LABORERS (LIUNA)
Clinton Attorney Clears Coia of Mob Ties
As widely anticipated, the Laborers Int'l Union of No. Am. "internal appeals officer" and ex-Clinton attorney, W. Neil Eggleston, Aug. 6 upheld a sham ruling that cleared LIUNA boss Arthur A. Coia of permitting organized crime to maintain its influence within LIUNA. Coia has well-documented, close personal, financial and political ties to Clinton. Eggleston was Clinton's lead attorney for executive privilege matters and argued Clinton's case for executive privilege before the Supreme Court last year. Eggleston also has several clients that are wrapped up in this Administration's scandals including Labor Secretary Alexis H. Herman. Eggleston left intact a slap-on-the-wrist $100,000 fine imposed on Coia in Mar. for taking favors from a union vendor.

"This is the Arthur Coia big top," said LIUNA dissident Alex Corns of Cal. "He picked everybody that is involved in the whole cleanup. I believe that they are all controlled to a certain extent by Coia..."

The Clinton-Reno Dep't of Justice, which only mildly criticized the sham ruling last Mar. that cleared Coia, didn't comment on Eggleston's ruling. DOJ had urged the appeal by the ethically-challenged "in-house prosecutor" Robert D. Luskin. Luskin said of Eggleston's ruling, "I think we were afforded a full opportunity to present evidence relevant to the charges and a fair opportunity to be heard." Doesn't sound like some one who just lost a major case, does it?  Maybe Luskin was more concerned about his other client, Mark E. Middleton of the Clinton-Gore-Asian fundraising scandal fame. Middleton took the Fifth Amendment 28 times before a House committee on Aug. 5.

The appeal focused on Coia's relationship with ex-LIUNA bosses including John Serpico. Serpico was removed from LIUNA in Jan. 1995. Some have alleged that Coia used LIUNA's failed "internal reform effort" to run Serpico, Coia's main rival for power, out of the union. [Providence Journal-Bulletin & BNA 8/10/99]

Chicago Bosses Indicted by Federal Grand Jury
A federal grand jury in Chicago returned an indictment Aug. 4 against two union bosses for engaging in a pattern of criminal activity that included fraud, soliciting kickbacks, money laundering, and illegal currency transactions. The criminal indictments were returned against John Serpico and Maria Busillo, both executives of the Central States Joint Board. CSJB is a labor group that administers pension and health-welfare plans for eight Chicago-based local unions, including LIUNA. Serpico also heads the Ill. Int'l Port Authority and has been a major political patron of Ill. Govs. James Thompson (R), Jim Edgar (R) and George Ryan (R) as well as Chicago Mayor Richard Daley (D).

Serpico was CSJB president from 1975-94 and is still a consultant. Serpico was also a LIUNA vice president until he was forced to resign as a component of DOJ's effort in 1995 to rid the union of corrupt influences. Busillo is the current CSJB president and holds top posts with several of the affiliated locals.

The indictment indicates that Serpico and Busillo exercised near complete control over CSJB and used their influence for a variety of illegal schemes. The indictment accuses them of steering CSJB assets to various banks in return for favorable terms on personal and business loans totaling more than $5 million. Capitol Bank & Trust issued eight of the nine loans and pled guilty in 1996 for its role, paying an $800,000 fine. Separately, Serpico allegedly defrauded CSJB pension plans by soliciting and receiving kickbacks in return for a $6.5 million speculative mortgage loan for construction of a hotel in Champaign, Ill.

The two were charged with one count of racketeering, racketeering conspiracy, bank fraud and making false statements on a bank application. Serpico and Busillo were charged with seven and two counts of mail fraud, respectively. A third defendant, Gilbert Cataldo, was charged with three counts of mail fraud. The ex-Chicago housing commissioner, allegedly conspired with Serpico to obtain $334,000 in kickbacks. [Chicago Sun-Times & BNA 8/5/99]

DOJ & LIUNA Take Over Chicago District Council
To better to dismantle organized crime's alleged control over the Chicago Laborers' Dist. Council, an unusual consent decree was jointly filed Aug. 12 by the Dep't of Justice and LIUNA in U.S. Dist. Court. Stating that LIUNA's failed "internal reform process" has suffered many problems removing La Cosa Nostra's long-standing control over the CLDC, the consent decree establishes an unprecedented supervisory process.

