Breaking News...The labor arbitrator in the MWA case rejected the employer associations’ demand for an award from the District Council and Funds of more than $60 million. Arbitrator Rosemary Townley, in issuing her remedy award, rejected most of the MWA employers’ demands and instead awarded a retroactive wage amount of $8 million.
She also ruled that she doesn’t have jurisdiction under the MWA collective bargaining agreement to hear claims related to benefit fund contributions because such claims have to be determined by a different arbitrator under different procedures. That means that the Funds are owed more than $3 million in delinquent contributions from those MWA employers dating back to May 2012 and that any employees whose medical coverage was reduced should have coverage fully restored.
The original grievance was filed by the MWA, which moved it to arbitration. The grievance involved the MWA’s claim that its employers in the architectural millwork industry are competitors with a District Council signatory shop that does work for trade show displays.
Nevertheless, the arbitrator had determined back in May 2012 that the MWA millwork employers were competitors of the trade show shop and its agreement with the Distinct Council should apply to the MWA. The remedy award that was just issued was to settle disputes between the District Council and the MWA regarding the full scope of the remedy available to the MWA employers.
The District Council’s officers and staff leadership, along with legal counsel, are reviewing all options based upon the arbitrator’s remedy award.
Read the Arbitrator's Official Decision below.
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Arbitrator Drastically Limits Remedy Available to MWA Employers
Democracy and Free Speech Triumphs
Score a big one for Democracy and Free Speech.
In a resounding victory for democracy and members free speech rights, Review Officer Dennis Walsh, today issued a veto of the charges filed by former District Council President Bill Lebo against me.
While pursuing "perfectly legitimate questions" regarding the MWA arbitration, during a delegate body meeting on July 25, 2012, District Council Executive Secretary-Treasurer Michael Bilello and then President Bill Lebo, in appalling failure of decorum and procedure, became unhinged, bullied, harassed and improperly incited members of the delegate body to infringe on my speech. The two council leaders also incited members of the delegate body to harass, intimidate and file charges against me, (Lebo wrote the charges up on behalf of the delegates) in retaliation for allegedly revealing "strategy," by publishing an article about the retention of three attorneys to represent the council in an ongoing dispute and arbitration with the MWA. (click for exclusive audio and transcript).
In characterizing the charges against me, Walsh wrote, that the charges are "impossibly vague." "The idea that the publication of
an accurate news article by a member -- for members -- which reveals
nothing previously and timely identified by the District Council as
confidential business could be conduct that might be punished, perhaps
even by expulsion, should be abhorrent to all members."
Citing the objectives of both the Consent Decree and Stipulation and Order, of fostering democracy and maintaining and running the District Council democratically, Walsh said, "such objectives cannot be achieved without an informed
membership capable of engaging in enlightened debate on issues relevant
to their rights, monies and membership in the District Council."
Walsh criticized the District Council saying, "Democracy at the District Council must be more than a concept and
hortatory platitude. The District Council has repeatedly shown it is
incapable of supporting a key component in this process: adequately
informing its members of news that affects their Union and their
livelihoods."
And Walsh had high praise for this blog, "local157.blogspot.com has become the go-to source for union members to find the latest news regarding District Council matters.""Mr. Musumeci, to the contrary, has made informing the
membership his singular and zealous avocation, which has benefited
thousands of members over the years."
The message is clear. Rank and file carpenters are free to exercise their protected right of free speech within their union without fear of reprisal. Indeed, Walsh said it best, "Democracy and the free exchange of ideas that informs it must not be
stifled by the District Council or its surrogates expansively
interpreting UBC constitutional terms and bringing charges based thereon
in order to quash dissent."
Kudos to Review Officer Dennis Walsh.
Read the Notice of Veto below.
Project Highlights Labor's Lag
By LAURA KUSISTO
As developers plan to break ground this week on the second phase of the City Point development in downtown Brooklyn, the long-anticipated project has become a flashpoint in a simmering battle over the use of nonunion construction labor.
Developers said construction work on City's Point's 670,000 square feet of retail space portion will be at least partially nonunion, and at least some of the space for about 700 apartment units likely will be as well. The 1.8 million square-foot project is being built with affordable-housing subsidies on city-owned land on the site of the former Dekalb Market and is among the largest developments in Brooklyn since the recession.
The three-part project's first phase was also nonunion and was the site of periodic protests, but the labor situation for the larger second phase underscores how the city's powerful construction unions are losing their grip on development projects.
