GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES (AFSCME)
Ex-Milwaukee Boss Indicted for $88,000 Theft
Robert J. Gordon, ex-financial secretary-treasurer of Am. Fed'n of
State, County & Mun. Employees Local 366 in Milwaukee was indicted
May 8 by a federal grand jury for an $88,000 union embezzlement.
He allegedly wrote more than 200 unauthorized union checks to himself between
1996-99. He held his union post from 1987-99. [Milwaukee J. Sent. 5/10/01]
DC37 Audit Reveals Systematic Abuse of Funds
Top bosses of the Am. Fed'n of State, County
& Mun. Employees' Dist. Council 37 spent
$1.5 million on car services from 1995-98. Although they were only supposed
to use car services when leaving work after 8:00PM, an audit by KPMG, found
that over a 12-month period, bosses took 6,582 trips at a cost of $306,000.
These bosses also spent more than $2,062,878 (5,568 food purchases) over
four years from two caterers, including Gee
Whiz, which has been indicted for paying kickbacks to bosses.
The audit, made public May 15, that shows millions of dollars in worker dues supported a lavish lifestyle to which DC37 members (average annual salary about $27,500) are unaccustomed. It was commissioned by the scandal-scarred union in 1998 after the first corruption allegations surfaced. Over half of DC37's 28-person board in 1998 have been convicted of crimes. It describes an out-of-control situation under Stanley Hill, DC37's ex-executive director, who auditors said allowed the local bosses to spend freely to secure their loyalty. During the four-year period on which the audit focused, DC37's assets plummeted from $20 million in 1995 to $3.5 million at the end of 1998.
Many DC37 bosses have claimed that they were unaware of the fraud, but the audit lays out in stark detail what anyone following DC37 spending would have known. It cites hundreds of examples, including $12,462 for an Alaska cruise as a retirement present for an ex-treasurer, and $135,654 over four years that Local 1549 paid to lease a car for its president, Albert Diop.
DC37 bosses reportedly went on a lot of trips, sometimes with spouses. Hill and his wife stayed in a $1,081 per-night suite for eight nights during a Aug. 1998 trip to AFSCME's Aloha Conference in Hawaii. DC37 spent at least $141,897, including $11,855 for alcohol and other goodies, at the event; thus, Hill's room was complimentary.
Another event, at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel & Towers, cost DC37 $345,549. The June 1996 tab included $11,250 for cajun chicken wings and $29,250 for 9,000 chilled jumbo Gulf shrimp. There were also 2,500 smoked salmon canapes, 9 roast steamships of beef and 9 honey-glazed hams. Drinks cost $74,590, including $6,351 name-brand mixed drinks and $1,938 "top-shelf liquors." The hotel waived the charge for the ice carvings.
The audit also revealed, for the first time, that Mark Gotbaum, son of ex-DC37 executive director Victor Gotbaum, got $8,670 in the early 1990s for drawing cartoons for DC37's newspaper. Although working as a freelancer, he also got union-covered health benefits. Reportedly, Victor Gotbaum agreed with Hill, his successor, to get health benefits for Mark Gotbaum.
The audit also described 1,219 transactions for $270,786 as gifts. The recipients of the gifts were identified for $107,150 of transactions but were not identified for $163,635. The audit recommended that DC37 increase accountability, improve compliance with union rules, and adopt an ethics code. [Newsday 5/15/01; N.Y. Times 5/16/01] The Nat'l Legal & Pol'y Ctr., a union corruption watchdog, has also recommended expanding the coverage of the federal anti-corruption law, the Landrum-Griffin Act, to include public unions, such as DC37.
BAKERY & TOBACCO WORKERS (BC&T)
Virginia Boss Pleads Guilty to $38,000 Embezzlement
Donnie L. Block pled guilty May 14 to embezzling
more than $38,000 from the Bakery, Confectionery & Tobacco Workers
Int'l Union Local 66 in Portsmouth, Va. He served as the local's president
since 1995 and was indicted for a $38,703 embezzlement on Sept. 20, 2000.
The Dep't of Labor's Office of Labor Mgmt. Stnds. found that Block embezzled dues paid through payroll deductions between 1997-98. He wrote and cashed more than 100 checks drawn on the local's bank account causing it to be overdrawn. Four checks, for almost $1,500, were cashed at a Las Vegas casino. He also wrote two checks to his wife, worth $700. Reportedly, the couple recently separated due to his gambling. U.S. Dist. Judge Rebecca Beach Smith allowed Block to remain free on bond until his Sept. 6 sentencing. He faces up to five years and a $250,000 fine. [Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk) 5/15/01]
CARPENTERS (UBC)
Indiana Dues Collector Allegedly Stole $30,000
A federal grand jury in Indianapolis indicted Michelle Spragur Apr.
