The now-former business manager/secretary-treasurer of the Int’l. Brotherhood of Boilermakers Local 92 in Bloomington, CA, was indicted Aug. 12 by a federal grand jury for embezzling $25,000 from the union. Labor Department investigators estimate the total embezzlement closer to $52,000. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Manuel Lujan allegedly charged personal expenses, including airfare and hotels, on the union’s credit cards and made unauthorized withdrawals from its bank account. [City News Service 8/12/98]
Boss Embezzled from UMW
Joseph Volansky was sentenced Aug. 6 in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh to 3 years probation and ordered to pay a $1,000 fine for embezzling from the United Mine Workers. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the UMW District 4 Secretary-Treasurer took an undisclosed amount by falsifying financial records and illegally using union credit cards. He was barred from union office for 13 years. [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 8/7/98]
QUOTABLE QUOTE
“Of all the experiences I’ve ever had, this is the most revolting.”
-U.S. District Judge David N. Edelstein in an Aug. 19 hearing on the unresolved saga over the funding of the Teamsters’ rerun election which may be held this year.