Oakland union official allegedly took bribes from pot outfits

In this file photo, a sales associate at an Oakland pot dispensary sells different varieties of California grown marijuana plants, "clones," to patients at the dispensary in Oakland. In this file photo, a sales associate at an Oakland pot dispensary sells different varieties of California grown marijuana plants, "clones," to patients at the dispensary in Oakland. Photo: Mike Kepka, The Chronicle Photo: Mike Kepka, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 4 Caption Close Oakland union official allegedly took bribes from pot outfits 1 / 4 Back to Gallery

An Oakland labor union official has been charged in federal court with accepting bribes or kickbacks in exchange for helping marijuana dispensary operators, court records show.

Daniel Rush, 54, organizing coordinator of the cannabis division of the United Food and Commercial Workers union, was charged this week in U.S. District Court in Oakland with honest-services fraud and accepting payments in violation of the Taft-Hartley Act, which restricts the activities and power of labor unions. He is free on $100,000 bond.

Rush has been fired from the union, said spokeswoman Amber Sparks.

“What Mr. Rush has been accused of is not only shocking to us, it is a betrayal for what we at the UFCW stand for,” she said. “Going forward, the UFCW will undertake a full review of Rush’s activities to determine if any worker or their family were adversely affected by his activities and, if so, take appropriate corrective action.”

An investigation by the FBI included a review of bank statements, secretly recorded phone conversations and testimony by witnesses cooperating with the agency, authorities said.

Rush worked to expand his union’s presence in the medical marijuana industry, including unionizing dispensary workers, FBI Special Agent Roahn Wynar wrote in an affidavit released Wednesday. Rush also serves as treasurer of the Instituto Laboral de la Raza, a nonprofit that advocates on behalf of the working poor.

But instead of working on behalf of the union and the institute, Rush “accepted money in exchange for his actions and influence as a UFCW union official,” the criminal complaint says.

In one case, Rush described to a business acquaintance ways to “effectively defeat a campaign by the UFCW” to organize employees at a marijuana dispensary, “including advising him how to commit unfair labor practices,” the complaint says.

From 2010 to 2014, Rush received money or other items of value from people representing the employers of potential union members, in violation of federal law, authorities said. The affidavit says Rush borrowed $600,000 in cash from a marijuana dispensary operator but was unable to repay the debt.

In exchange for forgiveness of this personal debt, Rush and an attorney he works with “took steps to provide various labor benefits to the (dispensary operator), including union support for opening dispensaries and reducing or eliminating pressure to unionize dispensary workers,” the complaint says.

Rush also referred workers’ compensation clients to an attorney in Oakland’s Fruitvale District in exchange for kickbacks from the attorney’s law practice, the complaint says.

Henry K. Lee is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: hlee@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @henryklee