18 on two counts each of union embezzlement, falsification of union records,
and destruction of union records. She she allegedly stole about $30,000
from two United Bhd. of Carpenters locals and used the funds for her personal
use. She allegedly falsified union records to cover her thefts and then
destroyed certain records when she left. From 1995-98, she was a secretary
for the locals and responsible for collecting dues. She faces up to 14
years and a $900,000 fine. The charges follow a Dep't of Labor's Office
of Labor Mgmt. Stnds. probe. [USAO S.D. Ind., Media Release 4/18/01]
LABORERS (LIUNA)
Maine Boss Admits $8,500 Theft
Ray R. Curtis pled guilty on May 10 in U.S. Dist. Court to embezzling
from Laborers' Int'l Union of N. Am. Local 327 in Augusta, Me. He is the
local's business manager and secretary-treasurer. He allegedly embezzled
$8,548 from 1997-99. A Dep't of Labor audit determined that he gave himself
109 paychecks over 91 weeks, wrongly receiving $7,704. It also found that
he used a union check to buy an $835 snowblower for his personal use. He
faces up to five years in prison followed by three years of supervised
release. Restitution may also be required. [Portland Press Herald 5/12/01]
Chicago Racketeering Case Begins
Jury selection began May 14 in the corruption trial of the politically
connected ex-Laborers boss, John Serpico.
He pled not guilty to an 11-count indictment in 1999 accusing him of racketeering,
conspiracy, and bank and mail fraud. Serpico and Maria
Busillo, both Cent. States Jt. Bd. officials, allegedly used CSJB influence
over several unions to engage in an 11-year scam in which deposits were
made at financial institutions in return for favorable loans. He also allegedly
had pension funds lend $6.5 million to developers in return for a
$334,000 kickback. The trial before U.S. Dist. Judge Blanche Manning is
expected to last six weeks [Chi. Trib. 5/14/01]
SERVICE EMPLOYEES (SEIU)
New York Local Linked to Mob Probe
Three federal indictments and one complaint filed Apr. 26 in U.S. Dist.
Court in Brooklyn charged 45 reputed members of five N.Y. crime families
with racketeering, murder, and other crimes. Among the charges, Salvatore
"Sammy Meatballs" Aparo, Vincent Aparo, Jerry Brancato, Peter "Petey Red"
DiChiara, Pasquale Falcetti, John "Johnny Green" Faraci, Ismat Kukic, Alana
"Baldie" Longo, Glenn McCarthy, Michael Norrito, Louis "Big Lou" Vallario,
and Abe Weider were charged with a scheme to bribe Service Employees Int'l
Union Local 32B-32J bosses. The
local was formerly run by AFL-CIO boss John J. Sweeney.
Allegedly, in exchange for bribes to be paid by Weider, a building owner, the local would replace union workers with nonunion workers. The Genovese family's "Aparo/DiChiara crew" allegedly solicited help from the Gambino and Bonanno families to identify and contact SEIU bosses who might be willing to accept bribes.
Also, Falcetti and George Barone were charged with conspiring to extort port companies. Barone allegedly oversaw the scheme for the Genovese family. Allegedly, at least one firm was forced to pay about $100,000 to ensure labor peace. [USAO E.D.N.Y., Media Release 4/26/01]
AFL-CIO / TEAMSTERS (IBT) / ELECTIONS & POLITICS
FEC Hides AFL-CIO MUR Public File
In the first instance ever at the Fed. Election Comm'n, a completed
Matter Under Review file was removed from the public record. It reportedly
included sworn statements from AFL-CIO president John J. Sweeney, AFL-CIO
secretary-treasurer Richard L. Trumka, ex-Teamsters political director
William W. Hamilton, and ex-Clinton-Gore advisor Tony Coelho as well as
others from the Clinton-Gore and many House campaigns. The files reportedly
include an exhaustive and detailed survey of union political activity and
a request for sworn answers from the Executive Office of the President.
There were 6,024 pages. [politicalmoneyline.com
5/15/01] According to FEC, the file was prematurely released and will
be re-released shortly. But it's not clear if all 6,024 pages will be reissued.
