Saturday, September 10, 2011

Carpenters union nails down another deal

Deal reaches tentative agreement on contract with ceiling and carpentry contractors, which would boost wages by $10.65 an hour over five-year life of pact. One-year 5% wage cut dies. 

Carpenters reached a five-year deal.

By Daniel Massey

After several contract extensions, the District Council of Carpenters has hammered out a new, tentative five-year deal with the Association of Wall-Ceiling and Carpentry Industries, though agreements with several other industry associations remain outstanding.

The contract includes a raise of $10.65 an hour over the life of the contract—about 12.5% to the base rate for an average carpenter, according to John DeLollis, executive director of the association. Workers will get no raise the first year, an increase of $2.60 in the second year, $2.65 in the third year and $2.70 in each of the fourth and fifth years.

The association thought it had a deal in place several weeks ago that would have actually cut wages by 5% in the first year, but it fell apart, Mr. DeLollis said, presumably after carpenters pressured union leadership to scuttle the agreement.

The contract also piggy backs on a provision in the deal reached last week between the carpenters and the Cement League that is intended to help union contractors regain market share lost to nonunion firms.

As part of the deal, contractors will get a 20% wage discount on residential and hotel projects of 20 stories or less in Manhattan and on all residential and hotel projects in the outer boroughs, regardless of size, Mr. DeLollis said.

“It's not as much as we hoped, but it's a step in the right direction,” Mr. DeLollis said. “We looked for 5% roll back in first year. That was a greater step towards leveling competition with nonunion [firms], but it's gone.”

He said the contract is contingent on a federal judge approving contractors' ability to choose all of their workers. Presently, as per court order, they must hire a third of their workers through the union's hiring hall. Contractors believe that the system is inefficient and hurts productivity because they end up with workers who may not have certain skills needed on specific job sites.

A statement on the union's website announced the Wall-Ceiling deal, and said that progress was made this week in talks with the Building Contractors Association and the General Contractors Association. A union spokesman declined to comment beyond what was in the statement.

“The District Council continues to make positive movement to reach our overall goal of reaching agreements with all of our association partners,” the statement said.

Bargaining will resume on Monday with those two remaining groups, according to the statement.

13 comments:

  1. "He said the contract is contingent on a federal judge approving contractors' ability to choose all of their workers."

    Who gave the UBC the right to use this option when there is a court order that says no. So now the speech before the judge is "approve this or the deal falls part your honor" Is this not strong arming the judge. Before the UBC told the contractors that this could even be considered they should have had it argued and approved by Berman....Now its a deal breaker your honor. What BS...BE PERFECTLY CLEAR.. 100% Mobility is NOT A CONTRACTOR IDEA IT IS MCCARRONS. THE UBC brought out 100% mobility and the contractors not believing the UBC was such scum that it would do this to their members jumped right on it.
    Hatchet Jack Garrison brought 100% mobility to us from the UBC in December of 2010 at the Local 370 Christmas party 6 months before our contract ran out. So now Conboy will go to the judge and like a dancing chimp tell the Judge the "Contractors are Demanding this" and its a contract deal breaker..100% Mobility was introduced and put on the table by the UBC.. Ask yourself why

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  2. DROP DEAD UNITY TEAM !

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  3. Mr. Leicht as a licensed attorney and prosecutor ought to recognize along with USAO Torrance & IRO Walsh that the primary contract provision leading to the fraud at both the jobsites and the Bnefit Funds comes down to one sentence:

    Article XXII, Section 8, page 30 reads as follows:

    SECTION 8. - Wages - Wage Rates and Fringe Benefit contribution shall be determined and/or reallocate[d] sic, by [the] Union at its sole discretion.

    This phrase has to go and be stricken-expunged from the Contract if the new CCO, the United States Attorney and the IRO are finally going to get serious about enforcing the terms and conditions of the Federal Criminal (now Civil) RICO Consent Decree.

    The alleged mandate to Eliminate Corruption has been turned into a license to steal ever more monies from rank & file Carpenters, however, instead of being at the hands of the Mob - it has been at the hands of the Attorneys and the UBCJA International and their Executive Board who have stole more money combined that the Mob or Forde and his cromies ever did.

    And Doug McCarron has bought the services of a former Federal Judge, in Kenneth Conboy - who himself ruled over RICO cases and who now readily ignores the most basic laws at will - as he sold out to the highest bidder. (Whatever lagacy & credibility you once had, you destoyed it, so remeber that...time to retire before you go down with the rest of the crooked bastards)

    It has become readily apparent that all of you are simply "Feeding at the Trough". The $50M pissed away on your fees were it invested at 12% would be worth more than $336M for a PV.

    Time to man up and do your damn jobs by starting here! Delete SECTION 8 FROM THE CONTRACT IN ITS ENTIRETY.

    Never mind the bullshit either. This one sentence destroys the promissory value of the Contract - because as we are all aware, without a voice or vote and w/ McCarrons Dictatorial Regime approved by the senile old Judge Haight - the corruption has only fluorished.

