Nearly a month after the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America suspended the officers of Corvallis Local 1094 pending the outcome of an embezzlement probe, mid-valley union members got their chance to speak out Tuesday.

The 200 carpenters of Local 1094 were invited to attend a morning, afternoon or evening session at the Holiday Inn Express in Albany to provide information about what union officials say amounts to tens of thousands of dollars in missing dues. The public was not allowed in the closed-door meetings, but according to Western Region Vice President Michael V. Draper, those who attended had plenty to say.

"Some of it was pertinent information, some of it was not pertinent," Draper said. "Some just wanted the chance to speak."

The hearings were part of an investigation by the parent union, which took control of the Corvallis local Feb. 13 after allegations that union money was being misappropriated. Carpenters General President Douglas McCarron placed the local under direct supervision of the parent union, froze the local's bank accounts and brought in outside staff under Draper's command to run the office until the matter is settled.

At times, Draper said, Tuesday's testimony turned emotional.

"Everybody's dismayed about what happened," Draper said. "They're sick about it, as we all are. They just want to get this thing behind them and move on in that local union."

Draper said the evidence so far points to a single perpetrator. He declined to name names, but he did say that none of the local's officers had been directly implicated.

"I think there's probably only one person involved in the actual pilfering," he said. "There's allegations that others had knowledge of the pilfering."

Union officials believe someone affiliated with Local 1094 stole cash, misused credit cards and wrote bogus checks to siphon tens of thousands of dollars from the Corvallis local, money that came from monthly dues paid by area carpenters.

Draper's team is still sifting through bank statements and other records in an effort to document the extent of the theft. An accountant will audit the books, and the union will present its findings to the U.S. Department of Labor.

Mike Duvall, district director of the department's Office of Labor-Management Standards in Seattle, said he had been notified of the situation in Corvallis. While he didn't have the specifics yet and wouldn't confirm whether the agency had launched a formal investigation, he did say his office was looking into the matter.

"We are working with the Carpenters' regional council and the Carpenters' international union to find out what's going on," he said.

Duvall said his office would examine the union's evidence and, if appropriate, forward the information to the U.S. attorney in Portland for prosecution. Embezzlement of union funds is a felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine for each count. Prosecution is also possible for anyone who might have aided the thief or participated in a cover-up of the crime.

Nationwide, Duvall said, 11 or 12 union officers each month are prosecuted for theft as a result of investigations by the Office of Labor-Management Standards, which enforces federal laws governing the management of union money.

"It doesn't occur any more often in unions than in any other type of organization," Duvall said. "Ninety-nine percent of union officers are honest. But it's the dishonest ones that we owe it to the members to police."

The results of the union's investigation also will be presented to the Carpenters' general executive board, which will decide whether to keep Local 1094 under direct supervision. Draper said such supervision usually lasts 12 to 18 months and that a decision would probably come next month.

In the meantime, Local 1094 continues to operate pretty much as it did before. Carpenters still climb the stairs to the second-floor office in downtown Corvallis to pay their dues, pick up job assignments or file grievances. It's largely business as usual — except that all the old staff is gone.

A new office manager has been hired to handle daily affairs, and a temp has been brought in to sort through all the files. Even though the Corvallis officers have not been implicated, Draper said, they would remain on suspension until the union's investigation is complete and the local's accounts have been straightened out.

"I'm not going to let anybody hold office until I get every T crossed and every I dotted," he said.

Bennett Hall is the business editor for the Gazette-Times. He can be reached at 758-9529 or hallb@gtconnect.com.