FIRE FIGHTERS (IAFF)
Kansas City Boss Embezzled $18,000
Roger L. Mathisen, ex-boss of Int'l Ass'n of Fire Fighter Local I-34
in the Kansas City area, pled guilty Aug. 10 to embezzling $18,404 in union
funds from 1996-98. Reportedly, Mathisen used a union debit card to make
nearly $14,000 in unauthorized withdrawals from ATMs. The remaining funds
reportedly came from overpayment for travel, unauthorized meeting expenses
and an improper 10% stipend on his salary as an ambulance driver.
The embezzlement came to light after the local inquired into Mathisen's financial dealings and he acknowledged the thefts. He then came under federal scrutiny. Mathisen agreed to pled guilty before the government indicted him, according to his attorney John P. O'Connor. Under the plea, Mathisen could face from eight to fourteen months in prison. U.S. Dist. Judge Gary Fenner said he may also order Mathisen to make full restitution. [K.C. Star 8/11/00]
AUTO WORKERS (UAW)
Feds Probe UAW, Michigan Members Sue Bosses
Twenty-one General Motors employees are suing the United Auto Workers
and their employer, claiming their UAW local bosses demanded jobs for relatives
and improper overtime payments for ending a costly 1997 strike at GM's
Pontiac truck plants. The allegations also are being probed by federal
investigators. The probe is extending to the UAW bosses in the int'l union
and in locals in Kentucky, Michigan and Ohio.
"The UAW leaders used the membership for their own personal gain," said
the members' attorney, Harold Dunne.
The FBI and the U.S Dep't of Labor's Office of the Inspector
General declined to say whether they were investigating UAW and automaker.
But UAW members interviewed by the federal investigators said that the
probe is looking into the 1997 strike and related issues. Members said
that federal investigators, part of the Clinton-Gore Administration, told
them that Local 594 was just the "tip of the iceberg" in larger probe of
UAW as a whole. Interestingly, Aug. 8, the day after the members' suit
was filed, UAW endorsed the Gore-Lieberman ticket. UAW was one of
only two major unions not to have endorsed Gore. The other is the Teamsters.
AFL-CIO endorsed Gore last fall.
The members' suit, filed Aug. 7 in U.S. Dist. Court in Detroit, alleges fraud, collusion and extortion stemming from the settlement of a bitter 87-day strike. The suit seeks $50 million in compensatory damages and $500 million in punitive damages. Among the most serious allegations are charges that Local 594 negotiators prolonged the strike until GM agreed to a plan to provide jobs to relatives and friends of union bosses. The suit also said union bosses received $200,000 in improper overtime payments. It is a class-action suit filed on behalf of up to 6,000 UAW members. It names UAW and GM, alleging the employer was aware of the purported scheme and acceded to it.
The suit alleges that Local 594 bargaining leaders extended the strike until GM agreed to make illegal, secret payments designated as overtime reimbursement to certain officials. It said that Jay Campbell, chairman of the local's seven-member bargaining committee, illegally received $40,000. It also claims William Coffey, chairman of the local's skilled trades committee, received $60,000. Dunne added that all but a few of the union's district committee members received $5,000 each.
The local's shop committee also allegedly demanded that GM hire Gordon Campbell and Todd Fante as skilled tradesmen although they failed to meet the criteria for the jobs. Campbell is the son of Jay Campbell, former Local 594 chairman, while Fante is the son of a friend of UAW executive Donny Douglas, who played an important negotiation role during the strike. Dunne said that none of the hires should have been made because they failed to meet the minimum requirements for the skilled jobs. "They were hired immediately after the workers returned to work with the full support of the international union," Dunne said.
Member Randy Tompkins, an assembler at the time of the strike, said the job action financially hurt him. "I'm a union person but I don't believe in corruption."
