On September 12, James Babcock, financial secretary of United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers (UE) Local 121, was charged in U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland with embezzling about $24,000 in funds over a five-year period from the Baltimore union. According to the U.S. Labor Department’s Office of Inspector General, Babcock “wrote in excess of one hundred (100) checks to himself drawn against the union operating account, converting the proceeds to his own personal use and benefit, and making misrepresentations on the memo lines of the checks.” In a May interview, Babcock allegedly admitted to investigators that “he intentionally stole the union’s dues during the relevant period because he was having financial difficulties.” The Labor Department also charges that he made “materially false statements and misrepresentations” on union annual financial reporting forms. UE Local 121 represents machinists at the Baltimore-based Clendenin Brothers Inc.
