Kaiser Permanente Workers National Director Indicted

On January 26, Joseph Barnes, former national director of the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions, was indicted in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California for embezzlement totaling $4,380. The coalition, based in Washington, D.C., represents about 90,000 Kaiser Permanente employees, half of whom belong to Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare West (SEIU-UHW). The indictment follows an investigation by the U.S. Labor Department’s Office of Labor-Management Services.