Former ATU 1342 Treasurer Indicted for Embezzlement

This one flew under the radar for a while - The Assistant U.S. Attorney General has charged long time Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1342 Treasurer Thomas Pokrywczynski with embezzling $72,000 in union funds.

Local 1342, located in West Seneca, N.Y., represents over 1000 transit workers employed by the Niagara Frontier Transit Authority serving the Buffalo-Niagara area.

Pokrywczynski was removed from office in March, 2008 and his crime reported to the Office of Labor-Management Standards by local President Vincent Crehan. There is no indication that anyone other than Pokrywczynski was involved in the embezzlement.

Good news for the members, the money has been recovered via their officer bond.

A Belated Good-bye and Good Luck, Bill Dugan

At first, I thought this post might turn out to be "poor Irish kid from the south side makes it big" but as I started seaching for Bill Dugan occurrences, the first mention I find is when he was elected President of the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 150 in 1986.

Bill Dugan caught my eye when I read that his Maryland Buffalo Ranch and hunting store (I'm not making this up!) was raided by the FBI in May, 2008 and that he resigned as President of Local 150 in June, 2008, to "spend more time" with his critically ill wife. We wish her the best.

Searching a little further revels that Bill Dugan is a member of the Eastern Bison Association and indeed, owns:

Dugan’s Buffalo Farm 
14223 Reel Road 
Hancock, MD 21750 
301-678-6288 Home 
301-678-6162 Fax

One might infer that Bill Dugan is running a captive hunt preserve, and it's reported that his office was decorated with stuffed trophies, but I'll make no judgment. If the mighty hunters want to shoot tame animals, who am I to say it's wrong - just don't call it a sport! Grizzly bears and Bowie knives, now that's what a real (wo)man would opt for.

It's also reported that his "farm" flies the Stars and Bars - perfectly acceptable  but Bill, what kind of message does it send? Can a person of color visit you at your farm to watch the "buffalo roam"?

Say whatever you will about Bill Dugan, he was very effective at increasing the membership, revenue and power of Local 150 in his 22 years at the helm. He took Local 150 from a small, unknown to one of the most powerful IUOE unions in the country with a 2008 reported membership of 23,515 and receipts of almost $60 million. Whee, doggie - those are some big numbers.

It's also noted that he wasn't the typical frothing-at-the-mouth liberal idealog - he crossed the aisle as it suited his needs and at times drew the wrath, and a few perks, from both the right and left. He was appointed to the Illinois boards to oversee casino's, the CTA and the state's tollway system, by a REPUBLICAN governor!

His "retirement" was little reported but an article appeared in the Illinois Review on June 27th, 2008:

IUOE LOCAL 150'S DUGAN RETIRES AFTER FEDS RAID

He was controversial - depending on the individual member point of view, he either a "lying, racist, scumbag thief" or he ought to be enshrined next to Mother Teresa when he passes. I know nothing except what I read but it is a fact that some members have been trying to deceritify Local 150 for many years. Sour grapes or legitimate complaints - who knows?

Life would not be complete without looking at Local 150's financial disclosure, so the 2007 and 2008 Lm-2's are posted on Union Disclosure Blog.

Bill was doing OK for himself at the end. He received a total of $175,423 (and I understand he has lifetime health and other benefits) from the union for the six months he was President in 2008. Certainly not the mega-bucks some CEO's have received for driving their companies into the dirt but I know many workers who'd take a third (perhaps 1/4) of Bill's 2008 union salary and think they'd done made their way to hog-heaven.