    The fact is, were Torrance competent, instead of willfuly compliant and silent in the continued extortion - this Consent Decree would be terminated by now. But hey, it's an easy do nothing, produce nothing gig designed primarily to keep you attorneys steadily employed - nothing more, nothing less.

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  4. Lets not overlook the 20% pay cuts on res & hotel work 20 stories or less in manhatten and on all res & hotels no matter what size in the boros. This is a large part of our work. The first year will have no raise but the first year will enforce the 20% pay cut on a large part of our work. Full mobility hinges on the judges approval-ARE REPS AND DELEGATES ARE SELL OUTS IF THEY APPROVE THIS-THEY SHOULD NOT LEAVE IT UP TO THE JUDGE HE IS NOT OUR REP OR DELEGATE ___OUR REPS SHOULD NOT CONCIDER THIS _IF IT PASSES THE JUDGE IS NOT TO BLAME OUR REPS NEGOTIATED THIS CONTRACT NOT THE JUDGE_AND IF OUR DELEGATES APPROVE IT THEY ARE TO BLAME NOT THE JUDGE< THE JUDGE IS NOT A UNION MAN OR WOMEN OUR REPS AND DELEGATES ARE AND GET PAID TO REPRESENT US> We arent that stupid and easy to fool anymore. Are reps and delegates will be held accountable-GET YOUR TOOL BELTS OUT OF THE GARAGE AND GO BUY SOME TOOLS UNLESS YOU CAN GET ALL THE RUST & CORROSION OFF THEM- you are in the process of failing the membership.

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  5. The LMRDA Trusteeship has been illegally extended for the following reasons:

    1) To allow the International Carpenters Union (UBCJA) to come in and make illegal changes to the NYC District Council By-Laws so that the International can usurp the Local Control and appoint hand-picked cronies and criminals which ignore the Election process in its entirety and allow the International Union to create By-Laws which establish their monopoly control via Centralization of it into the hands of the International contingent and which ignore Federal Law requiring Election of all Officers by direct Secret Ballot Elections by rank & file workers and employees.

    Since the Elections have not yet been held and have been fore-stalled intentionally as a means to accomplish the illegal aims of Douglas J. McCarron – the LMRDA Trusteeship and its continuation is fraudulent on its face an can therefore not stand as a matter of Federal law.

    2) To allow Contract Negotiations to take place without the duly elected and certified Bargaining Representatives of the “Worker and Employee” under the tenet’s of free association as duly contemplated in both the Preamble to the NLRA and in Section 7 of the NLRA and to wit – is made a “Policy of the United States of America” with respect to freely chosen and designated representatives of one’s own choosing is a prima-facie violation of the Act.

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  6. While Organizers are protected under the Act via Supreme Court precedent and landmark cases as being part of the rank & file membership as employees, highly paid and compensated Executives, Managers and Supervisors are not afforded such luxuries or protections or rights by the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA); and, are thus not allowed to establish or maintain, author or amend illegal Council By-Laws and/or write or maintain illegal internal Union Documents such as the UBCJA Constitution, which negate and eviscerate the NLRA, LMRS & LMRDA in their entirety.
    In fact, the current Contract and every prior Contract expressly requires said illegal Contractual provisions, clauses, phrases and sentences to be “severed” once identified. We have identified the many illegal Contract provisions and illegal District Council By-Laws, UBCJA International Constitutional provisions, sections, clauses, phrases and sentences notwithstanding the UBCJA Internationals false claims and, we again request the USAO & IRO issue a motion to the Court ordering the severance and expunging them wherever they are identified.

    3) The UBCJA highly paid/compensated Executives, Managers and Supervisors and the Wall and Ceiling Contract Association have now proposed to write and execute a Contract which shall be operative for five (5) years. Again, the illegal aims of the UBCJA Executives Douglas J. McCarron, Frank Spencer and John Ballantyne as evidenced under the illegally extended LMRDA Trusteeship are being imposed for one reason – to continue the Criminal Racketeering and time this contract duration to survive their illegal pro-tem appointments of Officers to negotiate the Contracts who were not duly Elected as the Rank & File Worker and Employee duly chosen/designated/elected Representative, the Certified Bargaining Representative as the NLRA, the Act, its preamble, Section 7 and the Policy of these United States of America require.

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  7. The primary reason of course is to pretend to negotiate faithfully and behind closed doors for a contract in good faith, while the reality of the matter is, that the UBCJA & Wall & Ceiling Contractor Associations have in actual intent and purpose and with malice of forethought conducted “bad faith” racketeering agreements designed to give kickbacks of wages and benefits to the Signatory General Contractors & Subcontractors and Material Vendors and Suppliers of 20% reduction in wages within the NYC limits for all projects below 20-stories in height. The fact is the work required is the same regardless of the story height of any Project in Manhattan. The General Conditions of the Contract, the Project Specifications are all generally the same as are the conditions building in an urban environment and on compact sites. Material, Vendor and Shipping costs all remain fixed as do the profit margins of contractors and as do the lease rates for the structures.

    The second part of this Racketeering scam which your office, the IG and USAO readily ignore is the fact that the timing of all the illegal pro-tem appointments and the duration of this proposed Contract were set to expire one year after Douglas J. McCarron’s next run for the UBCJA General Presidents office IN 2015, for a fifth, Five-Year Term so he can maintain his illegal grip and Dictatorial control of the NYCDCC.

