TEAMSTERS (IBT)
Getting Off Light: Hamilton Sentenced to Only 3 Years
U.S. Dist. Judge Thomas P. Griesa in Manhattan sentenced ex-Int'l Bhd.
of Teamsters political director William W.
Hamilton to 36 months in prison Mar. 14 after he was convicted of helping
steer $885,000 in IBT funds to liberal
groups as part of a scheme in which donors later contributed to ex-IBT
boss Ron Carey's campaign. Federal sentencing guidelines recommend
46 to 57 months in prison. The maximum is 360 months; Hamilton's six convictions
were punishable by up to five years each.
Hamilton's lawyer, G. Robert Gage, Jr., pled with Griesa to depart from the guidelines. He emphasized that Hamilton hadn't benefited financially from the embezzlement, had ill and elderly parents and had spent decades working in "public service." Hamilton led civil rights demonstrations as a student, headed Planned Parenthood's D.C. office and was AFSCME's chief of staff. Asides: While at Planned Parenthood, Hamilton attacked the late Mother Teresa in a June 29, 1985 letter in the Wash. Post. And, how does being an AFSCME boss qualify as "public service"?
"This for me has been degrading and humiliating," Hamilton told the court. "I am deeply ashamed." Rationalizing, he said, "We didn't want to see the union go back to the days of corruption. Sometimes you want to do something so deeply, you do something dumb."
Emphasizing the seriousness of the crime, Griesa said: "It was a large embezzlement. It was not merely the loss of $885,000..., it was conduct which had a very damaging effect on the union." But he said he was lightening the sentence for one reason: Hamilton's "public service." Griesa actually said, Hamilton "led an exemplary life." Detroit News columnist Jon Pepper wrote: "It's lucky for [Hamilton] that he led a life of liberal activism. If [he] hadn't...he might have to spend an extra 1 1/2 years in jail."
Six Carey cronies have been convicted. Hamilton was the first to receive a prison term. One got probation, while others await sentencing. The U.S. Atty.'s Office in Manhattan said their probe continues. Hamilton declined to cooperate with investigations of others, including Carey and AFL-CIO secretary-treasurer Richard L. Trumka. Trumka has invoked the Fifth Amendment. Since no charges have been filed, Trumka is free to travel the country urging support for Al Gore. [N.Y. Times 3/15/00, Det. News 3/17/00]
Carey Scandal Figure's Firm in Trouble with NLRB
The Nat'l Labor Relations Bd. is investigating allegations of unfair
labor practices by the Share Group, of Somerville, Mass. (a telemarketing
firm known for its progressive practices) and its union. Share is
headed by Michael Ansara who pled guilty in 1997 to a federal conspiracy
charge in the IBT money-laundering scheme. Ansara
participated in two schemes that wrongfully routed $341,000 to ex-IBT boss
Ron Carey's 1996 campaign.
One ULP charge against Share alleges it hired an investigator to intimidate a group of dissident employees who had questioned company practices. A second alleges that Communications Workers of Am. Local 1400's offical indicated that workers who didn't back a proposed 1999 contract would be targeted for layoffs. [Boston Globe 3/14/00]
FIRE FIGHTERS
Pennsylvania Boss Embezzled $200,000
Wheeland "Bill" Hill, Jr., embezzled over $200,000 from the Perkasie
(Pa.) Ambulance Ass'n over five years. The ex-president's embezzlement
was detected in May 1999 when PAA's new president discovered secret bank
accounts Hill had maintained for the union. He pled guilty and was sentenced
to 6-23 months in prison. He must serve seven years' probation and make
restitution. [Morning Call 3/12/00]
FLINT GLASS WORKERS (AFGWU)
Pennsylvania Boss Admits to $59,000 Embezzlement
Emerson Frederick, ex-secretary-treasurer of Am. Flint Glass Workers
Union Local 555 in New Brighton, Pa., pled guilty Mar. 13 to embezzling
approximately $59,000 from the local. Over six years, he wrote 79 checks
from union accounts to himself, made 22 unauthorized withdrawals and failed
to deposit union dues. He's free on bond and scheduled to be sentenced
June 23. He faces up to five years in prison and $250,000 in fines or both.
