TEACHERS (NEA)
Washington Union Fined $400,000 in Dues-for-Politics Case
Thurston (Wash.) County Judge Gary Tabor issued a "guilty" verdict
July 31 against the Wash. Edu. Ass'n for what
he characterized as intentional violations in WEA's use of mandatory teacher
dues and fees for politics. The penalties, sanctions, and reimbursements
make this the largest fine ever levied against WEA: some $500,000. He assessed
a $200,000 civil penalty then doubled it to $400,000 as a punitive sanction
saying that WEA "'intentionally' chose not to comply with the clear language
of the statute." Tabor also ordered WEA to pay for the costs of the probe,
trial, and attorneys' fees.
"WEA officials are used to breaking the law and having their way with teachers' paychecks because they think no one is big enough to stop them," said Evergreen Freedom Found.'s Lynn Harsh. "Tabor just sent those union officials an expensive reminder that they are not above the law." EFF initiated this action. In June 2000, EFF filed a complaint with the Wash. Atty. Gen. on behalf of affected teachers alleging that WEA had used agency fee payers' money for politics: a clear violation of state law. Since Wash. is not a Right-To-Work State, teachers must pay agency fees even though they opt out of WEA. The fees are 100% of regular member dues less portions spent on politics and other non-traditional union functions.
Following a investigation by Wash.'s Public Disclosure Comm'n, who referred the matter back to the Atty. Gen. for a thorough probe, the trial was held in May 2001. WEA argued that it didn't use the fees for politics because WEA's reserve funds exceeded the $800,000 alleged to have been illegally spent. Tabor said, "Any distinction between 'collecting' an agency fee and 'expending' monies for a particular purpose are forever obscured when the funds are 'commingled' into the general fund." He gave WEA 90 days to present him with a procedure assuring that WEA will comply with the law in the future. The ruling doesn't reimburse teachers whose money WEA illegally used. A separate class action suit of some 4,000 affected teachers is pending. [EFF Media Release 7/31/01]
AFL-CIO / TEAMSTERS (IBT)
Bush to Replace White; Bad News for Trumka?
Clinton's Manhattan U.S. Atty. Mary Jo White
is on the way out, according to a Dep't of Justice official on Aug.
2. The official didn't say when President Bush would move adding that she
may complete the Clinton pardon probe before leaving.
"White's impending exit may be very bad news for the AFL-CIO's Richard Trumka." said Nat'l Legal & Pol'y Ctr. chairman Ken Boehm. "By all accounts Trumka should have been indicted long ago for his role in the money-laundering scandal that brought down ex-Teamsters boss Ron Carey and his campaign team. It appears Trumka has greatly benefited from a very generous dose of prosecutorial discretion from White."
Boehm pointed out that "despite Trumka twice invoking the Fifth Amendment to avoid federal investigators' questions, the case against him is strong. According to court records, Trumka helped launder $150,000 from the Teamsters' treasury through the AFL-CIO for the benefit of Carey's campaign. Reportedly, Trumka also wrongfully solicited and/or contributed $50,000 to the Carey campaign. White's prosecution of ex-Teamsters official William Hamilton was extremely damning for Trumka. For example, it revealed that one of the key meetings that helped facilitate the $150,000 transaction allegedly took place in Trumka's AFL-CIO office with him present. Yet, White and DOJ have failed to indict Trumka."
"President Bush should be commended for replacing White. The time to hold Trumka accountable is now-before any statutes of limitations in the case run. I'm hopeful that President Bush's new appointee will bring Trumka to justice before it is too late." Boehm commented.
