June 8, 2007: Provident Hospital is laying off members of Local 743 in Chicago, but Secretary-Treasurer Richard Lopez is missing in action.

“I paid union dues and get nothing for it,” said Diane Davis, one of the Teamsters laid off by Provident.

Lopez, the business agent for Provident, has refused to return calls of laid-off workers.

“Where are my union dues going?” wondered Yvette Gardner, a laid-off unit clerk.

The 743 New Leadership Slate helped organize Teamsters and local residents to protest the cuts. They joined nurses, doctors, patients and others to fight the cuts. Rev. Jesse Jackson showed up on the picket line. But Local 743 union officials were nowhere to be found.