He also will be barred from union office for 13 years. [Pitt. Post-Gazette
3/14/00]
IRON WORKERS (BSOIW)
Boss Embezzled $50,000 from International Union
Fred G. Summers, ex-boss of the Int'l
Ass'n of Bridge, Struc. & Ornamental Iron Workers, pled guilty Mar.
15 in U.S. Dist. Court in Wash., D.C., to embezzling over $50,000 of union
funds. The ex-organizing director admitted using BSOIW's credit card for
personal expenses, including travel and meal costs for his wedding and
honeymoon. He also admitted covering expenses for BSOIW president Jake
West and their friends and relatives. He pled guilty to 19 charges of embezzlement
and making false entries in union books.
The U.S. Atty.'s Office said union money was illegally spent from 1994-99 at restaurants in D.C. and on trips to Fla., Ind., Cal. and elsewhere. For example, in Jan. 1997, Summers spent $2,300 on a golf outing in Palm Springs. Prosecutors said West permitted Summers to pay the tab so West could provide "entertainment of his family and personal friends with less likelihood of detection." One dinner reportedly cost $933.
The crimes were detected in a long-running probe of union and police corruption. Summers agreed to help prosecutors. They're trying to determine whether West used union money to bestow favors on ex-D.C. police chief Larry D. Soulsby, and if so, whether he got anything in return.
Summers will to pay $50,000 in restitution. He kept his job after his arrest in Oct. 1999, but recently resigned and plans to start work in the construction business in Ind. while he awaits sentencing. [Wash. Post 3/16/00]
TEAMSTERS (IBT)
Two New York Locals Taken Over
IBT's Independent Review Bd. removed the executive boards of two IBT
locals in N.Y. earlier this month after internal probes reportedly found
rampant corruption, embezzlement and mismanagement. IRB has only removed
the boards of only two dozen locals since 1989.
Local 806 in Garden City reportedly has a history of organized crime. Donald Calagna served as president until he and the other six members of the board were ousted. IRB said Calagna's father, Anthony, Sr., was barred by IRB's predecessor a decade ago because of mob ties. IRB charged that Local 806 conducted only four membership meetings that met a quorum during the past five years, despite IBT's requirement they be held monthly. It also failed to hold executive board meetings. The local also entered into at least seven "sham" contracts, and raided $1.7 million from the members' Health & Welfare Fund and pension fund between 1987-98, IRB said. Despite financial trouble, Calagna received a 25% raise in 1995, making his annual salary $90,000.
Local 239 in East Meadow was previously placed into trusteeship in 1991. IRB said the local lacked approved bylaws, failed to hold proper meetings, had deteriorated financially, and entered into "sham" contracts. The seven-member board led by Anthony Miceli has seen the local's net assets declined by $135,400 between 1994-98. Miceli was accused of embezzling $55,000 by granting unauthorized bonuses and raises to officers and staff. Investigators found that he, trustee Anthony Evaristo, and business agent Milton Warren also falsified time cards. [Newsday 3/24/00]
HOTEL & RESTAURANT EMPLOYEES (HERE)
Seattle Local Put in Receivership
The Hotel Employees & Restaurant Employees Int'l Union took over
HERE Local 8 in Seattle Mar. 13, amid allegations of mismanagement .
HERE vice president Ron Richardson was named trustee and said he is replacing
the local's staff. Rich Sawyer, a lieutenant to HERE president John
Wilhelm, will run Local 8's day-to-day operations.
HERE reportedly also began investigating allegations of wrongdoing by the local's bosses, but Richardson refused to detail the charges. Local 8 president Joseph Massimino recently retired at the age of 65, and secretary-treasurer B.J. Simonson was reportedly "relieved of her duties." Simonson said she plans to sue union bosses over the unspecified allegations. [Seattle Post-Intelligencer 3/15/00]
ELECTIONS & POLITICS
Gore Aides Sought IRS Info for Union
Two aides to Al Gore improperly called the IRS on the same day in Jan.
1997 seeking information on a tax case of interest to a unnamed union whose
president was scheduled to meet with Gore the next day, Congressional investigators
reported Mar. 16. The Joint Committee on Taxation's report said that the
two "appear to have attempted to obtain taxpayer return information to
which they were not entitled." Federal law bars almost any release of IRS
information on specific taxpayers.