HOTEL & RESTAURANT EMPLOYEES (HERE)
Chicago Bosses to Face Internal Charges
Hotel Employees & Restaurant Employees Int'l Union filed internal
union charges May 10 against three ex-bosses of HERE Local
1 in Chicago: president Terrence Maloney, secretary Scott Schneider,
and treasurer Jim Dyson. In June 1999, Local 1 held a bash for the bosses'
election victory at the Drake Hotel with a $17,000 tab. At the time, the
local was nearly $1 million in debt, had little cash, and no strike fund.
The findings will be turned over to the Dep't of Labor for possible further
action. [Chi. Trib. 5/11/01]
Tainted Chicago Trusteeship to End
HERE boss John W. Wilhelm said May
10 that he was lifting the trusteeship imposed on HERE Local 1 in Nov.
1999 so the local could hold elections in June. [Chi. Trib 5/11/01]
Wilhelm was apparently reacting to federal suit
filed Mar. 16 by Local 1 members seeking an order to compel HERE
to end the trusteeship. The suit followed a Mar. 14-16 trusteeship hearing,
which DOL ordered after finding that HERE violated
labor law. [BNA 3/21/01]
POLICE UNIONS (FOP)
FBI Seizes D.C. Union's Records
The FBI reportedly seized records and computers from the Washington,
D.C., police union office May 17. The probe began in 2000 after G.G. Neill,
newly elected Frat'l Order of Police/Metro. Police Dep't Labor Comm. chairman,
reported possible wrongdoing in the internal affairs unit. Funds were allegedly
misspent on personal items, like clothing, shoes, art, and a Poconos newlywed
resort trip. [Wash. Post 5/18/01]
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ADDITIONAL BRIEFS NOT INCLUDED ON THE FAX EDITION OF THIS UNION CORRUPTION UPDATE:
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LABOR LAW REFORM / UNION DUES / MACHINISTS / TEAMSTERS
House Subcommittee Holds Beck Hearing
On May 10, the Workforce Protections Subcommittee of the House Educ.
& the Workforce Committee held a hearing on workers' rights not to
become union members and not to pay dues for unions' nonrepresentational
activities and to investigate how union bosses abuse such rights under
the 1988 U.S. Supreme Court decision Communications
Workers of Am. v. Beck. Beck held that employees covered by a
union security clause in a collective bargaining agreement who choose not
to become union members and object to having their dues spent on political
and other nonrepresentational activities only can be charged agency fees
for union activities related to collective bargaining, contract administration,
and grievance adjustment.
"Based on the evidence I have seen, I am convinced that some union locals do, in fact, regularly trample on the rights of individuals in far excess of the scope of their permissible authority," Subcommittee Chairman Charles Norwood (R-Ga.) said. "Too many workers seem to get the run-around when they try to exercise their rights."
Norwood devoted most of his opening statement to discussing unions' use of dues money to support political activities, such as opposing President Bush's proposed tax cut. He cited a poll showing that 57% of Americans and 55% of union members support the proposed tax cut. "Here is just one example of money being spent in areas potentially outside of the union's permissible boundaries. This example is important because it points out an obvious disconnect between the spending habits of some unions and what seems to be the true preferences of the union's rank and file," Norwood said.
Three workers testified about their post-Beck problems in exercising their rights to not pay dues for nonrepresentational activities. A United Airlines sales and reservations agent Janet Cope said the Int'l Ass'n of Machinists, after narrowly winning a representation election in 1999, told members of her bargaining unit they must join the union and could be fired if they failed to do so. She said she has a continuing problem with the union over the timely rebate of the $8.27 of her $34.67 monthly dues and expressed doubt that the remaining portion actually is spent on representational activities. Cope was covered by the recent class action suit that resulted in an injunction requiring IAM to recognize continuing objections, rather than requiring nonmembers who did not want their dues used for nonrepresentational purposes to file an objection every year. See Lutz v. IAM, 121 F. Supp. 2d 498 (E.D. Va. 2000).
Aircraft mechanic Craig Sickler objected to IAM's annual notice to workers that they can pay less than full dues if they object to dues being used for nonrepresentational purposes. The "Notice to Employees Subject to Union Security Clauses," which Sickler thought referred only to employees of unions, is "deceptively named" and "buried in fine print" in the union's quarterly magazine, he said. Sickler criticized the all-or-nothing approach of barring from the union those who object to dues being used for political purposes and not allowing them to vote on contracts and other matters affecting the bargaining unit. Sickler was fired by US Airways for failure to pay union dues, won a suit against the union, and was reinstated one and one-half years later with $82,500 in back pay.
Robert Penrod described his experiences with an Int'l Bhd. of Teamsters local that demanded he pay 94% of full union dues and provided what he considered a woefully inadequate financial disclosure. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in Penrod v. NLRB, 203 F.3d 41 (D.C. Cir. 2000), reversed an NLRB decision finding that the disclosure was legally sufficient. The case, which began in 1990, is once again pending before the board.
Rep. Cass Ballenger (R-N.C.) congratulated the employee witnesses for showing "a hell of a lot of guts" in fighting their unions. Rep. Judy Biggert (R-Ill.) expressed concern that it took NLRB five years to decide Penrod's case, which she said involved "a blatant abuse" of his rights.
Raymond J. LaJeunesse, vice president of the Nat'l Right to Work Legal Def. Fdn., said implementation of Beck is "a serious problem." He described several obstacles employees face, including union security clauses, which he called "compulsory unionism agreements," and the misleading language of such clauses approved by the Supreme Court in Marquez v. Screen Actors Guild, 525 U.S. 33 (1998), that create the impression union membership is required. "Whether out of ignorance or deliberate deception, union officials often tell workers that they must join or be fired" or will be fired if they resign membership, LaJeunesse said. He asserted that employers also are at fault by not understanding the law or by refusing to inform employees of their rights out of a desire to avoid "legal trouble with the union."
Another obstacle to exercising Beck rights is the legal requirement that employees who want to refrain from supporting union political activity must resign from the union, LaJeunesse said. As a result, he said, objectors "forgo important employment rights that accompany union membership, such as the rights to vote on ratification of contracts and participate in selecting the union representatives who negotiate their terms and conditions of employment." LaJeunesse also criticized approval by NLRB and the courts of inadequate procedures for giving employees notice of their rights and disclosing their expenditures. [BNA 5/8/01]
UNION DUES / FOOD & COMMERCIAL WORKERS (UFCW)
UFCW & NLRB Loose Appeal of Dues Case
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held May 17 that unions
may not include organizing costs in determining the agency fees nonmembers
must pay under a union-security clause in a collective bargaining contract.
Reversing a 1999 decision by the Nat'l Labor Relations Bd., the court found
that the U.S. Supreme Court has already ruled in a case under the Railway
Labor Act (Ellis v. Bhd. of Ry., Airline, & S.S. Clerks, 466 U.S. 435
(1984)) that a union cannot charge nonmembers for the union's organizing
activity outside of the bargaining unit. The case arose from objections
filed with United Food & Commercial Workers Locals 7, 951, & 1036
by nonmember agency-fee payers in bargaining units in Cal., Col., &
Mich. covered by bargaining agreements containing a union-security clause.
The Ninth Circuit rejected NLRB's attempt to distinguish the Ellis case from Communications Workers of Am. v. Beck (487 U.S. 735 (1988)), a case decided under the Nat'l Labor Relations Act that found objecting nonmembers can only be charged agency fees for union activities related to collective bargaining, contract administration, and grievance adjustment. The appeals court found that Beck had ruled that section of RLA and a section 8(a)(3) of NLRA (which authorize union security agreements) have the same meaning in both statutes.
Judge John T. Noonan, wrote the opinion and noted that NLRB had presented a case for "rethinking the Ellis-Beck equivalence" of two sections. However, he wrote, NLRB "does not have the power to reverse the Supreme Court...Accordingly, its order must be vacated, and the case returned to it for an order upholding the rights of the petitioners."
Judge M. Margaret McKeown joined in the opinion and Judge Kim McLane Wardlawn wrote a concurring opinion. Glen M. Taubman & Richard J. Clair of the Nat'l Right to Work Legal Def. Fdn. represented the union members. Fred L. Cornnell & Steven B. Goldstein represented the NLRB. David A. Rosenfeld of Van Bourg, Weinberg, Roger & Rosenfeld in Oakland, Cal., represented UFCW Local 1036. James B. Coppess of the AFL-CIO, represented UFCW Locals 7 & 951. [BNA 5/18/01 (citing UFCW Local 1036 v. NLRB)]
UNION DUES / GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES
California Members Win Dues Suit Worth $3 Million
U.S. Dist. Judge William B. Shubb ruled May 8 that the California State
Employees Ass'n must return approximately $3 million in forced union dues
illegally seized from the paychecks of more than 37,000 employees throughout
the state. "This ruling sends a clear message to Big Labor in California
that they can no longer violate the rights of employees with impunity,"
said Stefan Gleason, vice president of the Nat'l Right to Work Fdn.
