Posts tagged corruption
Unions’ political spending ignores almost 40% of their own members
November 4, 2024 // How can a union that purports to represent all of its members give so freely to only one political party? The answer: It can’t. At least, not while accurately representing its diverse membership. At best, public union executives are misrepresenting their members and are mismanaging their finances. At worst, they are engaging in coercion of dues and political corruption. Neither is a good look for the executives who claim to be helping everyday workers.
Hydra-Lock Employees Win Decertification Vote, Oust UAW Union
October 31, 2024 // After corruption scandal and Right to Work Repeal, Michigan workers win their freedom from UAW bosses and forced union dues
Opinion: Why union workers are abandoning the Democratic Party
October 15, 2024 // Scott Sauritch, the president of United Steelworkers Local 2227, drew significant public attention recently when he told a writer for the New Yorkerthat despite being a longtime Democrat, he would be voting for Donald Trump in November. He also said that most of the current rank-and-file members of the union planned on doing the same. “I don’t care what you see on TV,” Sauritch said. “The grunts in the lunchroom love Trump.”
NYPD detectives’ union tells members they ‘have an absolute right’ not to talk to the feds as City Hall probes rage
October 14, 2024 // The post also told union delegates not to have “any substantive conversation” with any member who has been paid a visit by the feds, as that could make them a potential witness in the investigation. “Our attorneys will speak with the member and decide what the next steps should be,” it said.
Port strike longshoremen union boss linked to murdered mobster in ‘farce’ racketeering case he beat at trial
October 8, 2024 // George Daggett, the attorney, said the case began after his cousin asked a Catholic priest for financial advice and had $18 million in union funds placed under the supervision of the same money manager who worked with Our Lady of the Lake Church in Sparta, New Jersey. "So at the trial, every time a mobster’s name was mentioned, the government had a big board, and they made a circle, [and] every time a mobster was mentioned, they put his picture up on this big board," he said. "The government’s case ended, and I took Father Cassidy’s picture and I put it in the middle of all those mobsters. So that's the kind of trial it was."
How did 50K dockworkers strike at US ports with only 25K jobs?
October 7, 2024 // There’s a massive gulf in the numbers between those who show up for work and total membership in the powerful International Longshoremen’s Association, which won a deal late Thursday for a 62% wage increase over the next six years. That’s because half of the dockworkers at the East and Gulf coast ports are allowed to sit at home collecting “container royalties” negotiated decades ago to protect against job losses that result from innovation, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Workers at Mt. Clemens tooling company are on the way to decertifying the UAW
October 4, 2024 // Most workers at the factory believe the union does little for them, Patrick Semmens, vice president of the National Right to Work Foundation, wrote in an email to Michigan Capitol Confidential. “Yet without right-to-work, union bosses are empowered to have these employees fired if they refuse to pay for the union’s so-called ‘representation’ that they oppose.”
Harold Daggett: How union leader who fought mob tie allegations is holding the US economy to ransom
October 2, 2024 // Despite his eminent blue collar credentials, the union baron earned $728,000 last year from the ILA, plus another $173,000 as president emeritus of a local union branch, Politico reported. He previously owned a 76-foot yacht, the Obsession, and has been spotted by his members riding in a Bentley, according to The New York Times. The Justice Department, which has reportedly lost two cases against Mr Daggett, has accused him of being an “associate” of the Genovese crime family — one of the infamous “Five Families” of the US Mafia.
Opinion: The Dangers of Union Expansion in Missouri
September 25, 2024 // Consider the fact also that the UAW has spent lavishly on travel, hotels, and executive salaries over the past several years. For example, from 2013 to 2018, the UAW spent $43 million on hotels and resorts and $4 million on restaurants and bars. Two past UAW Presidents have been convicted of felonies involving financial mismanagement. Meanwhile, current President Shawn Fain is under investigation by a federal court-appointed watchdog. Fain has been accused by two union officials of retaliating against them when they refused to take actions that would have benefited Fain’s fiancé and her sister.
In California, There’s Hope for IHSS Workers Facing Rampant Union Abuse
September 19, 2024 // As Olivia attended the IHSS provider orientation necessary to obtain state funding to meet her son’s medical needs, she didn’t expect a closed-door meeting with officers of the United Domestic Workers of America (UDW). If Olivia declined to sign up for union membership, the union representatives threatened, she would be unable to complete her timecard and lose payment as a result. Though Olivia had a “gut feeling” to refuse, she signed a union membership card anyway, yielding to “peer pressure” and an optimistic belief that the UDW officers were acting in accordance with their promise to defend IHSS provider rights.