Two ILA Union Kingpins Indicted on Same Day – And More

IMG_3834-DOL-Criminal-Charges-800x

On March 10, 2021, the former president, as well as the former vice president of the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) Local 1504-8 in Galveston, Texas, were both indicted for embezzlement. Rodney Priestley, the former president, is suspected to have embezzled $32,230 from union funds. Meanwhile, Brian Walker, former vice president, is suspected of taking $20,001. It’s bad enough that bad eggs are rampant behind the scenes of union strongholds, but it’s made even worse when, instead of calling them out, other union bosses decide to join them in their abominable deeds. Union funds are taken from workers’ hard-earned paychecks and are supposed to be used to help improve the workplace and provide workers benefits. But instead, this money ends up being stolen and used for personal gain by union bosses.

This corruption is rampant everywhere. In fact, on the same day that the bosses from the ILA in Texas were being indicted, another boss in Michigan was pleading guilty to the same type of crime. Brian Rittenhouse, former secretary for the United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 1320, pled guilty of embezzling after being indicted just a few months earlier. You can read more about his indictment here. These aren’t the only union corruption cases either. This kind of behavior is happening all the time, especially in states that force unionism on workers. It’s just a matter of time before they get caught.

To read more on these cases, please visit the Department Of Labor site here.

To stay up to date on Criminal Union Corruption, check out our 2021 U.S. DOL Criminal LMRDA Enforcement Actions page here.

Categories