Revised June 2008

Introduction 

Assuring financial integrity and accountability and safeguarding union democracy for 

America’s union members is the mission of the Department of Labor’s Office of LaborManagement Standards (OLMS). In 1959, Congress enacted the Labor-Management Reporting 

and Disclosure Act (LMRDA) to combat union-related corruption, and OLMS continues today 

to pursue this important goal through criminal and civil enforcement of the LMRDA. 

The LMRDA establishes a bill of rights for union members; reporting requirements for unions, 

union officers, union employees, employers, and others; rules for establishing and maintaining 

trusteeships; standards for the election of union officers; and safeguards for protecting union 

funds and assets. OLMS also administers Executive Order 13201, which requires federal 

contractors to notify employees of their rights concerning payment of union dues or fees. 

OLMS is the front line agency responsible for enforcing the LMRDA through its criminal 

investigations of violations such as embezzlement, deprivation of rights by violence, 

extortionate picketing, willful failure to file reports, filing false reports, and fraud related to 

union elections. Civil investigations include violations of the LMRDA in union election 

procedures, financial disclosure requirements, and trusteeship standards. OLMS also performs 

audits of union finances, administers a comprehensive compliance assistance program, and 

offers information and technical support to union officers and members to further the goals of 

financial integrity, union democracy, and transparency. Where audits or investigations suggest 

evidence of organized crime or labor racketeering, OLMS refers cases to the Office of Inspector 

General and conducts joint investigations with them. 

Summary Statistics 

Safeguarding Union Assets 

As part of its effort to protect and safeguard union funds and assets, OLMS investigates 

possible embezzlement from unions and violations of other criminal laws. Since 2001, courts 

hearing OLMS criminal cases have ordered $88,280,099 in restitution to be paid to defrauded 

unions and other parties. OLMS also conducts audits of local, intermediate and international 

unions to ensure and promote their compliance with the LMRDA. 

OLMS Enforcement Statistics – Financial Integrity FY 2007 Change from 

FY 2001 

Criminal Cases Processed 406 +9.4% 

Indictments 99 +1.0% 

Convictions 118 +15.7% 

Compliance Audits Conducted – Local + Intermediate Unions (CAP) 775 +226% 

Compliance Audits Conducted – International Unions (I-CAP) 7 +600% 

Compliance Audits – I-CAP Follow-up audits 2 +100% 

2007 Annual Report 

Office of Labor-Management Standards

Employment Standards Administration 

U.S. Department of Labor January 2008

Don Todd, Deputy Assistant Secretary
2

Financial Reporting and Recordkeeping 

OLMS offers extensive compliance assistance sessions for union members and officials on the 

financial reporting and recordkeeping obligations under the LMRDA. As part of its 

commitment to financial transparency for union members and in an effort to better protect 

America's workers by ensuring fuller compliance with the financial reporting requirements 

under the law, OLMS initiated a special program to deal with labor organizations that were still 

delinquent in filing their annual financial reports for 2005. OLMS also provided compliance 

assistance to train union officials in the use of electronic filing software and the reporting 

requirements of the revised electronic Form LM-2, the annual financial report for the nation’s 

largest unions, as well as other OLMS public use forms including the newly revised Form LM30, Labor Organization Officer and Employee Report. 

OLMS Enforcement Statistics – Reporting and Disclosure FY 2007 

Delinquent Reports Cases Processed 2,088 

Deficient Reports Cases Processed 778 

Union Democracy 

When a union member files a timely complaint protesting a regularly scheduled election of 

union officers, OLMS initiates an investigation. If the investigation determines that the union 

violated the requirements of the LMRDA, the union may agree to allow OLMS to supervise a 

new election. If the union refuses to voluntarily agree to remedy the violation, OLMS may take 

legal action seeking a new election supervised by OLMS. 

The agency also conducts investigations to determine the validity of the imposition or 

continuation of trusteeships imposed by national unions on subordinate bodies. Trusteeship 

investigations can only be conducted upon receipt of a complaint from a member or 

subordinate body. 