It includes the appointment of a special monitor to investigate and prosecute wrongdoing. Thankfully, the monitor will be appointed by a U.S. Dist. Judge and not the failed "internal reform effort" -- an unusually good sign.  CLDC delegates voted 34-11 on Aug. 11 to accept the consent decree. CLDC oversees 21 locals, as well as pension, training and health-welfare funds valued at over $1.5 billion.

U.S. Atty. Scott Lassar said that the two-year consent decree is unusual in the context of DOJ's four-year-old effort to erase organized crime's influence over LIUNA because it marks the first time DOJ has taken over a LIUNA entity -- something it should have done to the entire union a long time ago.

The decree, which still requires the approval of a federal judge, follows a lawsuit filed jointly Aug. 11 by DOJ and LIUNA via its ethically-challenged "in-house prosecutor" Robert D. Luskin. It alleged CLDC had been infiltrated by corrupt individuals and organized crime figures who have exploited CLDC for their own gain and the benefit of organized crime for three decades.

The decree alleges that not a single contested election had been held and 21 of the CLDC's bosses had been either members or associates of the organized crime in Chicago --  commonly called the "Outfit." The suit states that four mobsters held CLDC offices when a trusteeship took over last year: vice president John Matassa, Jr., reputed boss of the Outfit's North Side crew; president Bruno Caruso, son of the late Frank Caruso, boss of the 26th Street crew; secretary-treasurer Joseph A. Lombardo, Jr., son of Joseph "The Clown" Lombardo, Sr., an ex-mob  boss; and sergeant-at-arms Leo Caruso, an alleged mob associate and Bruno Caruso's cousin. Also listed as influential in CLDC were alleged mobsters Tony Accardo, Joey Aiuppa and Joseph Lombardo, Sr.

Another suit allegation was that Fred Roti, an ex-Chicago alderman who was convicted of racketeering and extortion in 1993, is a full-fledged member of the mob. In Roti's 1993 trial, prosecutors had alleged the 1st Ward alderman worked closely with Pat Marcy, a mob powerbroker who died before he could be brought to trial. But no one accused Roti of being a "made" member of the mob -- until now. Roti was sentenced to 4 years in prison. He was released in 1997. The suit says Roti was a patronage boss for the Outfit.

The suit also alleged that ex-LIUNA boss John Serpico was a longtime organized crime associate. Near the end of his union duties, the suit alleged, Serpico, "transferred" 85% of Local 8 membership to Central States Joint Board, which authorities described as organized-crime influenced.

The decree also establishes a trustee-supervisory officer, who would oversee CLDC daily activities and elected officials. Unfortunately, Lassar said DOJ would ask the court to maintain Robert E. Bloch as CLDC's trustee. Bloch is an attorney at the tiny Chicago firm of Dowd & Bloch. LIUNA dissidents have criticized Bloch for allegedly naming his partner, J. Peter Dowd, to the  lucrative position of counsel to the Chicago Laborers' Pension Fund. Dissidents say it's a conflict of interest that raises questions about Bloch's integrity.

Jim McGough, leader of a dissident group called Laborers for Justice, said the success of the decree would depend on the person chosen as monitor.   "It remains to be seen who the monitor will be," said McGough.  "A lot depends on the aggressiveness of the court monitor and his willingness to inform the members of past corrupt policies and procedures." [BNA & Chicago Tribune 8/13/99]

New York Construction Locals Probed
A three-year inquiry, dubbed Operation Textbook, by the Manhattan Dist. Atty. and the N.Y. Police Dep't Organized Crime Control Bureau has reportedly found evidence that the Gambino and Luchese crime families forged corrupt alliances with bosses of N.Y.C.'s laborers, carpenters and bricklayers unions that reaped tens of millions of dollars in recent years. Allegedly, several construction companies routinely pay bribes to bosses to enjoy lucrative benefits such as evading hundreds of thousands of dollars in payments to union pension funds. A N.Y. grand jury is reportedly reviewing evidence, including secretly recorded conversations between suspected mobsters, union bosses and company officials. Indictments on racketeering charges may be unsealed this fall.

Investigators raided more than 50 sites in the city, N.J. and Conn. in Jun. They removed records from the offices of LIUNA Local 79, United Bhd. of Carpenters Local 608, Bricklayers & Allied Craftworkers Union Local 1. Over two truckloads of documents and computers were impounded from the unions and construction companies. Investigators also searched the homes of a dozen union bosses and of reputed Luchese figures, Steven L. Crea and Joseph J. Datello. Datello is an ex-LIUNA Local 20 boss. Over $250,000 in cash was found including over $20,000 at Crea's home, investigators said. The money was seized as possible evidence of bribes.

