Dear Brothers and Sisters:
The 2013 New York City District Council of Carpenters Charity Softball Tournament and
Family Picnic will be held on Saturday, September 2l" beginning at 9:30am sharp! This year’s
event will be held at Cunningham Park, Fresh Meadows, Queens NY l 1366. Maps and directions will be on our website as well as information regarding team
sponsorships. Please check the website for weather cancellations.
As in the past this will he a fun family day, with free food, shirts, games and many family
activities as well as some very entertaining softball games. We encourage all members and their families to join us for what is sure to be a great event. This clay is an opportunity for us to honor all
of`our members and their supportive families.
Our members are the most talented and skilled tradesmen and women this city has to offer
and your Union wants to honor you. Our animal picnic give your District Council Representatives
and Officer's an opportunity to thank you for your commitment to this union while you enjoy a day
out with your family.
The softball tournament will begin at 9:30am sharp so come prepared for a friendly
competition between our brothers and sisters. Join in a game or cheer on your local union's team.
It is sure to be an exciting day as we witness who will gain bragging rights of 2013 Softball
Champion.
The first 16 teams to register will be eligible. Sponsorship is $500.00 per team. Please
make checks payable to NYCDC Charity Fund.
Fraternally,
Stephen Mclnnis
Executive Secretary-Treasurer Pro Tem
President, NYC District Council
Thursday, August 8, 2013
2013 Charity Softball Tournament
Carpenters Regional Council under UBC Supervision Due to Secretary- Treasurer’s Conduct
By Jewel Edwards
Leaders of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America July 19 placed the union’s southwest regional council under emergency supervision after finding that the council’s executive secretary-‐treasurer had been intimidating workers and other individuals and failing to adhere to collective bargaining agreements and UBC rules.
In a July 19 letter, UBC General Vice President Douglas Banes gave Mike Draper, vice president of the Western District affiliated with the Southwest Regional Council of Carpenters, authority to manage the council in light of reports that regional council Executive Secretary-Treasurer Mike McCarron ran the organization in “a manner detrimental to the welfare and best interest of the Regional council.”
The regional council represents about 65,000 union carpenters in California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, and Colorado.
Under the UBC constitution, emergency supervision of a regional council should be implemented when Carpenters’ leadership determines that immediate action by the UBC is needed to “protect and preserve the welfare and interest” of the union, its district councils, and locals.
Banes’s letter states that there were reported financial irregularities and malpractice as well as a failure “to assure the performance of collective bargaining agreements.”
According to the letter, Banes also obtained information showing that McCarron intentionally intimidated individuals, ran the regional council undemocratically, and withheld information from other council leaders.
In addition, Banes learned that McCarron was improperly spending the council’s assets and interfering with the operations of other organizations. Banes also stated in the letter that McCarron’s behavior is “erratic and unstable,” leading him to conclude that the executive secretary-treasurer is “unable to properly and lawfully perform your duties.”
As a result, the Carpenters authorized Draper to hire, fire, and give direction to the district council’s service providers and vendors, manage and monitor the council’s assets, enforce the CBAs, and appoint additional council supervisors and assistants.
Banes said that a hearing will be conducted at a later date to determine whether UBC supervision over the regional council should continue.
Mike McCarron, who is the brother of UBC General President Douglas McCarron, has served as executive secretary-treasurer of the regional council for more than 10 years, a council representative told BNA.
The representative told BNA that the regional council views the emergency supervision as an internal matter, therefore the council will not comment on UBC’s decision.
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
Brooklyn Bridge Park to Union Workers: You Cost Too Much
By Joe Maniscalco
Brooklyn, NY - Brushing aside concerns about responsible development, safety standards, quality work, storm preparedness and more, the board tapped to oversee the ongoing construction of Brooklyn Bridge Park told union workers on Wednesday that employing them to build out a new section of the park at John Street would just cost too much money.
Ignoring a pro-labor Build Up NYC rally taking place just beneath them on Joralemon Street, members of the Brooklyn Bridge Park Board backed a move to acquire a 1.5 acre site at John Street from Con Edison, and use the services of a suspect contractor called Empire Pile and Foundations, Inc. to establish more parkland and mixed-use residential and retail space.
But the 17-member board of directors - already in retreat from their first floor offices on Furman Street where noise from previous Build Up NYC rallies had made them uncomfortable - took the action before providing the public - including union workers - with one last chance to speak out on the project.
“This is a public park,” said Dan Walcott, NYC District Council of Carpenters director of special projects. “It’s not a playground for this group. Mr. [Seth] Pinsky did everything to get that money but he cut out labor.”
Monday, August 5, 2013
Judge Berman Denies Bilello's Appeal
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| Clueless Bilello, You're fired! |
On Monday, April 29, 2013 Bilello, the former disgraced carpenter boss, was booted from his post by the court appointed Review Officer (RO) Dennis Walsh for violating several union rules — including directing a schedule pay raise into the Welfare Fund without proper authorization (a story we broke on March 23, 2013) and letting a suspended union member work at the Javits Center and then lie about it.
Among other things Berman wrote, "Having reviewed the record herein, "the RO’s April 29, 2013 Veto correctly concludes, with respect to Specification 1, that from on or about July 1, 2012, through March 12, 2013, Bilello failed to abide by Section 21 of the District Council Bylaws and caused or attempted to cause employer compensation for members totaling more than $900,000 to be directed to the New York City District Council of Carpenters Welfare Fund.
Bilello contends that Specification 1 is “unreasonable” because, while “before the week of March 20, [2013] he had not taken note of § 21’s terms,” (Bilello Petition at 8), the Delegate Body approved his actions on March 27, 2013 nunc pro tunc, “curing any prejudice from this procedural oversight.”
The RO responds (persuasively) that Bilello’s action was more than a mere “procedural” oversight. “Allowing Bylaws to be disregarded, especially based on past practices, [i.e. historical pervasive mismanagement in the Union], would undermine the reform efforts undertaken pursuant to the Consent Decree and the Stipulation and Order.”
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Unions to protest at Brooklyn Bridge Park meeting Wednesday oversubcontractor that doesn’t even have a Buildings Department license
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Starwood Capital Group and Toll Brothers are building this condo and hotel development in Brooklyn Bridge Park — but union members say a subcontractor doesn’t treat workers properly. |
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| Brooklyn Stand Up!!! |
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
MWA Reneges on Deal with District Council
The New York City District Council of Carpenters and the employers of the Manufacturing Woodworkers Association of Greater New York (MWA) agreed on Sunday night, July 21, to end the current strike and have Union members return to work Monday morning, July 22.
The District Council signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) that provided for wage and benefit increases during the first two years of a ten-year contract. Later wage and benefit increases would be negotiated at the beginning of the third and seventh years, with interest arbitration being used if the two sides couldn't reach an agreement.
But the MWA refused to sign the MOA, demanding that the Union agree to numerous changes to what had been negotiated and agreed. The District Council's leadership has refused to agree to these concessions.
The District Council’s members struck on July 1 after the current contract had expired. They went on strike to resist the MWA’s efforts to eliminate employer benefit funds’ contributions on all hours beyond forty in a week as well as over other issues.
The MWA finally agreed with the Union's position on no 40-hour cap on benefit funds' contributions. In exchange, the District Council agreed to alter arrangements for outside installation of millwork where at least 80 percent of the product is manufactured by the particular MWA employer.
The MWA had tried on June 27 to get a federal court judge to issue a temporary restraining order to prevent the strike when the contract expired. But the federal judge refused. The MWA then went to a hearing on July 8 before federal district judge Richard Berman seeking an injunction ordering the Union members back to work, arguing that the expired contract somehow lived forever and prevented the Union from ever striking. On July 18 Judge Berman issued a stinging opinion and order denying the MWA’s request.
The parties continued to negotiate last week and over the weekend, leading to the agreement on outstanding issues and the return of the striking members to work. It's that agreement on which the MWA has reneged.
On Wednesday, July 24, the District Council and the MWA met with representatives of the District Council benefit funds to discuss a global settlement of several millions of dollars of delinquencies in contributions owed by the MWA employers. Those discussions are continuing, with the Funds and the MWA employers working on resolving those delinquency amounts owed.
Monday, July 29, 2013
Arbitrators Got It Right
Bylaws apply to ALL District Council Delegates!
By email dated February 25, 2013, John Musumeci, a Delegate of the New York City District Council of Carpenters Delegate Body, filed a Complaint and Request for Arbitration with the undersigned Trial Committee Chairpersons pursuant to Section 5(F) of the Bylaws of the New York City District Council of Carpenters. The Request for Arbitration lists the following “Questions to be Decided” and sets forth the requested remedy:
1. Did NYCDCC EST Michael Bilello, in violation of the laws of the UBC, engage in a concerted effort and targeted pattern of harassment, threats, coercion, bullying & intimidation carried out by his assistant and/or others, in a year long campaign which culminated at a July 25, 2012 delegate meeting at approximately 7:30 pm, whereby Bilello, directly engaged in a course of vexatious, personal and indecorous comments or conduct that is known or ought reasonably to be known to be unwelcome, which incited UBC members to publicly harass, intimidate and humiliate Delegate John Musumeci by threatening to file; and by filing bogus charges against him, in direct retaliation for exercising his First Amendment freedom of speech, LMRDA & NLRA Section 7 rights as a union member with regard to his having raised multiple serious questions relative to the conduct and handling of the MWA Arbitration?
On April 19, 2013, Respondent New York City District Council of Carpenters filed a
Motion to Dismiss the Complainant’s Complaint and Request for Arbitration.
A hearing on the Motion was held before the Trial Committee Chairpersons on June 18,
2013, at the offices of the New York District Council of Carpenters, on the limited issue of
jurisdiction of the Trial Committee Chairpersons to decide each of the questions posed in the
Request for Arbitration tiled by the Complainant, John Musumeci. Mr. Musumeci and James
Murphy, Esq., on behalf of the New York City District Council of Carpenters, appeared at the
hearing and were given the opportunity to be heard. The record establishes that Respondent
Michael Bilello was given proper notice of the hearing, but did not appear.
"Based on a review of all the evidence and the arguments made by both parties and the answers offered to the above questions, we find that by the plain meaning of the language of Section 5(F), written by experienced counsel, the Bylaws provision in question applies to all Delegates of the Council Delegate Body, not just those who are employed by the District Council."
Santo Barravecchio, Esq.
Barbara C. Deinhardt, Esq.
Carol Moran, Esq.
Trial Committee Chairpersons
Sunday, July 28, 2013
One of New York City's First Pre-Fabricated Buildings Goes Up in Inwood
By Raillan Brooks
The word "prefabricated" often leaves a bad taste in people's mouths. It evokes shoddiness or disrepair. The memory of trailers set up for survivors of Hurricane Katrina, whose shoddy construction materials leached poison, is never far off. But prefabricated housing, if done right, has the potential to fix New York's housing problem. The Bloomberg administration has pumped lots and lots of time and effort into initiatives to bring so-called replicable "micro-units" to the city. Now one architecture firm is close to finishing an apartment block made entirely out of prefabricated pieces in Upper Manhattan. And they've made a video proving it.
Gluck+ Architects videotaped the final months of the construction process new apartment building at 4857 Broadway in Upper Manhattan. As you can see, no actual "construction" takes place. Rather they're just fitting the pre-made pieces together like a jigsaw puzzle. Relative to how quickly developers can usually put up a building the whole process moved at a breakneck speed. Fast Co. Design writer Sammy Medina explains that while there is still a ways to go from what we see in the video, prefabricating the constituent parts of the building elsewhere takes a lot of uncertainty out of onsite construction:
The modular construction forces the architects to make all design decisions ahead of time, meaning that the building blocks are shipped to the site with all their features and interior partitions preconfigured. This cuts down on on-site operations and the many mistakes that inevitably arise from them.