OLMS Enforcement Statistics – Union Democracy FY 2007 

Election Investigations Conducted 113 

Lawsuits Filed 7 

Voluntary Compliance Agreements Obtained 25 

Supervised Elections 26 

Trusteeship Investigations 9 

Program Activities 

Criminal Enforcement 

Union officers, employees, and representatives have a duty to manage the funds and property 

of the union solely for the benefit of the union in accordance with its constitution and bylaws. A 

union officer or employee who embezzles or misappropriates union funds or assets commits a 

federal crime punishable by a fine and/or imprisonment. OLMS is the agency within the 

Department of Labor responsible for investigating these crimes. Its vigorous criminal 

enforcement program has resulted in over 840 indictments and 800 convictions since the 

beginning of FY 2001. Following are some of the most significant cases during FY 2007. 
3

OLMS Investigates Officer of New York 

State Nurses 

An investigation by OLMS and the Town of 

Colonie, New York led to the indictment, 

conviction and sentencing of John Daley, 

former chief financial officer of the New 

York State Nurses Association in Albany, 

New York. The investigation established 

that Mr. Daley wrote a series of 

unauthorized union checks to himself 

totaling $1,193,869 over a five-year period. 

He pled guilty to second degree larceny and 

on March 20, 2007, was sentenced to 31⁄2 to 

10 years in jail and ordered to make full 

restitution to the union. 

Lone Holdout in $1.9M Embezzlement is 

Convicted and Sentenced 

A joint investigation by OLMS and the FBI 

led to charges of conspiracy, moneylaundering, filing false LM reports, and 

embezzlement of more than $10 million from 

union and benefit plan funds belonging to 

members of International Longshoremen’s 

Association Local 1740 in Puerto Rico. A 

23-count indictment charged former Local 

1740 president Jorge Aponte-Figueroa, 3 

union attorneys, 6 businessmen and 3 

corporations with participating in the 

scheme. To date, eight guilty pleas have 

been received from 2 corporations, 1 

attorney, and 5 businessmen. These 

individuals conspired to embezzle more 

than $8 million from the union’s health plan 

by laundering money through their 

businesses and corporations. They face 

sentences ranging from four months house 

arrest to 17 years in prison. 

On April 3, 2007, Jorge Aponte-Figueroa, 

the lone holdout in a scheme to embezzle 

more than $1.9 million in union funds, was 

found guilty of all charges at trial. Six of the 

co-conspirators served as witnesses in 

Aponte-Figueroa’s trial. He was sentenced 

on August 31, 2007, to five years 

imprisonment followed by three years 

supervised release. 

Steelworkers Local Treasury Raided—

More than $274,000 Stolen 

From November 1999 through July 2006, 

Alan Raines, former secretary-treasurer for 

Steelworkers Local 1358 in Southfield, 

Michigan, wrote 482 unauthorized checks to 

himself totaling more than $274,000 using a 

separate set of local checks and forging the 

signature of the local’s treasurer. Raines 

admitted he had been writing checks to 

himself ranging from $1000 to $2000 per 

month since 1996 or 1997. Raines was 

charged with embezzlement and bank fraud, 

pled guilty to the embezzlement charge and 

is awaiting sentencing. 

OLMS Audit Reveals Embezzlement 

A compliance audit of San Mateo, 

California-based National Association of 

Letter Carriers Branch 1280 uncovered an 

embezzlement of union funds totaling more 

than $170,000. On May 24, 2007, the 

ensuing criminal investigation resulted in a 

federal grand jury indictment of Branch 

President Graham Paul Vane for one count 

of embezzlement and four counts of making 

false statements to a government agency. Vane 

is charged with using a union-issued credit 

card for personal expenses, and using union 

funds to pay for his wife’s cell phone bills 

and personal charges made on ten of his 

own credit cards. The personal expenses 

paid with union funds included dining, 

travel for family members, jewelry, wine, 

massages, pet expenses, utility bills, and 

groceries. 
4

Union Members Receive Immediate 

Restitution of $91,605 

Andrew Konspore, former treasurer of the 

Northeast Emergency Services Union in 

New Haven, CT, pled guilty to embezzling

$91,605 in union funds. Konspore made full 

restitution to the union before beginning his 

five-month prison term, which will be 

followed by 36 months of supervised release. 

Sentencing of Elevator Constructor 

Local 1 Member 

Leonard Capozzoli, a member of Elevator 

Constructor Local 1 in Long Island City, 

New York, was sentenced to three years 

probation, ordered to pay $75,216 in 

restitution and a special assessment as a 

result of his guilty plea to conspiracy to 

demand and receive unlawful labor payments, 

conspiracy to commit mail fraud, and conspiracy 

to defraud the United States. Capozzoli was a 

part of a scheme involving no-show jobs in 

the New York City construction industry. 

Capozzoli participated as a beneficiary of, 

and was instrumental in arranging for, noshow jobs for others. He kicked back 

proceeds from the no-show jobs to Lead 

Operator Anthony Degennaro, a union 

representative and Executive Vice President 

Charles Novak. This conviction is the result 

of a joint investigation with the FBI. 

Former Treasurer Embezzles Over $164,000 

Judy Thurman, former treasurer of the 

Federated Independent Texas Union Local 

900 in Fort Worth, Texas, pled guilty to one 

count of embezzlement of union funds totaling 

$164,268. This criminal case was opened 

following an OLMS audit in which OLMS 

was thwarted in its efforts to obtain the 

union’s monthly bank statements from 

Thurman. Subpoenaed bank records 

revealed 63 union checks, endorsed by 

Thurman, that were deposited into her 

personal bank accounts. Thurman also 

made cash withdrawals of union funds 

amounting to $35,850 for personal use. 

Thurman pled guilty before trial. 

Guilty Pleas Entered by Officers of AFGE 

Local 1793 at VA Medical Center 

Former president Lawrence Marable and 

former treasurer Deborah Powell of AFGE 

Local 1793 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 

each pled guilty to one count of conspiracy, 

five counts of theft of property in a special 

territorial jurisdiction of the United States, and 

one count of making false statements as they 

conspired to convert union dues checks to 

their own use. The two stole $184,130 of the 

local’s funds when they converted dues 

check-off payments to their personal use. 

Marable and Powell, also officers of the 

Veterans Administration credit union, used 

the credit union to launder union funds by 

establishing three separate accounts, one in 

each of their names and a third as a general 

union steward account. Marable and 

Powell deposited union dues checks into 

these accounts and then withdrew the funds 

by issuing and cashing 185 money orders. 

OLMS worked with the Veterans Affairs 

Inspector General’s Office during this 

investigation. 

Saginaw City Councilman Pleads Guilty 

Willie Haynes, former financial secretary of 

UAW Local 362 in Bay City, Michigan pled 

guilty to one count of willfully making false 

statements on annual LM financial 

disclosure reports filed by Local 362 for 

2001, 2002 and 2003. Haynes, a member of 

the Saginaw City Council since July 15, 

2002, paid himself nearly $9,000 in union 

funds for hours he claimed to be missing 

work to perform union business. OLMS 

compared payroll records from the UAW 

International Union, UAW Local 362, and 

Haynes’ employer, which showed that 

Haynes misrepresented these lost-time 

payments on the local’s financial reports. 
5

Office Manager Sentenced on One Count 

of Embezzlement 

On November 14, 2006, Connie Jacobs, 

former Office Manager for the Electrical 

Workers (IBEW) Local 495, pled guilty to 

one count of embezzlement of union funds

after she wrote checks to herself from Local 

495 bank accounts. On February 21, 2007, in 

the United States District Court for the 

Eastern District of North Carolina, Jacobs 

was sentenced to twelve months and one 

day incarceration followed by three years 

probation. She was also ordered to pay a 

special assessment fee and $119,432 in 

restitution to the union. 

Ludlow/Humphries Union Embezzlement 

and Public Corruption Case Decided 

A high profile, multi-year investigation of 

the former president of a 20,000-member 

union consisting primarily of employees of 

the Los Angeles Unified Public School 

District was finally brought to a close with 

the second conviction of Janett Humphries 

on May 14, 2007. 

In a jury trial ending on October 27, 2006, 

Humphries was found guilty of two counts 

of conspiracy and two counts of perjury in 

Los Angeles County Superior Court. She 

was later sentenced to six months in jail, 

followed by six months of electronic 

monitoring. The state judge dismissed a 

defense motion for home confinement 

because of the element of public corruption 

in her offense that involved using union 

money and employees to fund Martin 

Ludlow’s primary and election campaigns 

for Los Angeles City Council. 