Investigators identified S&S Contractors of Linden, N.J., as one of the construction companies suspected of violating union contracts. S&S is owned by Sara Riggi, the daughter of John Riggi, who is allegedly the DeCalvacante crime family boss for N.J. and who is in prison on a racketeering conviction. [N.Y. Times 8/8/99]

In a separate report, investigators said ex-LIUNA Local 95 boss Christine McKenna is the target of a federal criminal investigation. In 1993, Local 95 business manager Michael Donnelly was convicted of extorting kickbacks from a union vendor. Soon after his conviction Christine McKenna, a relative of another ousted union boss, was named business manager and president. She increased her salary to $120,000 a year, and leased a new Buick Riviera. She gave a second leased Riviera to Anthony Tarantino, whom she had appointed business agent. Tarantino was an ex-convict and later identified by investigators as a Bonanno crime family associate.

When LIUNA later placed the local in trusteeship, Local 95 was $400,000 in debt, including money owed to former members who had successfully sued the local for depriving them of their rights. Upon McKenna's departure, checks totaling over $10,000 made out to "cash" had been drawn on the local's bank account, leaving a balance of $45. Tarantino was found shot dead in the leased Buick days after the local was taken over. [Daily News 7/29/99]

HOTEL EMPLOYEES & RESTAURANT EMPLOYEES (HERE)
Chicago Bosses Violated Ban?
Following last month's House hearing on the effect of a 1995 consent decree on the Hotel Employees & Restaurant Employees Int'l Union, Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio) demanded an investigation into the possible involvement of ousted bosses in the activities of the union. In an Aug. 3 letter to Kurt W. Muellenberg, HERE's monitor and member of its Public Review Board, Boehner expressed alarm about testimony given by Pablo Garcia, a shop steward from HERE Local 1 in Chicago, about Edward T. Hanley, the ex-HERE president, and his son Thomas, the ex-Local 1 president.

Edward Hanley resigned pursuant to an agreement with the monitor and received a controversial immunity deal from criminal prosecution by the Dep't of Justice last year. As part of an agreement settling charges of embezzlement and misuse of union funds, Thomas Hanley was barred from the union last year for a year. Garcia testified at Boehner's hearing on how the Hanley "loyalty system" works, suggesting that both men continue to influence the union, according to Boehner.

Specifically, Boehner wrote, "Mr. Garcia described Thomas Hanley's participation in the victory party of Mr. Maloney and his slate after the recent Local 1 election...My understanding is that any involvement by Thomas Hanley during the period of his bar violates that penalty [his suspension] and renders it meaningless ...Moreover, I understand that anyone who 'knowingly associates' with a barred member violates the union's Ethical Practices Code, mandated by the 1995 Consent Decree. If the investigation confirms these allegations, I would expect [DOJ] to take appropriate action against the Hanleys." Boehner asked Muellenberg to respond by Aug. 18. [BNA & Chicago Sun-Times 8/6/99]

GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES (AFSCME)
Ex-New York Boss Guilty of Stealing $50,000
Ex-treasurer of Am. Fed. of State, County & Municipal Employees Local 384, Connie Lango, pled guilty Aug. 6 to stealing over $50,000 from the union. The plea was the latest conviction resulting from the Manhattan Dist. Atty.'s corruption investigation of N.Y.'s AFSCME Dist. Council 37.

Lango and co-defendant Francine Autovino, ex-Local 384 president, were the first bosses indicted in the DC37 probe that has nabbed 27 indictments. Grand larceny charges against Autovino, who pled not guilty in Mar., are still pending. Lango, who was the local's treasurer for 11 years, pled guilty to two counts of grand larceny. She faces three years in prison when sentenced Oct. 4. Autovino faces up to seven years in prison if convicted.

