Tanya D’Anger, a partial-load Humber faculty member and steward of Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) Local 562, is done holding back.
She said because she’s on contract she is one of the few willing to go on record about the allegations against the union’s former president, Warren (Smokey) Thomas.
“I don’t give a s**t anymore,” she said. “I’ve been teaching for 20 years and seeing how the system doesn’t work to support so many.”
D’Anger said if the allegations were proven true, OPSEU members would have been exploited “shamelessly.”
“It’s something you see in so-called third world countries or Putin’s world where everyone’s getting paid off,” she said.
OPSEU filed a statement of claim on Jan. 16 in the Ontario Superior Court alleging Thomas unlawfully transferred funds and assets totaling about $1.75 million. None of the allegations have been tested in court.
J.P. Hornick, the current OPSEU president, said in a statement to members the same day that the union began a forensic audit performed by a third party last April after a new board was elected and Thomas retired.
Thomas’ lawyers responded in a statement the next day, saying the statement of claim was “riddled with errors, falsehoods, and untrue allegations.”
It said the claims against the former president are “bogus.”
D’Anger said she did not believe Thomas’ defence.
“Of course, the lawyer’s going to say that knee-jerk reaction, right? Deny, deny, deny,” she said.
Thomas’s statement described him as a leader with a reputation for honesty.
As OPSEU president, he “always put the interests of his members and his union first. That will never change,” the statement said.
Miloš Vasić, president of Local 562, said he was shocked by the allegations.
“During Smokey’s tenure, there always were tensions,” Vasić said. “But regardless of those tensions, the allegations were really ugly.”
Jeffrey Kroeker, Thomas’ co-counsel, said most lawyers would see the statement of claim more as a political statement than a claim based on allegations.
The findings of the forensic audit were countered by a lack of detail, he said.
“In fact, it’s very broad, doesn’t refer to any kind of report, is not specific in the slightest.” Kroeker said.
OPSEU’s communications department said they are “very limited” in terms of what they can repeat or comment on publicly at this time.
Last March, OPSEU transferred ownership to Thomas of a 2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland, purchased by the union in August 2021 for $97,417, the statement of claim said.
In July 2019, the union transferred ownership to Thomas’ spouse of a 2017 Dodge Grand Caravan purchased for $35,678, in November 2017, a 2015 Dodge Durango purchased for $65,355 and in May 2017, a 2014 Chrysler 200 purchased for $25,136, the statement of claim also said.
“These transfers were not known to or authorized by the Executive Board at the time,” the union said in the statement of claim. “OPSEU has not located any supporting documentation to indicate that the Union received any value for these transfers or why they were made.”
Bernie Monette, a Local 562 steward from the Faculty of Media and Creative Arts, said the allegation of giving cars to one’s family, if proven, is “such a dumb mistake.”
“In what world can you do that? It’s sort of like the Governor General of Canada paying $300 for orange juice,” he said.
Thomas also authorized between 2014 and 2020 the withdrawal of $620,000 from the union’s strike fund to the two other executives, the statement of claim said.
“That was the part when I shook my head the most,” Vasić said.
D’Anger said the strike fund allegation was “appallingly disgusting.”
If funds were removed from the strike fund, “they’ve literally disenfranchised us from being able to protect ourselves from being exploited and inappropriately ruled by the employer,” she said.
Monette compared the allegations to figures such as Donald Trump and Roger Stone cutting corners and finding ways not to pay taxes.
“You would hope that someone who’s on the side of the little guy would not treat the union’s coffers as their own personal bank account,” he said.
Vasić said the breach of trust was the most egregious of the allegations.
“The money itself, that’s recoverable. But that trust is really the most damaging thing.” he said. “There is this narrative out there that union leaders are corrupt, the whole Jimmy Hoffa thing.”
Hornick said “sunlight is the best disinfectant,” in her statement to members.
Pursuing the claims in a public forum such as the courts allows members to follow what OPSEU is doing about these issues, she said.
“I know that this is troubling news to take in, but I give you my commitment that we will work tirelessly to rebuild trust,” Hornick said.
Vasić said it’s important that OPSEU leadership is pursuing this on their own.
“We are cleaning house ourselves,” he said. “This is perhaps going to shake the trust of some people, but the fact that this originated within OPSEU itself speaks volumes to our ability to heal.”
However, Kroeker said the claim is not backed up by evidence and must be proven in court of law, where the plaintiffs are held to the strictest burden of proof.
“Just because you claim it doesn’t make it true,” he said.
D’Anger said she did not know if the allegations would hurt OPSEU membership numbers.
“I don’t have a crystal ball. I know it does the complete opposite for me,” she said. “When I talk to people, if anything, this kind of revelation makes them angrier and more determined to step up.”