Ludlow won his campaign for election to 

the City Council due in part to the union 

support provided by Humphries. Shortly 

thereafter, he assumed the post of Executive 

Director of the Los Angeles County 

Federation of Labor. As a result of Ludlow’s 

indictment on federal conspiracy charges in 

March 2006, the results of the OLMS 

embezzlement investigation became known, 

and Ludlow was forced to resign from the 

Federation of Labor. On April 24, 2006, he 

was sentenced in California State Superior 

Court to 3 years probation and $45,000 in 

fines for illegally diverting union funds to his 

campaign, in violation of the Los Angeles 

County public office election code. On June 

5, 2006, he was sentenced in U.S. District 

Court to 5 years probation, 2,000 hours of 

community service, and ordered to pay 

restitution of $36,400 to SEIU Local 99 for 

the union money Humphries illegally 

diverted for his use. 

 

Humphries pled guilty in U.S. District 

Court for the Central District of California 

to one count of conspiracy and three counts 

of embezzlement of union funds on 

November 13, 2006. She was sentenced to 5 

years probation, 1,000 hours of community 

service, and ordered to pay $5,149 in 

restitution to Service Employees 

International Union Local 99. The 

conviction was the result of a plea 

agreement. 

Both Humphries and Ludlow are barred 

from holding union office or employment 

for 13 years following these convictions. 

The two-year investigation was conducted 

by a task force of OLMS, DOL-Office of 

Inspector General (DOL-OIG), and FBI 

agents and was coordinated with the chiefs 

of the Los Angeles County District 

Attorney’s public corruption unit and the 

criminal division of the United States 

Attorney’s office for the Central District of 

California. 
6

OLMS Audit Leads to Guilty Plea for 

Embezzlement 

When OLMS contacted Professional Airline 

Flight Control Association Treasurer Kirk 

Allan Tuttle, in Atlanta, Georgia, to 

schedule a compliance audit, Tuttle 

confessed to embezzling union funds. Tuttle 

admitted to converting the union’s money 

to his own use by writing checks payable to 

cash and using the union’s debit card to 

make cash withdrawals. 

Tuttle, who used the stolen funds to 

gamble, started embezzling the union’s 

money in the fall of 2004 after being elected 

as the union’s treasurer. To cover up his 

embezzlement, Tuttle set up “dummy” 

investment accounts in the union’s 

bookkeeping software with ING and Ford 

Motor Credit Corporation (FMCC) and 

recorded transfers of money from the 

union’s checking account to the investment 

accounts. The transfers Tuttle recorded in 

the union’s books represented the union 

funds he embezzled. 

To further conceal his embezzlement, Tuttle 

went to ING and FMCC Web sites to learn 

the amount of interest they were paying 

and used those interest rates to determine 

the amount of interest the union would 

have earned on its money had Tuttle set up 

actual accounts with ING and FMCC. 

Tuttle prepared and presented financial 

reports containing the bogus information to 

the union membership each month. On 

May 31, 2007, Tuttle entered a guilty plea 

after being indicted for stealing $172,846 in 

union funds. Tuttle paid over $159,000 in 

restitution and received a nine-month 

prison sentence. 

Audit Finds Embezzlement by Mine 

Workers Local 1638 Financial Secretary 

An OLMS criminal investigation established 

that from June 8, 2002 though June 16, 2005, 

Danny E. Beyser, former financial secretary 

of Mine Workers Local 1638 in Moundsville, 

West Virginia, converted $83,274 in union 

funds to his own use by paying personal 

bills ($27,900), requesting and receiving 

reimbursement for unauthorized expenses 

and excessive mileage claims ($9,750), 

requesting and receiving reimbursement for 

false lost wage claims ($16,739), cashing or 

depositing voluntary employee donations 

collected to assist members facing financial 

hardships to his personal accounts 

($25,472), and causing the union to suffer 

tax penalties and interest charges due to his 

failure to file timely reports with the IRS 

($3,414). 

In an effort to hide his embezzlement, 

Beyser made false entries in union records 

and the Form LM-3 annual financial reports 

filed with the Secretary of Labor. On June 5, 

2007, in the United States District Court for 

the Northern District of West Virginia, 

Beyser was charged with embezzling $83,274 

in union funds. Beyser pled guilty on 

October 2, 2007, and was awaiting 

sentencing at the time of this publication. 

