top of page

Union corruption

 

Certainly, corruption can exist in any institution, corporation or government agency.  Like any other organization, unions are not immune to it and, in fact, have many instances of corruption and other crimes in their history.  

 

Unfortunately, it is the members who have been hurt by those actions.

 

Union officers stealing members' money is one of the most common forms of corruption.  Every year the U.S. Department of Labor publishes a list of the ones they caught (of course, there's no way of knowing how many they didn't catch).  

 

Here are just a few examples:

 

United Steelworkers Union

 

  • Former President of United Steelworkers Local 4-318 (Edison, N.J.) guilty of embezzling $93,965.00.

  • Former Financial Secretary of United Steelworkers Local 561 (Lancaster, Ohio) guilty of embezzling $24,833.00.

  • Former Secretary-Treasurer of United Steelworkers Local 15485 (Springfield, Mo.) guilty of stealing $12,284.00 in union funds.

  • Former President of United Steelworkers Local 2-47 (Green Bay, Wis.) guilty of theft of “an amount between $2,500 and $5,000.00.”

  • Former Treasurer for United Steelworkers Local 12-1097 (Westport, Ore.) guilty of embezzling $19,911.00.

  • Former President of United Steelworkers Local 378 (Aynor, S.C.) guilty of embezzling $9,345.00.

  • Former Financial Secretary-Treasurer of United Steelworkers Local 208 (Irving, Tex.) guilty of embezzling $54,416.00 of union funds.

  • Former Financial Secretary of United Steelworkers Local 458 (Plant City, Fla.) guilty of embezzling $43,941.00 in union funds.

  • Former Treasurer of United Steelworkers Local 9-458 (Plant City, Fla.) guilty of embezzling $65,895.00.

  • Former Financial-Secretary of United Steelworkers Local 480 (Pottsville, Pa.) guilty of embezzling $2,626.00.

International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers

 

  • Former Secretary-Treasurer of IBEW Local 2359 (Sugar Grove, Ohio) guilty of embezzling $158,150.00.

  • Former business manager for IBEW Local 898 (San Angelo, Tex.) guilty of embezzling $11,164.00.

  • Former business manager for IBEW Local 545 (St. Joseph, Mo.) guilty of embezzling $23,768.00.

  • Former dues clerk for IBEW Local 58 (Detroit, Mich.) guilty of embezzling $101,059.00.  

  • Former President of IBEW Local 249 (Geneva, N.Y.) guilty of embezzling $39,049.00.

International Association of Machinists

 

  • Former Business Representative of International Association of Machinists District Lodge 65 (St. Cloud, Minn.) guilty of stealing $5,919.00. 

  • Former Secretary-Treasurer of International Association of Machinists Lodge 2458 (Minooka, Ill.) guilty of embezzling $62,263.00.

 

​

Whose money was stolen?  Hard-working members who have lost millions of dollars!

Other types of union corruption are described on other pages of this web site, such as:

 

  • Manipulating union elections so officers stay in power (click here)

 

  • Forging workers' signatures on union cards to unionize them without their knowing (click here)

To learn more:

 

The Department of Labor (DOL) web site lists criminal actions by union officials, including several hundred cases over the past two years.  To go to the DOL site, click here.  

 

bottom of page