Investigators said Lango stole tens of thousands of dollars by falsifying the financial records and taking the proceeds of bank checks that had been written out to herself, credit card companies and car leasing companies between May 1994 and Sep. 1995. Lango admitted that she and Autovino, once friends, went on a $3,000 personal vacation to Hawaii and had the union pay for it. But Lango's plea marked the latest chapter in what had become a bitter rivalry between the two. When members first complained about missing funds, the two blamed each other. In 1996, Autovino convinced the union's board to fire Lango. When the two women were arraigned, Lango yelled at the judge that it was unfair that Autovino's bail had been set at a lower amount. [N.Y. Times 8/8/99]

SERVICE EMPLOYEES (SEIU)
New York Dissident on Corruption
The following is an excerpt of a letter-to-the-editor by Paul Pamias, Service Employees Int'l Union Local 32B-32J in N.Y., that appeared in the Aug. 9 edition of Business Week:

"[T]he house of labor is still much in need of improvement. Continuing labor scandals, such as those at New York City's AFSCME DC37 and my local, SEIU 32B-32J, are a union buster's dream come true. Laborcrats, with their penthouses, junkets, executive board secrets and lack of financial accountability, make us easy targets.

Many companies have captive-audience meetings of their employees. The union-avoidance specialists that they hire know how to spin this fact to their advantage. What is ironic is that nonunion employees can openly discuss union corruption and are able to learn a great deal, real or imagined, at such meetings.

Indictments, convictions and negative coverage of labor in the media is never officially discussed with members of the rank and file. Union meetings, publications and websites usually ignore corruption or give sanitized versions of events. These actions can only alienate loyal union members... The lack of rank-and file democracy is the real organizing problem."

QUOTABLE QUOTE
"Have we screwed the worker? Absolutely not. Some schnook who can't read or write gets a job at $10 an hour? Hey, we made him a person."

- Roger Madon, ex-attorney for LIUNA Local 95 in N.Y. (see related article above). [Daily News 7/29/99]

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ADDITIONAL BRIEFS NOT INCLUDED ON THE FAX EDITION OF THIS UNION CORRUPTION UPDATE:

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ELECTIONS & POLITICS
Unions Gouge DNC with $927,500 in Soft Money
The Democratic Nat. Committee was the last of the six major party committees to report soft money contributions for Jan.-Jun. 1999, and the amount raked in from unions is staggering. DNC took in $927,500 in union soft money, some from several of America's most corrupt unions like the Am. Fed. of State, County & Municipal Employees and the Hotel Employees & Restaurant Employees Int'l Union.

Here are the six month totals according to Public Disclosure, Inc.: Communications Workers of Am. $225,000;  Int'l Ass'n of Machinists $95,000; Int'l Bhd. of Electrical Workers $87,500; United Ass'n of Plumbing & Pipe Fitters $85,000; Int'l Ass'n of Fire Fighters $80,000; Sheet Metal Workers $75,000; Am. Fed. of Teachers $65,000; Nat. Edu. Ass'n $50,000; United Food & Commercial Workers $50,000; AFSCME $40,000; Am. Fed. of Gov't Employees $25,000; AFL-CIO $25,000; HERE $25,000.

SERVICE EMPLOYEES (SEIU)
Blistering Profile of Detroit Boss
The following excerpts are from the blistering profile of SEIU Local 79 boss Paul Policicchio in the Aug. 1999 issue of the far-left publication, Labor Notes:

"When Paul Policicchio became president of Local 79 of the Service Employees International Union in 1988, many activists saw it as a welcome change. His predecessor, Richard Cordtz, was a kindred spirit to the old guard Teamster officials he associated with. Cordtz was a highly paid...official with multiple salaries, presiding over a local full of low wage people...who had little say in the running of their union.

But although the Detroit-based local may be somewhat more activist now than in Cordtz' day, the underlying situation has not changed that much. The well-paid Policicchio runs a highly autocratic local...  And Local 79 seems to have a much-too-cozy relationship with a company that provides low-wage employees for one of Detroit's most prominent employers.

What makes Local 79 of more than usual interest is that Policicchio is one of the top five international officials of 1.2 million member SEIU, a union that holds itself up as a model for the future of the labor movement. Andy Stern, who fought off a challenge by Cordtz to become SEIU president in 1996, made Policicchio his candidate for executive vice president, a position he still holds in addition to the presidency of Local 79...

The most striking example of Local 79's cozy relationship with an employer involves several companies, including Arena Operators and Theater Operators, which were started by a man named James P. Foran. These companies provide service and maintenance workers, who are members of Local 79, for entertainment venues owned by the Mike Illitch family. The Illitches own the Little Caesar's pizza chain, along with the Detroit Tigers baseball team and the Detroit Red Wings hockey team. Local 79 members at Joe Louis Arena, where the Red Wings play, are employees of Arena Operators, Ltd. At Detroit's Fox Theater, another Illitch property, Local 79 members work for Theater Operators, Ltd.