The federal probe was prompted in part by allegations made by "UAW Concerns," a dissident group headed by Pat Meyer. She said the probe should be extended to bosses at Solidarity House, UAW's int'l headquarters. She said investigators are looking into the hiring of David Shoemaker in July 1997 shortly after the strike ended. He is the son of Richard Shoemaker, UAW vice-president in charge of GM negotiations and a close aide of UAW president Stephen P. Yokich. UAW workers told investigators that the younger Shoemaker worked at the plant for a year before being promoted to service representative with the UAW, Meyer said. The younger Shoemaker made $75,607 in 1999, according to the UAW's annual report. [Det. Free-Press 8/8/00; Det. News, BNA 8/9/00]
TEAMSTERS (IBT)
Chicago Boss Sentenced for Bribery
U.S. Dist. Judge Charles Kocoras sentenced Walter
Hoff, ex-president of Int'l Bhd. of Teamsters Local 786 in Chicago,
Aug. 10 to five months in prison and five months of home confinement for
accepting $16,000 in bribes. The jail term that was stayed because Hoff
has terminal cancer. Hoff pled guilty in
Dec. 1999 to two counts, mail fraud and tax evasion, of what was originally
a nine-count federal indictment.
Hoff pled guilty to accepting bribes of $8,000 in Sept. 1993 and May 1994 from John Christopher, a contractor and ex-con who was working undercover for federal investigators in "Operation Silver Shovel." In exchange for the money, prosecutors alleged that Hoff altered paperwork so that thousands of dollars in members' union dues that Christopher was supposed to pass on to IBT were wiped off of union books.
Kocoras also ordered Hoff to pay $16,000 in restitution. Asst. U.S. Atty. Dean Polales said in court that the bribes equaled one-third, or $48,000, of the amount Christopher owed the union. Hoff's attorney, Thomas Breen, disputed the prosecutor's estimate, saying the union had no evidence that it was short of dues payments. Breen called the estimate "fictitious, non-existent numbers." [Chi. Trib. 8/11/00]
Film Industry has Massachusetts Local Probed
A federal grand jury in Boston is reportedly investigating allegations
that bosses of Int'l Bhd. of Teamsters Local 25 extorted Hollywood producers
who filmed a series of box-office hits throughout New England.
The FBI's investigation is focusing on allegations that local bosses forced producers filming around New England to hire the Location Connection, a Boston company that provides wardrobe trailers and other vehicles and is allegedly controlled by James P. Flynn, the local's transportation coordinator. Investigators are also looking into whether bosses extorted favors from movie producers and forced them to hire a small group of hand-selected drivers many of whom are criminals and/or have alleged connections to the Patriarca organized crime family in Rhode Island.
In June, the grand jury subpoenaed records from Local 25, detailing the local's contracts with filmmakers of such movies as "The Perfect Storm," "The Cider House Rules," "Message in a Bottle" and "Good Will Hunting." Additionally, U.S. Dep't of Labor agents raided Flynn's home and seized records relating to the movie industry. In 1986, Flynn was acquitted of the 1982 killing of Brian Halloran, an alleged mobster who was gunned down after cooperating with the FBI against gangster James "Whitey" Bulger. Flynn is now also an "actor" making cameo appearances in "Cider House Rules" and "Good Will Hunting."
Local 25 president George Cashman is also a reported target of the probe. Cashman is a longtime fundraiser for Mass. Gov. Paul Cellucci (R), who was recently reappointed Cashman to the Mass. Port Authority board of directors for another seven years. Local 25 organizer Louis DiGiampaolo, who accompanied Cellucci on recent "trade missions" to Hollywood to try to persuade movie studio heads to film in Mass., is also a reported target. Allegedly, the probe is looking into whether DiGiampaolo threatened to shut down film and TV commercial productions unless they did business with Local 25.
Further, IBT in Washington may begin its own probe of Local 25, but it has given contradictory accounts of the plans for and timing of any such probe. [Bos. Globe 7/25, 7/28, 8/6, 8/9/00; Bos. Herald 7/27, 8/8/00]
GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES (AFSCME) / ELECTIONS & POLITICS
AFSCME Funds New 501(c)(4)
One of the America's most corrupt unions, the
Am. Fed'n of State, County & Mun. Employees, a top bank-roller
of Al Gore and the Democratic Party, has "quietly"
created a group that is televising an ad harshly critical of George W.