Everyone is invited to look at the unions disclosure and I'll close the post with a few comments taken off the 2008 LM-2:

Question 17: THE LOCAL IS A DEFENDANT IN SEVERAL LAWSUITS. IN ONE SUIT, THREE NON-UNION TESTING COMPANIES FILED A SUIT AGAINST THE UNION ALLEGING VIOLATION OF FEDERAL ANTITRUST LAWS AND VARIOUS STATE LAWS. THE UNION CONSIDERS THE CLAIMS BASELESS AND WITHOUT MERIT. THE PARTIES ARE NOW ENGAGED IN EXPERT DISCOVERY. THE PLAINTIFFS' EXPERT ESTIMATES THEIR DAMAGES AT $5 MILLION INCLUDING ATTORNEY'S FEES. THE LEGAL COUNSEL FILED A MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT ON JUNE 2, 2008. MEANWHILE, AFTER THE CASE WAS REASSIGNED TO A NEW JUDGE PLAINTIFFS SOUGHT ANOTHER PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION AGAINST THE PICKETING. AS OF OCTOBER, 2008, THE UNION'S SUMMARY JUDGEMENT MOTION AND THE PLAINTIFFS' MOTION FOR PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION HAVE BEEN FULLY BRIEFED AND LEGAL COUNSEL IS AWAITING A DECISION.

A SIGNATORY CONTRACTOR IS SEEKING AN UNDEFINED AMOUNT OF DAMAGES FOR ALEGED VIOLATIONS OF FIDUCIARY DUTIES AND RELATED VIOLATIONS. THE LOCAL CONSIDERS THESE ALLEGATIONS TO BE MERITLESS AND PLANS TO DEFEND AGAINST IT VIGOROUSLY. DISCOVERY CLOSED ON OCTOBER 17, 2008. CROSS-MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGEMENT WERE FULLY BRIEFED BY JANUARY 20, 2009. IN THE EVENT THE COURT DENIES THE UNION'S MOTION, TRIAL IS SET FOR MAY 4, 2009.

ON JANUARY 21, 2008 THREE INDIVIDUALS FILED SEPARATE LAWSUITS AGAINST THE UNION. THE PLAINTIFFS RAISED CLAIMS FOR IMPROPER USE OF DRIVERS LICENSE INFORMATION LAWFULLY OBTAINED FROM THE ILLINOIS SECRETARY OF STATES OFFICE UNDER THE FEDERAL DRIVERS PRIVACY PROTECTION ACT. PLAINTIFFS SEEK MULTI-MILLION DOLLARS IN DAMAGES. THE UNION'S LEGAL COUNSEL HAS INITIATED DISCOVERY IN THE MATTER. BRIEFING ON PLAINTIFFS' MOTIONS FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION AND FOR A PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION WILL BE COMPLETED BY FEBRUARY 20, 2009.

ON JULY 24, 2008, A LAWSUIT WAS FILED AGAINST THE UNION IN FEDERAL COURT ALLEGING THAT THE UNION OFFICIALS ACCEPTED BRIBES TO SETTLE GRIEVANCES. THE UNION'S LEGAL COUNSEL INVESTIGATED AND FOUND THE CASE TO BE WITHOUT MERIT. A MOTION TO DISMISS WAS FILED ON DECEMBER 1, 2008. THE COURT RECENTLY EXTENDED THE DEADLINE FOR PLAINTIFFS RESPONSE TO FEBRUARY 13, 2009. THE UNION'S LEGAL COUNSEL'S MOTIONS SHOULD BE FULLY BRIEFED BY MARCH 6, 2009. 

150united.com The "secret" I.U.O.E website

It's Saturday night and I was doing a little research for a blog I'm considering, "Employee/Union Member Survival Resources". It won't be the normal "company or union resource" site but rather a site for the employee/member who's tired of the typical company and union crap and wants to see some options that would actually benefit the employee/member for a change.

I see the need for:

• An interactive "Beck" letter generator
• An interactive decertification/deauthorization petition generator
• links to the various sites offering free legal advice for union members
• links to the NLRB/NLRA and DOL LMRDA
• advice on how a member files a "failure to represent" against their union
• advice on how to file a union LMRDA violation with DOL
• advice regarding laws such as FMLA, ADA, EEOC, etc.

