19,000 Union Workers at Risk after Laptop Stolen

A laptop stolen on the East Coast may have put members Oregon's largest private-sector union at risk of identity theft.

John and Melissa Browning, who work at a local grocery store, have been members of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union 555 for more than 15 years. The UFCW represents about 19,000 workers in Oregon and southwest Washington.  Dan Clay, the union's president, said the UFCW's international headquarters sent a letter to members of Local 555 about a union employee's laptop being stolen on the East Coast.

The letter said the laptop may contain personal information of Local 555 members, including birth dates and Social Security numbers.  "With that information, whoever obtained it could go out and get any type of credit because they have my birth date, my Social Security number, my full name as well as the address I live at," said John Browning.  The Brownings said they're angry about how long it took for them to learn about the laptop theft. The letter said the laptop theft occurred in March.

"Our union Local 555 wasn't the union that had the laptop stolen and so we weren't in control of the situation," Clay said. "We weren't made aware of it until very recently."  The UFCW recommended members place fraud alerts on their credit files.

The Brownings hope their warning serves as a reminder for other union members.  "People need to learn to be very diligent in checking their credit reports and making sure the information they give to companies is going to be secured properly," John Browning said. 

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