Two Officers of AFGE Local 96 Guilty of 

Embezzlement 

Mary Love, former president of AFGE Local 

96, in St. Louis, Missouri was sentenced to 

18 months confinement on March 2, 2007, 

after being found guilty in a jury trial of 

embezzling $69,125 and lying on the local’s 

annual financial report, Form LM-3, in an 

attempt to conceal her embezzlement. 

Former Treasurer Dana France received a 

sentence of five years probation following 

her guilty plea to embezzling $26,950 from 

the local. Both former officers were ordered 

to make full restitution to the union of the 

moneys stolen. 
7

Financial Reporting and Recordkeeping

Division of International Union Audits 

Exposes Violations 

The Division of International Union Audits 

(DIUA), established by OLMS in 2004, 

completed its third full year conducting the 

International Compliance Audit Program (ICAP). 

During FY 2007, unions completed their 

second fiscal year under the Department's 

revised recordkeeping and reporting 

requirements, submitting their Form LM-2s 

using electronic filing software. Of the 

seven audits and two follow-up audits 

DIUA conducted in FY 2007, eight were of 

unions that had submitted their Form LM-2 

electronically. One union was not required 

to file electronically since it files Form LM-3. 

DIUA also began work on one additional 

audit and two follow-up audits that will be 

completed in FY 2008. 

Seven audits and four follow-up audits are 

scheduled for FY 2008. DIUA continues to 

focus predominately on international 

unions with no prior audit history. 

The audit findings are provided to the 

unions in closing letters, which are later 

posted on the OLMS Web site, 

www.olms.dol.gov. For serious deficiencies 

and violations that have not been corrected 

by the union at the time of the exit 

interview, DIUA conducts follow-up audits 

to review LMRDA compliance, discuss the 

corrective actions the union has taken to 

resolve deficiencies, and continue 

cooperative efforts to assist the union in 

coming into compliance. 

During the FY 2007 audits and follow-up 

reviews, DIUA staff identified a total of 116 

violations of the LMRDA and instances of 

inadequate internal controls: 

• 64 involved reporting deficiencies. 

• 18 concerned inadequate recordkeeping 

violations. 

• 28 related to the lack of internal controls 

safeguarding financial operations. 

• 6 included fiduciary responsibility, 

bonding, and office holding prohibitions. 

Union Advisory Services Program 

In 2007, OLMS established a Union 

Advisory Services program to provide 

enhanced advisory support and compliance 

assistance to labor organizations at the 

national, intermediate, and local levels. 

This support and assistance is intended to 

promote union democracy, transparency 

and financial integrity under the LMRDA. 

A primary function of the program is to 

review union constitutions and bylaws to 

determine if any provisions conflict, or 

could be applied to conflict, with the law 

and to advise unions of any changes needed 

to bring those provisions into compliance 

with the law. In 2007, OLMS instituted 86 

constitution reviews and mailed 45 

constitution review letters; 3 reviews did 

not result in a letter. 

If a union’s constitution and bylaws do not 

fully explain the union’s policy relating to 

13 issues specified in section 201(a) of the 

LMRDA, the union must file detailed 

statements with OLMS describing those 

policies on Form LM-1, Labor Organization 

Information Report. These issues include 

matters of vital importance to union 

members such as how assessments are 

imposed on members, the procedure for 

authorizing disbursements of union funds, 

how contracts are ratified, and how strikes 

are authorized. A union’s latest Form LM-1 

is reviewed at the same time as the 

constitution and bylaws and the union will 
8

be requested to file an amended Form LM-1 

if the information on file with OLMS is not 

current. In addition, all initial Form LM-1 

reports filed by newly created unions are 

reviewed and a revised initial Form LM-1 is 

sought if the initial report is deficient. In 

2007, 206 initial Form LM-1 reports were 

reviewed and 106 letters seeking new or 

amended reports were prepared. 

The Union Advisory Services program 

prevents violations of union members’ 

rights by notifying unions in advance of 

problems or potential problems with their 

constitutions and bylaws. In addition, it 

increases transparency of union operations 

by ensuring that union members have 

immediate access through the Online Public 

Disclosure Room at www.unionreports.gov

to a copy of their union’s latest constitution 

and bylaws and its policies on those matters 

required by law to be made public. 