Shubb found that CSEA bosses illegally seized forced union dues from employees without providing a proper independently audited financial disclosure of union expenditures as required by the NRTW-won U.S. Supreme Court case Chicago Teachers Union v. Hudson. "Fearing that employees will learn how their dues are spent, union officials go to great lengths to hide the true extent of their political spending," said Gleason.
Shubb ruled that CSEA bosses must return to all nonmembers 20%, plus interest, of all forced dues seized in the 1999 "fee-payer year." Union officials seized approximately $1.1 million per month from 37,000 employees over 13 months.
The class-action suit was filed by Christine Cummings of Sacramento and seven other state employees in Nov. 1999, with the help NRTW on behalf of all state government workers in certain bargaining units who declined to join the union or who have joined since the union began enforcing its "forced-share fee" contract, which was signed by Gov. Gray Davis (D) on Oct. 10, 1999. [NRTW Media Release 5/8/01]
TRUCK DRIVERS
Convicted Chicago Boss' Sentence Vacated
A seven-year prison sentence imposed on an ex-boss official of the
Chicago Truck Drivers, Helpers & Warehouse Workers Union convicted
of misappropriating union employee benefit funds was vacated May 7 by the
U.S. Dist. Court in Chicago. Paul Glover, the ex-vice president and general
counsel of the union, had been found guilty of a number of federal offenses
involving a series of investments that he arranged to be made with money
from the union's benefit funds. He was convicted during a jury trial of
one count of conspiracy in violation of the Racketeer Influenced &
Corrupt Organizations Act; 11 counts of soliciting and receiving kickbacks;
two counts of money laundering; and four counts of tax evasion.
Glover was sentenced to 84 months incarceration and was required to forfeit $325,000 he received in kickbacks from the investments. On Glover's motion, the court vacated the 84-month sentence, finding that his sentencing range was incorrectly calculated because his money laundering offenses should have been grouped with his conspiracy and kickback offenses. In so ruling, the district court found that Glover's attorney's performance "fell outside the wide range of competent representation for failing to adequately argue the grouping issue at sentencing and for failing to raise the issue on direct appeal." By grouping the offenses, Glover's sentence would result in a prison sentence ranging from 63 months to 78 months, the court said. [BNA 5/18/01]
TEXTILE EMPLOYEES (UNITE)
New York Members Blast Union
A growing number of N.Y.C.'s garment workers are coming forward saying
that the union they believed would protect them, the Union
of Needletrades, Indus. & Textile Employees, has failed them.
While most of the garment factories are unionized, advocates for the workers
allege that pay and conditions in those shops are no better than in nonunion
shops. "The union has a closer relationship with the boss than the worker,"
says Wing Lam, director of the Chinese Staff & Workers' Ass'n.
Worker Oi Kwan Lai told CSWA that UNITE failed to protect its members against abusive conditions. "It felt like being in prison," she told the association in a complaint. "We had to keep our heads down at all times once we started working. No looking up. No talking to anyone."
As more and more manufacturing work is taken abroad and N.Y.C.'s garment industry declines, "the union is afraid to enforce its contracts," said Ken Kimerling, Asian-Am. Legal Def. & Edu. Fund attorney. "They're afraid the work will go overseas or go to nonunion shops." AALDEF recently filed three federal suits against unionized factories and others for a wide range of abuses.
A recent report by the Ctr. for Econ. and Social Rights, a Brooklyn-based "human rights group," quoted two Donna Karan workers who criticized their UNITE attorney. The workers alleged that the factory where they worked was closed after they complained about working conditions. "We thought he was a DKNY lawyer, not the union lawyer, because he kept saying that DKNY wasn't responsible for any of the conditions and the union couldn't do anything to help us get our jobs back," said one of the workers, who asked not to be identified.
UNITE blasted the dissents; UNITE boss May Y. Chen, said,"They say the union is no good, that the union is not going to do anything. That is extremely counterproductive."
Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.), who recently met with CSWA said he plans to look into allegations that the union is not enforcing its wage agreements. "That's certainly one of the areas we intend to look into....[W]e certainly intend to...bring it up with the Secretary of Labor, Elaine Chao."