A leading candidate to replace White is James McGuire, N.Y. Gov. George Pataki's counsel. McGuire worked for union-corruption-buster extraordinaire, Manhattan Dist. Atty. Robert M. Morgenthau, and Pataki is pushing him for the job. Reportedly, White may have angered Bush Admin. officials by trying to stymie the appointment of ex-U.S. Atty. Joseph diGenova of a post on the Teamsters' Indep. Rev. Bd. [N.Y. Post 8/3/01]
TEAMSTERS (IBT)
Carey's Perjury, False Statements Trial Begins in August
Ex-Int'l Bhd. of Teamsters boss Ron Carey
fought so hard to keep mobsters out of his union that he broke the law
to do it, prosecutors will argue to a jury later this month. The bizarre
"be a criminal to beat a criminal" theory will be presented when Carey
goes on trial in U.S. Dist. Court in Manhattan for allegedly lying about
a massive money-laundering scheme during
his 1996 IBT campaign, including a $475,000 donation to the hard-left
Citizen Action, which was roughly 80 times the size of the average IBT
political donation. Asst. U.S. Atty. Andrew Dember claims that Carey felt
he had to break the rules to keep James P. Hoffa,
son of the notorious James R. Hoffa, from succeeding him as IBT president.
Carey attorney Reid Weingarten promised, "They can come up with any theory
they want, but he's not getting convicted." [N.Y. Post 8/5/01]
Carey pled not guilty Feb. 1 to federal criminal charges that he knowingly participated in the complex scheme. He was indicted Jan. 25 on seven counts of perjury and making false statements in connection with the probe of the scandal. Carey's campaign manager, Jere Nash, and two consultants, Martin Davis and Michael Ansara, were the first defendants in the scam to plead guilty in Sept. 1997 and are awaiting sentencing.
TRANSPORT WORKERS (TWU)
Miami Audit Questions Overtime
The Miami-Dade Inspector Gen.'s office is taking Transp. Workers Union
Local 291 to task, contending in an audit report that two top union bosses
are raking in thousands a year in overtime pay auditors say was undeserved.
The report's finding that the Miami-Dade Transit Agency appears to be "subsidizing
union activity" led County Manager Steve Shiver to discontinue the "Membership
Assistance Program" program Aug. 2 in which the bosses worked as "peer
counselors" to reduce absenteeism. Shiver said, "if the... findings are
upheld, there needs to be serious and systematic action."
"The public has paid a great deal of money for a program that has yielded no tangible results except to assign to those who administer it really huge salary increases," said county Inspector Gen. Christopher Mazzella. Reportedly, Johnny Ellis, treasurer of Local 291, put in for 4,408 hours in 2000 with MDTA and was paid $69,693. That is 84.7 hours a week: better than twelve hours a day, seven days a week. Likewise, Local 291 vice president Joseph Johnson put in for 4,072 hours: the equivalent of eleven hours a day, seven days a week while receiving $66,790. Auditors also found "no supporting documentation to justify that overtime was actually worked." MAP's four other "peer counselors" are Local 291 shop steward Aaron Lee, Jr., and three Local 291 members Patricia Campbell-Cole, Pedro Flores, and Frank Thomas.
The report coincides with an ongoing criminal probe by the Miami-Dade County Atty.'s office into alleged misconduct by Local 291 bosses. The local's president, Eddie L. Talley, was arrested July 2 and charged with misappropriating $80,000 in county and union funds.
Auditors criticized Miami-Dade officials for failing to provide even minimal supervision. "MAP representatives do not clock in or sign in to work each day. They have no supervisor to report to, and do not have a specific desk to maintain their paperwork. It is also unknown where the counseling sessions take place." The audit also uncovered "serious deficiencies" in the system under which Local 291 reimburses the county for time its officers take away from their regular duties to handle union business. The audit states county officials failed to collect reimbursements on a timely basis, allowing Local 291's debt to exceed $100,000. The report also calls for ending the repayment system saying this would prevent "taxpayer dollars from subsidizing union activity." [Miami Herald 8/3/01]
AFL-CIO / TEACHERS (NEA)
IRS May Audit AFL-CIO, NEA, More
The Landmark Legal Found.
filed an IRS complaint July 20 against the Nat'l Edu. Ass'n. citing new
evidence not only of NEA's use of millions of dollars of tax-exempt funds
for political purposes, but its extensive campaign coordination activities
with DNC. LLF's complaint includes evidence provided
to FEC, which released this information to the public on May 2, 2001, but
four days later placed the evidence under seal. LLF secured copies of this
evidence during the first 48-hours of its public release.
