WHO: Thomas Pokrywczynski

WHAT: Transit Union Local 1342, of Buffalo, N.Y

HOW: Thomas Pokrywczynski, former Treasurer of the Transit Union’s New York State Legislative Conference board and former Financial Secretary Treasurer of Transit Union Local 1342 in Buffalo, NY has been killing jobs by embezzling around $254,000.00 from the two organizations.

Once again, the unions told the employees that they had their best interest at heart, meanwhile, Mr. Pokrywczynski was stealing their money. He was sentenced to serve 24 months of incarceration, serve for 3 years in supervised release, and has been ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $215,527.74. The damage has been done, though, and the good workers belonging to Transit Union Local 1342 have been robbed blind.

Click here to order my book, Job Killers, to learn more about how corrupt unions and despicable union leaders are killing American Jobs!

WHO: Hugo Vargas

WHAT: Machinists Lodge 845

HOW: Vargas, former Secretary Treasurer, has embezzled funds totaling over $106,000.00 from the workers he was supposed to be supporting. Their dues paid were taken by Mr. Vargas instead of being used by the union. His disgusting behavior was uncovered by the OLMS San Francisco District Office and Mr. Vargas pled guilty to the embezzlement charge. While the average machinist may struggle to make $40,000 a year, Mr. Vargas helped himself to a six figure paycheck on the backs of the Vegas area workers.

WHO: Henry George Green, Sr.

WHAT: International Longshoremen’s Association Local 440

HOW: By filing false statements, Mr. Green was able to hide the facts surrounding the Local 440’s financial situation. The funds coming in from the members were meant to go towards the union. However, as the OLMS began to investigate things in Houston, Texas, they found quite a few financial pieces out of place. When the dust had settled, investigators found that Mr. Green had stolen funds in the amount of over $35,000.00. He has been found guilty and has been ordered to pay restitution for the amounts he stole. On top of that, he has been sentenced to thirty-six months of probation. While America needs to make sure Job Killers actually do hard time in prison, at least the Local 440’s Henry George Green, Sr. was brought to justice.

WHO: Shawn Clark

WHAT: Carpenters Local 455 of Somerville, NJ

HOW: While the 560 member-carpenters from New Jersey were working hard to pay their dues to their union, Shawn Clark decided to use it in a most inappropriate way. Clark was sentenced to 28 months in prison after embezzling union funds totaling around $102,000.00.  The amount of money is equal to about 54% of the union’s total assets.  Adding insult to injury was the fact that he spent $65,000.00 of those dollars at 14 different gentlemen’s clubs.  Once again, unions are no longer the friend of the employee.  Apparently, unions have become tools which union bosses can uses to buy a little friendship at the gentlemen’s club.

WHO: Mark Winfield Tracy

WHAT: Teamsters Local 533 of Reno, NV

HOW: If Reno is the Biggest Little City in the World, then we’ll let Mark Tracy be known as the biggest little embezzler in the world.  As the Secretary-Treasurer of the Teamsters Local 533, Mark Tracy had access to all the funds and all the records. A convenient set of circumstances which allowed Mr. Tracy to steal $125,000.00 from the union and then file false reports to cover up his crime. Thankfully, the gamble didn’t pay off, and Mark Tracy was caught and has pled guilty to his most egregious crime.

WHO: Cory Carroll

WHAT: Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers in Albert Lea, MN

HOW: Cory Carroll decided to put his interests ahead of the union he worked for as the Secretary-Treasurer and embezzled $35,362.41 from the Albert Lea based union for locomotive engineers.  His actions caused him to be sentenced to five years probation, and required to submit to two random periodic drug tests, supply a DNA sample, and refrain from gambling and using alcohol or other controlled substances.  While this union may have started with the best of intentions, once again corrupt union bosses have driven it right off the tracks!

WHO: Curtis Iwatsubo

WHAT: Glass, Molders, Pottery, Plastics & Allied Workers Local 52 of California

HOW: As workers in the San Jose based Local 52 worked hard blowing glass, Curtis Iwatsubo was blowing smoke and stealing money as the Secretary-Treasurer of their union.  For embezzling more than $47,000.00 from Local 52, Curtis Iwatsubo was sentenced to 10 months in prison.  It is not yet clear if they have a pottery class in the jail he’ll be occupying.