According to state records, James P. Foran started Arena Operators in 1979 and Theater Operators in 1988. Foran is now an attorney for the company, according to the State Bar of Michigan. But James P. Foran also works for Local 79. He earned over $50,000 last year in salary and expenses for a position listed simply as "H&W" in the local's financial records. [His] father, Jack, is president of Arena Operators and Theater Operators. Policicchio personally negotiates the contracts with the Foran companies; they do not seem to be many steps above the "sweetheart" level...

[Employees] become union members only after working a probationary period of 100 events in a 12-month period. If a worker cannot work 100 events in twelve months, [he] must start over again. Although the arena holds about 150 events a year, many workers still do not make the minimum. Overlapping show schedules and simultaneous events make it difficult. "The workers end up perpetually on probation," said Elena Herrada, a former Local 79 business agent. "That means that while they're on probation they are not full-fledged union members, and have no access to the grievance process and no protection under the contract." There is also no definition in the contract of what constitutes an "event." This can make the wage and probation provisions very flexible in the hands of the employer...

Contracts are not the only problem for Local 79 members. According the members and staffers, workers who want to assert their rights sometimes find themselves very much alone. ...Local 79 staffers say that it was common for business agents to undermine or ignore workers...

Herrada believes that the local's handling of such issues reflect the leadership's inability to relate to the members. ...[she said,] "The president does not represent the majority of the people whose lifestyles are so far removed from his." Policicchio's 27-year career has been spent mostly on the SEIU staff. He has been an officer of Local 79 since 1984. Last year, the international union paid him $143,502, while the local paid him just over $8,000 in salary and expenses. Herrada...was laid off in March and ... she believes that it was because of her involvement [in high profile] fight [with a contractor]. With Herrada's layoff came several others...

One SEIU staffer whose job has remained intact is Michon Policicchio, Paul's wife. Local 79 paid her $29,000 last year, roughly the same as most full-time staffers in her job category. Both former and current Local 79 staffers, however, say that Michon Policicchio works part-time. Many staffers thought that the local was cutting back due to financial problems. Although Local 79's 1998 financial records do not indicate any deficit, [ex-Local 79 director Ike] Townsend says that Local 79 officers and staff had meetings about the local's money problems.

Whatever money problems there were may have resulted, at least in part, from some unusual expenditures. New furniture for Michon Policicchio's office and others at the local, a video surveillance system in the local's offices, the lease on Paul Policicchio's car, catered meals, and an apartment in one of downtown Detroit's high-rent high-rises are among the items former staffers say the local has spent its money on...

Paul Policicchio did not return repeated telephone calls. "He will not be commenting," said SEIU Local 79 spokesperson Laura Johnstone, who also would not respond to questions. Nor would the international union. Several Local 79 staffers, former staffers, stewards, and members of Local 79 also declined to comment or be interviewed. Some former staffers were afraid that speaking out would cause them to lose their jobs, or have difficulty getting other jobs. Rank and file workers feared that the union would allow their employers to fire them. Stewards were concerned that the union would negotiate worse contracts for them..."

TEAMSTERS (IBT)
Edelstein Denies New Jersey Boss' "Frivolous" Appeal
U.S. Dist. Judge David N. Edelstein, who oversees the Int'l Bhd. of Teamsters' 1989 consent decree, Aug. 2 denied a request from a top boss, Gene Giacumbo, to reconsider his earlier decision that a member of the Independent Review Board need not recuse himself from a disciplinary case against the officer. Edelstein called the reconsideration request a "waste of judicial resources" and "without any justifiable support," his one-paragraph submission was "ostensibly frivolous." Giacumbo is an ex-president of a IBT Local 843 in N.J. and international IBT vice president.

In denying reconsideration, Edelstein said, "This court is vexed that Giacumbo requests a reconsideration of issues already examined simply because he is dissatisfied with the way his case has been resolved."  In October 1995, the IRB found that Giacumbo had embezzled local union funds, breached his fiduciary duties, and brought reproach upon the union. The IRB suspended Giacumbo from office for only six months and ordered him to pay a minuscule $1,600 fine. When IRB asked Edelstein to affirm its order as required by the consent decree, he sent the case back to IRB holding that the sanctions were not commensurate with the severity of the charges. IRB then imposed a three-year suspension, but again Edelstein found the penalty too lenient. In 1997, the IRB finally barred Giacumbo from office for life.

