ST. LOUIS 鈥 A floorlayer from Edwardsville is waging a contentious legal battle against one of the region鈥檚 largest labor alliances, accusing union officials of embezzling money from members to inflate their own pensions and cash in on travel perks for spouses.
Jonathan Gould, a former compliance officer for the 51黑料-Kansas City Carpenters鈥 Regional Council, is suing his former union coalition in state court here to expose what he claims is a long-standing practice of stealing and squandering union dues.
鈥淯nion dues are being appropriated, stolen, embezzled and converted from the union coffers to inflate the pensions of Carpenters鈥 officials without the consent of the union members,鈥 Gould said.
Gould claims the council has misspent thousands of dollars on 鈥渋llegal鈥 shop policies and millions in legal fees to preserve them. He says he also has sought whistleblower protection from the Illinois attorney general to end wasteful perks for council bosses.
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The council, headquartered at 1401 Hampton Avenue in 51黑料, has denied Gould鈥檚 allegations.
The legal fight is playing out in 51黑料 Circuit Court while labor unions fight for survival in Missouri and . A coalition of unions gathered enough signatures in August to delay the law鈥檚 implementation in hopes of persuading voters to repeal it next year. The law approved in February says workers cannot be compelled to join or pay dues.
The lawsuit, set for trial in February, names as defendants seven union leaders and the entire Carpenters鈥 council, which represents 34 locals with about 22,000 members in Kansas, Missouri and Illinois.
Lawyers for Gould, the council and its leaders declined to comment for this story.
The lawsuit stems from Gould鈥檚 termination in August 2014 after he accepted a nomination to oppose longtime incumbent Terrence Nelson to run the council, court records say. Moments after Gould accepted the nomination, Nelson allegedly told Gould, 鈥淵ou just lost your (expletive) job.鈥
Gould, who describes himself in court filings as 鈥渁 strong union man,鈥 claims he was fired for exposing alleged fraud and theft in the run up to the council鈥檚 board election in 2014. His lawsuit claims the council has inflated paychecks and pensions for years for 51 executives through an 鈥渋llegal vehicle policy鈥 and of misspending dues money on airfare for spouses and on alcohol purchases at labor conventions. Gould also accused several individual union leaders of defamation for allegedly saying he was 鈥渁 liar,鈥 had 鈥済one crazy,鈥 and suffered mental breakdowns. Gould claimed leaders launched a whisper campaign against him by saying he took 鈥渒ickbacks鈥 through a secret rebate program for contractors.
The council responded in pleadings that Gould was legally forced out because he had been serving an appointed position and lost the 2014 board election to Nelson. It also said its alleged defamatory statements were opinions, not facts, and if they did say them, they didn鈥檛 know they were false at the time. Council lawyers also pointed to the National Labor Relations Board鈥檚 dismissal of Gould鈥檚 claim of unfair labor practices for lack of evidence.
Meanwhile, Nelson fired back against Gould with a countersuit accusing Gould of defaming him when he emailed a flooring company principal alleging illegal spending by Nelson and other council representatives.
Nelson retired as executive secretary-treasurer of the union in 2015; he was succeeded by Albert Bond Jr.
, a professor at Illinois State University and an expert on labor practices and history, said charges of union corruption are nothing new but might seem more hurtful to workers amid declining union membership across the country. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Missouri saw a slight gain in union membership last year to just under 10 percent of the workforce, but that still falls below the national average. Illinois鈥 union membership fell but remains above the national average of 10.7 percent.
鈥淎s union density goes down and resources become tighter, I think incidents of union corruption in some sense, hurt more,鈥 Devinatz said. 鈥淚 think that corruption in unions is worse because it鈥檚 the money of the members 鈥 the dues.鈥
Legal squabbles over alleged union corruption, he said, could also hurt public perception of union membership as Missouri gears up for a political showdown next year over proposed changes in labor law.
鈥淚t certainly won鈥檛 help,鈥 he said.
The council made headlines in 2010 over representing other building and construction trades. The dispute erupted after Nelson ordered the formation of a new local to represent electrical workers to compete with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1.
