The amount of workers organized plummeted in 2025, but that hasn’t stopped union corruption from thriving. From multimillion dollar embezzlement by teachers’ union officers to multiple UAW-related cases, there is no shortage of Big Labor hands-in-the-cookie-jar this year.
Multimillion Dollar Thievery?
Two ex-leaders of Duval Teachers United will serve prison time after sentencing by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida. Former union President Teresa Brady and former VP Ruby George are guilty of embezzling over $2.6 million during a decade-long scheme. They stole dues paid by 5,000 members by handing themselves unauthorized bonuses and sold back an immense amount of PTO that didn’t exist.
Their crimes could have amounted to 70 years behind bars. However, a Department of Justice announcement revealed that Brady, who is 70 years old, received a 27-month prison sentence; and George, who is 82 and wheelchair bound, will serve a year in prison followed by six months of home confinement. The pair has further been ordered to repay the funds.
Happy Valentine’s Day?
Apparently. The timing of this news is interesting, considering that two Teamsters officers are accused on Valentine’s Day of handing themselves sweetheart deals by “abusing the union credit card, treating it as a blank check to permit them luxury living without limit.” That’s the word from a Feb. 14 announcement about a report from the Teamster Independent Investigations Officer.
Ex-International Union VP Chris Griswold is one of a pair who allegedly committed “a litany of financial misconduct” that included splashing out on $300-$890 bottles of wine. As the recent Local 986 principal officer, Griswold apparently racked up unauthorized expenses of $51,261.38, and Local 986 President Sean Harren is similarly on the hook for $82,681. Both officers were asked to resign and pay restitution by International President Sean O’Brien, who surely does not want the Hoffa era of rampant corruption to be exposed again.
What UAW Financial Abuses Were Exposed by Ford Workers?
At Ford’s Kentucky Truck Plant, an audit of UAW Local 862 exposed financial mismanagement, in which union leadership spent lavishly and granted themselves raises that effectively doubled their salaries.
Around 8,000 union members work at this Ford plant, and many responded with fury after catching wind of luxury travel and unauthorized purchases by the officers. One worker declared, “the UAW is stealing from the retired” by rolling back their healthcare benefits while spending like kings. These members’ feelings aren’t helped by the revelations that union leaders aren’t addressing concerns about working conditions and wages.
Sadly, these union members can’t negotiate directly with their employer on working conditions after voting for third-party representation. And if their UAW local isn’t listening? Welcome to union membership.
What’s Going on with a Disgraced UAW Official’s Media Gig?
Former UAW Chief of Staff Chris Brooks scored a new gig as a columnist for Jacobin, a progressive publication that recently published his articles on improving UAW strategy and struggling against low-union density. Brooks was removed from his position after the UAW’s federal watchdog revealed his text messages, in which he bragged about his role in Shawn Fain’s scheme to oust Secretary-Treasurer Margaret Mock for refusing to approve Fain’s questionable financial demands.
Brooks hasn’t publicly addressed his dismissal, nor has Jacobin, which isn’t a good look for a “pro-Labor” publication.
Same Old, Same Old
As illustrated by these cases, union officers can be more interested in enriching themselves than addressing members’ concerns. These cases don’t reveal anything new for those familiar with union corruption. Yet workers should know that Big Labor has an ongoing pattern of self-dealing and of betraying the members whose interests it claims to represent.