The hard-hatted construction worker once symbolized the strength of the city's labor movement, but now only about half of the industry's jobs are unionized, said Richard Lambeck, chairman of the construction management program at the New York University Schack Institute of Real Estate. Just 15 years ago, Mr. Lambeck said, 80% to 90% of construction work in the city was union. A 2011 report by the Regional Planning Association said union labor has declined to 60% from 85% in the 1970s.
Sunday, January 20, 2013
NYCDCC’s New Website Emphasizes Goals of Transparency and Openness
Updated 1/20/13
This excerpt was taken from last months Fifth Report of the Review Officer, regarding the Councils new website.
District Council Web Site, Information and Transparency
Section l2.G of the District Council Bylaws states that “the Executive Committee shall
have the authority and responsibility to provide information about the District Council to the public and the membership including by publishing The Carpenter and effectively maintaining the District Council website. When presenting information to the public and the membership, the Executive Committee shall provide information fairly reflecting the range of positions and points of view on subjects relevant to the District Council and members.”
Despite the foregoing
requirement, the Executive Committee has failed the membership by either negligent lack of
attention to the rule or willful avoidance of it.
(John's note: Count four of my four-count charges against Executive Secretary-Treasurer Mike Bilello and former President Bill Lebo is for violating section 12.G)
I have had to repeatedly prod the District Council
leadership over the course of months to address this deficiency. Within the last month, I
informed counsel that, without appropriate action by the Executive Committee, I would be left
with no recourse but to assert my authority to compel compliance.
Contract Update: Where is my Raise?
Where is my raise and why are we being kept in the dark regarding our contract?
That's the two most important questions asked on job sites throughout the city that fall on the deaf ears of the Bilello administration.
Carpenters have been working without a new contract since June 30, 2011. The last time carpenters received a raise was October 1, 2010, when UBC Supervisor Frank Spencer, decided to unilaterally delay for 90 days, our July 1, 2010 contractual raise, thereby giving contractors a multi-million dollar gift on the backs of hard working union members.
Spencer also unilaterally change the terms and conditions of our 2006 five-year collective-bargaining agreement when he gave back a $2.13 per hour raise schedule for January 1, 2011.
While we struggle to pay our bills and put food on the table, the Bilello administration, despite having thirteen months in office and claims of working "tirelessly," has failed to nail down a new contract. This inability to negotiate and implement a contract, has and continues to cost this membership tens of millions in lost wages and benefits!
On August 22, 2012, New York City District Council EST Mike Bilello, after months of dithering, flip-flopping, broke his campaign promise, and took a major step towards finally ending this seemingly never-ending labor saga that has left 8,000 carpenters without a contract, by reaching an agreement with the Association of Wall-Ceiling and Carpentry Industries that includes "full mobility,"ignoring the will of the membership, who soundly rejected full mobility last March.
Saturday, January 19, 2013
Free Speech Under Attack
(John's note: The District Council is attempting to shut this blog down, thereby silencing yours and mine protected free speech rights! Any attorneys who would like to help protect and defend union members free speech rights please contact me).
On January 13, 2013, I sent the Review Officer (RO) an "Application for Veto," requesting a veto of the charges filed against me on July 25, 2012 by former New York City District Council president Bill Lebo, on the grounds that
the charges are a infringement of my “free speech rights” and
retaliation in violation of Title I of the Labor- Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA), 29 U.S.C. §§ 411-415.
On January 14, the RO sent a "Notice of Possible Action" to District Council attorney James Murphy, relating to my request, requesting among other things, a formal written response on the question of "whether the District Council Executive Committee
should proceed with consideration of whether to
refer Bill Lebo’s charges" against me to the Trial Committee or
"whether 29 U.S.C. Section 411 and the ruling in the Price case, and any
other argument asserted by me, preclude such consideration
and referral."
The RO stated he would be obliged if the response included "a discussion of
whether the District Council suffered any harm as a result of the
publication of Mr. Musumeci’s article on the retention of the three attorneys in question and whether any expressly confidential or
proprietary information was disclosed in the article (and how Mr.
Musumeci was put on notice of such confidential or proprietary status)."
Below is the response from District Council attorneys James M. Murphy and Adrian Healy, received yesterday.