Criticism of UNITE surfaced in 1998 congressional hearings. Federal agents searched the offices of UNITE Local 23-25. The search was related to the indictments of Luchese crime family operatives on charges of extorting money from garment factories to buy labor peace. A UNITE business agent pled guilty to receiving a bribe. The probe was subsequently closed. [Newsday (N.Y.) 5/6/01]
TEAMSTERS (IBT)
Results of IBT-DOJ Talks Uncertain
Int'l Bhd. of Teamsters officials continue to press the federal government
to end its 12-year supervision of the union, but IBT president James P.
Hoffa said May 15 that he did not expect any change in the consent decree
until after IBT's election this fall at the earliest. Hoffa said
that "we've had negotiation meetings with the Justice Department" about
lifting the 1989 consent agreement, which settled the government's civil
racketeering suit against the union. But DOJ has not said what it intends
to do, he said. "We don't know what the government is thinking; we don't
know where they are going with this," he told BNA. [BNA 5/16/01]
LABORERS (LIUNA)
SEC Wins Injunction Against Oregon Union Fund Mangers
The Securities & Exch. Comm'n has obtained a permanent injunction
against former Capital Consultants executives Jeffrey
and Barclay Grayson, the first step toward barring Jeffrey Grayson
for life from the money management business. Jeffrey Grayson is ex-CEO
of Capital Consultants, the Portland, Or., money management firm that has
reportedly lost more than $200 million of client money. Most of the losses
came from union pension plans, including the Laborers' Int'l Union of N.
Am. The Dep't of Labor continues an effort to recover money from Capital
Consultants and the Graysons to defray the union trust funds' losses. SEC
is not seeking money damages against the Graysons, although SEC has reserved
the right to enforce a financial penalty against them.
In suits filed Sept. 2000, SEC and DOL claimed that the Graysons engineered a complex Ponzi-like scheme to disguise the fact that $160 million in loans to the former Wilshire Credit Corp. had actually failed. Dozens of union trust fund clients have sued the Graysons and others in connection with Capital Consultants' meltdown. Those suits are scheduled to go into confidential mediation where the various camps will attempt to reach a settlement May 29. [Oregonian 5/10/01]
AFL-CIO / CARPENTERS / OPERATING ENGINEERS
More Fallout from UBC's Departure; IUOE Bolts Division
The Int'l Union of Operating Engineers withdrew from the Heavy &
Highway Div. of the AFL-CIO's Building & Construction Trades Dep't,
citing concern that the division's ability to respond to industry issues
is impaired by the United Bhd. of Carpenters' departure
from the federation. IUOE president Frank Hanley, in a May 7 letter
to BCTD president Edward Sullivan, said his union will continue to honor
existing agreements but will not approve any new agreements negotiated
by the division.
"[T]here is tremendous potential for decent, stable employment for the members of all building trade unions," Hanley wrote. "But, quite frankly, I don't think the building trades have capitalized on these opportunities."
Hanley's main concern is that UBC's withdrawal from the AFL-CIO in Mar. 2001 "will restrict or stymie any efforts to maximize the potential of the heavy and highway operation." Efforts by Hanley to mediate a settlement of UBC's problems with the federation have not been successful, he said. Hanley predicted that, "barring some unforeseen developments," these efforts will remain unsuccessful. "Without the UBC participating, the heavy and highway operation has no chance of succeeding," Hanley said.[BNA 5/9/01]
IRON WORKERS (BSOIW)
Members Seek Contempt Ruling Against New York Local
U.S. Dist. Judge Robert L. Carter of the S. Dist. of N.Y. ruled the
individual union members may proceed in their efforts to hold Int'l Ass'n
of Bridge, Structural & Ornamental Iron Workers Local 580 in contempt
of a 1988 consent judgment that enjoined the local from engaging in discriminatory
practices in its apprenticeship programs and job referral procedures. Carter
rejected the local's contention that only the EEOC, the original plaintiff
in the case, had standing to enforce the judgment. The union members filed
timely charges with the EEOC, Carter noted, and 18 months later the EEOC
had neither filed an order to show cause, nor issued a right to sue letter.
Because of EEOC's inaction, Carter ruled the union members could proceed
without a right to sue letter.
Carter also rejected the union's contention that individual union members should bring allegations of ongoing discrimination directly to the court-appointed special master and not to the court. Language in the consent judgment empowering the special master to monitor the union's compliance does not limit the right of aggrieved third-party beneficiaries to bring claims directly to the court. [BNA 5/7/01 (citing EEOC, Bennet v. Int'l Ass'n of Iron Workers Local 580)]
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