Bush. Neither, the group's ad, nor its website, discloses its relationship
with AFSCME.
AFSCME funneled $800,000 to start the group, Am. Family Voices. The group describes its mission as advocacy of "progressive policies, especially economic issues." It alleges its membership includes advocates for consumers, health care, education, children, the elderly, civil rights and labor.
AFV was created in July, after Congress altered tax and election law to increase regulation of groups under Sec. 527 of the tax code. AFV was instead chartered under Sec. 501(c)(4), a provision in the tax code that allows it to engage in political activity with minimal financial disclosure.
AFV's executive director is Michael Lux, a longtime liberal campaigner who worked for two years in the Clinton-Gore White House and has been affiliated with liberal group, People for the American Way.
Under its 501(c)(4) tax status, AFV is permitted to engage in political activities like polling, lobbying and issue advertising but is not permitted to advocate the election or defeat of individual candidates. Such groups must file public information returns with the IRS but are not required to disclose the sources of their income.
Lux said he had raised $700,000 in addition to AFSCME's funds and intended to use the money this fall to buy issue advertising in the presidential campaign and selected Congressional races. He declined to identify the group's other contributors, saying only that they were organizations and individuals who shared the union's policy agenda for working people.
Fred Wertheimer, an advocate of increased federal regulation of free
speech, said AFSCME's hidden sponsorship of AFV dramatized a problem in
American politics. "This is another example of interests' conducting blatant
electioneering activities and hiding their donors... This conduct is an
evasion of the spirit of disclosure laws." [N.Y. Times 8/11/00]
- - - - - -
ADDITIONAL BRIEFS NOT INCLUDED ON THE FAX EDITION OF THIS UNION CORRUPTION UPDATE:
- - - - - -
COMMUNICATIONS WORKERS (CWA) & ELECTRICAL WORKERS
(IBEW)
Unions Strike; Vandals Hit the East Coast
Thousands of New Yorkers have lost their telephone service in early
Aug., as vandals slashed telephone cables in what police are investigating
as possible acts of sabotage in support of a strike of the Communications
Workers of Am. and the Int'l Bhd. of Elec. Workers. The waves of vandalism
come amid negotiations between Verizon Communications and the two unions
that represent employees who are on strike in a 13-state region from Maine
to Virginia. Verizon is offering a $25,000 reward for information leading
to an arrest for vandalism.
There were reports of at least 455 incidents (233 of which were in N.Y.) -- most of which involved property damage such as severed telephone cables, burnt trucks, slashed tires -- or harassment of Verizon managers. "There have also been a couple cases of building keys broken off in the locks, or Super glue in the locks," said John Johnson, a Verizon spokesman in Boston. "One manager received a telephoned death threat."
N.Y. Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) vowed to arrest the vandals: "I have to remind them that it's a crime, and if we do catch them ...they're going to go to jail."
In W. Va., Verizon filed a lawsuit Aug. 7, alleging that pickets have made threats, blocked business entrances and damaged cars during a strike. The lawsuit seeks damages from the union, 15 members of CWA Local 2001 and others who are not identified. Elsewhere, Verizon said it sought, and got, injunctions against the unions in Pa. and Del. Aug. 8, and was seeking one in N.Y.
Additionally, the Nat'l Right to Work Legal Defense Fdn., announced Aug. 9 that it will offer free legal aid to non-striking Verizon employees who are targeted for illegal harassment or violence during the strike. NRTW's number 1-800-336-3600. [N.Y. Times, Daily News (N.Y.), Charleston Gazette (W. Va.) 8/8/00; Baltimore Sun, Bos. Herald 8/9/00; NRTW Media Release 8/9/00]
POLICE UNIONS (FOP)
Colorado Union Embezzlers Still on the Job
Three Denver sheriff's deputies, who were also union bosses, with criminal
convictions in the past year for embezzling union funds were not disciplined
and did not miss a day of work. All they were required to do was return
the stolen money. Despite their convictions, Capt. Lenny Ortiz and deputies
Joe Sanchez and Venita Ruybal never spent
a day in the jail they guard each day. None has been disciplined by their
department, although Ortiz's case is about to be forwarded to Denver Manager
of Safety Butch Montoya for his decision - four months after Ortiz's guilty
plea.