Friday, January 18, 2013
Exclusive Audio RO Town Hall Meeting
By Joseph
On January 16, 2013 Review Office Dennis Walsh held a town hall meeting, below is exclusive audio where among other things, the RO gave a status of our contract, discussed the lack of timely information posted on the Councils website, and answered member questions on various topics. EST Bilello was also present and among other things defended the Councils website.
(Note: The Forum ran for over 3 hours, due to technical difficulties approximately the last 30 minutes was not recorded)
iPhone/iPad users click here.
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Register Now for Structure Tone Job Fair on Feb. 5th
The Structure Tone organization is an international full-service construction services provider. The organization's subcontractors are hiring candidates to fill various trade positions throughout New York City, which include electrical, mechanical, carpentry, and more. Structure Tone is working with Workforce1 and its staff of experienced recruiters to hold pre-screening events for interested candidates. Candidates must attend a Workforce1 pre-screening event to be considered for a position with Structure Tone.
STEWARD REVIEW OPERATING PROCEDURES
November 2012
Pursuant to Section 12 (K) of the By~Laws, the District Council Executive Committee presides
over the uniform system of steward review procedures set forth herein.
Statement of Policy: A steward is the District Council's "eyes and ears” on the job site. The two
principle obligations of a steward are to enforce the collective bargaining agreement and to obtain data for accurate time reports submitted to the District Council by the steward as required. The Shop Steward Code of Ethics sets forth a shop steward's duties in greater detail and all stewards must be familiar with and comply with its requirements. Problems on the job which cannot be dealt with effectively by the steward should be promptly reported to the Council Representative assigned to the job. lf the Council Representative assigned to the job is not available stewards should promptly report the matter to the Council Representative Center. A steward who does not properly perform his or her duties may be removed from the position. A steward review must then be conducted in accordance with this policy and these procedures.
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
It’s the roaring 30s: Projects bring new life to far West Side
By STEVE CUOZZO
The start of major construction by Brookfield Office Properties on the deck over an Amtrak rail yard is a milestone — and not just for Manhattan West, Brookfield’s $4.5 billion development between Ninth and Dyer avenues.
The platform launch — first reported on nypost.com yesterday and to be formally announced today — is a crucial breakthrough for the entire Hudson Yards District.
It might be years before the area is built to anything like its full potential. But Mayor Bloomberg can take pride in having promoted and nurtured the creation of a new commercial zone west of Ninth Avenue that would have seemed a pipe dream a few years ago.
By the time he leaves office next year, each of the district’s major development sites — Manhattan West and Related Cos.’ much larger Hudson Yards — will have one major component in full-bore construction.
Brookfield’s 120,000 square-foot deck — an extraordinary investment for a project that doesn’t yet have any buildings — will span the train yard 65 feet below street level in an irregular rectangle bounded by Ninth and Dyer avenues and West 31st and 33rd streets.
Weaker Bolts in Arena's Prefabricated Facade Assembly Pose No Threat to Safety
By Nadine M. Post
Concern for public safety at Brooklyn's Barclays Center—after the discovery that mostly under-strength bolts were used in the facade's prefabricated facade assemblies—was allayed soon after the error's discovery last August, says the curtain wall inspector. Even so, this week, the arena's curtain-wall fabricator is finishing up a fix that replaced 1,768 of the 23,351 bolts.
"There is a tremendous amount of redundancy," says Israel Berger, CEO of the New York City-based curtain wall consultant, Israel Berger & Associates. IBA is the special inspector for the arena's curtain wall.
"You would have to have so many events happening at one time in one spot to reach the capacity of the bolts, let alone exceed it," says Berger. Even then, assembly components would overdeflect, not break, he adds.
Barclays opened Sept. 28 and the assemblies weathered Superstorm Sandy. IBA says it alerted the city's Dept. of Buildings to the mix-up and the fix on Sept. 5 in its report for a temporary certificate of occupancy. DOB spokesman, Anthony Sclafani, says DOB was not alerted, as it would have expected.
The facade has a latticework of 12,000 dissimilar pre-weathered steel panels. At the fabricator ASI Ltd.'s plant, groups of panels were to be bolted via angles and braces to either a curtain wall panel or a support frame. Part way through the job in late 2011, ASI defaulted financially. Its surety took over, hiring FacadeTek to finish (ENR 7/16/12 p. 20).
Monday, January 14, 2013
Notice Regarding Change to RO Hotline Number
Due to technical issues, the RO Hotline number is in the process of being changed. To report any evidence of corruption call the Review Officer directly at 914-610-1663. You may also call Chief Investigator Jack Mitchell directly at 646-595-9244.
