By Fran Spielman
Chicago Sun Times
Copyright 2007 Chicago Sun-Times, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
CHICAGO — The civil war raging inside the Chicago Fire Fighters Union has turned into a coup.
In an unprecedented move, Local 2 President John Chwarzynski was ousted Thursday by an internal panel that found him guilty of violating the union’s constitution and bylaws.
“I’ve done nothing wrong -- absolutely nothing. This is designed to try to cover up their own acts of misconduct and payroll fraud,” said Chwarzynski, who plans to fight the decision.
Chwarzynski’s tumultuous term had roughly nine months to run, during which he was expected to play a key role in hammering out a new contract for Chicago’s 4,600 firefighters and paramedics.
Now, the talks are on hold until the dust settles.
The Chicago Sun-Times reported in December that 11 of Local 2’s 13 executive board members formally accused Chwarzynski of fraud, financial malfeasance and a host of other violations. Among other things, he was accused of filing a fraudulent expense report for an extravagant dinner for two at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse.