On July 15, Robert Kurtycz, former comptroller for Workers United’s Chicago and Midwest Regional Joint Board, was sentenced in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois to one day in prison (suspended) and three years of supervised release, including one year of home confinement, for conspiracy to commit commercial bribery and wire fraud in relation to his receipt of $85,962 in unauthorized expense reimbursements. He also must pay full restitution and a $200 special assessment. The Chicago-based Joint Board, like Workers United, is an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union. He had pleaded guilty this February after being indicted in May 2019. The actions follow an investigation by the U.S. Labor Department’s Office of Labor-Management Standards, Office of Inspector General and Employee Benefits Security Administration. … Read More ➡
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from National Legal & Policy Center https://nlpc.org/2020/08/14/midwest-regional-united-workers-comptroller-sentenced/
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On October 17, Rebecca Hedman, an agent for three Chicago-area health care providers, was indicted in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on one count of conspiracy to commit commercial bribery via cellphone in an unspecified sum. The charge follows a probe by the U.S. Labor Department’s Office of Labor-Management Standards, Office of Inspector General and Employee Benefits Security Administration. The action against Hedman follows 
On August 23, Esper Alexander, former president of Security, Police and Fire Professionals of America Local 1111, was sentenced in Wayne County (Michigan) District Court for the State of Michigan to six months of probation and three days of community service for larceny by conversion of funds from the Detroit union in a sum of at least $200 but less than $1,000. He had pleaded guilty in July. The actions follow an investigation by the U.S. Labor Department’s Office of Labor-Management Standards.… 
On May 7, Robert Kurtycz, former comptroller for the Service Employees International Union’s Chicago and Midwest Regional Joint Board, was indicted in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on one count of conspiracy to commit commercial bribery plus six counts of wire fraud. One of the wire fraud charges involved the electronic transfer of funds from the Chicago-based labor organization for his receipt of unauthorized expense reimbursements totaling $85,962. The five others are related to this alleged offense. The indictments follow a joint investigation by the U.S. Labor Department’s Office of Labor-Management Standards, Office of Inspector General, and Employee Benefits Security Administration.… 
A half-decade ago, the Obama administration, in apparent defiance of federal statutes, issued a rule authorizing states to deduct union dues from home care providers whose income is partly or fully Medicaid-derived. The experiment now has ended. Yesterday, May 2, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) 
On January 22, Robert Clearwater, former president of National Association of Government Employees (NAGE) Local 14-8, was sentenced in U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas to three years of supervised probation for embezzling $11,681 in funds from the Topeka union. He also was ordered to pay full restitution plus a special assessment of $700. Clearwater had pleaded guilty to embezzlement and falsifying union financial records last April after being charged in February. NAGE is an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union. The actions follow an investigation by the U.S. Labor Department’s Office of Labor-Management Standards.… 
Kamala Harris, the junior U.S. senator from California, is a woman in a hurry. Elected in 2016, Harris today announced her candidacy for president in 2020. “I’m running for president of the United States, and I’m very excited about it,” she told ABC’s “Good Morning America.” Her track record, however, suggests she would be the kind of president who among other things would cut ethical corners on behalf of labor unions. Back in 2015, Harris, as California attorney general, helped a powerful affiliate of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) scotch the purchase of a half-dozen nonprofit health care facilities by a corporate buyer to protect union jobs. While a federal judge twice has dismissed allegations by the buyer, Prime Healthcare, that she abused her office, the case deserves another look.
On December 7, Keith Franzese, former president of Security, Police and Fire Professionals of America Local 275, was sentenced in Circuit Court for Prince George’s County, Md. to 10 years in prison (suspended), 90 days of home detention and five years of probation for various acts of theft from the Greenbelt-based union. He also was ordered to pay $67,624 in restitution. Franzese, who entered an Alford plea last June, had been indicted in November 2017 on 15 counts of various acts of theft, embezzlement and fraud totaling well over $200,000. The actions follow an investigation by the U.S. Labor Department’s Office of Labor-Management Standards.… 
Obnoxiousness is a universal human trait. But for unions, it’s a tool of persuasion. Large employers, with good reason, are wary. A new paper from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, “
Few things say “money in the bank” to a union quite like Medicaid. A proposed federal rule could end this freebie. On July 12, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) 
To organized labor, they’re called dues payments. To some members of Congress, they’re called acts of theft. The critics may be right. During the past several weeks, the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs has been conducting oversight on why Medicaid, a program now consuming well over a half-trillion dollars a year in federal and state taxes, is costing so much. One reason is that unions now skim an estimated $200 million a year from the program, having been granted the authority by more than a dozen states to reclassify home health care workers, including family caregivers, as government employees. This practice undermines statutory intent and a Supreme Court ruling four years ago. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisc., for one, 
On January 23, Elizabeth Merrill, former secretary-treasurer of United Government Security Officers of America (UGSOA) Local 251, pleaded guilty in Hamilton County, Ohio Court of Common Pleas to one count of attempted theft and one count of attempted forgery from the Cincinnati-based union. She then was sentenced to 180 days in jail (suspended) and one year of probation, and was given a $100 fine. Merrill had been indicted last October in connection with the disappearance of $1,051 in union funds. The actions follow an investigation by the U.S. Labor Department’s Office of Labor-Management Standards.…