Union Big Resigns Amid Spending Scandal While Workers Struggle

BY Alison Gendar and Brian Kates

Pete Thomassen the head of the scandal-scarred carpenters union has resigned amid revelations of massive spending on steak dinners, junkets and parties.

The wild bills - like $13,000 for a single meal at a Manhattan restaurant - came to light while half the union's leadership is under indictment and the feds are pushing to break the mob's grip on the organization.

The District Council of Carpenters denied Peter Thomassen's resignation as president had anything to do with the eye-popping sums in the union's 2009 annual report.

Spending under his leadership has long outraged the rank-and-file, many of whom are struggling for work while brass are dining at the Old Homestead steakhouse in the Meatpacking District. "The big spending under Pete Thomassen is yet another example of the culture of corruption at the top of the District Council," said a dissident blogger who asked not to be named. "These guys are living it up with the members' money."

The annual report filed with the Labor Department offers little explanation of the expenditures, including how many people attended staff meetings, dinners and conferences. Many of the expenses are described as "non-itemized."

It's also unclear whether Thomassen attended, although he did sign off on the report covering union activities between June 2008 and June 2009.

In a single day - Jan. 5, 2009 - union brass dropped $20,683 at a conference in the Beverly Hills Hilton and an additional $9,692 on a staff meeting at the Old Homestead.

On May 28, there was a $13,545 tab at Valbella, a pricey eatery in the Meatpacking District.

On the lower end of the food chain, union bigwigs okayed $19,854 in meals at the SoHo deli Getting Hungry and paid $8,474 to the Liberty Cafe in midtown last year.

Then there are the out-of-state confabs: a $13,592 stay at an Atlanta Holiday Inn in June 2008 and a $9,552 stay at The Breakers in Palm Beach, Fla.

The union paid J.C. Fogarty's Town Tavern, a Bronxville, Westchester County, catering hall, a whopping $60,509 in September 2008 for what's described as "charity softball tournament event." Owner John Fogarty did not return calls.

The union paid $7,315 for another charity softball event in September 2008 to Send in the Clowns Entertainment.

"They spent how much on Send in the Clowns?" quipped one unemployed carpenter. "I'm showing my age, but isn't the next line of that song - 'Don't worry, they're here?'"

Thomassen was paid $268,827 last year.

A District Council spokesman gave no explanation for his resignation but denied it was linked to a request last week for the appointment of an ex-prosecutor to monitor the union.

The union's executive secretary-treasurer, Michael Forde, and nine cohorts were indicted on racketeering charges last August.