GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES (AFSCME)
Elections Shenanigans Reported at DC37 Local
James Butler, 30-year president of
Am. Fed'n of State, County & Mun. Employees
Local 420, reportedly avoided ouster Apr. 8 when the chairman of his
hand-picked election committee, Rev. Alvin Meads, ordered a new union election
under, at best, dubious circumstances. Local 420 is part of AFSCME's
corruption-riddled Dist. Council 37 in N.Y.C. Carmen Charles,
Local 420's vice president who narrowly defeated Butler on Feb. 27, charged
that the committee's report finding fault with the original vote and the
aborted head count were maneuvers to help Butler to cling to power. "Butler
realized we had the majority of the people so they refused to count. It's
a disgrace to democracy," Charles said.
An important sign of discord among Butler's supporters came when William J. Sipser, whose family has represented Butler throughout his tenure, resigned Apr. 9 as Local 420's attorney. "As a result of last night's membership meeting, irreconcilable conflicts and differences have arisen that make it impossible for me to continue as counsel to Local 420," he wrote to the local.
On Apr. 15, Charles filed a complaint with AFSCME contending that the committee should not have ordered a new election. She plans to present AFSCME's judicial panel a videotape of the meeting that reportedly shows that the people voting against a new election (by standing on one side of the meeting room) far outnumbered those voting for a new election.
In her campaign, Charles tapped into growing discontent among members over the local's high dues, Butler's $250,000 salary, Butler's poor health, Butler's alleged remark calling Charles a "stupid immigrant," and the mysterious nonuse of millions of dollars of members dues collected since 1995 to pay for new headquarters.
Butler rejected Charles' requests to use a neutral election committee, a mail-in ballot, and a third party election monitor. Such reforms are now commonplace in many DC37 locals since DC37's vote-rigging scandal erupted in 1998. Despite having to play by Butler's rules, Charles won 580 to 526 in a walk-in election at a community center in Butler's political base of Harlem. Butler then asked the election committee to set aside the election on grounds that Charles had intimidated voters, campaigned on city time, and received preferential treatment from management. Butler further charged that an article in N.Y.C.'s Chief-Leader stating that Butler had called Charles a "stupid immigrant" and poisoned the election. He further alleged that the Charles slate's sample ballots were mistakenly counted.
The election committee then held three long meetings to air Butler's accusations. According to AFSCME's election manual, the election committee presents its findings to the membership and it is the membership who makes the final decision on whether to rerun the election, which was the purpose of the Apr. 8 membership meeting. That's when Meads call for a vote by members dividing themselves to each side of the room. When more members lined up on the no new election side, a flummoxed Meads reportedly declared he could not do a count and abruptly decided himself that a new election was called for. [Chief-Leader (N.Y.C.) 4/19/02]
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