Workers Fed Up With Corruption, Leftist Leadership

During President Donald Trump’s first term in office, he consistently pushed his optimistic, pro-growth message to blue-collar union workers and their leaders. Today, while union leaders may play their politics, the members realize more than anyone that union workers have always benefited the most when the American economy is shining.

The fact is, many union leaders wanting to represent and keep their membership’s thinking in line, are playing some dishonest games on the side.  Games like wire fraud, tax evasion, falsification of records, altercations, and retaliation against members.

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Robert F. Kennedy became a prominent enemy of the Teamsters (first as a U.S. Senate staffer and later as U.S. Attorney General) for its mob ties.

In retaliation, the union remained neutral in the 1960 election between Kennedy’s brother John and Richard Nixon. 

The Teamsters’ feud with the Kennedys was so intense that after John F. Kennedy’s assassination, union head Jimmy Hoffa resisted lowering the flags at Teamsters headquarters in mourning.

After Richard Nixon pardoned Jimmy Hoffa in 1971, the union backed Republicans in the 1972, 1980, 1984, and 1988 Presidential elections, only returning to the Democratic fold in 1992 after the George H.W. Bush Administration pursued the consent decree.

In 1975, while waging legal efforts to regain his lost position, Hoffa went missing near Detroit around the time he was to meet with two alleged mobsters. His famous disappearance remains unsolved, but a mob assassination is widely believed to be the cause of the disappearance.

Later, then Teamster boss, Ron Carey, used liberal groups as shell organizations to launder Teamster treasury money into his re-election campaign.

The scheme was massive and allegedly implicated numerous Democratic Party and liberal organizations including the Clinton-Gore 1996 re-election campaign, the Democratic National Committee, the AFL-CIO, and community organizing group, Citizen Action.

Former Teamsters political director William Hamilton, Jr. would be convicted and sentenced to prison for directing $885,000 in Teamsters treasury funds to liberal groups to be laundered back into Carey’s campaign.

After a controversial campaign in which he also had to survive charges of campaign finance improprieties, James P. Hoffa—son of the disappeared mob-tied Jimmy—was elected Teamsters General President in 1998. 

Hoffa continued Carey’s march of the formerly centrist Teamsters toward the political left, joining the 1999 anti-capitalist demonstrations in Seattle, opposing the Clinton administration’s trade openings with China, and flirting with endorsing Green Party candidate Ralph Nader before settling on Democrat Al Gore in the 2000 Presidential election.

Since 2000, the Teamsters donations have been given primarily to Democrats.

Recent Leftist Leanings

On July 20, 2020, Teamsters participated in the “Strike for Black Lives.” Labor unions and other organizations participated in the mass strike in 25 different cities to protest racism and “acts of police violence” in the United States.

Staying close to Deep State strategies, with strong influences from the World Economic Forum and New World Order, the Teamsters union recently paid $115,540 to use Democrat-aligned data firm Catalist for “strategic plan services.” 

● In addition, they donated to advocacy group State Innovation Exchange (SiX) and for-profit public relations firm BerlinRosen to use their services. 

● The group also donated $150,000 to nonprofit campaign group Ballot Initiative Strategy Center (BISC), which itself has received funding from other left-of-center groups. 

Just last week, Teamster General President Sean O’Brien indicated a poll they were holding with membership would help determine their “official endorsement.”

The results:

Close to 60 percent of members who participated in their electronic poll said they supported Donald Trump, compared to only 34 percent who backed Harris. A separate survey conducted via phone similarly had Trump up big: 58 percent to just 31 percent.

O’Brien’s notoriety comes from heading the Teamsters United Slate of the troubled Local 25 in Boston with its historic ties to corruption and organized crime.

It is notable that Local 25, had become the constant subject of both local newspaper and television news stories due to its members notorious behavior and close association to gangsters James “Whitey” Bulger and the Winter Hill Gang.

In 1994 The Boston Herald reported that an ex-con turned movie crew chief of Local 25 – William “Billy” O’Brien, was named in an indictment for an armored car robbery in New Hampshire that ended in the execution of two guards. He is the father of current Teamster president Sean O’Brien, who became Local 25 leader in 2007.

Thugs became O’Brien’s personal goons and are referred today as “Seanies.”

“But O’Brien didn’t lift a finger when it came to addressing the ills that have afflicted Local 25,” one report revealed. “O’Brien is a man who will stop at nothing to achieve his ends. In the past he has been referred to as the “the Boston Bully.” 

No matter how the union bosses and mainstream media spin it, the majority of their membership feel ignored.

What is this all about?

