Gausman Pulls Political Hatchet Job

Gausman playing dirty tricks

Local 157 pro tem president Gerry Gausman, has placed himself at the center of an election controversy by attempting to improperly disqualify the candidacies of fellow executive board members Bill Walsh and Greg Kelty, by citing they are retired members and ineligible to hold elected office.

Gausman, citing and acting on alleged complaints to the Inspector General’s office, regarding the eligibility on Walsh and Kelty, has abused and misused his authority for political gain, according to informed sources.

Longtime former Local 608 members that know Gausman well; said, “Gerry is a boob and incompetent, he has been running for office for years, he cannot win on his own merits, so he retorts to political hatchet jobs, trying to tear down his opponents with a non-issue, in a feeble attempt to will an election."

In April 2011, I criticized Gausman for lack of leadership, and in June 2011, again, while Gausman made another failed attempt at running for local president, I criticized him for failing to give the membership a single reason why you should vote for him.

“We’ve had strong presidents and weak presidents, skillful presidents and incompetent presidents, honest presidents and corrupt presidents. Gerry Gausman stands alone as the first president who simply declines to lead.”

On every issue going back to when Mike Bilello appointed him vice president pro tem and continuing up until now, Gausman has dumped responsibility and has set a pattern of negligible and incompetent leadership.

Financial Secretary pro tem Walsh and Treasurer Kelty have filed emergency applications to General President Doug McCarron under Section 53G via FedEx and Fax. Both Kelty and Walsh are semi-retired and depending on the trade for a livelihood by working 39 hours per month as per Section 31D of the UBC Constitution. Bill Walsh and Greg Kelty are also both seated District Council Delegates and Walsh is on the District Council Audit Committee.

click to enlarge.

Gausman’s disqualification of Walsh and Kelty occurred three days after an Election Committee meeting where no mention of the eligibility of either Financial Secretary pro tem Walsh or Treasurer Kelty was made by Gausman’s Carpenters for Carpenters slate.

Walsh and Kelty are running on the rival Members Voice 157 slate, which has stoked up a backlash of membership accusations that the Gausman disqualifications are politically motivated.

In a brief telephone conversation with Local 157 Blogspot, Treasurer Greg Kelty, said that, “Gerry Gausman did not contact me in anyway before the disqualification and no requests for documentation were made.”

“Gerry made no effort to investigate the situation and made no good faith effort to provide his fellow executive board members due process before disqualifying Financial Secretary Walsh and myself”.

Gausman notified Review Office Dennis Walsh of the disqualifications and Walsh, after reviewing the matter said, Gausman's decision regarding the eligibility of William Walsh and Greg Kelty, “is incorrect and made upon a deficient record. It is not sufficiently documented or accompanied by sufficient process to erase the suspicion that it is politically motivated.”

Walsh urge Gausman, to “at least seek the guidance of Frank Spencer as a duly authorized agent of the UBC and include in that request any evidence presented by or available from Bill Walsh and Greg Kelty.”

Gausman was unavailable for comment.

New President as another Carpenters union leader bites the dust

Gausman New President

Vice President Gerry Gausman is the new President of Local 157.

Last month in an unprecedented turn of events, both President D’Errico, and Vice President Pugliese, were absent for the March meeting and the membership nominated and elected pro tem President Michael Bilello. Under his authority as pro tem President, Bilello appointed Gausman as pro tem Vice President.

Pugliese, resigned as the vice president, and was pushed into retirement because he refused to cooperate with Review Officer ("RO") Dennis Walsh, and sign a declaration under penalty of perjury pertaining to mob influence over the affairs of the District Council.

With the veto of D'Errico by the RO, Gausman, will now fill the office and preform the duties of President until the locals next scheduled election in June.

Bilello was elected pro tem President for the March meeting "only," because at the time, D'Errico was still the president of the local. Bilello was under no obligation to appoint a pro tem Vice President, he chose to do so. Had he left the office vacant the membership could have nominated and elected Bilello pro tem President again at the April meeting, since D'Errico was vetoed by the RO and Pugliese, resigned.

Gausman was elected Vice President on December 7th, in a special executive board election in former Local 608 before UBC General President, Douglas McCarron, dissolved the local on December 14, 2010 and transferred all its members to Local 157. Gausman, promised to "end the years of corruption, institute democratic reforms, have full transparency and accountability, and run the local solely for the benefit of the membership."

With over 10,000 members, Local 157 is the largest of 10 locals in the New York City District Council of Carpenters and the UBC, the local controls virtually all high-rise construction in Manhattan and in the Bronx.

Carpenters tell judge they're still angry union boss installed a junkie as their chief

Michael Forde, the ex-boss of the carpenter's union, put a junkie on the union payroll.

BY Scott Shifrel

A group of burly New York carpenters let a judge know Wednesday that out-of-town union bosses who installed a "junkie" as their chief should butt out of their business.

The sometimes boisterous crowd showed support for the court-appointed monitor that is overseeing the restructuring of Local 608 after years of corrupt leadership.

But they made it clear they don't think the United Brotherhood of Carpenters, headquartered in Washington, should be redrawing its bylaws.

"For more than five years we had a junkie running our union," Gene Clarke, a former local official, told Judge Richard Berman.

"Who are they [the international] now to say they are taking over? The international should stay home and clean their own mess up."

Clarke was referring to Michael Forde, the disgraced ex-head of the NYC District Council of Carpenters, who pleaded guilty to stealing union money and taking kickbacks and admitted he was a drug addict.

Forde, who came out of Local 608, was installed by the international, Clarke said.

The brotherhood has 30 days to propose a new set of bylaws. Union monitor Dennis Walsh will review them and listen to objections before they are subjected to a vote.

D'Errico, Bilello, Gausman, Who Is President of Local 157?

Picture from left Rally Organizer Donny Arana, brother Gauntlett Holness and pro tem Vice President, Gerry Gausman.

Who is the president of Local 157? It seems like a simple question with a simple answer. But like so many things in the UBC, it's an answer with many shades of gray. Is pro tem newly elected President Mike Bilello, President, or is pro tem Vice President Gerard Gausman, or is President Lawrence D'Errico still the President of Local 157?

There has been much discussion and confusion on this subject pertaining to what exactly happened at last Monday's Local 157 meeting and who the President is. Even the parties involved are not entirely sure what happened!

To help answer that question and give you a better understanding, I needed to refer to the UBC Constitution, consult with Chief Compliance Officer John Ballantyne and recap exactly what happened and the events leading up to Monday's historic meeting to find the answer.

On Monday March 21, Local 157 was thrown into the unprecedented position of having both the President and Vice President absent for a regular schedule meeting because of Review Officer ("RO") Dennis Walsh zealous investigation of organized crime influence over the District Council.

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Spencer Does Little To Gain Member Trust

District Council Supervisor Frank Spencer

"I am frank to say that I have made mistakes, and I have learned from those mistakes. We asked the questions, is their anything we could do differently to regain the trust of our members and restore pride back to this union?"

I wish I could report that Supervisor Frank Spencer said those words at Thursdays Local 157 meeting. Or these and really mean it:

"I think we all agree that we have to change the way our Council works, our members have been abused and that is not going to be tolerated any longer. We are going to make our Council more accountable more transparent, and have more member participation in collective bargaining and every decision of this Council."

He said neither, nor anything close to them. It was a wasted opportunity. In the 535 days of supervision, this was the first time Spencer addressed the membership and he did little to gain any trust or give complete answers to members questions.

"The more I think about it, the worse I think of Spencer. I would not have believed he could sink any lower," a member commented. 

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Review of Carpenters’ Union Shows Corruption Persists

by William K. Rashbaum

Federal Watchdog Dennis Walsh.

More than a year after its parent union placed the New York City District Council of Carpenters under supervision because its leader was charged with racketeering, the council remains influenced by the mob and is still a source of cash and illicit benefits for a select few, according to a recent assessment.

Dennis M. Walsh, a court-appointed reviewer, issued a 71-page report on the New York City District Council of Carpenters.

The assessment, filed last month by a court-appointed review officer, shows some progress in cleaning up the district council and its constituent locals, and proposes a number of substantive reforms.

But it also presents a troubling picture of a deeply ingrained culture of corruption, and some aspects of the assessment raise questions about with the stewardship of the supervisor appointed by the parent union, the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America.

The report contains no direct criticism of the supervisor, Frank Spencer, who was installed by the parent union in August 2009, days after the federal racketeering indictment was unsealed charging the district council’s leader, Michael J. Forde, and nine others, including union officials, contractors and the head of an industry association.

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Why Was Local Union 608 Dissolved?

From NYCDC

Our contributions to the New York City skyline stand strong and tall for all the world to see. That will never change. The dissolution of Local Union 608 has changed your local affiliation -the number on your shirt and the sticker on your hard hat- but nothing can diminish or change your identity as a Carpenter and a member of this Union.

