Theft of $12,000 union funds

Press, 12 November 1981, Page 23

Theft of $12,000 union funds

A former trade union secretary, convicted of the theft of more than $12,000 of union funds by failing to account, has been jailed for nine months. Thomas John Muir, aged 51. who had pleaded guilty, was refused final suppression of name by Judge Reid. It had been suppressed until sentence. Muir was employed as secretary of the Southland Hotel, Hospital, Tea Rooms, and Related Trades Employees’ Union in 1971, the police said, in a summary for the court. His job involved a lot of travel, the cost of which was paid, in the first instance, by the Southland branch of the union, the national federation of the Hotel Workers’ Union then reimbursing the branch. Many of the reimbursement cheques were drawn direct to Muir. Between 1974 and 1980 the defendant received reimbursement cheques totalling $12,187, which should have been paid into the Southland branch account, but Muir had spent the money himself, the police said.

The Southland union executive did not realise the

union was being reimbursed by the federation for travel expenses. The transactions did not appear in the books or accounts. Muir admitted to the «• police that the cheques had been cashed at shops and businesses. His counsel. Mr J. Walker, told the District Court at Invercargill that the amount taken by Muir in the latter years had increased. “It was not a deliberate attempt to take from one’s employer for personal gain. It was not a sophisticated theft. It simply involved the failure to pass on the cheques for reimbursement of air fares paid by the local union for the defendant’s travel to mediation conferences." Mr Walker said. Mr Walker submitted that the temptation was presented to Muir “fairly and squarely” by the national body, and the temptation had been “too much for him." Muir, he said, had a problem with alcohol, and could also have an underlying depressive illness. The money had been spent socialising with conciliators and employers, a “vital part of mediation," Mr Walker said. Judge Reid, declining final suppression of name, said, “The public has a right to know who has committed this type of crime.” Muir, he said, had abused a position of trust.