Such revelations caused at least one city official to react with disgust. "These guys are pleading to crimes and they are never disciplined? This erodes the whole system," said Councilman Ed Thomas, a longtime friend of Ruybal and her police-officer husband. "I definitely think the loss of their job should be a consideration or at least a part of the equation."
All three deputies were union leaders. Ortiz was treasurer of the Denver Sheriff's Union, Ruybal was its president and Sanchez as president of Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 27. Ortiz and Ruybal were displaced by the union membership because they stole thousands of dollars from the union. Sanchez was tossed from the FOP for illegally using its credit cards for expenses such as strip clubs in Las Vegas.
All three avoided felony prosecution in return for plea-bargained guilty pleas to misdemeanors. Felony prosecution and conviction would have ended their careers.
Ortiz supervises a portion of the Denver County Jail. His guilty plea in Apr. 2000 for misdemeanor theft came after a deal was made with prosecutors before charges were filed. Although Ortiz was forced to repay more than $4,700 he had skimmed from union bank deposits and union checks he wrote to himself while treasurer, he admitted to stealing no more than $500. During the union's investigation, Ortiz reportedly attempted to obstruct auditors from reviewing the union's records.
Ruybal, who works in the jail, admitted to taking about $2,500 of the union's money with Ortiz's help in 1997. She resigned as president in Sept. 1998 and pled guilty in June 1999 to misdemeanor theft. Her restitution amount was $300.
Ex-FOP president Sanchez was accused of skimming profits from the union's weekly bingo games in 1997-98. Although never charged in that scandal, Sanchez opted in May 1999 to plead guilty to the misdemeanor of illegally using a union credit card. However, according to court records Sanchez was not ordered to pay restitution, court costs or a fine. There was no sentence, although FOP officials said Sanchez repaid the union about $2,000. Sanchez helps transport prisoners between the jail and courtrooms. [Denver Post 7/21/00]
TEAMSTERS (IBT)
Hoffa Campaign Already in Trouble
William Wertheimer, Jr., the appointed administrator for the 2001 Int'l
Bhd. of Teamsters elections, ruled Aug. 1 that IBT president James
P. Hoffa's campaign violated rules pertaining to the distribution of
nomination petitions and other materials. The election officer invalidated
petitions gathered before Aug. 1. The ruling, which will reportedly be
appealed, requires the campaign to stop using the fax machines of IBT locals
to distribute campaign materials and petitions. Since June, the Hoffa campaign
has faxed petition forms and other materials to the more than 500 IBT locals.
All IBT candidates for the fall 2001 elections must file their accreditation petitions by Aug. 31, 2000 to obtain space in the October issue of Teamster magazine. Nomination petitions may be submitted through Dec. 15, 2000 under the election rules.
The Hoffa 2001 Unity campaign said the invalidation was a minor setback that will not harm the candidate's re-election bid.
The campaign office of ex-Ron Carey backer, Tom Leedham, running against Hoffa put out a statement saying: "Right out of the box, Hoffa was caught in major violations."
Wertheimer said that petitions for Hoffa and the other candidates on his slate "will be valid for accreditation purposes only if it is shown by evidence acceptable to the election administrator that the submitted petition forms do not find their source in petition forms or copies of petition forms that were faxed to local union or other IBT bodies by the Hoffa campaign." He added, "Acceptable evidence must prove a chain of custody that completely excludes the fax transmission of accreditation petitions by the Hoffa campaign."
Wertheimer's appointment as election administrator was agreed to in Mar. 2000, making him part of the federal court's oversight of IBT. He was a regional coordinator in Michigan for the IBT election officer in the 1996 election. [BNA 8/4/00]
TEAMSTERS (IBT) / ELECTIONS & POLITICS
Kentucky Indictments for 1995 Elections Revisited
Kentucky Asst. Atty. Gen. Janet Graham is attempting to have Ky.