Giacumbo appealed the discipline to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, which found that Edelstein erred in substituting his judgment for that of IRB and for suggesting that Giacumbo be banned from the union for life. Following the Second Circuit decision, Edelstein directed IRB to consider whether the sanctions it had imposed on Giacumbo should be modified because of any further misconduct. Edelstein also found that IRB member Frederick B. Lacey need not recuse himself from Giacumbo's disciplinary case because there was no evidence that Lacey was biased against Giacumbo.

IRB found in a Jul. 19, 1999, decision that the suspension from office and membership already served by Giacumbo was sufficient and that he is eligible for reinstatement to membership once he pays the $1,600 fine plus interest to IBT. IRB asked Edelstein to affirm its decision, while Giacumbo filed a motion opposing the IRB decision and renewing his argument that the court erred when it did not require Lacey's recusal.  In rejecting Giacumbo's appeal for reconsideration, Edelstein held said that the IBT officer was asking the court to consider arguments that have already been fully adjudicated. [BNA 8/9/99]

POLICE UNIONS (COPBA) / GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES (AFSCME)
Ousted New York Boss Returns to Power in New Union
A union boss removed in a financial scandal from the former organization representing state prison guards is back by popular demand. Joseph Puma won overwhelming support to become a steward at Coxsackie (N.Y.) Correctional Facility. Member elected him Jul. 14, according to the N.Y. State Correctional Officers & Police Benevolent Ass'n.  In a statewide election, COPBA took over union representation of almost 25,000 guards, replacing Am. Fed. of State, County & Municipal Employees' Dist. Council 82, which Puma once ran as executive director.

Puma, ex-DC82 president Thomas Kennedy and associate director Lawrence Germano were expelled by DC82 for alleged misuse of union funds. The FBI and the Dep't of Labor also investigated allegations that personal purchases were made on union-funded credit cards. In 1995, Kennedy was suspended, Puma resigned, Germano was deposed and the
AFSCME took over DC82.

COPBA president Brian Shanagher said Puma received about 221 votes out of 240 cast. He will receive no pay as steward and is not expected to handle any funds. ''Do I find it ironic? We have a complete and open democratic system,'' Shanagher said. ''Anybody who's a member of the organization is allowed to run for any office. They had nomination meetings, he was nominated. ... We have no influence over who can run.''

Under Puma, DC82's finances deteriorated while leaders ran up travel and entertainment bills. DC82 achieved a $1.9 million deficit in the fiscal year that ended Jun. 30, 1994. From 1992-94, the union's reserves dropped by $3.6 million. [Times Union 7/29/99]

GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES (AFSCME)
Evidence Uncovered of Possible Vote Fraud in New York Local Election
Mark Rosenthal, Am. Fed. of State, County & Municipal Employees' Dist. Council 37's best-known corruption fighter, could hardly believe what he had stumbled upon when a janitor led him into a long-forgotten storeroom at union headquarters. Atop a file cabinet inside the musty storeroom was a large cardboard box holding hundreds of election ballots that he said were palpably fraudulent. The ballots came from a 1995 election for the executive board of his AFSCME Local 983.

Rosenthal claimed the ballots were suspect for numerous reasons: the return addresses on dozens of envelopes were written in identical handwriting; the postmarks showed that dozens of ballots were mailed from the same post office at the same time, and scores of ballots were filled out precisely the same way.

"This was like an act of God to me," said Rosenthal. "I've always suspected that that election was a fraud, and I've been searching for proof for four years, and here, God, it just fell into my lap. If anyone knows about searching for justice, this shows there really is a God." Rosenthal said the ballots proved that the previous president of his union, Local 983, had perpetrated the vote fraud to guarantee that his 26 allies running for the local's executive board would win election.

In Jun., the Manhattan Dist. Atty. Robert M. Morgenthau, announced the indictment of the local's former president, Robert Taylor, on charges of fixing the 1995 election, grand larceny and reporting false results in the 1996 ratification vote on the district council's contract. Alan Friess, Mr. Taylor's lawyer, insisted yesterday that Mr. Taylor was not guilty, saying he had moved to dismiss the charges on the ground that the indictment was defective.

