Back to the Future

Judge Finds District Council in Contempt - Request System Abolished 

(This was originally posted May 31, 2009)

NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED, as follows:

1. The District Council and Peter Thomassen, its president, are adjudge and held in contempt of this court for violating the 1994 Consent Decree by bargaining away the job referral rules.

2. The current Request System, under which contractors have the unfettered right to "request" anyone they want from the out-of-work list, is abolished.

3. Allow the contractor to select particular carpenters for a job up to but not in excess of 67 percent of the total carpenter work force. That percentage is made up of the contractor's 50 percent under the 50/50 Rule, and an additional 17 percent, representing one-third of, and to count against, the Union's 50 percent. The remaining 33 percent of the carpenter work force will be assigned by the Union from the OWL.

4. Restore the six-month provision contained in Job Referral Rule 5(B), so that a contractor cannot request a carpenter and have that carpenter count against the Union's 50 percent unless that carpenter has been employed by that contractor during the previous six months. But under no circumstances may carpenters chosen under Rule 5(B) count against the 33 percent assigned by the Union directly from the OWL.


This resolution is fair and equitable because it recognizes contractors' economic and competitive concerns by allowing them to select most of the carpenter work force on any particular project, while restoring the Out-of-Work List as a meaningful source of employment for carpenters seeking work.
To read judge Haight's full order below.
District Council Remedy Order-1(2)




Related:
History Lesson 101.
Memorandum click here.