A Connecticut community college professor is suing his union after it adopted an anti-Israel resolution, arguing that members are being kept in the dark about how their dues are spent.
Earl Ormond, who teaches criminal justice at Naugatuck Valley Community College in Waterbury, Conn., filed suit against the Congress of Connecticut Community Colleges, saying the union provides no meaningful way for members to review its finances.
Ormond stated that the union convened a statewide Zoom meeting to vote on a resolution accusing Israel of “genocide” and “apartheid.” He said he was “shouted down” and interrupted when he attempted to speak in opposition, according to the Fairness Center, which is representing Ormond.
Following the vote, Ormond said he began examining how much union money was being directed toward political activity and whether members could access the union’s financial records.
“It’s simple: I want to know where my money is going,” Ormond stated. “Transparency is just a word on paper if union members still can’t see the books.”
Ormond and a second public employee, corrections officer Ryan Bilodeau, filed suit on Feb. 15 in Connecticut Superior Court in the Judicial District of Hartford, against their respective unions.
In a Feb. 20 letter sent to Rob Sampson, a Republican Connecticut state senator, Anthony Holtzman, a managing attorney with the Fairness Center, argued that public-sector unions in the state have for decades failed to comply with a 1957 law requiring annual financial disclosures, while regulators have declined to enforce it.
The statute mandates that unions with 25 or more members submit financial reports to the state and permits members to review those records and request audits. According to the complaint, unions have not filed the required reports, and the state Department of Labor has not enforced the statute.
“This law is about the principle that everyday workers have a right to know how a select group of powerful union officials is using their money,” Ormond stated.
The plaintiffs are asking the court to order the unions to file the required financial reports and make them available to members.