At least one big reason O’Brien would not commit to his membership majority is Biden-Harris  Inflation Reduction Act, which suspiciously designated billions of dollars to construct EV facilities in mostly low income areas.

Note that nobody is asking if residents of poor communities can afford electric vehicles, but the Biden-Harris administration is generously funding EV charging stations for them. How would a low income person even be able to afford the repairs on an EV they are not financially capable of?

All of this epitomizes the flagrant betrayal of member trust. Such instances vividly illustrate the risks inherent in entrusting one’s dues contributions to organizations where accountability may be compromised by individuals with ulterior motives.

Here are just some clues, showing the grim potential for union leaders to betray the trust of their members, just from 2024:

● This January, the Teamsters union agreed to settlement of $2.9 million on an employment discrimination suit brought by 13 former employees, all Black and Hispanic, who alleged they were unlawfully terminated on the basis of race.

The group alleged that they were let go “without warning or justification, by email” after General President Sean O’Brien took office. The plaintiffs maintained the union’s decisions transformed their department, which leads union organizing campaigns, “from a diverse department into a majority white department.”

● Muriel Newman, formerly over AFGE Local 2779, was  convicted of nine counts of wire fraud and falsification of records.

● Kenneth Wynder Jr., former President of the Law Enforcement Employees Benevolent Association (LEEBA), was sentenced to 40 months in prison for a number of charges including wire fraud and tax evasion. He was ordered to pay $838,683 in restitution, $529,000 in forfeiture, and a $700 special assessment. 

● Andrew Brown, former Benefits Coordinator for LEEBA, was ordered to pay $529,000 in restitution, $3,049 in forfeiture, and a $200 special assessment.

● Randal Dunlap was indicted for embezzling around $86,000 from the National Association of Letter Carriers Branch 1018’s coffers. 

● Brunilda Vargas was charged for an illegal dues deduction scheme at United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 5502. She challenged UAW officials’ illegal demands with free legal aid from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation. Union bosses quickly backed down, and in June entered into a settlement approved by National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Region 4 which fully vindicates Vargas’ and her coworkers’ rights.

Tip of the Iceberg

“While we are happy that we were able to help Vargas and her coworkers fight UAW misconduct, this instance is but the tip of the iceberg when it comes to UAW malfeasance,” commented National Right to Work Foundation Vice President Patrick Semmens. “The recent federal probe into UAW officials stealing and misusing workers’ money has sent multiple top UAW bosses to jail, and uncovered a shocking culture of contempt for workers’ rights.”

● UFCW President Joe Duffle, of United Food and Commercial Union, Local 1167, faced charges of misdemeanor battery following a fracas with former COD President and current COD Board of Trustee Joel Kinnamon at a Democrats of the Desert meeting.

“They were arguing, and Joseph punched Joel three times,” according to authorities. “Joel fell back on a table. The deputy could not see visible injuries. Several witnesses were interviewed and provided the same story. Joel did sign a private person’s arrest form.

The Teamsters’ Discrimination Settlement: The $2.9 million settlement of a discrimination lawsuit against the Teamsters, alleging wrongful termination based on race, further complicates the narrative on union trustworthiness. Such incidents suggest that issues of fairness and justice within unions extend beyond financial mismanagement to encompass broader ethical failings.

These cases collectively paint a disturbing portrait of certain unions as entities where corruption and retaliation can flourish, unchecked by the very principles they supposedly uphold. They also offer insight into why employees should think twice before committing a portion of their hard-earned wages to organizations that are all too often tainted by corruption and bad conduct.

Prior to 2024 Highlights

● Former Lexington KY Local 651 principal officer Mike Philbeck was charged and found guilty of embezzling and misusing union funds. 

● Former San Diego Local 683 principal officer Todd Mendez was charged in 2021 with embezzlement of union funds and threatening union officers to not reveal a settlement of a sexual harassment case against Mendez. 

● Redding California Local 137 business agent Stan Stroud was charged after he was arrested with several pounds of methamphetamine and other narcotics, along with large amounts of cash and automatic weapons in his union-owned car and in his home.

● John Ulrich, former Vice President and Recording Secretary of Teamsters Local 812 (a union representing beverage industry workers located in Great Neck, N.Y.), was charged with offenses related to alleged bribes from a third party administrator in exchange for use of his influence with the union and its health fund.

● Judith Barker, former bookkeeper of Teamsters Local 519 (located in Knoxville, Tenn.), was charged with one count of failure to maintain records, in violation of 29 U.S.C. 439(c).

● Scott Alexander and Nancy Alexander, former President and former office administrator, respectively, for Teamsters Local 50 (located in Belleville, Ill.), were indicted for embezzlement and wire fraud.