Gov. Paul Patton's (D) 1995 campaign manager, Andrew "Skipper" Martin;
his labor liaison, Danny Ross; and two Int'l Bhd. of Teamsters bosses tried
for violating 1995 campaign-finance laws. Graham said there are "unanswered
questions about whether Patton subverted" the 1995 "experiment with public
financing of elections" to defeat GOP candidate Larry Forgy. The race between
Patton and Forgy was the first in which candidates "agreed to limit total
spending to $1.8 million in exchange for getting two-thirds of that money
in a state subsidy." The limit also applied to "what the statute defined
as coordinated expenditures by others on behalf of a candidate."
Graham alleged July 19 that the indictments should not have been thrown
out last year when a judge ruled the election-finance law as unconstitutional.
The indictment in question alleged that, "when the Teamsters hired Ross
to coordinate their efforts to get union members to vote, it was done in
concert with the Patton campaign." [Hotline 7/21/00]
LABORERS (LIUNA)
Niagara Local Probed for Violence
A federal task force and a grand jury are investigating possible connections
between Laborers' Int'l Union of N. Am. Local 91 and a series of threats,
assaults, vandalism and sabotage incidents at Niagara County, N.Y., construction
sites. The incidents include beatings, bombings, death threats, damage
to vehicles and equipment, and rocks hurled through the windows at truck
drivers on work sites where Local 91 has had disputes with contractors,
non-union workers and members of other unions.
The U.S. Atty. in Buffalo, Denise E. O'Donnell, is coordinating the probe, which also involves the FBI, the U.S. Dep't of Labor's Inspector General's Office, N.Y. State Police, the Niagara County Sheriff's and District Attorney's offices, and Niagara Falls Police. Investigators want to determine whether Local 91 bosses, particularly longtime business manager Michael A. "Butch" Quarcini, had any role in a series of strong-arm incidents that, some believe, have inhibited development in Niagara County.
Among the crimes under investigation are the beating of a carpenter working on the new Niagara Falls High School, a beating and stomping attack at a Wegmans store construction site involving as many as 15 attackers, the bombing of the home of a worker who had a dispute with Local 91, and a $100,000 vandalism spree at a landfill job in the Town of Niagara.
The intimidation tactics that have caused at least one developer to surround his work sites with 8-foot fencing, barbed wire, armed guards and police dogs. A local contractor took out a $1 million life insurance policy after criticizing Local 91.
"These guys play rough. They even flattened the tires on one of my deputies' cars at a picket site... They threw metal 'stars' under his car while it was moving. The deputy could have been injured," said Niagara County Sheriff Thomas A. Beilein
Critics of Quarcini call the boss one of the most feared and politically powerful men in Niagara County. Quarcini, his daughter and his son-in-law hold three of the highest-paid positions in the local. Each year, Local 91's political fund sends thousands of dollars in donations to elected officials in the county. "Butch Quarcini is a very powerful man, both politically and in the business community," Beilein said. "When he makes a call, people pick up the phone."
Niagara County Dist. Atty. Matthew J. Murphy, III, said. "The problem of union violence in Niagara County is a serious concern," Murphy said. "Local 91 seems to be responsible for most of it... People in law enforcement are not intimidated by Butch Quarcini, but are people in the community? I would only say that he seems to be involved in some of the decisions that have led to violence on construction sites."
Quarcini has been Local 91's boss, almost without interruption, since 1965. The Quarcini family makes roughly $250,000 a year from union jobs. Quarcini is business manager, making an annual gross salary of $78,123. His daughter, Cheryl Cicero, is the secretary-treasury at $89,907. Her husband, Joel Cicero, runs a training program for the local at a salary over $80,000.
