Posts tagged DUI
Corruption Officer Brings Charges against Joe Smith of Delaware Local 326
June 9, 2026 // Smith was convicted of a DUI in 2014 and illegally drove union-owned vehicles for ten years without a valid license. After the IIO began investigating, Smith obtained a conditional license that required him to install an interlock device with a breathalyzer. But Smith installed the device on his late father's car instead of on the Ford Expedition he drove for union business. Smith is accused of subjecting the union to substantial uninsured risk, never advising Local 326 or the IBT of his arrest, and lying under oath to IIO investigators to cover up his actions. The IIO charges estimate that he has cost the union $100,000 in unwarranted payments.
Commentary: Taxpayer-Funded Union Work Deserves Transparency, Limits
March 21, 2025 // The Office of Personnel Management estimated federal employees spent at least 2.6 million hours on official time in fiscal year 2019, at a cost to taxpayers of $135 million. This was after President Trump sharply curbed taxpayer-funded union time via a 2018 executive order. Because unions have a right to unspecified quantities of official time under federal statute, the most the president can do without congressional action is implement parameters around its use or, in the case of the Biden administration, crank it to 11. In his drive to become “the most pro-union president in history,” Biden rescinded Trump’s executive order limiting official time and directed federal agencies to grant unions more taxpayer-funded union time.