Since Mr. Rosenthal was elected president of the local a year ago, he has played a major role as a whistle-blower at District Council 37. He helped uncover evidence of vote fraud, embezzlement and kickbacks -- as well as a $91,000 Christmas party. These revelations put pressure on Morgenthau and AFSCME to move more quickly against corruption in DC37.

Four years ago, Rosenthal, asked DC37 to overturn his local's 1995 election. In that election protest, he
asserted that it was extremely unlikely that all 26 candidates on Taylor's slate could beat all 26 members on his slate when the Taylor slate appeared unpopular and hardly campaigned. But DC37 rejected Rosenthal's challenge on the ground that he had not come up with hard evidence of fraud.

After Rosenthal discovered the ballots late Monday, he informed DC37 bosses, who immediately told him to secure the ballots and turn them over to Morgenthau. Rosenthal conferred with his lawyer, Arthur Z. Schwartz, and they
concluded that it would be wisest to move the ballots to the lawyer's home. "We did not believe the ballots were safe in the building because too many people knew about it," Schwartz said. "To this day, no one has explained how the ballots from another local's election disappeared from a locked storeroom." On Aug. 10, an investigator from Morgenthau's office picked up the ballots. [N.Y. Times 8/13/99]

ACTORS (SAG)
California Election Probe Gains New Life
Screen Actors Guild president Richard Masur's rulings against efforts to renew an investigation into an internal election last fall were overturned Aug. 9. Board member Eugene Boggs said he had achieved a "tremendous victory" in his effort to compel the guild to revive the probe. Boggs' motions address his complaint that 55 fellow board members acted improperly in Jan. 1999 when they voted to quash further investigation of discrepancies in an election of members to the guild's national executive committee. The matter will be taken up again at a meeting next month of SAG's Western board members.

Masur claimed, "I'm fulfilling my duty as the presiding officer to rule out-of-order things that are frivolous or outside the bounds of what the board is there to do." Masur said he acted on legal advice when he ruled against Boggs' motions.

Boggs, a labor attorney, filed a six-page complaint against his colleagues alleging "serious misconduct" and "dereliction of fiduciary responsibilities" in their decision to set aside a special investigator's conclusion that there likely was "intentional wrongdoing" in the Nov. 16, 1998 election. [Daily Variety 9/11/99]

IRON WORKERS (BSOIW)
Union Legal Action Against Company Ruled Illegal by NLRB
The Nat. Labor Relations Board Jul. 19 ordered the Int'l Ass'n of Bridge, Structural & Ornamental Iron Workers to discontinue efforts to enforce a contract provision requiring all entities -- union and nonunion -- owned or financially controlled by Elwin G. Smith, Inc., to follow the union contract. The Iron Workers' effort to obtain summary judgment in U.S. Dist. Court to enforce its anti-dual shop provision in its agreement with the company violates Nat. Labor Relations Act Section 8(e), NLRB decided in modifying an administrative law judge's decision.

Prior to the last restructuring of the company, the union in 1986 began to complain about a Smith subsidiary subcontracting work to Southwestern Materials & Supply, Inc., a non-union builder, and demanded arbitration. The union filed a petition to compel arbitration and a complaint for damages on Sep. 2, 1986, in the U.S. Dist. Court for the W.Dist. of Pa. The petition sought to require two Smith components and Southwestern to arbitrate applicability of the anti-dual shop to Southwestern's construction work. The union filed a motion for summary judgment on Jan. 14, 1988, reasserting its position that the employers were obligated to arbitrate applicability of the provision. The court has stayed ruling on the petition and complaint pending completion of the board's proceeding.

Addressing the merits of the case, NLRB said anti-dual shop provision requires contract application to work under the union's jurisdiction that is performed by Smith or an entity owned or controlled by Smith. This clause requires that the contract be extended to affiliated entities, including those over which Smith does not control assignment of work. The fact that the signatory employer owns another business does not necessarily mean the signatory employer has control over assignment of work in that other entity, according to NLRB. "Thus, the clause is not limited to addressing the labor relations of the contracting employer vis-a-vis its own employees, but instead seeks to regulate the labor policies of other, neutral employers -- an objective that is clearly secondary," NLRB said.  [BNA 8/10/99]
 

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Union Corruption Update is part of NLPC's Organized Labor Accountability Project which is investigating and exposing corruption and extremism in the Teamsters, LIUNA, AFL-CIO and many other union organizations. NLPC is a nonpartisan, nonprofit foundation promoting ethics and accountability in government through research, education and legal action.

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