This past year has been a difficult one for all of us but particularly the former Local Union 608. As Review Officer Dennis Walsh noted, Local 608 “carries a history of corruption ranging from bribery to Job Referral Rule violations … officers’ association with gangsters, the recent arrests of its business manager and former business manager and the suspension of recent president”. On-going investigations showed that history was repeating itself.

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Mayo man in New York carpenters’ union set for sentencing on felony

Mayo Advertiser

A Mayo man with a high profile in the New York Irish community has been implicated in a scandal that has resulted in the shutting down of a carpenters’ union in the city.

According to a report in the Irish Emigrant this week, New York’s Local 608 carpenters’ union has been permanently closed in the aftermath of racketeering and corruption scandals which have blighted the organisation.

The report states:

“A recent sweeping federal probe has seen numerous corruption convictions, and five of the branch’s recent presidents have been fired.

“In New York City, approximately 20,000 members of the Carpenters Union are divided into so-called ‘locals’. Founded in 1918, Local 608, which oversaw carpenters on Manhattan’s West Side and the Bronx, was once the largest local in the District Council, with approximately 7,400 members, many of whom are Irish or Irish American. Its members have now been transferred to East Side Local 157, itself no stranger to controversy, having been placed under anti-corruption supervision from 2007 to late 2008.

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New York carpenters union shut down after scandals

Former 608 president John Greany

The Irish Emigrant  

New York’s Local 608 carpenters union has been permanently closed in the aftermath of the racketeering and corruption scandals which have blighted the organization. A recent sweeping federal probe has seen numerous corruption convictions, and five of the branch’s recent presidents have been fired.

In New York City, approximately 20,000 members of the Carpenters Union are divided into so-called “locals.” Founded in 1918, Local 608, which oversaw carpenters on Manhattan’s West Side and the Bronx, was once the largest local in the District Council, with approximately 7,400 members, many of whom are Irish or Irish American. Its members have now been transferred to East Side Local 157, itself no stranger to controversy, having been placed under anti-corruption supervision from 2007 to late 2008.

In July John Greaney (50), one of the former Local 608 presidents in question, pleaded guilty to thirteen felony charges including corruption, racketeering, embezzlement, bribery and perjury, whilst serving in office. Greaney, whose mother hailed from Swinford in Co. Mayo, had previously been honored for his role in New York’s Irish community.

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Local Union 157's Office is Relocating as of January 9, 2011

The Local Union 157 office is relocating to 395 Hudson Street, 8^th Floor, New York, New York 10014 

All correspondence and dues should be mailed to the new Local Union 157 office starting immediately.
As of January 9, 2011, dues and inquiries can be made in person at the new location. 

The former Local Union 608 office in the Bronx is closed and the former Local Union 608 Manhattan office located at 505 Eighth Avenue will be closed as of January 31, 2011. 

A postcard mailing will be sent in the near future with a 2011 meeting schedule.

Union steward gets five years for racketeering

By KIRSTAN CONLEY

Disgraced carpenter’s union shop steward Michael Brennan was slammed with a five years prison sentence today, despite his shaky-voiced apology to a judge.

“I will strive through acts of contrition to help those less fortunate,” Brennan, 54, the former shop steward of the carpenters union Local 608, groveled to Manhattan Federal Judge Victor Marrero today. “I beg for forgiveness. I stand before you a broken man.”

Brennan, who must surrender to U.S. Marshalls on Feb. 7, has admitted to racketeering after he was accused of embezzling union funds, taking bribes to let contractors hire illegal aliens, and destroying documents as investigators closed in. In addition to his prison time he must pay back $100,000.

He was part of the larger racketeering and bribery scandal that led to the downfall of the coke-snorting ex-chief of District Council of Carpenters, Michael Forde, who has himself been sentenced to 11 years prison for heading a 15-year corruption scheme in which he pocketed hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes from contractors seeking to hire illegal aliens.

Local Union 157 Meeting and Christmas Party Canceled

From NYCDC

The Local Union 157 meeting scheduled for December 20th has been postponed.

As a result of the dissolution of Local Union 608 the meeting location was changed to a larger venue to accommodate all members. Unfortunately, Our Lady of Pompeii Church has just informed us that they will no longer be able to host our meeting on Monday, December 20. At this time, we have no choice but to postpone the meeting until further notice. A mailing will be sent to all members in the near future with the date and location of our upcoming meeting. We wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and look forward to celebrating the New Year with all of our members.