Compliance Assistance 

For the past year, OLMS reports the 

following Compliance Assistance successes: 

• OLMS has continued its program of 

structured, nationwide compliance 

assistance seminars. The goal of this 

program is to provide an opportunity 

each year for the officers of every labor 

organization covered by the LaborManagement Reporting and Disclosure 

Act (LMRDA) or the Civil Service Reform 

Act (CSRA) to attend a compliance 

assistance seminar. The content of each 

year’s compliance assistance seminar is 

similar throughout the country so that 

every officer in attendance is exposed to 

the same material. Fifty-two seminars 

were held in FY07. 

• Upon publication of the July 2, 2007 final 

rule for the Revised Form LM-30, Labor 

Organization Officer and Employer 

Report, OLMS has made available a 

sample form, a fillable form, form 

instructions, a fact sheet, Frequently 

Asked Questions (FAQs) and a 

PowerPoint presentation on the OLMS 

Web site. 

• OLMS continues to promote and use an 

electronic mailing list system to send 

email messages to unions, accountants, 

union members, and other interested 

individuals. OLMS sent 15 such messages 

in FY 07. 

• OLMS issued an on-line publication on 

the LMRDA section 504 prohibition 

against persons convicted of certain 

crimes from holding union office or 

employment. 

• OLMS also published an on-line guide to 

help labor organizations apply a digital 

signature to their electronic annual 

financial disclosure forms and to 

troubleshoot some common digital 

signature issues. 

Collective Bargaining Agreements 

Added to Online Public Disclosure Room 

As a result of Secretary's Order 4–2007, 

issued in May 2007, the authority for 

maintaining the Department of Labor's 

collective bargaining agreements (CBA) file 

was transferred to OLMS from the Bureau 

of Labor Statistics (BLS). The CBA file has 

been maintained since 1947, pursuant to 

Section 211(a) of the Taft-Hartley Act, 

which directs the Department to collect 

these agreements “for the guidance and 

information of interested representatives of 

employers, employees, and the general 

public.” Currently, collective bargaining 

agreements covering 1,000 or more workers, 

excluding railroads and airlines, are 

included in this file. The agreements are 

available in the Online Public Disclosure 

Room at www.unionreports.gov. The 

agreements can be retrieved by the name of 

the employer with separate listings for 

private and public sector agreements.
9

Delinquent Form LM-2 Initiative 

As part of its commitment to financial 

transparency for union members and in an 

effort to better protect America's workers by 

ensuring fuller compliance with the 

financial reporting requirements under the 

law, OLMS also initiated a special program 

to deal with labor organizations that were 

still delinquent in filing their report for 

2005. The OLMS effort to reduce this 

delinquency initially focused on 

approximately 1,275 unions whose reports 

were over one year past due, including 99 of 

the largest unions, which were required to 

file the electronic Form LM-2. These unions 

should have filed financial disclosure forms 

for their fiscal years ending in 2005, with the 

reports due no later than March 31, 2006. 

To date, letters from OLMS to the 

delinquent Form LM-2 unions resulted in 

the receipt of all but 19 of the required 

reports. 

Union Democracy

The LMRDA establishes democratic standards for conducting union officer elections, such as 

the frequency and method of election, the right of members in good standing to be candidates, 

rights of candidates, and voting rights of members. An investigation will be conducted if OLMS 

receives a timely filed complaint from a union member alleging that the LMRDA has been 

violated. If the investigation determines that the election provisions have been violated, OLMS 

may negotiate a voluntary agreement to have the union rerun the election under OLMS 

supervision or OLMS may take legal action seeking a new election. In cases where they occur, 

OLMS investigates criminal violations associated with elections including ballot fraud, false 

statements, and deprivation of rights under the Act by violence. Following are highlights of 

some of the most significant OLMS election cases during FY 2007. 

OLMS Supervises Remedial Election of 

Allied Pilots National Officers 

In order to settle a lawsuit challenging the 

election of national officers conducted by 

the Allied Pilots Association in 2004, the 

union agreed to permit OLMS to supervise 

a remedial election of the union’s national 

officers in 2007. OLMS had alleged that the 

Internet voting system used by the union in 

the 2004 election did not ensure ballot 

secrecy. The Allied Pilots Association, 

headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, 

represents 9,000 members employed by 

American Airlines. The supervised election, 

which included an initial vote as well as a 

run-off election, was conducted by mail 

ballot and was completed on June 20, 2007. 