LLF's complaint provides overwhelming evidence of NEA's political activities, including its key role in the "Coordinated Campaign Steering Committee," which set strategy for the election of Democratic candidates. In addition to NEA and DNC, other members of the Committee were AFL-CIO, Clinton-Gore '96, DSCC, DCCC, Democratic Governors' Ass'n, Democratic Leadership Campaign Committee, and the hard-left Emily's List. NEA state groups were also involved.
"The extent to which the NEA and its state affiliates have coordinated their political activities with the Democratic Party, and have used millions of dollars in tax-exempt general revenues to support these activities, is truly breathtaking," said LLF president Mark R. Levin. "NEA has become an appendage of the Democratic Party, complete with an ATM machine that dispenses tax-exempt membership dues to underwrite that party's political activities." [LLF Media Release 7/27/01]
LLF's complaint led to a detailed Associated Press report saying: "Eager to help Democrats, unions have spent millions on TV ads and voter guides portraying the party favorably, and worked neighborhoods to get voters to the polls. But they routinely report zero political expenses to the IRS, a review of union documents shows." Failure to report taxable political expenses could result in back taxes and fines.
"It could trigger an audit. It certainly could," said Jack Reilly, a longtime IRS official who has written manuals for tax-exempt groups. Tom Miller, manager of IRS's section that writes the rules for tax-exempt groups, added: "If you look at some of the things that have been out there publicly, some of the activities fall on that side of the line." One key, the officials said, was whether the documents show the intent of unions was to help candidates or specific political parties. Miller said documents indicating that unions intended to help Democrats win suggests those expenses should have been disclosed to IRS.
Union bosses, including those at AFL-CIO, which spent $35 million on activities during the 1996 election campaign but reported no political expenses to the IRS, said they believe they have properly filled out their tax forms. John Hiatt, AFL-CIO gen. counsel, said, "If we're audited, we'll face the music and show them what we've done."
Unions' political foes did report political spending. For example, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce reported nearly $14 million in political and lobbying expenses in 1996 and the Nat'l Ass'n of Mfrs. reported $5.2 million. AP gathered the tax forms of several major unions dating to 1996. None reported political expenses.
AP also reviewed thousands of pages of internal union documents gathered by FEC during a four-year investigation of union activities. The documents, which otherwise would not be public, detail how tens of millions of dollars in workers' dues were spent on activities designed to defeat Republicans or elect labor-friendly Democrats in 1996.
For instance, a document laying out Democratic activities in North Carolina to be approved and partly funded by unions stated a clear mission: "We seek to: re-elect President Bill Clinton, re-elect Gov. Jim Hunt, elect Harvey Gantt to the Senate ... win back at least two seats if not the majority in our state's congressional delegation." Clinton, Hunt, and Gantt are all Democrats. AFL-CIO trained about 50 Democratic congressional candidates, arming them with materials to help them better communicate with "union and women voters."
Several unions pooled their money for a $2.7 million program called the "96 Project." Internal project documents said the goal was to influence the national debate over Republicans' Contract With America. The unions also ran millions of dollars of so-called issue ads in congressional districts where they hoped to defeat Republicans. The ads portrayed GOP policies as bad and Democratic alternatives as better. Republicans are "after Medicare again," said one ad that ran around the time of the 1996 presidential nominating conventions.