Update: Due to safety concerns for the Church and our members the decision to postpone this meeting was made.  Police officers from the local precinct, District Council security, District Council representatives and church representatives evaluated the venue and deemed it inappropriate to hold the event.

Please direct all inquiries to Local 157 at 212.685.0567 or 212.643.1070 and please do not disturb the staff of Our Lady of Pompei

Local Union 157 Meeting Location Has Changed

Local Union 157’s meeting scheduled on Monday, December 20, 2010 at 4:30 pm will be held at:
Our Lady of Pompei Church
Father Demo Hall 
25 Carmine St New York, NY 10014

There will be a Christmas Party after the meeting.

Frequently Asked Questions: How will the dissolution of Local 608 affect me?

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Mob-scarred carpenters Local 608 shut down after racketeering convictions

Local 608 website stating the local has been dissolved.

 BY Brian Kates

The city's largest and most corrupt carpenters union local was permanently closed Tuesday in the wake of racketeering convictions and the firing of five presidents.

The International United Brotherhood of Carpenters dissolved crime-ridden Local 608, which controlled carpenters on Manhattan's West Side and the Bronx, and transferred its 7,400 members to rival East Side Local 157.

The move, which creates a union local with more than 11,000 members, will not affect carpenters' benefits, dues payments or work seniority, said District Council of Carpenters supervisor Frank Spencer.

President-elect McGonnigle

Founded in 1918, carpenters in Local 608 built virtually every high rise on the West Side skyline. But for decades, it was under the thumb of the mob and plagued with corruption.

It is the largest of 11 locals in the District Council of Carpenters, which has had a succession of federal anti-corruption monitors for the past 20 years.

This year, Local 608 president John Greaney and six business agents pleaded guilty to federal racketeering charges. They were included in a sweeping federal indictment that saw District Council of Carpenters boss Michael Forde - a one-time Local 608 president - put behind bars for 11 years.

Greaney's last four replacements toppled amid allegations of financial skullduggery, rigging job referrals and other infractions.

The smaller Local 157 has had its fair share of corruption problems, too, and was placed under supervision of the international from 2007 to late 2008.

The timing of yesterday's action, just a week after Local 608 members elected new leaders, left many carpenters shaking their heads in disbelief.

"They went through the charade of appointing one [Local 608] president after another then waited until after the rank-and-file elected a reform ticket," said Local 157 member John Musumeci. "It doesn't make sense."

"The rank-and-file didn't have anything to say about this," said newly elected Local 608 president Tommy McGonnigle, who is now out of a job. "We didn't expect they'd pull the rug out from under our feet a week after we were elected."

"A Date Which Will Live in Infamy”: UBC Tramples on Members Rights

Local 608 Dissolved and Merged into Local 157

Tuesday, December 7, 2010 a date Local 608 carpenters went to the polls and elected their own, President-elect rank and file carpenter, Tommy McGonnigle, and his Carpenters For Democracy Slate.

McGonnigle became the sixth president this year of the crime-racked local.

So we thought, seven days after the election, General President McCarron, dissolved the local and merged it into Local 157, one has to question why, why now?

Supervisor, Frank Spencer, could have been placed Local 608 under emergency supervision after former president John Greaney, and former trustee Brian Hayes, were indicted in August 2009 with Mike Forde.

Instead Martin Devereaux, vice-president, was named acting president to replace John Greaney.

The local could have been placed under emergency supervision after Joe Firth became president beating Deveraux in an election this past March.

Instead Devereaux was fired this past August, and Spencer went through four of Deveraux's successors, all axed for financial skulduggery, rigging job referrals and other infractions and still no action taken against the local.

So why the decision to dissolved the local now?

Was it because rank and file carpenters won the election?

In General President McCarron's letter to Spencer (below) he wrote, "Spencer and Phil Newkirk, Assistant to the General President, in a report, recommended that Local 608 be dissolved."  McCarron does not specify the date of this report.

The million dollar question is, if Spencer was recommending dissolving the local, why did he allow the local to conduct a shame election?

Fgs Dissolve Lu 608015_01

Djm Dissolve Lu 608014

New Leaders Elected To Crime-Ridden Local 608

Carpenters For Democracy Slate Winners, picture from left to right, Donny Arana, Gauntlett Holness, Gerry Gausman, Tommy McGonnigle.

President-elect rank and file carpenter, Tommy McGonnigle, and his slate of candidates won last nights special executive board election for Local 608.

McGonnigle running on the Carpenters For Democracy Slate, beat rival 608 Tea Party Slate, by about 75 votes out of approximately 900 votes counted.