OLMS Supervises Election of Officers for 

Washington Teachers’ Union (WTU) 

OLMS filed suit in U.S. District Court for 

the District of Columbia seeking to overturn 

the 2005 election of officers conducted by 

the Washington Teachers’ Union (WTU). 

On February 6, 2007, to settle the lawsuit, 

OLMS and WTU entered into a courtapproved settlement whereby OLMS would 

supervise the union’s 2007 election of 

officers. OLMS supervised all aspects of the 

election, including nominations, mailing of 

ballots, and the ballot tally. The supervised 

election for 21 positions was completed on 

May 19, 2007. WTU represents 4,500 

teachers in Washington, D.C. 
10

Steelworkers Local 9-772 Reaches a 

Settlement Agreement with OLMS 

OLMS obtained a voluntary settlement 

agreement with Steelworkers, AFL-CIO, 

Local 9-772 (formerly PACE, AFL-CIO, 

Local 5-772) in Memphis, Tennessee and 

Detroit, Michigan concerning the local’s 

failure to hold an election in January 2006. 

Local 9-772 agreed to conduct nominations 

and an election for the positions of 

president, vice president, recording 

secretary, financial secretary, treasurer, 

guide, two guards, three trustees, and one 

grievance committee member. The union 

represents 700 members employed by 

Pinnacle Airlines. The remedial supervised 

election was held on May 30, 2007. 

Voluntary Rerun of International 

Federation of Professional and Technical 

Engineers Local 259 

OLMS obtained a voluntary settlement 

agreement with the International Federation 

of Professional and Technical Engineers 

(IFPTE), AFL-CIO, Local 259 on April 16, 

2007, after investigating a complaint that 

the union failed to conduct its regularly 

scheduled officer election in 2006. Local 259 

agreed to hold nominations and an election 

under OLMS supervision for the offices of 

president, first vice president, second vice 

president, third vice president, chief 

steward, secretary, and treasurer. The 

union represents members employed by the 

Army Corps of Engineers in Memphis, 

Tennessee. The supervised election was 

completed on June 13, 2007. 

American Maritime Officers Union 

Agrees to Conduct Remedial Election of 

Officers 

OLMS investigated the election of national 

officers conducted by the American 

Maritime Officers (AMO) on December 6, 

2006. AMO represents 4,000 members 

employed as officers aboard ships around 

the world. The investigation disclosed that 

two violations occurred with respect to the 

distribution of campaign literature. First, 

the mailing house failed to make a 

campaign mailing for the challenger’s slate. 

Second, union officials did not provide the 

mailing house with approximately one 

quarter of the mailing list until after all of 

the challengers had made their mailings, 

but before the officers’ campaign literature 

was mailed. OLMS entered into a voluntary 

settlement agreement with the AMO 

whereby the union agreed to conduct a new 

election for 6 national officers under OLMS 

supervision. The remedial election will be 

completed in June 2008. 

OLMS Supervises Rerun Election of 

Chicago Regional Council of Carpenters 

On May 8, 2006, OLMS filed a lawsuit that 

resulted in a court-approved settlement 

agreement to rerun the nominations and 

election of officers for the Chicago Regional 

Council of Carpenters (CRC) under the 

Department’s supervision. The CRC is 

comprised of 42 affiliated local unions with 

over 47,000 members in 3 states. The 

Department investigated the CRC’s July 9, 

2005 election of officers and determined that 

the union applied an unreasonable 

candidacy qualification in that nominees 

were required to have served as a delegate 

for three successive years prior to 

nominations. Additionally, some affiliated 

local unions did not elect their delegates to 

the CRC by secret ballot. 

