Culinary Union oversight ends

Monday, Dec. 4, 2000 | 10:59 a.m.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

TRENTON, N.J. -- A federal judge ended five years of court supervision of the Culinary Union on Friday after U.S. Justice Department prosecutors said the monitoring had substantially erased mob influence and corruption from the union.

The union -- formally known as the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union -- has 250,000 members in the United States and Canada. Its largest locals represent hotel-casino workers in Las Vegas and Atlantic City and restaurant workers in New York.

The court monitoring began in 1995 when the union agreed to settle a government racketeering lawsuit by accepting the appointment of a monitor with broad disciplinary and oversight powers.

In ending the monitoring, U.S. District Judge Garrett Brown Jr. directed that steps taken during the case to fight corruption be continued. They include maintenance of an ethical practices code for union officials and members and continuation of a three-member board to investigate suspected violations.

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