WHO: Patrick Brennan

WHAT: Painters District Council 711 of Egg Harbor Township, NJ

HOW: The great Garden State gives us yet another Job Killer of the Week.  This one, Patrick Brennan, was a business manager for the Painters District Council 711 when he decided to embezzle $32,487.26.  For now, his job killing days are over as he has been sentenced to six months of incarceration and six months of home confinement for his crimes.  There should be plenty of time to paint when he’s not allowed to leave his home for six months!

WHO: Thomas Carrola

WHAT: IBEW Local 1919

HOW: It seems more Secretary-Treasurers end up as Job Killers than most positions in the union, and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers are no exception, giving us Thomas Carrola.  He decided to light up the union records and falsify documents in order to embezzle $35,057.00.  His days as a job killer were short circuited, though, as he was sentenced to two years of probation, six months of home detention, and pay the restitution for his crimes.

WHO: Freida Carter-London

WHAT: Carpenters Local 1421 of Arlington, Texas

HOW: Freida Carter-London had been working as an office manager for the Carpenters Local 1421 in Texas when she managed to embezzle $99,178.00 from the unsuspecting organization.  That amount of money represents nearly 30% of the union’s administration budget.  The Carpenters’ union, nationally, is one of America’s largest. The Local 1421 has nearly 4,000 members who had their money stolen by Freida Carter-London, our Job Killer of the Week.

WHO: John McGovern

WHAT: American Postal Workers Union Local 190 of Clifton, NJ

HOW: Mr. McGovern, the former Secretary Treasurer of Local 190 pled guilty McGovern admitted that he conspired with former Local 190 President Gary Weightman to embezzle between $120,000 and $200,000 in union funds.  While the postal workers of Clifton were working hard to get your mail to you on time, the union they thought was helping them was actually helping Job Killer John McGovern get a $200,000 special delivery of his own!

WHO: Fidel Garza

WHAT: Federation of Government Employees Local 2063 of Albuquerque, NM

HOW: There wasn’t a Federal worker pay freeze for Fidel Garza last year. As President of the Local 2063, Garza helped himself to over $77,000.00 in union funds.  Job killer Garza has met his red tape retribution, though, by getting to know another set of Federal employees: Federal prison workers.  Garza was sentenced to four months in prison, three years of supervised probation, and four months of home confinement, and he was ordered to make restitution in the amount of $77,457.89 and pay a $100 special assessment.  Garza was also ordered to participate in a substance abuse program and barred from holding any position where he has fiduciary responsibility.

WHO: Robbin R. Wolff

WHAT: Auto Workers Local 383 in Benton Harbor, MI

HOW: While the good men and women of Auto Workers Local 383 got grease under their nails working hard every day, Ms. Wolff decided to get her palms greasy in the amount of over $200,000.00! As the bookkeeper for the union, she had the access she needed to steal from the 600 members of the Local 383, who make brake components for large trucks.  Thankfully, a federal judge was able to put the brakes on Wolff’s actions, sentencing her to 24 months of imprisonment for embezzling union funds and 12 months of imprisonment for falsifying union records.  Upon release from imprisonment, Wolff will be on supervised release for a period of two years for the former offense and one year for the latter offense and pay restitution of $200,397.69.

WHO: Cheryl Staley

WHAT: Operating Engineers Local 501 in Nevada

HOW: The workers of IUOE 501 had no idea they were gambling away their dues every year, but Cheryl Staley was doing just that.  As the bookkeeper for Local 501, Ms. Staley was able to steal over $231,000.00! While what happens in Vegas usually stays in Vegas, Staley’s reckless actions will keep her out of the action for quite some time for embezzling all that money.  She was sentenced to five years probation, during which time she is restricted from entering a casino without first notifying the U.S. Probation Office, ordered to attend gambling addiction classes, ordered to pay $231,653.89 in restitution, plus 10% interest at $200/month, and ordered to pay $200 in court assessments. Vegas is all fun and games until someone like Cheryl Staley starts killing jobs through the Local 501!

WHO: Sherrell Mitchell

WHAT: Communications Workers of America Local 86823 of St. Louis, Missouri

HOW: Open and honest communication is key in all of our relationships, so the members of Communications Workers of America Local 86823 need to have two things conveyed to them directly: Their union is killing jobs and their Secretary-Treasurer is stealing their money.  Sherrell Mithcell pled guilty to embezzling union funds in the amount of $110,000.00. She has been sentenced to six months house arrest and five years of probation.