The perception that Quarcini is a powerful man was fueled, in part, by developments in a driving-while-intoxicated case against him in Sept. 1993. Niagara Falls police thought they had an ironclad case when they arrested the union leader on a DWI in the early-morning hours. The three arresting officers said Quarcini blew an illegal 0.15 on a Breathalyzer test, failed simple balance tests and could not get past "P" while trying to recite the alphabet. He also had a previous DWI conviction on his record.
When the case went to a non-jury trial a year later, the city's chief judge heard all the evidence, dismissed the charge and sealed all records on the case from public view. Judge Anthony J. Certo said the district attorney had failed to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt. The judge -- who has since retired -- said his ruling was based on solid legal grounds, but the ruling upset police and prosecutors.
O'Donnell would only confirm that her office is "conducting an investigation into labor violence in Niagara County." Her office recently subpoenaed documents from the Local 91 office in Niagara Falls. O'Donnell has assigned one of her most aggressive prosecutors, William J. Hochul, Jr., to the investigation. Hochul, working with veteran prosecutor Richard Endler, filed embezzlement and conspiracy charges in May against longtime Buffalo Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Int'l Union Local 4 bosses Frank Ervolino and his wife, Anna May.
Some of the investigators and prosecutors working on the Local 91 case also worked on a lengthy investigation into LIUNA Local 210 in Buffalo. That investigation prompted LIUNA to take over Local 210 in 1995, pushing a number of reputed mobsters out of the local.
The following incidents and others are under investigation by the task force:
"We looked into that incident, and while it raises questions, it does not appear to be illegal," Joseph S. Wasik, district director of the U.S. Office of Labor Management Standards. "As long as the union's executive board and membership approved it, it was their right to give him the car." Union officials explained that the car was given to Malvestuto as a retirement benefit. [Buff. News 8/6/00]
LABORERS (LIUNA)
More Honors for Prosecutors of Coia
In addition to two Asst. U.S. Attorneys in Boston
name in the last Union Corruption Update, the U.S. Dep't of Justice
has honored four federal prosecutors from Chicago for arguably helping
to clean up the Laborers' Int'l Union of N. Am. Among thirty-one individuals
receiving the Atty. Gen.'s Distinguished Service Award in a ceremony in
Washington on July 28 for their work on a number of matters were First
Asst. U.S. Atty. Gary S. Shapiro; Thomas P. Walsh, chief of the Civil Division
in the U.S. Atty.'s Office; and Asst. U.S. Attys. Craig A. Oswald and David
D. Buvinger. All are from the U.S. Atty.'s Office for the N. Dist. of Ill.
The four were recognized for their efforts in a decade-long battle to remove the corrupting influence of organized crime from LIUNA. Oswald and Buvinger had the primary responsibility for day-to-day involvement in monitoring union activities and reform efforts. Walsh and Shapiro were more involved in negotiations with union lawyers and others to make these measures work. [Chi. Daily L. Bull. 8/1/00]
STEELWORKERS (USWA)
Colorado Locals Cited for Picket Misconduct
National Labor Relations Board administrative law judge Thomas Michael
Patton issued Aug. 2 findings of labor law violations stemming from allegations
of picket line misconduct by the United Steelworkers of Am. in a Oct.
1997 strike against Rocky Mountain Steel Mills, Inc., formerly CF&I
Steel, in Pueblo, Colo. Patton recommended that NLRB order the USWA and
Locals 2102 and 3267 to cease and desist from misconduct at RMSM, including
threatening employees and others entering or leaving the facilities and
other misconduct as described in some 38 violations alleged by RMSM.
"The record shows that the union had knowledge of the misconduct [at] the picket line," Patton wrote. "[I]dentified [union] agents were...observers of misconduct and in some cases, personally participated in the misconduct." According to Patton, during the strike, union agents and members placed nails or other objects on the road leading to and from the facility and otherwise blocked entry into the facility.
Patton also found that union members threw rocks, eggs, liquids, and other objects at people and vehicles as they entered or left the mill, and damaged or threatened to damage vehicles at the facility. He further found that pickets, mirrors and lights were used to interfere with drivers' ability to see as they entered or left the mill site. He also said that strikers spat on, struck, kicked, scratched and touched vehicles of working employees and managers.
