A COVER UP OR JUST A SEVERE CASE OF NAPOLEON COMPLEX

Napoleon Complex: “Short, Cocky, Hot tempered, arrogant, ignorant, attention whore, especially when in a position of power.”

Napoleon (Lebo) Bonaparte

By Silence Dogood

Judging by the reported actions of Mr. Lebo at delegate meetings it is quite clear that Mr. Lebo fits the symptoms listed above for Napoleon Syndrome. Although in Mr. Lebo's case I do not believe it is so much his stature as it is the pressures of his position that has left him with inferiority issues.  A position he is clearly not qualified to hold or experienced enough to fulfill. It seems Mr. Lebo is not going to let a little thing like duty to interfere with his ego.

After years of corruption and the NYC District Council being controlled by greedy and power hungry little men, it became necessary for the Federal Government to step in and take over.

Part of that takeover was to impose Review Officer (RO) Dennis Walsh, on the rank and file of New York City.

Walsh has done some good things, such as weeding out many unsavory characters and has done some questionable things, such as his recent removal of duly elected officers, who despite his claims, the consent decree does NOT allow him to do.

One of the first things Walsh did in his rise to power was impose his version of Unionism on the New York City rank and file.

He made the statements early on that the Locals had “outlived their usefulness” and worked diligently to destroy the power of the Locals and destroy the ability of Local Officers to represent the will of their membership.

Walsh has insisted and demanded that all power and decisions that would shape the future of the rank and file in NYC be put in the hands of his new “Super Trooper” delegate system.

Never in the history of the NYC rank and file has the roll of the council delegate become so important.

As Herman Benson stated, “local unions have been deprived of almost every autonomous right and have no effective constitutionally means of affecting what happens in the union, not even in their own assigned jurisdiction and certainly not in the district."

“It is startling but legitimate. The Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act defines a "labor organization" as one "in which employees participate and which exists for the purpose, in whole or in part, of dealing with employers concerning grievances, labor disputes, wages, rates of pay, hours, or other terms or conditions of employment..." By that standard, Carpenter locals, totally disarmed under the current union structure, seem to have clearly lost their rights.”

With a questionable delegate system in place, the Locals have lost all power and rights to protect or represent their members.

It is imperative that these new "Super Trooper” delegates must succeed and must be allowed to do the job the RO has promised them.

They must be allowed to seize control of the council power structure, so that it is at the very least, the Delegate majority who secures the future of the rank and file.

It is imperative that the future of the NYC rank and file never be allowed to be put back in the hands of an executive board who have already shown signs of making the Forde regime look like boy scouts.

In his first Interim Report,  Mr. Walsh declared that there were still issues to be worked out to improve the relationship between the delegates and the elected officers.

That has not happened, instead this executive board has moved to dominate and control the delegates.

This executive board has moved to turn the delegates into yes men, and to limit their involvement by limiting their access to the information so they may do their job. They have tried to limit their ability to excerpt the control of the Council Walsh has given them, by limiting their involvement in the process as they did with the MWA Arbitration matter.

Walsh has taken these steps to destroy the power and representation of the Locals without testing to see if his new “Super” delegates would actually work and be successful as he promised they would.

Many questioned whether his system would work, and if the delegates would be free to do their job, free of harassment, intimidation, bullying, coercion and influence peddling.

In other words, they would not be allowed to be insignificant yes men as they have been for years.

The RO declared the Delegates would be running the council and not the executive board or any other power hungry person attempting to interfere with the delegates. Now after hamstringing the locals, it is clear that his delegates are a complete failure.

Despite Mr. Walsh’s promises, the delegates ARE being bullied and intimidated. They are being harassed and threatened with bogus charges to keep them in line. The delegates are not being provided with information or the education needed to do their job, and in cases such as the MWA fiasco are left out the decision process altogether.

Executive board members who are trying to factionalize them so they blindly support anything a Lebo or a Bilello tells them too are approaching the delegates.

Any delegate who has tried to do their job, as it is their duty to do, or any delegate who has asked questions, the present administration does not want asked, is targeted and blasted as Mr. Lebo did with his rant and absurd attack on delegate John Musumeci.

Forget about the politics of Mr. Musumeci, and focus on the actions of the meeting chair who screamed and yelled at a delegate after interrupting a member who had the floor to launch into his tirade.

He then incited other delegates to join in his illegal and absurd attack on a delegate.

We can’t even begin to count the number of Roberts’s Rules and meeting rules listed in the UBC Constitution Mr. Lebo has broken.

Mr. Lebo has proven not just in this attack on Mr. Musumeci, but time after time and meeting after meeting, that he has decided he can ignore any and all rules at his discretion.

Mr. Lebo has decided he can make up rules as he goes along. Mr. Lebo has decided he does not have to have knowledge of these rules, which it is clear he does not. Mr. Lebo has refused to accept motions which he cannot do unless it is proven the motion is absurd or it is determined the motion is frivolous as part of a strategy to delay. Mr. Lebo has never proven, and it is clear, he does not have the knowledge or experience to make this determination. Mr. Lebo has refused to accept motions just because he felt like it.