Delegate elections of all 42 local unions 

were reviewed with remedial elections 

conducted as necessary to permit delegates 

from these locals to vote in the supervised 

election. OLMS completed the CRC 

supervised election on March 31, 2007, for 

the offices of president/executive, secretary 

treasurer, three trustees, and three business 

representatives. 
11

Former Teamsters Local President 

Convicted of Fraud at Criminal Trial 

On December 8, 2006, in the United States 

District Court for the Southern District of 

Texas, Charles Crawley, former President of 

Teamsters Local 988, was found guilty of 

mail fraud arising from a scheme to defraud 

the local union members' right to honest 

services by using the mail during the 

union’s October 2002 officer election. 

Crawley was also convicted of embezzling 

union property in the form of a ballot, 

which he used to make fraudulent ballots, 

and address labels in connection with the 

election. In addition, he was convicted of 

arranging and accepting a $20,000 kickback 

from the installer of a telephone system in 

the union's hall and falsifying the voucher 

for the telephone installation. On May 25, 

2007, Crawley was sentenced to 78 months 

in prison and ordered to pay restitution of 

$121,478. 

Criminal Conspiracy to Steal Ballots and 

Rig Election of Union Officers 

In September 2007, a federal grand jury 

returned a seven-count indictment against 

President Richard Lopez, two former 

business agents, Mark Jones and Cassandra 

Mosley, and a former organizer, David 

Rodriguez, all of Teamsters Local 743, 

which represents more than 12,000 union 

members in the Chicago metropolitan area. 

All four defendants were charged with one 

count of conspiracy to commit fraud by 

depriving Local 743 of their honest services 

and to embezzle, or steal, the official ballots 

belonging to Local 743. 

In addition, the three former employees 

were charged with additional counts of 

embezzlement or theft of the ballots, which 

are considered union property. Between 

August and December 2004, these 

defendants, and others, allegedly caused the 

addresses of union members to be changed 

in the union’s computer database so that 

official ballot packages would be diverted 

to the defendants’ friends, family, and 

associates, who were not members of Local 

743 and were not eligible to vote in the two 

closely-contested 2004 union officer 

elections. The defendants allegedly 

collected the fraudulently-delivered ballot 

packages and then cast them or caused 

them to be cast in favor of the incumbent 

officers, who were running together as the 

Unity Slate, to ensure its victory. The case 

followed a joint investigation by the OLMS 

Chicago District Office, the DOL-OIG and 

the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. 
12

Regulatory Activities 

Form T-1 Trust Annual Report 

On July 16, 2007, in AFL-CIO v. Chao, the 

United States District Court for the District 

of Columbia vacated the September 29, 

2006, Final Rule implementing Form T-1, 

Trust Annual Report. The District Court 

concluded that the Department was 

required either to have published a 

proposed rule for notice and comment 

before issuing the Final Rule or to have 

included in the Final Rule a finding that 

there was good cause to dispense with 

notice and comment as “impracticable, 

unnecessary, or contrary to the public 

interest.” As a result of this ruling, no Form 

T-1 is required to be filed at this time. 

Form LM-30 Final Rule 

On July 2, 2007, OLMS published a final 

rule revising Form LM-30, Labor 

Organization Officer and Employee Report, 

and its instructions. The Form LM-30 is 

used to report actual or potential conflicts of 

interest, and it is an important component 

in the LMRDA’s transparency program. 

The revised Form LM-30 must be filed by a 

labor organization officer or employee for 

reports covering any of his or her fiscal 

years that began on or after August 16, 

2007, while the current Form LM-30 may be 

filed for reports covering any fiscal year 

beginning before that date. Since most 

individuals’ fiscal years correspond with 

the calendar year, the practical effect will be 

that filers will use the new Form LM-30 

beginning with the 2008 fiscal year. 

The Final Rule clarifies Form LM-30 and its 

instructions by explaining key terms and 

providing examples of the financial matters 

that must be reported. It also eliminates or 

modifies administrative exceptions in the 

old Form LM-30 that impeded the full 

disclosure of financial matters that 

constitute conflicts or potential conflicts of 

interest, eliminates reporting and 

recordkeeping of small sums, and improves 

the usability of the reports by union 

members and the public. Since publishing 

the Final Rule, OLMS has added revised

Form LM-30 compliance assistance 

materials to its Web site and hosted a free

training seminar on October 9, 2007, in 

which OLMS staff discussed the substance 

of what must be reported on the revised 

Form LM-30 and demonstrated step-by-step 

how to complete the fillable Adobe format 

revised Form LM-30.