Lindy L. Paull, JCT's chief, said that she was constrained by taxpayer confidentiality from identifying the union. She said the calls, which the IRS rebuffed, raised questions about whether Gore's office created the "appearance of influence" on the union's behalf.
According to the report and supporting IRS documents, the then-counsel to Gore, Kumiki Gibson, and Gore staffer, Joe Eyer, both called the IRS on Jan. 28, 1997 "and in violation of written White House policies...attempted to secure taxpayer return information." Under White House policy, "no member of the...staff should have any communication of any type with the IRS without prior approval of the [White House] Counsel."
Paull said the calls were made in connection with an impending IRS decision about whether certain workers could be classified as independent contractors or employees for tax purposes. The Gore staffers were reportedly trying to determine the status of the case so Gore could use the information at the meeting with the affected union
It's illegal for gov't employees to divulge taxpayer information unless authorized by law. Not only did the IRS employees refuse to disclose the information, they reported the matter to the Treasury Dept.'s inspector general.
Tex. Gov. George W. Bush said, "[N]ow we find he has attempted to use political influence on behalf of a union with the IRS. These aren't mistakes, they're habits. They raise serious questions about whether [Gore] is the right person to be the next president. I think it's time for a fresh start." Bush spokesman Ari Fleischer said Gore should also disclose whether the union made any campaign contributions to him. [N.Y. Times, Wash. Post 3/17/00]
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ADDITIONAL BRIEFS NOT INCLUDED ON THE FAX EDITION OF THIS UNION CORRUPTION UPDATE:
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PLUMBERS UNION
Union Tied to Two New Jersey Men Charged with Racketeering
Two alleged associates of the DeCavalcante crime family were arrested
Mar. 14, charged with conspiring to conduct racketeering, loansharking,
extortion, mail fraud and theft offenses in connection with North Jersey
construction projects, according U.S. Atty. for N.J. Robert J. Cleary.
Arthur McCarthy, a former vice-president in charge of construction with the Bellemead Construction Corp., and Francesco Paparatto, 60, of Cranford were charged in a 22-count indictment unsealed today with their arrests. Also charged and arrested today was Pat Dwyer, 39, of Las Vegas, formerly of New Jersey, a former Bellemead Construction project manager.
The indictment focuses on corruption and mob influence in the construction industry and identifies Bellemead Construction of Roseland as the enterprise used in the corruption. The indictment alleges that from at least as early as July 1994 through in or about May 1999, the defendants engaged in racketeering activity, including loansharking, extortion, mail fraud and theft in Essex County, according to the Indictment.
One of the charges: McCarthy extorted $3,500 from J.C., a plumbing subcontractor hired by McCarthy, to have an unnamed plumber's union cease picketing the Newark housing project. [USAO DNJ, Media Release 3/14/00]
POLICE UNIONS (PBA)
Union Grievance Blamed for Bad Buffalo Cop
A union grievance helped a Buffalo police officer back into the world
of drugs and dirty money. In 1993, the FBI warned Buffalo's police commissioner
he had a crooked cop on his narcotics squad. The FBI said Darnyl Parker,
a decorated detective who lectured schoolchildren about the evils of drugs,
was secretly passing confidential police information to drug dealers. The
FBI said it also believed Parker was stealing cash from drug dealers and
providing dope to his twin brother.
Richard Donovan, Buffalo's police commissioner at the time, immediately removed Parker from a federal drug task force and transferred him out of the narcotics squad. But the police union, claiming Donovan had no right to discipline Parker without formally charging him, demanded he be given his job back. The Police Benevolent Association won. An arbitrator ordered Parker returned to narcotics investigations. He also made the city pay Parker $18,438 in overtime that he potentially would have earned on the narcotics squad.
Now Parker is in trouble again -- this time, much more serious. He has been criminally charged with doing what the FBI claimed he was doing seven years ago. His arrest Mar. 2 in a public corruption probe had Buffalo decisionmaker questioning the powers of the PBA.
Parker is charged with taking bribes from a drug dealer, passing on information about coming police raids, investing in dope deals and stealing seized drugs. This time, the FBI said, the drugs went not to his brother but to Parker's 21-year-old son, William, to set him up in the drug business. He was charged as well. Parker is also accused of leading a rogue band of three other Buffalo narcotics detectives who stole more than $36,000 in marked bills from an FBI agent posing as a Jamaican drug dealer.
