, Payne
was Secy.-Treasurer of Local 1938 of the Amer. Fedtn. of Govt. Employees.
On nine occasions, he endorsed dues checks from members, then deposited less
than the full amount of the checks at the Star Bank in South Point.
Payne also forged the signature of the Local president on checks made payable to himself. To conceal the theft, he made false entries in the check stubs and used cancelled checks to create false duplicates of the checks he had cashed for himself. In the plea agreement, the U.S. Attny. and Payne agreed that the total amount he fraudulently obtained was $12,184. [U.S.A.O. S.D. OH, OLMS 3/13/03]
POLICE UNIONS
Frmr. NJ Treasurer Admits Stealing $13,550
Hilda Battle frmr. treasurer of Local 351 of the Policeman's Benevolent Assn.
in Camden, NJ, admitted writing six unauthorized checks for $13,550 on March
3. The Assn. represents Camden County's correction officers. It
is not known why she stole the funds. In pleading guilty, Battle agreed
to resign her 14-yr. job at the county jail and repay the Local. She
will be sentenced on April 14 [WPVI-TV 3/4/03]
STEELWORKERS
W. Va. Computer Specialist Confesses to Union Embezzlement
Julia Mynes pled guilty to union embezzlement
before U.S. Dist. Judge Joseph Goodwin (S.D. WV, Clinton) on March 10.
Mynes used her access to the computerized check-writing system of United
Steelwrkrs. Local 14614 to cash $4,001 in union checks between Dec. 2000
and Jan. 2001. She is scheduled to be sentenced on June 2. [Charleston
Gazette 3/12/03]
SHEET METAL WORKERS (SMW)
Ex-St. Louis President Sentenced for Falsification
On Feb. 28, in the U.S. Dist. Ct. for the Eastern Dist. of Missouri, Donald
Stevens, ex-President of Sheet Metal Workers Local 93, was sentenced to two
years probation after pleading guilty to the falsification of union records
on December 9, 2002. As a condition of probation, he was ordered to pay $810
in restitution in addition to the $4,000 he had previously paid. The charge
was brought following an investigation by the St. Louis branch of the U.S.
Ofc. of Labor-Mgmt. Standards. [OLMS 3/11/03]
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
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