Saturday, August 25, 2012

Working Dues are Legal and Necessary

Urgent: Deadline for Remaining in Good Standing is August 31, 2012

Members who have not paid their working due assessment for hours worked January 1, 2012 through March 31, 2012 will be placed in arrears status on the UBC membership processing system on September 1, 2012. As per the UBC Constitution, members in arrears status will not be entitled to any privileges, rights or donations. These privileges and rights include admittance to membership meetings and officer eligibility.

It has come to the attention of the Council that there are those who challenge the legality of working dues payment to the union. Please be advised these working dues are legal and necessary. Failure to fulfill this obligation will result in the loss of membership status, which is in compliance with the UBC Constitution; the new By Laws established by the UBC supervisors as well as the Working Dues Resolution of January 31, 2008.

We encourage members to pay their dues and remain in good standing with their fellow union brothers and sisters. If you have any questions regarding this very important matter, please refer to the attached resolutions or contact us directly. We are stronger together.

In Solidarity,
The New York City and Vicinity District Council of Carpenters 

Below is the evolution of rulings leading up the 2008 working dues resolution.
Working Dues Res

9 comments:

  1. DROP DEAD UNITY TEAM !

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  2. Threats threats threats and intimidation that's all it's about with this new bunch of hoods

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  3. Sounds to me like no one is paying and no they have to resort to making threats well well they are starting to realize where the money flows from to sustain their bloated way of living in this economic downturn let them start to trim the fat at the council and layoff some of the useless people and non productive departments we The membership pay the bills now the guys that are sucking up the big salaries if these dues and assessments were legal then they wouldn't have given you your full vacation check it is sad that the current administration is forcing the members to act this way when they know that the working rolls at the DC should have been trimmed along time ago remember the members control the purse strings and if that money stops you are all out of a job power to the members you deny them their rightful right to vote on their contract then you wanna threaten to expell them from this union you are out of your minds you would expell the few THST are working and paying for your lifestyle you are cutting your nose off beside your face you must go now remove these no brain leaders now

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  4. While we fight amonst each other the non-union sector flourishes: http://youtu.be/2iWkRcWtOVg

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  5. are we paying less to the international is maccaron tightening his belt why are we paying the same quaterly dues if all the locals operate out of the same space if the district council is cutting its cost why are we paying the same assesments somebody answer these questions

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  6. excerpt from above post:

    Clearly, this is not the type of internal union matter that Congress sought to insulate
    from the Board’s consideration. Laborers Local 1445 (Badger Plants), 266 NLRB 386 fn. 7 (1983). Furthermore, the Board has traditionally remedied violations of this type by ordering rescission of the offending provision from the union’s internal governing documents. See, e.g., Plumbers Local 631 (Brinderson-Newberg), supra; Plumbers Local 314 (American Fire Sprinkler), supra; and Elevator Constructors Local 8 (San Francisco Elevator), supra.

    EXPUNGEMENT TIME DENNIS!

    It matters not whether the NYCDCC issues their coercive demnads via letter, e-mail, publication on DC's failed website, through the By-laws OR any other means.

    This one has been tried before, the case law is posted on 157 blog for all to see (blue card boy lives), so the bilello, Lebo & Cavanugh claims are meritless & immaterial.

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  7. This post was updated on Feb 14, 2012; 10:17pm.
    In reply to this post by Ted
    The Thirteenth Amendment reads:

    "Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction."

    "Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation."

    U.S.C. Title 8, Section 56, reads:

    "The holding of any person to service or labor under the system known as peonage is abolished and forever prohibited in any Territory or the United States, and all acts, laws, resolutions, orders, regulations, or usages of any Territory or State, which have heretofore established, maintained, or enforced, or by virtue of which any attempt shall hereafter be made to establish, maintain, or enforce, directly or indirectly, the voluntary or involuntary service or labor of any persons as peons, in liquidation of any debt or obligation, or otherwise, are declared null and void."

    U.S.C. Title 18, Section 444:

    "Whoever holds, arrests, returns, or causes to be held, arrested, or returned, or in any manner aids in the arrest or return of any person to a condition of peonage shall be fined not more than $5,000, or imprisoned not more than five years, or both."