Union bosses said they don't believe their activities met the IRS requirement for reporting political expenditures. "It's a common practice by us and every other organization I know of, and there's no legal authority to the contrary. You are really grasping at straws," said AFL-CIO associate gen. counsel Laurence E. Gold. The Internal Revenue Code requires unions to list any direct or indirect expense "intended to influence the selection, nomination, election or appointment of anyone to a federal, state or local public office." Tax experts said the union documents likely would raise questions among IRS auditors. [AP 8/7/01]
QUOTABLE QUOTE
"Labor groups are required to report any direct or indirect expense
'intended to influence the selection, nomination, election or appointment
of anyone to a federal, state or local public office.' If
the tax-exempt unions did not report taxable political expenses, they can
be hit with audits, back taxes and fines.
No one in Washington is surprised by the unions' deception. Behind knowing winks and nudges, policy-makers have let unions ignore the rules for years. Even worse, Washington has created rules that benefit unions-to the disadvantage of most other groups. Indeed, organized labor has been the recipient of special privileges granted by federal law for much of the last century... Despite all these advantages, unions are still losing members...
It's obvious that unions have less and less to offer--except forced dues to back a big-government agenda, even as many of their members oppose it. Federal officials might look the other way when bosses break the rules. But workers have seen what's been going on."
- "Labor's Tilted Playing Field," Investor's Bus. Daily, Aug. 8, 2001, at A20.
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ADDITIONAL BRIEFS NOT INCLUDED ON THE FAX EDITION OF THIS UNION CORRUPTION UPDATE:
- - - - - -
ELECTRICAL WORKERS (IBEW)
Rhode Island Embezzler Loses Pension Suit
Ex-union pension manager and prison inmate Todd
LaScola must repay $1,279,656 to the retirement plan of Int'l
Bhd. of Elec. Workers Local 99 in Providence, R.I., under terms of
a federal default judgment. U.S. Dist. Judge Ronald R. Lagueux (D.R.I.
Reagan) signed the order July 24, after LaScola and his firm, CPI Fin.
Servs., Inc., failed to respond to an ERISA suit filed in Jan. by the Dep't
of Labor accusing them of misusing plan assets. DOL's suit alleged that
LaScola invested approximately $5,970,000, over 20% the plan's total assets,
in unregistered, highly risky notes issued by real estate limited partnerships
owned by RBG Mgmt. Servs., Inc., of Chicago. Allegedly, there was no trading
market for the RBG notes, making the investment a violation of the plan's
guidelines. LaScola received approximately $312,400 in commissions from
RBG, as well as $127,652 in management fees from the plan.
In 1998, plan trustees demanded that LaScola immediately liquidate improper investments. He subsequently returned $5,993,800 to the plan, but he obtained that money through other illegal acts, for which he is currently serving a federal prison term. The $1.279 million ordered to be repaid is the total of the opportunity losses, $839,603, plus the commissions and management fees. LaScola must repay his criminal obligations before making these civil payments. He was ordered to repay $8.12 million May after pleading guilty to nine embezzlement and fraud charges. He is serving an eight-year sentence in a medium-security federal prison in Estill, S.C. [PWBA Media Release 8/7/01; Providence J.-Bull. 8/9/01]
TRANSIT UNION (ATU)
Wall Street Pension Manager Indicted for Second Time
Alan B. Bond, a union pension manger who
is scheduled to stand trial in Nov. on charges he took illegal kickbacks
from brokerage firms, was arrested Aug. 9, on separate fraud charges, federal
prosecutors said. In a 32-page complaint filed in U.S. Dist. Court in Manhattan,
Bond was charged with conducting an illegal "cherry picking" scheme that
directed virtually all of his profitable stock trades to his own accounts
and most of his unprofitable ones to accounts he managed for three clients,
including the Birmingham Amalgamated Transit Auth. Local 725 pension fund.
Separately, Sec. & Exch. Comm'n attorneys were in court Aug. 9 seeking
to freeze all of Bond's assets.
From March 2000 to July 2001--a period when it has been very difficult to make money in the stock market--prosecutors contend Bond's account grew to $6.5 million from $263,360, a gain of more than 5,000%. The three clients reportedly lost a total of more than $56 million. During the period, Bond allegedly directed less than 17% of his unprofitable trades to his account while directing more than 83% percent of such trades to his clients' accounts. In addition to the Local 725, the other clients were Chapman Capital Mgmt., an investment adviser and the Old Dominion Disability & Retirement Allowance Plan, another pension fund.