"The union did not effectively control, repudiate, or disavow any of the picket line misconduct," Patton wrote. The only actions taken by the union were to distribute, post, and read at union meetings written instructions, to post state court injunctions orders, and to post an NLRB notice to employees and members, Patton found.
Importantly, Patton said that union picket captains always were present on the picket line. "Their identities cannot be established because the union chose to shred records that identified the designated picket captains and thereby prevented their being called as witnesses," he said. "Under these circumstances, it is particularly appropriate that the union should be charged with knowledge of the misconduct at the time it occurred."
"This decision puts to rest any questions as to who the real lawbreakers were in this labor dispute," said Vicki Tagliafico, spokeswoman for RMSM, which is a subsidiary of Oregon Steel Mills, Inc. "The kind of conduct described in this decision is indefensible. No one should be forced to endure this kind of harassment in order to go to work." [BNA 8/9/00]
FIRE FIGHTERS (IAFF)
Rhode Island Unionists Accused of Perjury
Johnston, Rhode Island, Mayor, William R. Macera, Macera has asked
R.I.'s Attorney General to determine whether five firefighters committed
perjury during an arbitration hearing in Apr. 2000. In a July 13 letter
to Atty. Gen. Sheldon Whitehouse, Macera alleged that the witnesses who
testified on behalf of the Int'l Ass'n of Fire Fighters Local 1950 did
so in a clearly false manner,
Macera called the conduct unacceptable and an affront to the people of the town of Johnston. Macera also wrote that this type of blatant lying under oath undermines the integrity of the adversarial process and the effective administration of justice.
The subject was an arbitration decision issued in the case of five firefighters suspended for two days for parking in a no-parking zone at department headquarters. The five are Capt. Arthur Moretti, Lt., Anthony Mazzulla, Lt., Thomas Ricci and Privates Donato Paolucci and Stephen Hart.
Arbitrator Craig E. Overton said the town followed the wrong procedure in suspending the firefighters two days each without pay and awarded back pay. But Overton also said the firefighters did not testify truthfully during the grievance hearing, despite being under oath. Overton said the firefighters' testimony about whether they knew a no-parking order existed became less certain, more evasive and inherently suspect as time went on. Overton found the testimony ludicrous and in essence nothing more than blue smoke and mirrors in an attempt to get away with a flagrant violation of the posted ban and of an order Fire Chief Victor Cipriano had issued banning parking.
The back pay totals about $1,500. The case was brought by officials of Local 1950. Local president Joseph A. Andriole strongly defended the suspended firefighters. He said he didn't think anyone perjured themselves during the hearing. Overton's statements are his opinions, Andriole said. He said he knows of no evidence that would indicate the five perjured themselves. He added that he'd be surprised if that was the case.
Overton's decision was issued in a controversial case dating back to Nov. 18, 1999, when Macera noticed five cars parked beside the fire headquarters building as he was driving by. He wrote down the license numbers and gave then to Chief Cipriano, who issued the suspensions. That led to the grievance and Overton's decision. Macera also recalled that as a result of the same incident, two firefighters accused him of assault. A grand jury refused to return any indictments. A review of that testimony may add further evidence of dishonesty, Macera said. [Providence J.-Bull. 7/20/00]
HOTEL & RESTAURANT EMPLOYEES (HERE)
New Orleans May Go to Bat for Union
The following excerpts are from a Aug. 3, editorial in the Times-Picayune:
"No Free Ride for Hotel Union":
"New Orleans officials shouldn't try to tell hotel companies how to run their businesses, and they certainly shouldn't take sides in potential disputes between management and union organizers. Yet the New Orleans City Council is poised to do just that when it takes up a zoning variance for the proposed J.W. Marriott hotel project on Canal Street. Included in the ordinance is a demand for a "labor peace agreement" -- an agreement that would force management to accommodate a union organizing drive in some manner.
The council ought to strike that demand and consider the rest of the ordinance on its merits. Existing federal laws govern how employers can react to union organizing campaigns, and there's no reason New Orleans should require hotel developers to follow different -- and less favorable -- rules.
