Posts tagged corruption
Opinion: Union wants a second helping of nutso, corrupt Cali fast-food law
August 6, 2024 // Higher wages mean a higher bar of entry for kids looking for summer jobs and low-education adults looking for stable work. And higher prices for consumers already rocked by inflation. Sure seems like progressives don’t really care much about the little guy they allegedly stand up for.
New Details Emerge in the Misconduct Investigation Into Shawn Fain and the UAW
July 22, 2024 // A recent third-party audit of the union’s culture, which was recommended by the monitor, confirmed these concerns. The audit found that 40% percent of UAW’s staff members would decline to report acts of misconduct over fear of retaliation.
Philadelphia labor union powerbroker gets 6 years for bribery and theft
July 18, 2024 // Dougherty was a longtime power broker in Democratic politics, steering tens of millions in union campaign contributions to candidates for office, including his brother, who was elected to the state's high court in 2015. Federal prosecutors said Dougherty also used the union’s money to buy groceries, restaurant meals, tickets to concerts and sporting events, and other personal items. He paid contractors with union funds for work on his house, his relatives' houses and a neighborhood bar he owned, and arranged for friends and family members to be on the union payroll, according to the indictment. A co-defendant in last year's trial, former union president Brian Burrows, was sentenced last month to four years in prison. Dougherty also was convicted of bribing Philadelphia council member Bobby Henon. Prosecutors said Dougherty gave Henon a no-show union job.
UAW President Faces Allegations of Demanding Benefits for Domestic Partner
July 10, 2024 // The filing states that Barofsky is investigating whether Fain’s decision in May to remove UAW Vice President Rich Boyer from his role as the union’s top negotiator with Chrysler parent Stellantis was in retaliation for Boyer’s alleged “refusal to accede to demands” to take actions that “would have benefitted [the president’s] domestic partner and her sister.” Those actions would have amounted to “financial misconduct” Boyer later claimed, according to a separate document Barofsky’s office filed Monday. The 55-year-old Fain is currently engaged, according to the UAW website.
New Haven Firefighters Win Fight for Independence
June 14, 2024 // The discovery process and UPFFA officials’ depositions revealed that the statewide union had been mishandling members’ dues. In fact, UPFFA’s president had used union money to pay for vacations, expensive meals, baseball games, and other questionable expenses. UPFFA’s treasurer even admitted to knowingly misreporting $20,000 in political action committee funds. In the end, after 130 court filings, Local 825 achieved a ruling that upheld its independence, exposed UPFFA officials’ financial misdeeds, and reached a settlement that required them to pay nothing to the statewide union.
Pennsylvania Officials Charge Two in Scheme to Divert Union Funds
May 15, 2024 // Woods, 39, who held a position as an executive officer within District 1199C of the National Union of Hospital and Healthcare Employees, is accused of approving union payments to Hardy’s unlicensed construction company under false pretenses. According to the investigation conducted by the Office of Attorney General and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the duo misled the union’s executive board with fabricated bids from other companies to inflate the price paid for bar renovations at the union’s premises. Subsequently, a significant portion of these payments were funneled to Hardy’s political consulting firm, purportedly to support political activities ahead of the 2019 Democratic Primary election. The grand jury’s investigation led to recommendations for charges against both men, including participation in corrupt organizations, theft, and forgery. Hardy, 51, alongside Woods, faces accusations of circumventing Pennsylvania campaign finance laws and federal union reporting regulations.
No, Unions Aren’t Having a Resurgence—and That’s Good for Workers
May 9, 2024 // Introducing more competition to the private sector union business model could help. For that, my colleague Liya Palagashvili suggests ending the exclusive-representation clause that "provides government-granted monopoly status to a union supported by 51 percent of an employer's workers, giving it the sole authority to negotiate. This means that if some workers want a different union—for example a newer one that might raise the bar in terms of what it can offer—they are out of luck." Today, these workers aren't allowed to engage in any negotiations with their employers, and they still have to pay the original union's fees.
Parity in Labor Transparency
April 24, 2024 // The institutional left has sought to reward Big Labor by making union organizing campaigns shorter, or bypassing them with “card check.” Big Labor knows that the dynamics of union organizing rely on labor unions being able to make their pitches to workers from trusted positions without skeptical responses from other workers or employer representatives. And they only need to win the vote once to start collecting dues and engaging in compulsory bargaining. As long as government-recognized and government-empowered compulsory union bargaining exists, the government require workers be given all the information before deciding whether to form a union and bargain collectively. The SALT Act would accomplish this needed reform.
Hochul wins fight to create anti-mob group aimed at NYC waterfront
April 19, 2024 // Like the prior comission, it will continue to conduct critical investigations into organized crime in the Port of New York, as well as ensure fair hiring practices that bar discrimination. It will conduct background checks and license companies and people working in the cargo business at the port. The commission will have the power to oust employees from the workforce who are found to have engaged in serious criminality and other violations.
Commentary: Chattanooga VW Workers Need to Be Wary of the UAW’s Push to Unionize Plant
April 10, 2024 // Autoworkers need to be skeptical of UAW promises and motives, knowing that the UAW is at its lowest membership level since the great recession. This deeply personal decision should only be made after knowing all the facts, not just what they hear from a union hungry for Tennessee dues. The UAW can make grand promises to employees, but once they are organized can refuse accountability on any unfulfilled promises. Remember: workers cannot remove a union just by claiming they were promised something that the union did not deliver on.