He becomes the sixth president this year, and head of the city's biggest carpenters local.

Former president of the crime-racked local, Michael Murphy, was suspended without pay less than two months after taking office in September.

Four of Murphy's predecessors were axed this year for financial skulduggery, rigging job referrals and other infractions.

With 7,400 members, Local 608 is the largest of 11 locals in the New York City District Council of Carpenters and controls virtually all high-rise construction on Manhattan's West Side and in the Bronx.

McGonnigle and his new team of rank and file carpenters, promise to "end the years of corruption, institute democratic reforms and run the local solely for the benefit of the membership."

They better hit the ground running, because General President McCarron, informed the New York delegates at a meeting in Las Vegas in October that "he intends to take action against the local."

"McCarron said, Local 608 is a corrupt organization and will be dissolved" a carpenter commented.

The local carries a history of corruption ranging from bribery to Job Referral Rule violations to physical assaults against members, associations with gangsters, and the recent arrest and conviction of former president John Greaney and trustee Brian Hayes on a slew of charges related to corruption, racketeering, embezzlement, bribery and perjury.

On December 3, Federal court-appointed Review Officer Dennis Walsh issued his first Interim Report, among other things Walsh wrote, "Local 608 bleeds money, the monthly expenses of the local recently averaged $240,000 per month."

"The local has been imprudently managed for years, employing excessive numbers of office workers, leasing vastly excessive office space, hiring service providers and not questioning the cost."

The following are the new elected officers:
Tommy McGonnigle, President-elect
Gerry Gausman, Vice President-elect
Donny Arana, Recording Secretary-elect
Gauntlett Holness, Conductor-elect

New York Carpenters Boss Michael Forde Sentenced

Submitted by Carl Horowitz
 

Forde

Standing before a judge in Manhattan federal court on Friday, November 19, Michael Forde learned the price of high living and the crime that made it possible: 11 years in prison. For some members of the organization he once headed, the New York District Council of Carpenters and Joiners, that isn't long enough. Forde had pleaded guilty to racketeering, bribery and perjury in late July in connection with taking as much as $1 million in illegal contractor bribes and skimming many millions more from union benefit funds. The Justice Department uncovered the scheme as part of a probe that recently netted guilty pleas from eight persons and the jury conviction of Genovese crime family-linked contractor Joseph Olivieri. In addition to serving time, Forde must forfeit $100,000 in cash, pay a $50,000 fine, and pay restitution that union officials put at $18 million.

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Another carpenters union leader bites the dust as Michael Murphy's booted from his post

BY Brian Kates

For the fifth time this year, the head of the city's biggest carpenters union local has been booted amid corruption allegations, the Daily News has learned.

Michael Murphy, president of crime-racked Local 608, was suspended without pay less than two months after taking office in September.

He was bounced days before former District Council of Carpenters chief Michael Forde, a one-time Local 608 boss, was sentenced to 11 years in prison for racketeering.

Four of Murphy's predecessors were axed this year for financial skulduggery, rigging job referrals and other infractions, officials said.

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Coke head, former union big Michael Forde gave his drug dealer union job, lavish trips and meals

BY Brian Kates

Ex-carpenters union chief Michael Forde faces 11 years in prison for corruption charges.

The coke-snorting ex-boss of the carpenter's union put his personal drug dealer on the union payroll and treated him to lavish dinners and junkets, prosecutors have revealed.

Michael Forde faces up to 11years in prison when he's sentenced today for selling out the powerful union's rank and file for his own enrichment.

Court papers filed yesterday detail the labor leader's well-known lust for the high life: fancy dinners, expensive hotels and trips to resort towns.

They also contain the bombshell allegation that Forde put his "personal cocaine supplier" on the payroll as assistant director of the union's training school.

The man, identified as Joseph Wing, accompanied Forde on "many trips and expensive dinners," Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa Zornberg wrote in the pre-sentencing memo.

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Governments Memorandum For Sentencing Forde

Former Carpenter Boss Forde leaves court after making guilty plea.

Michael Forde will be sentence on Friday, November 19, 2010, by Judge Victor Marrero.

Below is the governments sentencing memorandum to the court detailing Fordes corruption and urging the court to impose a sentence at the top of the guideline range.

On Wednesday, July 28, 2010 at 12:00 p.m Michael Forde, the former Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the New York City District Council of Carpenters and Chairman of the District Council benefit funds, pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal court to participating in a 15-year racketeering scheme.
2010-11-16 Forde Govt's Sentencing Memo