...Organizing campaigns can be contentious, even downright nasty, and both management and union representatives are capable of putting heavy pressure on individual employees. That's why workers should be allowed to make up their minds in private. Federal labor laws provide for secret-ballot elections if at least 30 percent of employees sign cards supporting unionization. But not everyone who signs a card ends up voting to create a union, and organizers often lose support once the campaign starts.
That may be why organizers are pushing for labor peace agreements that avoid secret-ballot elections and certify a union if a majority of employees sign cards in support of it. According to [New Orleans City Councilman Mark Carter, an agreement between organizers and Marriott would include such a "card- check" provision.
...Truth is, labor peace agreements don't give companies much in exchange for their concessions. Union organizers generally promise not to disrupt business with pickets, strikes or boycotts during an organizing drive. That isn't peace. It's a protection racket.
...If hotel companies and unions want to agree of their own volition on ground rules for organizing drives, then so be it. The city government shouldn't get involved."
TEACHERS / UNION DUES
California Unions Blocked from Collecting Agency Fees
U.S. Dist. Judge Charles Legge blocked Aug. 8 the California Teachers
Ass'n and eight local school districts from collecting union agency fees
from nonmembers unless the union and districts report local unions' expenditures.
Legge granted a motion by the National Right to Work Foundation in its
lawsuit contesting the forced payment of union dues and CTA's use of the
dues, including political expenditures.
In the suit, Kim Sheffield and seven other teachers sued districts around
California, including Los Angeles and South San Francisco. The plaintiffs
allege that their rights were violated when the districts continued to
collect dues from nonmembers under agreements with the CTA without the
locals releasing audited financial disclosure data as required under the
U.S. Supreme Court decision in Chicago Teachers Union Local 1 v. Hudson.
When Hudson notices came out in October 1999, smaller districts continued
to assess fees without releasing information about how that money was
spent, the suit alleged.
In Apr. 1999, Legge issued an injunction against CTA affiliates in
Livermore, Fremont, Orinda, Pleasant Hill, San Jose, and Ukiah. Legge rejected
"small-union exception" arguments by the union that disclosure requirements
should not apply to small locals. The judge also held that the school districts
involved could be liable for collecting the dues. But NRTW contended
that the CTA continued to collect agency fees, fees nonunion employees
pay to cover the costs of collective bargaining and grievance adjustment.
Each local sets its own amount of agency fees, ranging
from $50 to $250 a year.
Milton Chappell, NRTW attorney, said the locals "would not voluntarily follow the law, and that's what this case is about. Assuming there may be more cases along this line to attempt to have CTA and its local affiliates follow the law ...I hope one of these days we'll get to the place where people will follow the law." [BNA 8/10/00]
STEELWORKERS (USWA) / ELECTIONS & POLITICS
Two Unionists Running for Congress
Militant unions can make a difference in the political arena by electing
the right Democrats to office, which is why two members of the United Steelworkers
of Am. are running for Congress, USWA President George Becker said
Aug. 7. Becker alleged that the problems members face, such as jobs
being lost because of businesses moving to foreign countries, require a
political solution, Becker told delegates to USWA's thirty convention.
That is why the Becker is pulling out all the stops to get USWA members
elected, he said.
Democrat Greg Goodnight, who works at a specialty steel manufacturer in Kokomo, Ind., is challenging incumbent Rep. Steve Buyer (R-Ind.). In Pa., Ed O'Brien, the ex-boss of a Bethlehem Steel local, is challenging incumbent Rep. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.).
A third USWA member, Marvin Williams, a Democratic forklift driver in Tenn., was defeated in an Aug. 3 primary in his bid to unseat six-term incumbent Rep. John Tanner (D-Tenn.). USWA was targeting Tanner for defeat because he was one of 73 Democrats who voted to grant China permanent normal trade relations. [BNA 8/8/00]
ELECTIONS & POLITICS
Union Soft Money Update
According to FECInfo, the following are recent soft
money contributions to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee:
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