Further, Parker and fellow detectives John Ferby, Robert E. Hill and David Rodriguez also are accused of staging a phony drug raid. They were caught on videotape looking for cash and narcotics in a drug house set up by the FBI with hidden cameras and sound equipment.
Police Commissioner Rocco J. Diina said Parker's grievance exposed a weakness in the department's ability to put officers where they're best suited. "If they're not fit for the job," Diina said, "we don't have the ability to move them out. In this case, this individual was able to use our flawed system and be put back in a position where federal authorities felt he was unfit."
Diina agreed with crime experts who feel narcotics detectives should be rotated out of the unit at least every three years. And department brass, he said, should choose the best officers for the job. Instead, detectives with the most seniority often choose narcotics, where the department's best overtime is found. Officials said the four detectives arrested in the Parker case all made in the range of $70,000 a year with overtime and court pay. And there is no provision, short of formally charging a detective with misconduct or a crime, for removing a detective from the unit.
Lt. Robert Meegan, PBA president, defend PBA's actions Parker case. "As far as the union, I hold us completely blameless," Meegan said. "We did what we are supposed to do, and what we have to do." [Buff. News 3/12/00]
TEAMSTERS (IBT)
New Jersey Fund Violated ERISA; Wrongly Denied Pension
The U.S. Ct. of Appeals for the Third Circuit held March 9 that the
Int'l Bhd. of Teamsters Local 641 Pension Fund -- which allows represented
employees to transfer service credits earned while working under the jurisdiction
of other IBT locals, but had a 15-year vesting threshold -- violated Employee
Retirement Income Security Act which requires a 10-year vesting period.
The pension plan, known as a pro-rata pension plan, was available to certain employees who had been represented by other IBT locals but didn't attain a minimum of 10 years with any one employer within the jurisdiction of Local 641 in Northern N.J. The fund calculated participants' pension based on the amount of pension they would have been entitled to had they earned all of their combined pension credits under Local 641's jurisdiction. The pro-rata pension was generally paid only to employees who earned a minimum of 15 years of combined service credits.
Stanley Smith earned service credits with two participating IBT locals before he entered employment that drew him under Local 64's jurisdiction. In accord with reciprocal agreements with the other locals, the Local 641 fund accepted service credits Smith earned while within the jurisdiction of the other two funds. When Smith applied for a pension from the Local 641 fund at age 65, the local informed him he had earned 11 years of service credit -- four years with Local 641 and seven years with the other two locals. The Local 641 fund denied Smith's pension application, saying he needed 15 years of credit before he could receive pension benefits.
Smith sued under ERISA, alleging the Local 641 fund's 15-year service credit requirement violated ERISA and constituted a breach of fiduciary duty. The U.S. Dist. Ct. for N. J. concluded the pro-rata pension was not governed by ERISA's 10-year vesting requirements and dismissed the case. The appeals court reversed. Local 641 argued that ERISA § 203's minimum 10-year vesting standards didn't apply. It maintained that ERISA § 203(b)(1)(C) permitted the fund to disregard years of service earned under other plans for vesting purposes.
The appeals court rejected Local 641's argument. Although a plan is not required to provide benefits, ERISA provisions become applicable after benefits are provided. The appeals court further rejected Local 641's contention that even if § 203(a) was applicable, § 203(b)(1)(C) allowed the fund to disregard service with any employer for any period in which the employer did not maintain the Local 641 fund plan. [BNA 3/14/00]
SERVICE EMPLOYEES (SEIU) / NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS
BOARD (NLRB)
California Local's Misconduct Invalidates Election
A "poor judgment call" by a Nat'l Labor Relations Bd. officer and election
day misconduct by Service Employees Int'l Union Local 700 in San Francisco
justified rejection of an NLRB bargaining order at a medical clinic, the
U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled Mar. 10.
The employer, North of Market Senior Services "presented a compelling case" that the integrity of the election was impugned when the NLRB representative allowed Local 700 agents into the facility to tell employees when to vote, the court said. "This certainly may have given the impression that the board had ceded significant authority to the union over the conduct of the election." The "improper invasion" of the facility by the union agents, where they disagreed with a clinic manager over when workers could vote, "could well have given employees the impression that [the employer] was unable to protect its rights in a dispute with the union," the court added.
