MACHINISTS UNION CANDIDATE CALLS FOR LEADERSHIP RESIGNATIONS AMID CORRUPTION SCANDAL

Contact: Ian Scott-Anderman
Cell: (505) 314-4849       
Email: IanScottAndermanIAM@outlook.com

​April 19, 2021 Albuquerque, NM – In the wake of the growing corruption scandal involving Dora Cervantes, the General Secretary-Treasurer (GST) of the 600,000-member International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), GST challenger Ian Scott-Anderman called for her immediate resignation or removal by the IAM Executive Council.

“The union’s financial records which I was permitted to review show that the IAM’s current General Secretary-Treasurer has charged tens of thousands of dues dollars in bogus travel expenses to attend imaginary meetings that never took place,” said Scott-Anderman.

“In my opinion Dora Cervantes has been falsifying her expense reports for years. She regularly reported fictional meetings in her hometown of Houston so she could charge her personal travel there to the members of the Machinists Union. Her work assignment is in Upper Marlboro, MD, and union members paid for her to move there from Houston years ago.”

Some examples, for which complete documentation is available at https://www.ian4iamgst.com/press-release.html are: 

• Expense report and related documents for attending a Local Lodge 2198 meeting in Houston, TX on Tuesday November 26, 2019.  The IAM reimbursed GST Cervantes for airfare, $100 per day per diem and personal vehicle mileage for attending that meeting. However, Local Lodge 2198 has only one meeting per month, and its bylaws dictate that it is always on the first Thursday each month, which was November 7, 2019. The Local Lodge 2198 president has also confirmed there was no meeting on November 26, 2019. Since there was no meeting to attend, the reality is Dora Cervantes charged her Thanksgiving vacation travel costs to the IAM. The union purpose of this trip was clearly fabricated, it was in reality a personal trip, and the fraud cost IAM members $761.34.
  
  
• Expense report and related documents for attending an AFL-CIO meeting on June 8, 2019. The IAM reimbursed GST Cervantes for first-class airfare, $100 per day per diem and personal vehicle mileage to attend the AFL-CIO meeting. However, she is not a delegate to the Houston AFL-CIO. Further, there was no Houston AFL-CIO meeting over the weekend of June 8-9, 2019. These meetings are typically held on Wednesdays, and an actual AFL-CIO delegate has confirmed that no meeting took place while GST Cervantes was in Houston. The union purpose of this trip was clearly fabricated, it was in reality a personal trip, and the fraud cost IAM members $773.46.
  
  
• Expense and related documents for yet another trip to Houston, in October 2016.  GST Cervantes claims to have performed “membership education” on Sunday, October 2, 2016 and Monday, October 3, 2016. No “membership education” ever took place on those days, and furthermore membership education is not the responsibility of the GST. Her only member responsibility is to ensure that Local and District financial officers are trained, not the general membership.  GST Cervantes then flies first class back to Washington DC, returning to Houston on Thursday, October 6, 2016 to attend LL2198’s meeting, although there is no official union business purpose for her attending. Then, claims she performed “membership education” on Friday, October 7, 2016, which never occurred. On Saturday, October 8, 2016, GST Cervantes claims she attended “AFL-CIO membership meetings,” which also never occurred. On Monday, October 10, 2016, she stays in Houston and again claims fictitious “membership education.” On Tuesday, October 11, 2016 she flies back to Washington DC on union members’ dues dollars. She spent the weekends at home in Houston and charged IAM members $100 per day in per diem, in addition to her round-trip airfare. The union purpose of these trips were clearly fabricated, they were in reality personal trips, and the fraud cost IAM members $2,714.03.

The travel expense scandal was exposed after GST candidate Ian Scott-Anderman requested the IAM provide copies of the GST’s weekly expense reports.  While far from complete, the expense reports the IAM provided showed airfare and other expenses were reimbursed for travel to meetings that did not occur. Records provided so far show IAM members have paid for GST Cervantes to spend at least 144 days in Houston on personal business she charged to the union.

All the documents were provided by the IAM itself because, at face value, the reports look legitimate. Only someone who is familiar with Houston union meeting schedules would be able to easily spot the fraud. The suspicions were confirmed through reviewing Local Lodge union records and personal interviews with people the GST was supposedly meeting with.

“More than 86 other weekly expense reports are being withheld by the IAM, and one must only conclude that the fraud documented in those reports are more obvious,” said Scott-Anderman. More detailed information and expense documents detailing the misuse of union dues for personal travel is available HERE. As I see it these falsified expense reports are only a portion of the fraud involving Dora Cervantes,” said Scott-Anderman“IAM officials have confirmed the Department of Labor has already initiated a criminal investigation into the theft of dues from IAM Local Lodge 2198 in Houston.’In 2018 GST Dora Cervantes covered up the theft of more than $100,000 from her own Local Lodge,” said Ian Scott-Anderman. “Cervantes refused to audit the records of Local Lodge 2198 in Houston, Texas after misappropriation of funds became known, and opposed other IAM officials who called for an investigation. Her sister was president of Local Lodge 2198 at the time and was involved with the theft.”

It has also been uncovered that Dora Cervantes has not reported any personal use of her IAM-provided lease vehicle for years. The commute from her home to her office every day, along with any purpose except for legitimate union business is, per IRS regulations, personal mileage and is considered a taxable benefit. “This example of fraud is not even in dispute,” said Scott-Anderman, “as since the request for documents was made GST Cervantes has already paid the IAM back more than $6,000. Innocent people do not write reimbursement checks, guilty people do.”

“Dora Cervantes has demonstrated that she cannot be entrusted with our union’s finances and should resign immediately to save the union from further embarrassment,” continued Scott-Anderman. “When you add GST Cervantes’ previous coverup of her sister’s involvement in the theft of more than $100,000, it is obvious that a full-scale Department of Labor investigation is needed into the systemic corruption taking place in the office of the IAM General Secretary-Treasurer and the continued efforts by some of her colleagues to hide the truth. I am confident that the Department of Labor will investigate and hold accountable those responsible for the corruption, but for the benefit of IAM members, Dora Cervantes and anyone complicit in her fraud should resign or be removed from office immediately. IAM members deserve, and the law requires, Executive Council members who safeguard the membership and our finances, not each other.”

Ian Scott-Anderman is currently the Secretary-Treasurer of IAM District Lodge 142, which represents over 24,000 IAM members at American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, Alaska Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, CommutAir and others. She is a candidate for IAM General Secretary-Treasurer in an election that will take place at IAM Local Lodges throughout the United States and Canada on April 24, 2021. More information about Ian Scott-Anderman and her campaign can be found at ian4iamgst.com.

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