Allegedly, Bond, who engaged in day trading, typically waited until late in the day or until after the close of the markets to instruct Neuberger Berman, his broker-dealer, on directing trades to various accounts. By delaying his instructions, Bond allegedly was able to determine whether trades were profitable or unprofitable.
In Dec. 1999, Bond, who was once a frequent guest on PBS's "Wall Street Week with Louis Rukeyser," was indicted on charges of taking more than $6 million in kickbacks of commissions paid to brokerage firms where he steered clients, including the pension fund of ATU Local 689 in Washington, D.C. His trial on the kickback charges is scheduled to begin in Nov. Theodore Wells, a attorney at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, which is representing Mr. Bond, said yesterday that "these newly filed charges come as a complete surprise." Some of the money Bond made in the period in question went to pay his attorneys. In the complaint, Paul Higgins, a federal agent, said that Bond transferred $500,000 from his account to the Paul Weiss firm on July 2.
The complaint charges Bond with six counts of securities fraud and three counts of investment advisory fraud. If convicted, he faces a possible maximum sentence of 10 years on each of the securities fraud charges and 5 years on each of the advisory fraud charges. Bond is being held in jail pending a bail hearing scheduled for Aug. 14. [N.Y. Times 8/10/01]
TEAMSTERS (IBT)
Despite White's Attacks, diGenova Wins IRB Post
The Int'l Bhd. of Teamsters' Indep. Rev. Bd., the internal oversight
body created under a 1989 consent decree, will have a new composition as
the result of a pair of actions by the Dep't of Justice and U.S. Dist.
Judge Loretta A. Preska (S.D.N.Y. H.W. Bush). On Aug. 8, Preska after
a brief hearing, approved IBT's designation of ex-U.S. Atty. Joseph
E. diGenova to be its representative on the three-member IRB. A few
hours later, U.S. Atty. Mary Jo White announced
that Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft had designated Benjamin R. Civiletti, who
was an attorney general in the Carter administration, to be DOJ's representative
on IRB. IRB's third member will be chosen jointly by the other two, and
each member has a five-year term.
If Preska approves, Civiletti will replace ex-U.S. Dist. Judge Frederick B. Lacey (D.N.J. Nixon) who served as IBT's court-appointed independent administrator from 1989-92 before assuming a seat on the IRB when it was formed in Oct. 1992. DiGenova replaces Grant Crandall, a labor attorney appointed as IBT's representative in 1996 by disgraced ex-IBT boss Ron Carey.
Preska approved the appointment of diGenova, despite attacks by White, a Clinton-appointee, who reportedly did not favor having a conservative on IRB. Columnist Robert Novak reported on Aug. 2 that White was seeking effective veto power over IRB selections. Despite the fact that White should have no role whatever in picking IRB members, she killed DOJ plans to name diGenova. IBT boss James P. Hoffa then stymied White by selecting diGenova. White immediately launched an underground campaign to try to block diGenova again. White contended in a letter to Preska that diGenova should be critically questioned as to his ability to remain neutral while serving on IRB. Which led Novak to ask: "So, why has Clinton's prosecutor "indefinitely" been kept in office, with apparently an extra-legal veto? 'They're scared to death of Mary Jo White at Justice,' explains one well-placed Republican lawyer." In end, however, it appears someone at DOJ did stand up to her.
Hard-left critics of Hoffa expressed concern over diGenova's appointment. "It concerns us that he's someone from the far right," said Ken Paff, leader of the leftist Teamsters for a Democratic Union. "He's certainly not someone who's pro-labor."