Remanding the case to the board, Chief Judge Harry Edwards ordered NLRB to invalidate the election results and schedule a new election or hold a hearing on the objections raised by the employer to determine whether to hold a new election. [BNA 3/14/00]
OPERATING ENGINEERS (IUOE)
Harassment Suit Against New Jersey Local Continues
The 10-year legal saga of three N.J. women who sued Int'l Union of
Operating Engineers Local 825 union for the sexual taunts they endured
crossing a picket line just won't die. It had crept through the N.J. courts
before the plaintiffs finally settled for $400,000 in Dec. 1999
On Feb. 18, the trial court entered an order enforcing the settlement. The settlement "constitutes a full and final resolution of the entire controversy," N.J. Superior Court Judge Catherine Langlois wrote.
However, Langlois' order required the plaintiffs to prepare a statement releasing the defendant of all claims, including attorneys' fees. That left room for the lawyers to quibble over the wording. Defense attorney William Riina wants it to state that "I specifically release, waive and give up claims for compensatory damages, punitive damages, attorneys' fees, costs, disbursements and any and all other elements." But two of the plaintiffs -- Christine Baliko and Kelly Carroll, who hired Theodore Geiser to assert their right to get a separate payout from the defense to cover counsel fees -- signed releases that state that "all liens, costs, charges, fees, disbursements and expenses...will be paid from the proceeds of this settlement."
The wording nuance prompted another defense motion on Mar. 8, insisting that the release include the defense's phrasing. Geiser responded in a letter to Langlois that the order was compelling the plaintiffs to "waive a right which they and I believe they have." Riina returns to court Mar. 31 seeking enforcement of the Feb. 18 order, including the precisely worded release. [N.J. Law J. Mar. 20, 2000]
AFL-CIO / TRANSPORTATION UNION (UTU)
Union Withdraws from AFL-CIO
The bitter relationship between the United Transportation Union and
the Bhd. of Locomotive Engineers has soured further, with the UTU withdrawing
from the AFL-CIO on Mar. 16. UTU said the AFL-CIO "demonstrated a lack
of evenhandedness" in decisions as well as holding positions in national
transportation policy that would hurt railroad employees.
"Because UTU perceives its differences with the federation . . . to be presently irreconcilable, the UTU board of directors and I have concluded that it will be in the best interest of both UTU and the federation for us to immediately disaffiliate," wrote UTU president Charles L. Little in a letter to John J. Sweeney, AFL-CIO president.
UTU also said it was unacceptable for the AFL-CIO to impose "improper, after-the-fact" monetary sanctions against it in a representation dispute with the BLE. UTU said it was not right for the AFL-CIO to then give those funds to BLE, which would then use UTU's money to mount an organizing campaign against UTU.
On AFL-CIO's transport and political actions, the UTU cited AFL-CIO's support for a "shippers bill" that "would greatly harm rail operating employees represented by UTU" and its opposition to UTU-backed candidates for positions at the Surface Trans. Bd. and Nat'l Mediation Bd.
Little charged that AFL-CIO secretary-treasurer Richard L. Trumka said at a meeting with a number of rail affiliates that he probably should get the White House to come out in support of the "shippers bill," and threaten the railroads with federation support for it. "This bill would grant open access on the nation's railroads to shippers and other carriers that would greatly harm rail operating employees represented by UTU," Little wrote.
In 1986, the UTU withdrew from the federation for three years over a dispute concerning coal slurry policy that threatened the jobs of thousands of railroad workers. Other major unions, including the Teamsters and mine workers, have withdrawn from the federation over political and organizing disputes. [J. of Comm. 3/20/00; BNA 3/16/00]
QUOTABLE QUOTE
"It is hard to exaggerate just how removed John Sweeney's AFL-CIO
is from labor unions of yore. Today four in 10 union members work
for government; indeed, the AFL-CIO's largest members is AFSCME, the 1.4
million-member strong union of...state and local workers. Given this
constituency, instead of focusing on an economic growth that would create
jobs for more union workers, organized labor needs a growing government
and their membership rolls. For all his talk about the invention
of the Internet, Mr. Gore's core constituency really has no binding stake
in the new economy."
- Review & Outlook, Wall Street Journal, Mar. 16, 2000.
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