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  8. 4) Your Office has expressly ignored the mandates of the law in establishing highly paid Executive positions at the NYCDCC, all of which require direct Election via Secret Ballot under the LMRDA and OLMS and DOL requirements. The Federal Criminal RICO Consent Decree, which has been effected as a private Contract between the NYCDCC and the Federal Government does not allow you or the United States Attorneys Office to run afoul of the Law, nor does it authorize you or the USAO to alter, amend or change any Federal Law, yet this is exactly what you and the USAO have allowed to occur, unchallenged via Motion Practice, which squarely put the two of you front and center as being co-conspirators and with being directly in bed with a known criminal enterprise, that being the UBCJA International Carpenters Union located in Washington, DC.

    That each and all of you do this in direct collusion with officials at the DOL, NLRB or the USAO does not negate or lessen the involvement in the ongoing scams or in the direct and fraudulent Criminal Racketeering activities and of direct involvement in the Extortion schemes being perpetrated upon the rank & file members.

    Mr. Walsh – both you & the USAO have allowed the International Officers to proceed with illegal By-Law demands for changes which revert 100% full control of all hiring to them directly, in direct violation of known law and in direct violation of prior Court Orders for the 67/33 Hiring Ratio.

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  9. You have stood by and watched aimlessly and participated fully as the UBCJA International’s counsel of record, himself a former Federal Judge march into Court and boldly state that a condition precedent to signing any contract is this reversion of control in all hiring to the Employing Contractor Association members and you have allowed them to make it a “condition precedent” to signing the Illegal Contract now being proposed to the Rank & File and before the newly appointed Federal Judge Berman.

    This is a bold plan of Extortion and Criminal Racketeering which is clearly obvious and which require you and the USAO to prefer Hobbs Act Extortion charges against the participating racketeers, yet you & the USAO stand by and say nothing, nor do nothing. Although the silence from both your offices may be deafening, the collusion and direct participation in the fraud against the membership has not gone un-noticed, nor will it be left unchallenged.

    Allowing reversion of control of all Hiring (100%) to the Contractor Associations, without having them or the UBCJA go before the Court under formal Motion Practice is a willful and wanton violation of Section 2, 17 & 18 of the Consent Decree. Moreover, it creates an “EXCLUSIVE HIRING HALL” arrangement, thus necessitating Rules Changes for all Company Employees and all Hall Employees as the NYCDCC shall be under an entirely different body of Board, Appellate Court and Supreme Court precedent for claims of discrimination, violation of due process rights, Unfair Labor Practice charges etc.

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  10. Article V Section 3. Union Security
    All Employees covered by this Agreement shall have the privilege of working for whomever they see fit, in accordance with the terms of this Agreement, and the Employer is to be at liberty to employ or discharge whomever it sees fit, subject to the terms of this Agreement.

    The current Contract requirement above negates the Contractor Association directed threat, that should the USAO, IRO & the Court not approve our demand for Reversion of all Control of Hiring (100%) directly to the Contractor Associations, we shall not negotiate in good faith on a Successor Agreement, but we shall in fact refuse to negotiate at all, therein establishing willful and wanton Bad Faith and a prima-facie cause of action for Criminal Racketeering as it was boldly stated and the direct threat was made in writing.

    Said direct threat was aimed squarely at the Court and to Judge Berman – as a direct hindrance to his authority to monitor and enforce the Criminal RICO Consent Decree (now a private Civil Contract between the Federal Government (the United States Attorney’s Office) and the private, not for profit 501(C)3 NYCDCC.

    The Contractor Association and the UBCJA & NYCDCC by the operative provision contained within the Consent Decree have to present a formal Motion to change the 67/33 Hiring Rule – nothing more, nothing less shall suffice.

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  11. Article XII, Section 8. WAGES
    Wages – Wage Rates and Fringe Benefit contribution shall be determined and/or reallocate[d] sic by [the] Union at its sole discretion.

    As anyone with half an ounce of brains (mentally competent person) is aware, the above contract provision, mandated in one simple sentence and carried forth through the Forde administration completely negates the promissory value of the bargain, the contract, in one fell swoop.

    It is the primary cause of the Racketeering in the first instance and it combines in the aggregate with other similar illegal language inserted to the Trust Fund Agreements, the UBCJA Constitution & NYCDCC By-Laws which were jointly authored by slick UBCJA, NYCDCC and Trust Fund Attorneys in a game of catch me if you can, or hide and seek.

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  12. Reversion of all control of Hiring to the Employers/Contractor Associations shall turn the current Non-Exclsuive Hiring Hall into and an Exclusive Hiring Hall.

    This changes the legal landscape. Dennis - can we get a copy of your former bosses Motion to the Court whcih the UBC shall submit/file prior to the September 26, 2011 hugfest - sorry, Court Conferencing

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  13. http://www.nlrb.gov/case/33-CB-004317

    bad faith & surface bargaining - General issues, re" PPG Industries, complaint by PPG against Union dismissed.

    Scroll down, see "brief"

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