But the IRB developments led the Detroit News to editorialize: "It is precisely diGenova's independence and integrity that attracted Hoffa, who recognizes that the best chance for the Teamsters to regain control of their union is to get a squeaky-clean bill of health from a credible IRB. Wednesday's appointments move that process forward significantly. Civiletti and diGenova will now select a third member of the IRB. That choice will be critical. That the IRB has been unable to fully accomplish its mission--indeed, it allowed an election fraud to unfold during its watch--speaks to the need for careful consideration of this appointment to bring about the final independence of the union."
Civiletti, who is chairman of the law firm Venable, Baetjer, Howard & Civiletti, served as Atty. Gen. from 1979-81, after having been Deputy Atty. Gen.l from 1978-79 and Assistant to the Atty. Gen. in charge of DOJ's Criminal Division from 1977-78. He was an Asst. U.S. Attorney from 1962-64. [BNA 8/10/01; Det. News 8/7, 8/9/01; Chi. Sun-Times 8/2/01]
IRB Member Tainted at Questionable Dinner
According to Columnist Robert Novak, Int'l Bhd. of Teamsters' Indep.
Rev. Bd. member, ex-U.S. Court of Appeals Judge William H. Webster (8th
Cir. Nixon) was honored May 11 at a N.Y. Marriott Marquis Hotel dinner
hosted by one of the most unsavory of old Teamsters, George Barasch. Webster
is also a former U.S. Dist Judge (E.D. Mo. Nixon), former FBI Director,
1978-87, and former CIA Director, 1987-91. Webster addressed the Union
Mut. Benefit Ass'n, which is charged in a United Food & Commercial
Workers Int'l Union lawsuit as draining millions from Barasch's Allied
Trade Council for his personal use. In Nov. 1999 IRB charged that Barasch
and his family were siphoning money from benefit plans of the ATC and the
Barasch-controlled IBT Local 815. A attorney in the UFCW suit was recently
told by Barasch's son, Stephen: "Judge Webster seems to think we're OK."
[Chi. Sun-Times 8/2/01]
AFL-CIO / SEAFARERS (SIUNA)
Louisiana Suit Alleges Unions Misused $4 Million Federal Grant,
Shredded Records
A lawsuit filed Apr. 2 accuses a group of labor unions of scheming
to misuse a $4 million federal grant then firing the veteran mariner who
tried to blow the whistle on them. Ex-Gulf Coast Mariners Ass'n training
manager Capt. Kenneth P. Puckett filed the suit in E. Baton Rouge Parish
under La.'s whistleblower law, which protects workers who report unlawful
acts by their supervisors. Puckett claims he repeatedly urged managers
to abide by rules of a federal grant meant to offer vital safety training
to mariners. He claims union bosses misused the grant money for profit
and to promote union organizing efforts in the Houma-Thibodaux area and
S. La. offshore oil and marine industries.
Puckett took his complaints to La. AFL-CIO boss John "Red" Bourg, but Bourg allegedly told Puckett simply to follow directions and refrain from talking to the U.S. Dep't of Labor, which awarded the grant. In Nov., Puckett was fired from his job as the grant's training manager. "Not only were Capt. Puckett's objections and concerns ignored, the union-affiliated organizations retaliated against him," the suit says. Puckett is asking for damages related to his firing, as well as compensation for lost income, expenses, mental anguish, and damage to his reputation. Defendants include Bourg; the AFL-CIO; Seafarers Int'l Union of N. Am.; the La. Human Res. Dev. Inst., the nonprofit group that won the grant; GCMA, a Houma, La., based non-profit maritime lobbying group; Lafourche Merchant Marine Training Servs., a Larose, La., based maritime training school; and the principles of those two organizations, Penny Danos Adams and Ray T. Danos, respectively. Puckett is a retired U.S. Army warrant officer who served as a Panama Canal port captain and a senior instructor for the U.S. Army. He has 35 years experience as a pilot and instructor in the maritime industry, the suit states.