Lebo has tabled motions in a blatant attempt to control delegates who opposed to his opinions. Mr. Lebo has made absurd and illegal motions, such as the motion to refuse to correct the meeting minutes so they included his rant and blatant attack on delegate Musumeci.

It is clear by Lebos actions that he did not want his rant against another delegate in the meeting minutes and conspired to keep them out.

Mr. Lebo has ruled members out of order. Mr. Lebo did not want Delegate Musumeci questioning on the MWA process included in the meeting minutes and refused to allow it. He had no right to do so.

Mr. Lebos actions and violations of Roberts Rules and meetings rules has turned the delegate meetings into a fiasco and created an atmosphere of intimidation and bulling of the delegates.

What Mr. Lebo and Mr. Biello have done is turn the delegate meetings back to a state as they were under the Forde regime. If this continues they will never allow the delegates to perform their duties and to control the Council as the RO's office has insisted they would.

Roberts’s Rules are not just a structure by which a meeting may be run efficiently and correctly but they are also a set of rules which provide, in this case the delegates, a means to protect themselves from the Lebos and Biellos of the world.

They have rules written in, that do NOT allow the chair to “refuse a motion” without just cause. The delegates will decide the just cause.

They have rules written in, that do NOT allow the chair to have the last say against the will of the members such as “appeal the decision of the chair.”

They have rules written in, that do NOT allow an arrogant, aggressive and cocky chair to interrupt a member who has the floor so that he may berate and humiliate the delegate.

They have rules written in, to stop harassment and heckling of delegates so they may be free without harassment and intimidation to speak and to do their job.

They have rules written in, that prevent a Chair or any other party attempting to alter meeting minutes to cover up his behavior.

“Minutes to be Published. When the minutes are to be published, in addition to the strict record of what is done, as heretofore described. They should contain a list of the speakers on each side of every question, with an abstract of all addresses, if not the addresses in full, when written copies are furnished. In this case the secretary should have an assistant.”

This is not optional or by motion Mr. Lebo, this is YOUR duty. They have rules written in, that do NOT allow a chair to rule someone out of order to silence them without the chair proving it. And on and on it goes.

If Roberts Rules are not strictly followed within reason these delegates will never achieve control of the council, if they are not able or in this case allowed to control their own delegate meeting where the will of the delegates is imposed.

It is astounding to learn that many delegates are not even aware of what Roberts Rules are, and the duty that both the delegates and the executive board are bound by to follow them.

This must be remedied immediately for this delegate system to move forward. It was also astounding for an executive board member and a part of the Bilello administration to declare he is not familiar with Roberts’s Rules.

Since they are reviewed before being allowed to even run for office why was someone who has no understanding of Roberts Rules allowed to run for office?

In regards to Mr. Lebo, it is clear he has very little knowledge of Roberts’s Rules and the rules he recognize, he does not know how they apply.

Until he educates himself, it is clear Mr. Lebo must be censored and not be allowed to chair any further meetings.

We have UBC members such as James Brady of Syracuse who is a Parliamentarian, whom I am sure would help the NYC Delegates claim the power that is allotted them to stop any bullying and intimidation using Robert Rules.

I am sure with very little effort the delegates can learn to stop any egos from controlling the meetings that were meant to be a forum for the delegates not the executive board.

Roberts’s Rules are also not optional, and must be followed as dictated by the UBC Constitution. It is Mr. Bilello and Mr. Lebo's DUTY to follow them and see to it the delegates do as well.

The UBC Constitution states Parliamentary Rule 5: "All questions of a parliamentary nature not provided for in these Rules shall be decided by Roberts Manual."

It is somewhat surprising that after the promises made by Bilello and Lebo to get elected, that they have turned on the rights of the members so quickly, was it a ploy to get into elected office?

Some of the promises made were," I am a 26-year rank and file member who has a long history of fighting for membership rights! Brothers and sisters now is the time for all members to decide on change!"

"You have a voice, this is your union, be sure to use that voice when you get your ballot in the mail."

"I promise to listen to the will of the membership, and I promise to guide the delegate body to do the same."

"I believe the membership must have the right to vote on their contracts, dues and assessments by secret ballot."

"As President I will make sure that the delegates come back to the members with matters of importance before they vote, so that the members can debate the issues, and direct their delegates."

Yet they move to end members ratification as soon as the first vote does not go their way. They try to end the members gallery. They have bullied and harassed delegates. They tell the delegates and members nothing and then get angered when the members are given the information they deserve.

Mr. Lebo's behavior is such a shock, I wonder where the real Lebo is and who have you replaced him with.

Where is this Bill Lebo who declared:

"In New York it seems corruption in the form of members being intimidated into submission is at it's worst. Men and women are in fear of losing their jobs or of being brought up on bogus union charges."–– William S. Lebo, June 25, 1998

Was this a lie back then as well? Was he fronting for the ideals of another? How does one do such a 360 and become the UBC hack he exposed not that long ago.

One has to wonder why Mr. Walsh has allowed this behavior when he illegally removed Nee and his crew from office for far far less.