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  8. cont - posted February 14th

    The UBC's Master Plan for a yearly $256M Extortion scheme, which is soon to be a half Billion Dollar per year $512M Extortion scheme from members vacation wages or any form of wages for that matter, does not pass scrutiny.

    To force and coerce involuntary servitude via leaflet, banner, picket duty etc. and disguise it as a refund and/or via a name change to "working dues", or "working dues assessment" also does not pass muster, morally, legally or otherwise, notwithstanding the bamboozling of a senile old judge under the Federal RICO Consent Decree.

    Massachusetts now requires the Union's form an employment contract with the person performing the leaflet, banner or picket duty, so that proper application of employment laws, liability and recoupment of income taxes etc attach.
    This includes both Union Members and/or bums they find on the street. In the south and southwest, the UBCJA regularly hires non carpenters or bums off the street to perform these duties as Union members refuse to do so. The International which creates these policies and condones their continued use by individual EST's and District or Regional Councils also do not withstand scrutiny.

    In the NYCDCC, the fact that Roger Newman, IRO Judge Conboy and the current RO endorsed the policy and the illegal exactions also does not save it from the inherent illegality. Because the USAO & IRO ran to Court under the guise of an internal Union Rule and simple By-law change, it was by design meant to intimidate the rank & file member to believe that it had an air of credibility. It does not. Rather, it was used as part of the coercive scheme to continue the extortion, fraud and involuntary servitude under threat of fine, expulsion or removal from the OWL list; under the so called watchful eye of the United States Attorneys office and the power of the Federal Government who is admittedly engaged in a private contract making it complicit in the scheme to defraud rank & file members to either cough up the tribute money to the DC & the UBC International, or - to submit, become indentured initially for 2-seven (7) hour days and subsequently one (1) seven (7) hour day against their will.

    The United States Attorneys Office is charged with enforcing the laws, not willfully or by gross negligence assisting the UBCJA & NYCDCC continue violating the laws as are the other attorneys and parties of record in the matter of the Federal RICO Consent Decree.

    Regardless of whether a rank & file members submits or pretends not to and thus claims it is voluntary, in either case the indentured servitude remains and it does not remove it from illegal conditions mandated by Federal law or State law(s).

    The UBCJA International seems to believe that its venerable UBC Constitution stands supreme above all the laws of the land, including the Federal Constitution and State laws; and, once we start discussing the total take, the extortionate part of said scheme becomes clear and plain for all to see. The BLUE CARD is a Brinks Job of grand proportion.

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  9. SIGN YOUR: 1-9 Form & your W-4 Form ONLY

    Anything else handed to you by your D.C. or Local or Employer, simply Initial (but DO NOT SIGN) & write "Acknowledge Receipt".

    REMEMBER:

    Under Section 7 of the NLRA, you have the right to "refrain from any & all activity".....no if's, and's or or's about it!

    The above applies to the Blue Card, the White Card etc. The D.C. has yet to prove majority status for a 9(a) Contract.

    Even if or when they can furnish irrefutable proof, you still do not have to sign any form of "DUES CHECKOFF" irrespective of how they spin it or how they try to coerce you into doing something which the law does not require you to do.

    The WHITE CARD is the BLUE CARD, part 2.

    Forde, Greaney & crew were proved wrong despite the protestations & persistent denials of ex Federal Judge Kenneth Conboy, his boss, Doug McCarron & dead pan silence by the U.S. Attorney's Office who failed to read and/or review any pertinent case law regarding the entire issue for 13+ years.

    This case was a no brainer for a first year law student and yet, they failed to act & they allowed the crooks at the District Council to rob the members Vacation Wages & violate E.R.I.S.A. laws. Moreover, they allowed the International & the D.C. to cross state lines via letter, post card & e-mails to continue to harass and collect said monies, which therein qualify for Hobbs Act Extortion & criminial racketeering charges and the inept staff at the U.S.A.O. still took no action.

    Think the Government is protecting you & yours - think again. Not only do you have to go out & perform every day on the job-site; then, when you come home, you have to become a lawyer & provide a prima-facie case before they will act.

    Talk about a rigged game for do-nothing hacks? It's time the Consent Decree began to wind down. Unfortunately, with the dummy operation we've seen to date, it looks as if that will have to wait until the next Election Cycle when these current boobs get voted out & are replaced with competent individuals.

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