In 2000, DOL awarded the $4 million grant to LHRDI of Baton Rouge, which is a union-affiliated nonprofit corporation. Bourg serves as president, and his son-in-law, Mike Chapman, is executive director. LHRDI's job under the grant was to arrange for safety training for mariners. After LHRDI won the grant, it hired Puckett as its training manager. Puckett claims LHRDI worked with labor unions to use the $4 million grant "to promote their union organizing activities and financial interests." Allegedly, Grant managers hired unqualified trainers and issued fraudulent training certificates. LHRDI allegedly handed control over it to GCMA, a group of labor organizations that included the national and La. AFL-CIO. "They decided who would be hired and fired," the suit says. "They jointly decided what services would be offered, where the services would be offered, and which vendors would provide those services."
Further, on Apr. 20, La. District Judge Tim Kelley grant Puckett's motion to block the defendants from destroying relevant documents and computer files in the case and to turn over any remaining copies of already destroyed documents.
Puckett's motion was based on a sworn statement from an ex-employee of one of the grant's other participants, a trade group called GCMA of Houma. Michael D. Hill's job was to recruit maritime employees for training under the grant. In his affidavit, Hill claims a LHRDI employee told him the staff was shredding documents in response to Puckett's suit. "In our discussion, Ms. [Bobette] Apple stated that the LHRDI had been 'shredding' large numbers of documents at its locations in Baton Rouge and Houma in response to the lawsuit," Hill said. "Ms. Apple further stated that she did not approve of the document destruction and that she had been ostracized by her superiors for expressing her concerns."
According to Bob Alario, president of Offshore Marine Servs. Ass'n , his organization represents many companies and their employees and has the only U.S. Coast Guard-approved training courses to train mariners. OMSA has been critical of the GCMA and predicted that it would lead to a unionization push in the area. He also was critical of the unions' grant application. "They misrepresented so many facts in that application," Alario said. "If this lawsuit proves out, it will confirm everything we said we were afraid of with regard to the unions and those involved in it."
Louis Robein, a Metairie labor lawyer who has represented the Adamses, said, "It's a lawsuit essentially prompted by large institutional interests--in this case the boat companies--intended to punish or retaliate against union activism." [Courier (Houma, La.) 4/3/01; Advocate (Baton Rouge) 4/3, 5/11/01]
NURSES (NYSNA)
New York Union Violated Federal Labor Law
The N.Y. State Nurses Ass'n violated the Nat'l Labor Relations Act
by failing to issue a 10-day strike notice when it directed its members
to refuse to volunteer for overtime at Mt. Sinai Hosp., a divided National
Labor Relations Board panel ruled July 27. Overturning a decision by an
administrative law judge, the majority found that nurses who refused to
volunteer for overtime work at the union's request and those who refused
assigned overtime were engaged in a concerted refusal to work within the
meaning of NLRA Section 8(g). That section requires a union to issue a
10-day notice to the institution and the Fed. Mediation & Conciliation
Serv. before engaging in any strike, picketing, or other concerted refusal
to bargain at any health care institution.
In a 2-1 decision, Chairman Peter J. Hurtgen and Member John C. Truesdale directed the union to cease and desist from directing any concerted refusal to work, including a refusal to volunteer for overtime work at Mount Sinai, or any other health care institution, without first issuing the required 10-day strike notice. The majority made it clear, however, that they were not suggesting that employees could not concertedly refuse to work voluntary overtime. Rather, they said, such a refusal must be preceded by the issuance of a 10-day notice if a union is responsible for the action.
In dissent, Member Wilma Liebman contended that the union did not engage in a strike or other concerted refusal to work. Rather, she said, "the nurses exercised their rights under a collective-bargaining agreement that authorized them to reject overtime work. Their action was perfectly proper under their contract and under the act." Criticizing her colleagues' decision, Liebman said "creating legal obstacles to such efforts, where none exist, will not promote stable labor relations. It may well place an even greater burden on nurses who, despite their difficult working conditions, remain in such a vital profession." [BNA 8/10/01]
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