A new toll free number for the RO Hotline is being obtained and will be published imminently.
If you must make a toll free call one may be made to the New York City District Council of Carpenters Office of the Inspector General Hotline at 855-UBC-TIPS
Sunday, January 13, 2013
Review Officer Town Hall Meeting
This is a reminder to all members of local unions affiliated with the District Council, as well as employees of the District Council, Benefit Funds and local unions, are invited to attend a Review Officer Town Hall Meeting this Wednesday, January 16th, at 4:30 p.m. on the second floor at 395 Hudson Street.
The RO expects that EST Bilello will be present for the first hour and he has also invited Funds Executive Director Laura Kalick and Funds Counsel Elizabeth O’Leary (who will likely be able to attend after 5:30).
APPLICATION FOR VETO BY THE REVIEW OFFICER
An Open Letter to Review Officer, Dennis M. Walsh requesting Veto of Charges
I respectfully request a veto of the charges filed against me (attached) on July 25, 2012 by former New York City District Council president Bill Lebo, for writing and posting information on the MWA Arbitration Crisis (which the District Council has failed to provide) on the grounds that the charges are a infringement of my “free speech rights” and retaliation in violation of Title I of the Labor- Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA), 29 U.S.C. §§ 411-415.
I seek and ask for immediate veto relief to (1) veto the charges against me, (2) order the District Council to refrain from further processing the charges against me, (3) enjoin the District Council from infringing on free speech rights or retaliating against me for exercising those rights and or prosecuting similar charges against me or other union members who exercise those protected rights.
Title I of the LMRDA, § 411–15, provides union members with an exhaustive “Bill of Rights” enforceable in federal court. These rights are designed to guarantee every union member equal rights to vote and otherwise participate in union decisions, freedom from unreasonable restrictions on speech and assembly, and protection from improper discipline.
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Updated OWL Rules
View the updated New York City District Council of Carpenters Job Solicitation, Registration and Referral System Work Rules.
1.Establishment of Job Referral System: The New York City District Council will make available a non-exclusive and non-discriminatory referral list for individuals seeking work with signatory contractors or otherwise bound to a collective bargaining agreement with the District Council. The terms job referral list" and "out of work list", as used in these rules, are interchangeable and have the same meaning.
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
RO comments on the conduct of the July 25, Delegate Meeting
(John's note: Below is an excerpt from the December 19, 2012 Court Conference with Judge Berman where Review Officer Dennis Walsh discusses the conduct of the July 25, Delegate Body meeting.)
MR. WALSH: Judge, before we turn to the benefit funds, I do want to bring up a point about the delegate body.
There are some in the administration who think I was perhaps a little harsh in my comments about the conduct of certain delegate meetings, but I don't think I was. I think that the union needs to aspire to a very high standard in the conduct of its governmental affairs.
There have been meetings -- and I hope that they do not ever happen again -- but there was one particularly poorly run meeting in July which has received some attention. I think it is a poster child for what not to do when you are the president of the district council and trying to run a proper meeting under the parliamentary rules of the UBC. It reminded me, because I observed it, in some cases of an exhortation to a mob.
Court Conference Transcripts of December 19, 2012
APPEARANCES
USAO SDNY, BEN TORRANCE
Review Officer, DENNIS WALSH
Attorneys for Review Officer Walsh, BRIDGET ROHDE
Attorneys for District Council, JAMES M. MURPHY
Attorneys for District Council, IRWIN ROCHMAN
Attorneys for Carpenter Fringe Benefit Funds, RAYMOND McGUIRE
ALSO PRESENT, Walter Mack, James Zazzali
THE COURT: So I have a proposed agenda from Bridget Rohde. I'm happy to follow that agenda. We have a lot of items to consider. I also had mentioned in an endorsement that I talked about this trial committee issue. If anybody wants to, we can add that at the end. So why don't we just start with the first item on the agenda is status of collective bargaining.
MR. WALSH: Your Honor, good morning. Dennis Walsh, the review officer in this matter.
The status of the collective bargaining includes, I think, an historic milestone for the district council. The benchmark agreement between the district council and the wall-ceiling association is, I believe, very close to implementation. And that, of course, is with the court's consent.
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Court Rejects Challege to RO Investigation
The Court hereby denies Bisceglie’s application as follows:
