Feckless Leaders Violate Member Rights And Give Continued Support To Criminals Who Fleeced $751,235

Devereaux and Forde celebrate fleecing membership.

Like any good criminal, Michael Forde the self-confessed, racketeer, perjurer, bribe-taker, liar and drug/alcohol addict never missed an opportunity to enrich himself at the expense of his membership.

On July 9, 2008 at a regular schedule council delegate meeting, Forde had his No. 2 man and self-confessed co-criminal, former Local 608 president/business manager, John Greany, make a motion to reimburse legal fees totaling $751,235 spent by Michael Forde and Martin Devereaux, in connection to what may be the city’s longest running bribery case.

In light of Forde's guilty plea on July 28, which he admitted among other things, "conning the members for at least 16 years, taking a steady stream of payoffs from contractors," Last week I made a "motion" for the UBC to "sue Michael Forde and Martin Devereaux" and recover the $751,235 they fleeced from the membership.

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40th General Convention

Brotherhood Stands Strong;
McCarron Team Re-Elected

Delegates to the United Brotherhood of Carpenters’ 40th General Convention re-elected General President Doug McCarron and his team of top union officers—and endorsed continuing a wide-ranging set of policies that have kept the union strong in a tough economy.

During the four-day convention in Las Vegas, Aug. 16–19, delegates also approved measures aimed at preparing the union to take advantage of opportunities that will arise when the business climate improves.

“We are ready now, and we will be ready when this economy turns around,” the general president said in his keynote address. “While everyone is blaming someone else and trying to get back on their feet, we’ll be on the jobs, bags on, ready to work.”

By reshaping the union over the last 15 years to better reflect the needs of the modern construction industry, General President McCarron said, the union was better prepared to cope with the economic downturn than it otherwise would have been.

“There is no question that this recession is beyond what anyone in this room has ever experienced. It’s an economy that our real enemies predict we can’t survive. But they’re wrong,” General President McCarron said.

“We are in shape for the job ahead because of the work we’ve done restructuring our union, rebuilding our training programs, and reaching a new generation of members.”

As the convention closed, delegates gave a rousing sendoff to General President McCarron, who ran unopposed for his fourth five-year term, and his leadership team, which also ran without opposition. For delegates and the half-million members they represent, the election displayed commitment to the policies of “The McCarron Team”: General Vice-President Doug Banes, General Secretary-Treasurer Andy Silins, and district vice presidents Frank Spencer (Eastern), Bobby Yeggy (Midwestern), Danny Maples (Southern), Mike Draper (Western), and Jim Smith (Canadian).

Other highlights of the convention included:

• A report on how the UBC reformed its members’ prescription drug program in a way that saved more than $400 million without cutting benefits, making union contractors more competitive.
• Hearing how Carpenter Politics, the union’s bipartisan political action strategy, prodded Congress to make needed infrastructure investment, helped preserve Davis-Bacon prevailing wage protections, and brought attention to employer payroll fraud, which hurts workers and raises the cost of doing business for legitimate contractors when employees are misclassified as independent contractors.
• A stirring tribute to the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, who credited the Carpenters Union with turning the tide during his tough re-election campaign in 1994.
• Packing and sending 1,000 care packages for troops in harm’s way and recommitting to welcoming veterans into the union’s ranks through the Helmets to Hardhats program, which connects vets with job opportunities in the construction trades.

Delegates voted on an ambitious five-year agenda for the union, including fighting employers that pay their workers wages below area standards, enhancing skills and union-building training, and promoting outreach to women and tribal members.

Those efforts illustrated the convention theme of “Standing Strong,” an attitude that General President McCarron credited with helping the union prevail in the many economic and social crises that have arisen over its nearly 130-year history.

“We are standing strong,” he said. “Standing strong, building tomorrow."

UBC General President Doug McCarron, flanked by General Vice President Doug Banes, left, and General Secretary-Treasurer Andy Silins, greets delegates after the McCarron Team of general officers and vice presidents won re-election without opposition.

		‘We Are Ready’: UBC General President Doug McCarron wove the convention's theme of “Standing Strong” into a keynote speech that credited the union with having the foresight to prepare for the current troubling economic times.  Read More
		‘Skills to Succeed’: General Vice President Doug Banes stressed the importance of members’ attitudes in their success—and the success of the union. A tribute to the late Sen. Edward Kennedy emphasized his bond with the Brotherhood. Read More
		Officers Re-Elected: General President Doug McCarron and his leadership team of General Vice President Doug Banes, General Secretary-Treasurer Andy Silins, and five district vice presidents won re-election without opposition. Read More
		Welcome, Veterans: Delegates heard how the Brotherhood works to welcome veterans into its ranks, including two apprentices General Secretary-Treasurer Andy Silins inducted into the union in an on-stage ceremony. Read More

Click on the links below to view videos from the United Brotherhood of Carpenters’ recent 40th General Convention.

• Tribute to Sen. Edward Kennedy
• Sisters in the Brotherhood
• Helmets to Hardhats

A DVD of convention highlights, and a printed report on the proceedings will be sent to delegates, UBC councils, and locals

Notice Of Veto By The Review Officer

Also read Independent Investigator Walter Mack's report regarding Paul Willoughby starting on page 34.

Hard-Drinking Union Official Admits He's A Racketeer

Hard-Drinking Hayes.

By Jerry Capeci

A hard-drinking carpenters union official followed the lead of his union president and six other corrupt officials last week and pleaded guilty to selling out union workers in a huge labor racketeering scheme that has been run for decades by the Genovese crime family.

Brian Hayes, who allegedly took cash bribes from contractors and cemented his relationship with them “over drinks in Irish pubs” around the city, agreed to a deal that is expected to mean a 30-to-37 month stretch behind bars.

Hayes, 39, an elected official of Local 608, was also a business agent for the District Council of the Carpenters Union that oversees 11 Locals. He is scheduled to be sentenced in December by Manhattan Federal Judge Victor Marrero.

Among the racketeering charges he admitted, was accepting cash bribes from 1998 through 2004 from Turbo Construction, a now-defunct Manhattan firm, whose owner, Terrance Buckley, is one of several government witnesses who were slated to detail their alcohol-fueled corrupt activities over the years.

Hayes also pleaded guilty to obstructing justice by giving false testimony during a civil case stemming from numerous reported violations of a 1994 agreement by District Council officials to clean up their act and end their long-running illicit dealings with the Genovese crime family.

Former District Council President Martin Forde, and ousted Local 608 President John Greaney – a Hayes drinking buddy who was also prepared to testify about their liquor-driven deals – head the list of other union officials who have pleaded guilty in the case.

Joseph (Joe Rudy) Olivieri, a contractor who allegedly served as a liaison between the corrupt union officials and the mob since the 1990s, is the only defendant whose case is still pending. Olivieiri, 56, is scheduled for trial in October on several labor racketeering charges, including perjury, and the taking and giving of illegal payoffs.

Pugliese Forde Innocent

Pugliese speaking, with Forde and Sheil.

Michael Forde, 55, the former leader of the New York City District Council of Carpenters stood up in court on Wednesday, July 28, at 12:00 p.m and confessed to a lie that goes back 16 years.

Since at least 1994, he admitted, he had been conning his members, taking a steady stream of payoffs from contractors in exchange for letting them cheat carpenters out of their hard-won benefits.

He read his plea from a piece of paper he held in his hand. "I, along with other union officials, accepted bribes in the form of cash payments from certain contractors."

FLASH...NEWS ALERT! Someone please tell this to Local 157 Vice President/Representative, Anthony Pugliese, at last nights union meeting, Pugliese declared, "Michael Forde Innocent."

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Feds: Construction Bigwig a Longtime Labor Racketeer

By Jerry Capeci

Even if you've never heard of Joseph Olivieri, after a quick glance, you get the idea that he's a pretty important guy in the construction industry. He's the executive director of the city's largest organization of contractors, the Association of Wall Ceiling & Carpentry Industries, which is more than 200 strong. He's also the lead columnist for the WC&C house organ, Off The Wall.

But when you look below the surface, according to the feds, Olivieri is even more powerful than he seems at first blush. And, they say, he has quietly wielded that clout since the 1990s, working for himself, the powerful Genovese crime family and corrupt union leaders who represent 20,000 carpenters in 11 different locals.

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Carpenters Union president Joe Firth axed, accused of preferential hiring for Ground Zero jobs

Firth, banned from office.

BY Brian Kates

The boss of a corruption-ridden carpenters union has been fired amid charges he rigged hiring lists to give cronies work at Ground Zero, the Daily News has learned.

Joe Firth, president of Carpenters Union Local 608, has been stripped of his job by the international United Brotherhood of Carpenters and banned from holding union office for 10 years.

Before he was elected president earlier this year, Firth was a business agent whose sole responsibility was, as he put it in court papers, assigning carpenters to jobs at "Ground Zero ... [and] the buildings that were damaged during the attack."

Firth's firing comes as the United Brotherhood cleans house at the local after District Council of Carpenters chief Michael Forde, former Local 608 President John Greaney and six Local 608 business agents pleaded guilty to federal racketeering charges.

Allegations of Firth's purported rigging of hiring at the World Trade Center and Ground Zero put him under the microscope of federal review officer Dennis Walsh, sources said.

Walsh declined to comment.

Union dissidents say Firth played favorites in assigning Ground Zero jobs, which usually involve six-day weeks with plenty of overtime.

"Carpenters down there are pulling in $100,000 a year," a former Local 608 official said.

In 2003, one of Walsh's predecessors, federal monitor Walter Mack, said whistleblowers told him Firth had given his two brothers "breaks that others didn't get."

Mack warned him about "keeping a fair playing field for everyone."

Firth was elected early this year as president of the 7,400-member local, which controls union carpenters on the West Side of Manhattan and all of the Bronx. He could not be reached for comment.

Carpenters Union watchdog Dennis Walsh clamps down on purse strings

BY Alison Gendar

Review Office Dennis Walsh clamping down on lavish spending.

The court-appointed watchdog for the carpenters' union has his work cut out for him.

Even as a slew of union leaders was headed to prison on corruption charges, other bigwigs were clamoring for union dues to pay for a swanky Vegas soiree, the Daily News has learned.

With the open bar the union delegates wanted, the bill for the bash could easily have topped $20,000 - but review officer Dennis Walsh wouldn't loosen the purse strings.

"They ought to be spending the union's money - which is their members' money - like it's their grandmother's Social Security check," he told the Daily News.

Walsh was tapped by a federal judge to clean up the District Council of Carpenters and prevent the remaining bosses from ripping off the rank and file.

Eight union officials, including chief Michael Forde and his top two lieutenants, have pleaded guilty to cheating the 20,000-plus members of its 11 locals.

Their replacements, though, apparently have no shame when it comes to spending.

Walsh is cracking down on union cars, and vetoed the feast at Panevino's Italian restaurant in Sin City after the national union's convention last week.

"The message is: This is the members' money. You can't take your posse to Sparks every time you get hungry," Walsh said.

The union declined to comment.

While he's keeping an eye on the bills, Walsh's real mission is to bring more far-reaching change with a new process that allows the rank-and-file to bring corruption charges against higher-ups in a fair forum.

"Before, if you had a problem with a shop steward, and you made a complaint, basically it went nowhere and you never worked again," said one union member.

Under the new system, each of New York's 11 locals will elect two trial members to hear charges starting Sept. 7.

Nine trial members will be picked from a hat to hear each case, and each side can knock off two - leaving five to weigh the charges.

The role of judge will swing between former New Jersey Chief Justice James Zazalli and former federal prosecutor Walter Mack.

Mack ferreted out corruption in the carpenter's union in the late 1990s until union leaders got him canned for being too good at the job, rank-and-file members said.

Walsh says this time, there will be real change.

"Before, you could bring charges against someone, he would be found guilty and nothing would happen - except the guy who brought the charges would get punished somehow," Walsh said.

"This will be different."

Why Did Crooked Carpenter Big Shot Brian Hayes Plead Guilty

On August 13, prosecutors asked a judge to let them introduce new evidence of the "considerable drinking" by carpenters Local 608 business agent Brian Hayes as part of the corruption case against him.

The Manhattan federal-court filing (see below) says Hayes "cultivated his criminal relationship with other union officials and assorted contractors over drinks at Irish pubs throughout the city."

Cooperating witnesses were set to testify that "bribes were paid to Hayes and other corrupt union officials in the very same Irish pubs where Hayes would meet his co-conspirators to drink."

The daytime elbow-bending also put Hayes "on notice" that his union buddies "were themselves violating their fiduciary duties to monitor accurately the carpenters working on job sites," and were going to rat him out for pocketing cash payoffs.

The feds intended to introduce two audio recordings of a co-conspirator of Hayes who has since pleaded guilty to making cash bribes to Hayes on behalf of EMB and began cooperating with the Government.

Hayes continue to tell his co-conspirators that the "charges against him were false, and he would beat the the charges, and not to worry." 

In addition this co-conspirator was expected to testify at trial that Hayes accepted among other things, free decking material and labor from EMB to build his Manhattan bar, McGarry's, in exchange for letting EMB hire nonunion workers and pay employees at his work sites below minimum wage and off the books, and run a Bronx job without a union shop steward.

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Carpenters’ Union Agent Guilty Of Racketeering

A former business agent of the District Council of New York City and Vicinity of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners has pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal court to participating in a racketeering scheme and other offenses.

From approximately May 2004 until his arrest in August 2009, Brian Hayes was a District Council business agent appointed to Local 608.

Hayes was also an elected officer of Local 608 and, prior to being appointed a business agent, he was a longtime shop steward with Local 608. In these capacities, Hayes owed the District Council, Local 608, and their members a fiduciary duty of loyalty and honest services.

In pleading guilty, Hayes admitted to participating in the affairs of the Carpenters Union through a pattern of racketeering activity, to taking a cash bribe payment from at least one contractor, and to obstructing and giving false testimony in a civil case brought by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York to address a history of union corruption and organized crime influence within the District Council.

Hayes pleaded guilty to one count of racketeering conspiracy, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, and one count of racketeering, which also carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

He is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero on Dec. 3.

Hayes is the ninth of 10 defendants in the case to plead guilty. Trial as to the remaining defendant, Joseph Olivieri is scheduled to begin on Oct. 18 before Judge Marrero.

Finally: Crooked carpenters union official Brian Hayes pleads guilty to racketeering

Brian Hayes

 BRUCE GOLDING

A corrupt carpenter who liked getting hammered copped a plea to racketeering charges this afternoon after learning his drinking buddies ratted him out for pocketing payoffs in Irish pubs.

Brian Hayes became the last of eight crooked officials from the carpenters union to plead guilty in a case that brought down once-powerful labor leader Michael Forde.

Hayes admitted taking an envelope stuffed with more than $1,000 in cash to let a contractor, Turbo Construction, violate terms of its labor agreement in December 2004.

Hayes, a former business agent for Local 608, said he passed along the payoff to another crooked union official, who a source identified as John Greaney.

Greaney, former president of Local 608, pleaded guilty last month as part of a cooperation deal with the feds.

During his appearance in Manhattan federal court, Hayes also admitted lying under oath at a deposition in a court-ordered inquiry into corruption at the carpenters union.

Last week, prosecutors revealed that cooperating witnesses were set to testify that Hayes, a 39-year-old Irish immigrant, "cultivated his criminal relationship with other union officials and assorted contractors over drinks at Irish pubs throughout the city."

Under terms of his non-binding plea agreement, Hayes faces 30 to 37 months in the slammer when he's sentenced on Dec. 3.

He also agreed to forfeit $30,000 in ill-gotten gains from the racketeering scheme, which let contractors hire illegal aliens off the books and avoid required contributions to the union's benefit funds.

His guilty plea leaves charges pending against only one remaining defendant in the case, reputed Genovese crime family associate Joseph Olivieri, the longtime head of the Association of Wall-Ceiling and Carpentry Industries.

Corrupt carpenters union big Michael Forde gets to keep $128G pension

Corrupt former carpenters union boss,
 leaves court after pleading guilty.

BY Brian Kates
He admitted to being corrupt - but the ex-boss of the city's powerful carpenters union will still collect a six-figure pension funded by the members he cheated.

Disgraced District Council of Carpenters chief Michael Forde, who pleaded guilty last month to federal racketeering and bribery charges, is set to receive an annual pension of about $128,000, sources told the Daily News.

Forde acknowledged selling out his 25,000 members by taking bribes to look the other way when contractors hired nonunion and illegal immigrant workers.

He faces nine to 11 years in a federal lockup and was slapped with a $100,000 fine. His sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 19 in Manhattan Federal Court.

Forde's right-hand man, John Greaney, and five union shop stewards, all of whom pleaded guilty in the case, are on tap to get pensions, too.

Greaney has a pension valued at about $50,000 a year, the sources said. The others are expected to receive considerably less.

The union says it is determined to stop the payouts.

"We intend to make every attempt possible to block these pensions going to the people who have pleaded guilty or have been implicated in serious wrongdoing," said district council spokesman Scott Widmeyer.

Widmeyer said the union plans to sue Forde and his co-defendants and will apply for a piece of their federal fines.

The federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) makes it difficult to stop pension payments, even to people convicted of felonies.

If Forde and his pals collect, the union pension fund will be on the hook for "potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars," Widmeyer conceded.

Forde's lawyer, Andrew Lankler, did not return calls for comment.

Government's Motion In Limine With Respect To Defendant Joseph Olivieri

Prosecutors yesterday asked a judge to let them introduce evidence of Joseph Olivieri association with the Genovese Organized Crime Family and evidence of Oliveri's pre-August 2004 payment of meal/expenses for union officials including co-defendant Michael Forde.

Oliveri's longtime ties to Moscatiello and other deceased mobsters - including Ralph Coppola, who was murdered in 1998 and whose body has never been recovered - are detailed in court papers submitted by prosecutors Lisa Zornberg and Mark Lanpher.

Prosecutors will also introduce some old-fashioned over-hear testimony. FBI agent Dan Conlon will tell how he was working undercover in a Bronx bar back on July 24, 2000, when he overheard Moscatiello ordering Olivieri to move quickly on a problem that union leader Michael Forde had. "Ford[e] wants somebody," the agent heard Moscatiello instructing Joe Rudy. "Get it done as fast as possible."

Olivieri, 55, is charged with being an integral part of a 10-year-long conspiracy (1998 to 2008) to steal untold millions from the benefit funds of union carpenters by taking, along with top union officials, more than $1 million in payoffs from contractor Murray, the key turncoat against Olivieri and his cronies.

Olivieri is also charged with giving illegal payoffs to union leaders, including District Council of Carpenters President Michael Forde - who has pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing.

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Carpenters Union Big is Hammered

By BRUCE GOLDING

An indicted union official's taste for booze could prove his undoing.

Brian Hayes, John Daly, John Greaney pictured with former president Bill Clinton

Prosecutors yesterday asked a judge to let them introduce evidence of the "considerable drinking" by carpenters Local 608 business agent Brian Hayes as part of the corruption case against him.

The Manhattan federal-court filing says Hayes "cultivated his criminal relationship with other union officials and assorted contractors over drinks at Irish pubs throughout the city."

Cooperating witnesses are set to testify that "bribes were paid to Hayes and other corrupt union officials in the very same Irish pubs where Hayes would meet his co-conspirators to drink."

The daytime elbow-bending also put Hayes "on notice" that his union buddies "were themselves violating their fiduciary duties to monitor accurately the carpenters working on job sites," the feds allege.

A lawyer for Hayes -- who's charged with taking payoffs to let contractors hire illegal aliens off the books -- didn't respond to requests for comment.

Also yesterday, former carpenters shop steward Brian Carson was ordered to serve 19 months in the slammer.

The case also toppled powerful labor leader Michael Forde, who pleaded guilty last month.

(John's note. My prediction: expect another round of forced retirements and resignations.)

Crooked carpenters shop steward Brian Carson gets 19 months in prison

By BRUCE GOLDING

A crooked carpenters union member got cut a break today by a judge who trimmed five months off the recommended minimum sentence for his role in an off-the-books hiring scheme.

Former shop steward Brian Carson was ordered to serve 19 months in the slammer for his guilty plea to embezzling union funds.

Manhattan federal Judge Victor Marrero said he granted leniency to the second-generation union carpenter in part due to his "important work" caring for a cancer-stricken younger brother.

Carson, 50, admitted holding a no-show job with On Par Contracting and taking bribes to cover up the company's hiring of illegal aliens.

Prosecutor Lisa Zornberg revealed in court that On Par -- whose owner, James Murray, is cooperating with the feds -- last year paid $4.5 million to settle charges that it shortchanged the union's benefit fund through the scheme.

Carson was the first person sentenced in a case that also toppled powerful labor leader Michael Forde, who pleaded guilty last month in a deal that calls for at least nine years behind bars.

Carson -- who was also ordered to forfeit $100,000 in illegal payoffs and pay a $5,000 fine -- made a brief statement noting that never sought government money for spending seven days working at Ground Zero after the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

He also said "I'd like to apologize for my actions to the union."

New Business Center Off To A Rocky Start

Article has been re-posted at this location  http://local157.blogspot.com/2014/12/new-business-center-off-to-rocky-start.html

New Business Center Off To A Rocky Start

click to enlarge

Officially open for business, the newly established "Manhattan Business Representative Center" has been rocked by corruption and seen it’s manpower reduced by over 45 percent in the aftermath of guilty pleas by John Greaney and Michael Forde.

In March, Council supervisor Frank Spencer set up the "Center" as a way to “better represent the membership" and "improve the way we do business” in the future.

He appointed Lawrence D’Errico and Martin Deveraux, “Regional Managers,” tasked with “distributing assignments to representatives, and making sure that all job visits and related information are documented and put into a comprehensive database.”

He relocated five representatives from Local 157 and seven representatives from Local 608, in order to “unify the Councils organization’s efforts and ensure that records are kept accurately and adequately.”

The "Center's" new representatives started to run a foul on Friday, July 16, when John Greaney, the former president and business manager of Local 608, pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal court to all 13 counts against him.

Immediately upon learning of the plea by Greaney, we reported that Regional Manager, Martin Devereaux, and representatives Maurice McGrath and Tom Costello arranged to meet at the Bronx office of Local 608, allegedly, to destroy union documents, or other things of importance that were locked in a file cabinet.

Review Officer, Dennis Walsh was called and arrived at the Bronx office before the three men left. When asked by Walsh why they wanted access to the locked file cabinet, all three men gave conflicting answers, a source said.

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Commentary on The UBCJA

By Anonymous

The pros, at their head is a guy who has created a system which ensures that he cannot be voted out, in third world countries the international watch dogs usually consider any election in which there is only one candidate for a lucrative and influential position to be a good indication of corruption.

No one in the carpenters union is curious as to why it happens in our union on every level.Just in case I am wrong about everyone knowing, it is because,in this union, losing an election is like having sex with a black widow. The victor will do everything they can to destroy your career to ensure that you are not there in the next election cycle and to show other members that opposing them has consequences.

You may have noticed the entire lack of anything in your mailbox regarding the convention. This only occurs every 5 years,in other words,they are going to be making decisions which will impact us for the next five years and we have no idea of what is on the agenda. Of course the only ones who do know are the incumbents, or in other words, since everyone knows that they are going to be reelected, there is no need for anyone else to know what should be discussed. I mean what would happen if the incumbents lost? We would have a couple of thousand delegates with no idea of what they were supposed to be doing. The entire convention is orchestrated in advance by the incumbents as one huge, expensive  confirmation that all is rosy in McCarron land. It would seem unlikely that if anyone other than the incumbent won that they would want to have the delegates sit through a couple of days of McCarrons propaganda.

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Dennis M. Walsh - The Review Officer

Information Requests

All local union presidents and, as necessary, business managers, are hereby instructed

1. to provide this office with electronic copies of all minutes of the executive board and regular monthly meetings of their respective local unions within one week of said meetings being held;

2. to provide to this office by September 13, 2010, via disk or USB drive, the minutes of their executive board and regular monthly meetings held from January 1, 2006, to the present;

3. to provide this office with electronic copies of the Form LM-2 filed with the Department of Labor by their local union each year from 2005 to the present.

Fiduciary Obligations

All local union executive boards are reminded of each officer’s strict fiduciary obligations pursuant to 29 U.S.C. § 501, which should be read and understood by each officer.

Guidance

In reviewing local union expenditures which have been noticed on a timely basis (see ¶ 5.b of the Stipulation and Order, requiring prior notice), this office will presume the validity of expenditures which (i) are reasonable in amount; (ii) clearly benefit the organization and its members; (iii) have been disclosed and fully explained to the members at a regular meeting of the local union, with the amount and purpose of the expenditure having been expressly stated; and (iv) have been duly authorized in accordance with the Constitution of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, the bylaws of the local union and the strictures of 29 U.S.C. §501.

Member Concerns or Questions

Any member who has a question about local union expenditures or wishes to express a comment or concern about such expenditures may contact me on a confidential basis at dmwfw@verizon.net or dwfitzwalsh@optonline.net.

CONTINUE READING...

The Legacy of Successful Union Representation

Click above to expand or visit The Carpenter Fall 2008/Third Quarter see page 20

Today In Labor History

Former Carpenter Boss Forde leaves court after making guilty plea.

On August 10, 2009, Mike Forde was fired from his position of Executive Secretary Treasurer of the New York City District Council of Carpenters, and the Council was placed under "emergency supervision." Shortly after Forde was indicted and fired, a cache of drugs (Oxycontin) and a stun gun were found hidden in the offices of the Labor Technical College of the District Council. Forde tested positive for both cocaine and marijuana at the time of his arrest.

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Boss Tweed and the Tammany Ring

Thomas Nast, the most prominent cartoonist of his era, targeted Tweed and his cronies, using a format understandable to recent immigrants and those who could not read.

District Council Hires New Law Firm

The New York City District Council of Carpenters, has hired the law firm of DeCarlo, Connor & Shanley, as new counsel for the District Council, the law firm also works with the UBC.

O'Dwyer & Bernstein, LLP has been giving notice and representatives of the UBC said that a "thirty-day transition process has begun."

Members on this blog have been calling for the firing of O'Dwyer and Bernstein, saying "they had to know what was going on, and they just use legalese to stop any reform from happening."

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WANTED: COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVES

In the aftermath of John Greaney, the former president and business manager of Local 608, pleading guilty to all 13 counts against him, and Michael Forde, the former Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the New York City District Council of Carpenters, pleading guilty to participating in a 15-year racketeering scheme, numerous union representatives have either suddenly retired, resigned, been suspended or fired.

The District Council is searching for "aggressive, dedicated, active union members, committed to building the ranks of our membership and protecting our work."

If you think you have what it takes to serve the Council in this capacity, send in your resume outlining your qualifications and skills.

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The Sounds of Silence

District Council Snubs Thomassen

Why was there no mention of disgraced former District Council  "Unity Team" president, Pete Thomassen, in the summer 2010 issue of The Carpenter Magazine?

Other than a personal note from Local 1456 President Charles Harkin, (see below) congratulating Thomassen, on his retirement, there is not a single word written or any acknowledgment by the District Council or supervisor, Frank Spencer, that Thomassen was ever elected president or appointed assistant supervisor of the District Council.

Even Harkin makes no reference of the disgraced former District Council  "Unity Team" president.

"Pete rose through the ranks of our local, first elected as a trustee, then treasurer, vice president, and finally president/business manager."

Thomassen's career did not stop at "president/business manager," why did Harkin intentionally leave out any reference to Thomassen's ten years as council president?

Why the snub?

Why no retirement party or list of accomplishments for this dedicated servant of our union?

In the winter 2009 issue of "The Carpenter", they had an article on that other disgraced former "Unity Team" partner and District Council vice president, "Dennis Sheil A Great Union Leader Retires."

The fact is Pete Thomassen covered-up for Mike Forde's lies and assisted Forde in conning the members of this union. Instead of honorably representing union members, he sold their interests for his own enrichment.

Forde dispatched Thomasssen, to tell Judge Haight that former Independent Investigator, Walter Mack, was too difficult and costly and wanted to exercise its right to remove him, because Mack was getting to close to uncovering the truth about council corruption.

Thomassen, among other things, blocked Mack's investigation into Forde's corrupt activity, authorized huge pay raises without delegate approval to his assistant, (who was fired for allegedly using a union issued credit card for personal expenses) and his son, (who shaved off the hair on his head and removed all the hair from his body in order to avoid detection of drug use) hired friends and family for council positions, used council property for personal use, spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on 5 star restaurants, hotels and first class plane tickets.

In May, the Daily News reported that Peter Thomassen, ran up huge tabs for lavish dinners, parties and junkets.

The silence of the District Council is deafening and their actions speaks volumes.

Page Six

We hear...THAT Local 157 business representative and executive delegate, Danny Demorato, was suspended on Tuesday. Demorato a union rep for almost twenty years was Lawrence D’Errico's right-hand man in running the affairs of Local 157. 

D’Errico the former recording secretary/business rep, was elected president of Local 157 in September 2008 following the "emergency supervision," and picked Demorato as his executive delegate to the District Council.

UBC Supervisor Frank Spencer recently appointed D'Errico, Acting Director of Operations, to replace Maurice Leary, who suddenly retired immediately after Michael Forde copped a plea to corruption charges and admitted selling out his membership by taking bribes from contractors, stealing union money - and then lying about it.

D'Errico's appointment to the position of acting director is under "review" by RO, Dennis Walsh.

The District Council didn't return a call seeking comment.

Sources said Demorato's suspension has to do with the November 21, 2007 "emergency supervision" of Local 157, where Independent Investigator, Callahan, found telephone, timesheet, and other records showing union representative's had not completed their activity sheets as required; had not conducted regular jobsite visits; and were not even at work when they reported themselves as working a regular day.

Local 157 Business Manager/President Bill Hanley and Representative/Financial Secretary Fred Kennedy, were forced to resign and Representative/Vice President George Dilacio was fired.

Demorato was suspended for two-weeks by Mike Forde and reassigned to Local 608 in connection with his involvement in the corruption scandal.

Walsh is conducting multiple investigations of corrupt activity ... which he said "will likely lead to internal union charges and possible criminal referrals."

In recent weeks, numerous union bigs have either retired, resigned, been suspended or fired.

"I don't know if this union is going to survive, we are literally at the Gates of Stalingrad" a source said.

Today In Labor History

On August 5, 2009, a new 29 count indictment was revealed that accuse Mike Forde, the Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the New York City District Council of Carpenters, and 9 other individuals, including two local 608 Business Agents, of bribe taking, and allowing contractors to knowingly hire carpenters and pay them in cash, defrauding the Carpenters Benefit Funds of over $10 Million. They are assumed to be innocent, and Mike Forde was even at work on the following day.

ROMAC Sub Committee Meeting August 2, 2011

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The Carpenters' Union Sell-Out

Corrupt Carpenter Boss Forde leaves court after making plea.

Carpenters' head cheats another generation of members

By Tom Robbins

The former leader of the city's 20,000 union carpenters stood up in court last week and confessed to a lie that goes back 16 years. Michael Forde, 55, wore a black suit for his appearance in federal court on Pearl Street. This was appropriate attire for someone giving his own eulogy as a union man.

Since at least 1994, he admitted, he had been conning his members, taking a steady stream of payoffs from contractors in exchange for letting them cheat carpenters out of their hard-won benefits.

He read his plea from a piece of paper he held in his hand. "I, along with other union officials," he said, "accepted bribes in the form of cash payments from certain contractors." He added that when he took the bribes, he knew he was violating a consent decree issued by a judge in the same courthouse. The decree was supposed to represent the sworn agreement by Forde and other union leaders to shun the mobsters and crooks who have long preyed on the New York City District Council of Carpenters, making it one of the Mafia's happiest hunting grounds in the city's cash-rich construction industry.

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EXCLUSIVE: Greaney, Plea Transcript

On Friday, July 16,at 11:20 a.m. John Greaney, the former president and business manager of Local 608 of the New York City District Council of Carpenters, pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal court to all 13 counts against him.

Greaney pleaded guilty to racketeering, embezzlement, taking bribes and perjury. He admitted he manipulated union work lists and allowing union members, including illegal immigrants, to work off the books. He also admitted to obstructing a court-ordered investigation of corruption at the District Council and he implicated other union members, including the former head of the union, Michael Forde and former business agent Brian Hayes.

Greaney would face 155 years in prison on charges, but prosecutors will ask for leniency if he fully cooperates.

Below is the transcript of the plea.

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EXCLUSIVE: Forde, Plea Transcript

On Wednesday, July 28, at 12:00 p.m Michael Forde, the former Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the New York City District Council of Carpenters, pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal court to participating in a 15-year racketeering scheme.

FORDE admitted that from approximately 1994 through 2004, he received cash bribes from multiple contractors (including On Par Contracting, Turbo Construction, Pyramid Associates Construction, New York City Acoustics, and KAFCI) in return for allowing these contractors to violate the terms of their collective bargaining agreements with the District Council.

Among other things, FORDE admitted that he let these contractors use undocumented workers and avoid making required payments to the District Council benefit funds of which he was the Chairman.

FORDE also admitted to committing perjury in a January 2009 deposition he gave in a civil action brought by the District Council against one of the contractors from whom his co-conspirators had accepted bribes. FORDE further admitted to obstructing efforts to investigate his conduct.

FORDE pleaded guilty to one count of racketeering conspiracy, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, and one count of racketeering, which also carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

Below is the transcript of the plea.

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Notice of Possible Action By The Review Officer

Watchdog Walsh to Review Appointment Of D'Errico

On Thursday July 29, immediately after Michael Forde copped a plea to corruption charges and admitted selling out his membership by taking bribes from contractors, stealing union money - and then lying about it, Supervisor Frank Spencer appointed regional manager, Lawrence D'Errico, Acting Director of Operations, to replace Maurie Leary who suddenly retired.

Brother Dan Franco posted, "Review Officer, Dennis Walsh, will be reviewing Lawrence D'Errico's appointment to the position of acting director." Walsh has stated for all those who would like to "provide any information or commentary in support or against D'Errico obtaining and holding this position to email or call 914-437-9058 this week."

The following article was originally posted on June 29, 2008 regarding D'Errico. If you have any other information you would like to share please comment below.

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Urban Outfitters in Trouble With the Carpenters Union

Photo: Ashley Hoffman

The New York City District Council of Carpenters has just begun its 31st day of protest outside the Urban Outfitters store at Third Avenue and 59th Street. Union members are there because of a labor dispute concerning worker rights at Arc Interiors, the company Urban Outfitters hired to help build the UO store opening at Third Avenue and 86th Street. Picketers first turned up on June 21, and they've been protesting every weekday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. since. Picketer Juan Rodriguez says they're lobbying for area-standard wages and health-care benefits for the bricklayers, masons, and carpenters who've been working on the store.

According to Dan Walcott, a supervisor at the District Council of Carpenters, Urban Outfitters Inc. is not meeting the standards that give everyone the same level of wages and medical benefits. The Council is asking people to call Urban Outfitters Inc. at its Philadelphia headquarters to demand they meet labor standards on all their projects. While the protest's impact on saddle-shoe shopping is impossible to track, the opinions of the UO customers we spoke with outside the store last week ran the gamut. "I feel like the majority of businesses do things like that, so I'm not surprised," said shopper Yelena Galstyan. "I shop here all the time, and I wouldn't stop because of this." Others were more perturbed. "You expect people to do the right thing," said shopper Laura Liriano. "I love the clothes, but I'm going to shop here a lot less now that I know about it." Urban Outfitters refused to comment on the matter, and the opening date for the new Upper East Side store has not yet been announced.

Page Six

We hear...THAT Ed Maudsley was forced to resigned because he was caught manipulating the out-of-work-list. Tom Costello ratted him out. Costollo and Maudsley have a “long standing feud” a close source said. On July 29, Page Six reported that Ed Maudsley resigned.

Also despite Costello’s claim of “having nothing to do with the alleged file cabinet break in” at the Bronx office of Local 608, with Martin Devereaux and Maurice McGrath, sources insist that Costello was involved. Costello is said to be "cooperating" with Review Officer, Dennis Walsh and is expected to retire in August.

New carpenters union watchdog Dennis Walsh appointed as ex-boss Forde pleads guilty to taking bribes

BY Brian Kates
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Former head of the Carpenters Union Michael Forde, pleaded guilty Wednesday to taking bribes from contractors to overlook non-union workers.

Dennis Walsh is the fifth federal monitor appointed to clean up the city's powerful, corrupt and politically connected carpenters union in the past 15 years.
If he succeeds, he'll be the first.

Walsh says the District Council of Carpenters - whose ex-boss just pleaded guilty to racketeering - is still awash in corruption.

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