The building, consisting of 56 units, is expected to be completed in October.
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Southwest Regional Council of Carpenters under Emergency Supervision
Mike Draper kicks Little Mac to the curb
On July 19, 2013 the Southwest Regional Council of Carpenters which represents over 65,000 union carpenters in six states was placed under Emergency Supervision by General President Douglas McCarron. The Council represents all carpenters in SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, NEVADA, ARIZONA, UTAH, NEW MEXICO and COLORADO.
Monday, July 22, 2013
Cover letter and 30-day report and exhibits submitted to Judge Berman by the DC
Dear Judge Berman; As you know, this firm represents the New York City and Vicinity District Council of Carpenters (“District Council”).
Following up on the discussion held during the Court’s conference on July 16, 2013, the District Council on this date has filed its Second Thirty-Day Report, and accompanying exhibits, pursuant to Your Honor’s May 8, 2013 Decision & Order (Doc. 1315) and more recent June, 11, 2013 Decision & Order (Doc. 1332). A courtesy copy of the Report, with its exhibits, is enclosed.
As discussed within the Report, the District Council anticipates that within the next several days it will file an amended Second Thirty-Day Report with updated data and statistics.
Saturday, July 20, 2013
Court Transcript from the oral argument in the Bilello veto matter
Below is an excerpt from Thursday hearing regarding the Bilello veto matter
THE COURT: So the purpose of today's proceeding is to
have a brief oral argument, I believe counsel requested, with
respect to this matter involving Mr. Michael Bilello. So I am
happy to hear briefly from each side. You don't really need to
repeat a lot of what is in your briefs. I have the briefs, or
your written submissions. But if you want to touch on some
high points, that is fine.
MR. WALSH: I think, without hesitation, that the
notion that a member of this union and the top fiduciary of
this union can willfully lie in an investigation conducted by
an appointee of the district court is appalling. I assign
great significance to that specification.
When Mr. Petrillo says Mr. Bilello is not superman, it
is revealed he is not even a careful man. One of the questions
which we asked all of the candidates for EST was whether they
were familiar with the bylaws that had been implemented in
August of 2011 and there were people who I did not approve to
run for office because they could not say that they were
familiar with those bylaws.
In Section 21, the question of the allocation of those
payments to the welfare fund, what Mr. Petrillo talks about in
that interim report was my strong recommendation that the
welfare fund needed money, that the costs were excessive and
any bit of income was a good thing. The document that
Mr. Bilello, Mr. Cavanaugh signed and submitted to the benefit
funds in June of 2012 was never submitted to me for review. I
could indeed have made the argument that they failed to follow
the stipulation and order by giving me prior notice, and the
entire framework of the stipulation and order is based, with
respect to the District Council, on the giving of prior notice.
There are too many moving parts.
I was not given notice of that unilateral application
of asserted authority by Mr. Bilello. If I had been given
notice of it, perhaps the outcome would have been different.
But as we pointed out in the papers, I am not counsel to the
District Council, I am not an advisor, and I am certainly not
there to tell them to watch out for every pothole that they may
be about to drive over in their daily affairs.
The fact is that over $900,000 was allotted to the
welfare fund, which was not money that the welfare fund had to
give back should the nun pro tunc vote have gone the other way.
And if the delegates had decided they wanted that money as
income, the chances are they would not have gotten it back.
There was no obligation for the welfare fund to return that
money.
With respect to the reading of the minutes of the
funds, it is easy to characterize that as a minor matter, but
it is not a minor matter. The executive committee of the
District Council needs to be informed about the affairs of the
benefit funds because this union is in a struggle. The
District Council is out front trying to organize non-union
companies, trying to organize non-union workers. They need to
be apprised of the urgent problems confronting the benefit
funds, as this court knows and as we have discussed on many
occasions the problems confronting the benefits funds.
I attended many of those executive committee meetings
where it was apparently much more important that correspondents
from the Boy Scouts and various district councils and local
unions seeking to fill tables at dinner dances be read to those
trustees, to those executive committee members, and I think the
priorities were all wrong in that regard.
It is easy to characterize each one of these
specifications in a certain way.
The reality is that the
careful EST, the careful fiduciary consults with counsel. The
general counsel for the District Council has an office right
next to the EST. He is available basically five days a week
and certainly 24 hours a day by telephone. If Mr. Bilello had
been inclined to consult him, perhaps we would not be here
today.
MWA Injunction Request Denied
Federal District Judge Richard M. Berman on Thursday denied an injunction request made by the Manufacturing Woodworkers Association of Greater New York (MWA) against the New York City District Council of Carpenters. Judge Berman had held a hearing on July 8 on the MWA's injunction motion.
The July 18, 2013 opinion and order ruled in favor of the District Council, denying the MWA’s application for an injunction that would require council representatives and members to “cease and desist from engaging in any job action or any other activity that interferes in the business activities of the Plaintiff (MWA).” Another federal district Judge had rejected on June 28 an application by the MWA for a temporary restraining order to prevent a Union strike for a new contract.
Judge Berman denied the request on the grounds that the federal courts did not have jurisdiction to intervene in a strike over the union’s efforts to come to a new collective bargaining agreement. Judge Berman also found that the no-strike language in the expired collective bargaining agreement didn't continue after June 30 when the contract expired.
The District Council has been on strike since July 1, 2013 after months of stalled negotiations with the MWA, which employs some 350 union members from various District Council locals. The previous six-year agreement between the MWA and the District Council was effective from July 1, 2007 to June 30, 2012 and extended for an additional year to June 30, 2013.
Thursday, July 18, 2013
District Council Imitates Local157blogspot
The District Council has launched a first-ever “Comment Section” (we started this in 2007) that is attached to every Member News item posted on their website. The Council says the new "comment section is meant to give members a chance to weigh in on the news, events and key issues at the Council."
The Council writes, "Here’s your chance to share your thoughts and opinions with us and your fellow union brothers and sisters. The DC is doing whatever it takes to keep its membership informed and to remain transparent."
The Council is also using "the latest technologies to reach out to members via their emails, cell phones and home phones. Members who provide us with their contact information can expect to receive robocalls, emails and texts from us from time to time. Expect to receive information such as the latest picket lines, contract vote dates or when a raise will go into effect."
In order to utilize the new "Comment Section" simply follow the instructions and the District Council's Terms of Use to sign up and become part of the discussion!
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Judge Berman approves GCA CBA and schedules hearing on the DC’s electronic data entry program
Below is an excerpt from Judge Berman's Order approving the GCA CBA and scheduling a hearing on the DC electronic time entry and compliance program
The Court hereby grants the District Council’s application and approves the CBA between the District Council and the GCA, including its provisions regarding full mobility and anti- corruption technology mechanisms.
The Court has been informed that the technological (anti-corruption) components that are contained in the May 8, 2013 CBA between the WC&C and the District Council and the June 11, 2013 CBA between the BCA and the District Council appear to have been poorly implemented to date. Because of this, the Court has set a hearing for September 3, 2013 at 9:00 a.m. to examine the implementation process in some detail with responsible individuals.
RO expresses strong concern about the DC’s electronic data entry program
Below is an excerpt from yesterday’s hearing on the GCA Agreement, in which Review Officer Dennis Walsh expressed his strong concern about the DC’s electronic data entry program
Mr. Walsh: You can, in a very straightforward way, see what the ratio is of reported counts to unreported counts, and anyone who looked at this can plainly see that there are issues in the District Council's getting stewards to report their time either by the devices that have been given to them by the District Council or by the telephone message or by logging onto a computer of their choice, and perhaps Mr. Murphy has some more accurate data than what's been provided to me, but there are very few instances that I see where we get anywhere near 90 percent reporting on these key three-man or more jobs. And I view this as a grave problem for the District Council. I view it as a failure of leadership by the District Council in providing written policies and indeed warnings to stewards.
This compliance component of all of these contracts is vital to the contract itself, that the linchpin here is the ability of members to log on and see the amount of time that has been reported for their jobs. Without that ability, this compliance program falls into the ground, and the District Council has got to get this squared away.
I cannot endorse implementation of the GCA agreement without some assurance from the District Council that they are all over this problem, that they have written policies for stewards that informs stewards that there will be consequences, indeed disciplinary consequences, if they don't get their time in and allow the members the ability to log on and check that time for themselves.
Mr. Murphy has this data. I think it's very troubling. I think that the senior leadership in the union needs to work with the director of operations and the director of the business center to get these policies in place. They need to call the stewards who have not entered their time, in some cases well past the 48 hours that was contemplated by the collective bargaining agreement itself, and they've got to tell these men and women that they have to get their time in or they will be taken off the jobs as stewards or they will be decertified indeed as stewards representing the District Council.
Labor Unions: Obamacare Will 'Shatter' Our Health Benefits, Cause 'Nightmare Scenarios'
Avik Roy, Contributor
Labor unions are among the key institutions responsible for the passage of Obamacare. They spent tons of money electing Democrats to Congress in 2006 and 2008, and fought hard to push the health law through the legislature in 2009 and 2010. But now, unions are waking up to the fact that Obamacare is heavily disruptive to the health benefits of their members.
Last Thursday, representatives of three of the nation’s largest unions fired off a letter to Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, warning that Obamacare would “shatter not only our hard-earned health benefits, but destroy the foundation of the 40 hour work week that is the backbone of the American middle class.”
The letter was penned by James P. Hoffa, general president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters; Joseph Hansen, international president of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union; and Donald “D.” Taylor, president of UNITE-HERE, a union representing hotel, airport, food service, gaming, and textile workers.
“When you and the President sought our support for the Affordable Care Act,” they begin, “you pledged that if we liked the health plans we have now, we could keep them. Sadly, that promise is under threat…We have been strong supporters of the notion that all Americans should have access to quality, affordable health care. We have also been strong supporters of you. In campaign after campaign we have put boots on the ground, gone door-to-door to get out the vote, run phone banks and raised money to secure this vision. Now this vision has come back to haunt us.”
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
Important Notice: Local 157 Meeting Change
Attention Members: Tomorrows monthly Local 157 meeting will be held at the Church of St. Anthony of Padua, 154 Sullivan Street at 5pm.
We earlier reported that due to construction at the labor technical college, the July 17th local 157 meeting was going to be held at Father Demo Hall at our Lady of Pompeii church at Bleecker and Carmine Street. President Mitch Sonntag learned today that the Father Demo Hall was no longer available.
The Local 157 meeting will be held 5pm at the Church of St. Anthony of Padua, 154 Sullivan
Street.
Saturday, July 13, 2013
MWA Strike Day 12 at the Somerville Company facility
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| For more MWA Strike coverage see Facebook |
Shame on Major League Baseball and Hudson Meridian
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| FOR LOWERING THE STANDARDS OF THE MIDDLE CLASS |
Shame on Major League Baseball and Hudson Meridian, for contributing to the erosion of area standards for New York City Carpenters. The New York City District Council of Carpenters has a labor dispute with Hudson Meridian which is performing work at South Queens Boys & Girls Club at 110 - 04 Atlantic Avenue in Richmond Hill , New York. Hudson Meridian hires sub - contractors that do not meet area labor wages and benefits , including providing or fully paying for family healthcare and pension benefits for all of its carpenter craft employees.The New York City District Council of Carpenters objects to substandard wage employers like Hudson Meridian working in the community. In our opinion the community ends up paying the tab for employee health care. Low wages tend to lower general community standards, there by encouraging crime and other social ills.
The New York City District Council of Carpenters believes that Major League Baseball and Hudson Meridian have an obligation to the community to see that the area labor standards are met for construction work performed on their current and future projects .They should not be allowed to insulate themselves behind “independent” contractors.
PLEASE CALL: Thomas C. Brasuell Vice President, Community Affairs Major League Baseball 245 Park Avenue , New York, NY 10167 212 - 931 -7897
