AFSCME Has an Embezzlement Problem

The American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) is perhaps best known for the Janus v. AFSCME (2018) case, where the union argued that it should have the power to forcefully withdraw dues payments from public-sector workers without their consent. Despite the union’s attempts, in Janus the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the workers, allowing them to choose whether or not to give their money to a public-sector union.

Given the behavior of unions like AFSCME, it makes sense that many workers would not want to send money into their coffers. Outside of the Janus case, one of the things AFSCME has become most known for in recent decades is financial crime.

Countless union bosses within the AFSCME organization have been indicted for embezzling funds from the union––and therefore from the workers who pay dues to the union––totaling many millions of dollars. In just the last few years, there are several notable examples:

• AFSCME Local 1640 President Mervin Hawk was charged with embezzling more than $600,000. [source]
• The President and Treasurer of AFSCME Local 2620 were indicted for wire fraud after embezzling $270,000 to buy luxury clothes and shoes. [source]
• AFSCME State Council 65 Finance Director Beverly Hansen was charged with swindling more than $60,000. [source]
• AFSCME Local 124 President Byron Clemons was sentenced to prison time after embezzling more than $200,000. [source]
• Annapolis City AFSCME President Larry Dobson Jr. was charged with embezzlement and theft of more than $6,000. [source]
• Two leaders of AFSCME Local 1746 were investigated by the Department of Labor for allegedly embezzling more than $150,000. [source]
• The former secretary treasurer of AFSCME Local 2254, Linda Rogers, was indicted for embezzling more than $40,000. [source]
• AFSCME Local 2428 Treasurer Susan Elizabeth Kyle pleaded guilty to embezzling nearly $500,000. [source]
• AFSCME Local 3911 board member Matthew Adams was charged with felony theft and forgery after stealing more than $126,000 from emergency responders. [source]

These are just a small selection of the embezzlement cases that have been brought against AFSCME leaders––and there is no telling how many union bosses are still getting away with similar crimes today.

In addition to union bosses pocketing funds for their personal benefit, AFSCME engages in a practice of funneling money to leftwing political causes, whether the workers paying into the union agree with the causes or not. In the 2024 election cycle, AFSCME gave an incredible 99.58 percent of its political donations to Democrats, a mere rounding error short of being 100-percent a DNC fundraising operation. Not only do workers not get to choose where their money goes, but they often are not even allowed to know.

Even while their money is funneled to divisive political causes and into the pockets of corrupt union bosses, AFSCME insists that workers should be forced to pay dues to them. The union continues to fight against the Janus ruling that protected workers’ rights, bemoaning it as “wrongly decided.” AFSCME also supports the PRO Act, which would intensify the stranglehold that unions have over workers and force more employees to pay forced dues.

AFSCME bosses have shown repeatedly that they cannot be trusted with the dues that they receive from workers. No worker should be forced to give their hard-earned money to a union, especially when it so often ends up in the pockets of corrupt union bosses.