The site would offer no legal advice - strictly practical advice based on experience and research.

So, a pleasant evening with google and a couple of DOS EQUIS Lager Especial (with sliced lime, of course!). I googled "labor union decertification" for background and after following a few links came across International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) 150, the longtime IUOE 150 boss, Bill Dugan, who "retired" after the F.B.I. raids in 2008 and the decertification struggle that seems to be on-going.

Much more a thriller than I could resist so I went further down the path and eventually came across the following google entry:

1. Login

   Note: In order to access this Web site, you must be a member of the International Union of Operating Engineers (“IUOE”). If you are not an IUOE member, ...
   www.150united.com/ - 6k - Cached - Similar pages
   
   
   Obvisously, a page with that warning needs to be investigated so I clicked it:
   
   
   
   Despite the VERY CLEAR warning that my attempt to enter was prohibited by law, I still did so, as clearly shown by the screen when my attempt was denied. I now feel so guilty at having broken the law I must confess:
   
   
   Dear Pin-Headed Union Toadie:
   
   
   I "illegally" attempted to enter 150united.com on or about 7:30 PM, May 30th, 2009, using the register number "123456789" and "Larry Seale" as  the name. My attempt was not successful and it was just too boring to keep trying.
   
   
   I'm now sitting in the dark, shaking and waiting for the law to arrive - all the while wondering exactly what law I've broken? Is it possible that the moron(s) who thought up the warning was "just kidding"?
   
   

"you'll never take me alive, you dirty copper!"

How Low Can You Go? - New Union "Limbo"

The latest union ploy to resuscitate card check? Use the billions held in member pension funds to intimidate Wall Street into supporting that piece of garbage legislation. 

Ben Smith of Politico exposed the scheme in his May 23rd, 2009 post after Politico obtained a copy of the March 9th letter and questionnaire signed by local President Carl Pecoraro and Secretary-Treasurer Al Mixon of Teamster Local 507. 

Good job guys; to hell with any fiduciary duty to manage the funds for the benefit of the members ; use the funds to advance to your own power grap ploy - Jimmy would have been proud.

I wonder what's in the Local 507 LM-2's?

Good, Bad & Ugly News

Labor union find themselves card-checkmated

Tom Hamburger Los Angles Times May 19th, 2009

Good! The so called Employee Free Choice Act was a horrible idea from the start. Time to drive a wooden stake through it's cold black heart and send it back to the deepest pits of hell where it was spawned.

The American people and their legislators have shown they have more common sense than the hucksters, union toadies, flim-flam artist and riff-raff gave them credit for. Let those miscreants crawl back into their vermin infested sewers and try to come up with a different way to screw the American worker.

Treasury may own 72.5% of GM

Tom Krisher & Kimberly S. Johnson AP May 29th, 2009

The public would own 72.5%, UAW 17.5%, "old" GM (bond holders) 10%, current stockholders 0%

Fantastic idea! The citizenry, government and UAW in partnership to form the new lean, mean car-buildin' machine, Government Motors (GM). I can't wait to get me one of them beauties (above left) as soon as it comes of the assembly line.

I would suggest to President Obama that he immediately set up a new executive level Department of Central Planning to manage the new company and all the other companies the citizens will own in the near future. The centralized production planning concept worked so well in the old Soviet Union, I can't wait to see it in action here. I know we can do it even better than them pinko commie bastards did!

Automakers Struggles May Cost 6 Million Jobs, Metalworkers Union Says

Mitchell Jaworski All headline News May 25th, 2009

The Metalworkers are the International Metalworkers' Federation with eight 

U.S. affiliates. It will be a horrible tragedy if Marcello Malentacchi's fears are realized.

Certainly most of the blame must go to the crappy Big Three management but is it possible that the UAW, and perhaps other unions, played some small role in creating the current crisis? To paraphrase (butcher) Mark Twain - "The news of a economic recovery is greatly exaggerated"

th, th, th - that's all folks

SIGH - I LOST!!!

For anyone who remembers, I filed a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) "failure to represent" complaint against my one-time union, Amalgamated Transit Union local 1001. Late yesterday afternoon, I was notified that my complaint did not rise to the level needed for the NLRB to pursue an action under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). 

Even though I lost, it was a pleasure to deal with the dedicated government employees in the Denver office of the NLRB and I have informed them that I will withdraw my complaint and not appeal the decision.

I am not surprised by the decision, the NLRA was never meant to protect a member from ignorance and incompetence; that's the individual member's job and the reason for elections, scheduled to elect officers or decertification. The next scheduled election of officers is in December, 2010 but a decertification election could be scheduled if 30% of the members, of ANY bargaining unit (other than RTD, different rules), decided they no longer wanted to belong to the union. The actual decertification is more difficult - it takes a majority vote of all the members in the bargaining unit, not just voting members.

Gracious in victory or defeat, I have already sent lawyer Jones (William B. Jones - 1001 staff attorney) my congratulatory email and I apologize to the members for any money I may have cost them.

So, round 1 to ATU Local 1001. Down but not out, I'm still following the rules and trying to get the local to tell me how they spent my money. For whatever reason, they refuse to tell me and my appeals to ATU International have fallen on deaf ears. Is someone trying to hide something?

My countdown gadget broke and I had to remove it but the four months specified in the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA) began a couple of months ago - two to go.

Animation courtesy of Gifs.net

DOL OLMS Statistics for FY2009

Impressive statistics from OLMS since 2001 - 1004 indictments, 929 convictions and $93,110,576 in reimbursements through December, 2008. Not bad for a offfice with 300 or so people.

Stay tuned, I have a post on SEIU Healthcare Illinois-Indiana, Local 20 & Byron Hobbs coming in the next day or two. Hobbs as you may recall was one of the SEIU bright young stars until he was caught with his hand in the cookie jar earlier this year.

Actually, it turns out that since I already had a draft, it's the post prior to this.

SEIU Local 20, Chicago - The Rest of the Story

Poor ole' Andy Stern, the iron-fisted boss of the oft scandal ridden Service Employees International Union (SEIU), just can't catch a break - he puts SEIU right in the middle of all the feudin' in the break-up of the 2004 marriage between Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees (UNITE) and Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union (HERE); next SEIU rising star Byron Hobbs, former Chicago based SEIU Local 20 President, SEIU Local 2000 trustee, SEIU mega-union "Healthcare Illinois-Indiana" Executive VP and SEIU national board member, get's caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Hobbs "resigned" in February, 2009, after it was reveled that he had charged $9100 in personal expenses to his Local 20 credit card. SEIU states that Hobbs has since repaid the money and that SEIU is auditing Local 2000, where Hobbs served as a trustee.

"And now", as Paul Harvey would have said, "The rest of the story"

Local 20 President Hobbs and the bosses from SEIU Local's 880 and 4 got together in March, 2008, and decided to merge the three locals to form SEIU local "Healthcare Illinois-Indiana" with some 85,000 members. According to SEIU, the member's overwhelmingly voted "yea" (97% to 3%) for the merger on April 15th, 2008 and Hobbs became an Executive VP in the new union.

In March, 2009, Local 20 Treasurer Greg Kelley reported that the once "profitable" Local 20 was $96,431 in the red when they closed the Local 20 doors at the end of April, 2008. That's akin to the (wo)man waiting until after the wedding ceremony before asking "Honey, did I forget to tell you about my problem with credit cards?" Perhaps SEIU needs to audit Local 20 as well as Local 2000.

I believe there are at least three questions that must be asked. How did it happen, who's responsible and which members have to pay the money back. The third question may the easiest; I would guess from reading the SEIU Constitution, the new local, "Healthcare Illinois-Indiana", would have assumed any assets so it stands to reason it will also assume the debts. Hell, it's only about a buck ten per member so what's the problem? The members have already paid it once and I'd question the validity of the actual amount owed. The debts are hard cash and the asset offset is from the book value of the office furniture and equipment. Good luck on getting the book value.

Who's responsible? Certainly the buck stops at Local 20 President Hobbs desk and how can anyone excuse Treasurer Kelly? "I was only following orders" didn't work at Nuremberg and certainly should not apply to the officers fiduciary duty to the members. It doesn't matter where the money actually went, Hobbs and Kelly had the watch!

Kelly filed the required 2008 financial disclosure form (hey Gene - some advice, next time answer "yes" to 3c - this was the Local 20 Terminal LM-2, the doors to the local are locked!), LM-2 covering the January 1st to April 30th, 2008 period , with the Department of Labor on March 27th, 2009 and a cursory glance would lead one to suspect there were problems:

In addition to the $96,431 deficit (assets - liabilities), Kelly signs the form as both President and Treasurer and adds the following notes:

ITEMS 70 AND 71: THE PRESIDENT BYRON HOBBS IS NO LONGER WITH LOCAL 20. THEREFORE, GREGORY KELLEY, THE SECRETARY-TREASURER OF LOCAL 20, IS SIGNING THE LM-2 AS BOTH THE PRESIDENT AND TREASURER.

Question 13: DURING THE YEAR, THE LOCAL DISCOVERED THAT THE PRESIDENT OF THE LOCAL, BYRON HOBBS, HAD USED THE LOCAL'S CREDIT CARD TO MAKE PURCHASES OF A PERSONAL NATURE. ALL THE CHARGES WERE MADE BY MR. HOBBS DURING 2008. THE TOTAL CHARGES THAT WERE PERSONAL IN NATURE WERE APPROXIMATELY $9,100. THE LOCAL RECORDED THESE CHARGES AS A LOAN TO MR. HOBBS. MR. HOBBS HAD REPAID $6,369 TO THE LOCAL AS OF DECEMBER 31, 2008. MR. HOBBS REPAID THE BALANCE, $2,741, OF THE CALCULATED AMOUNT SUBSEQUENT TO DECEMBER 31, 2008. 

That answers, in my mind at least, the "who" question. The "how" is the toughest because we have so little information to go on. The figures are easy to understand; Kelly reports that on December 31st, 2007, Local 20 had assets of $559,515 ($226,031 in cash) and liabilities of $515,265 (which by the way, had more than doubled from the beginning till the end of 2007) leaving Local 20 $44,250 in the black. Kelly further reports that the local had revenues of $1,755,477 for the four months in 2008 so the math is simple- the officers spent TWO MILLION DOLLARS in 4 months, 500k per month!

Before we go any further, let's take a look at the DOL Local 20 disclosure summary for 2001 through 2008:

Looking at the summary, we can see that from 2004 through 2007, the union spent a little less than they took in. You have to go to the 2007 and 2008 LM-2's to try and guess at what happened.

I have a few questions after looking at the 2007 LM-2:

I don't understand why property lessor 820 W. Jackson, L.L.C. received payments listed under three separate sections: under Representational Activities - Rent $180,517: under Union Administration - Rent $130,374: under Political Activities and Lobbying -non-itemized $23,400

Did the union actually pay $334,291 in 2007 rental fee's on 820 W. Jackson and why is it listed in three categories?

Why did members of Local 20 need 19 "organizers" on the payroll and why did the members need to pay salaries to officers and employees  $1.4 million plus benefits?

Local 20 paid $989,313 per capita tax (member tribute) to SEIU, paid not one penny on it's outstanding $152,500 loan from SEIU International and owed another $262,800 to SEIU International at the end of the period. Admittedly I don't understand union financing but at least it explains how the Local 20 debt more than doubled in 2007, even if it's not clear what the debt is for.

Oh, a minor picky point. What type of consultant is Markus Vasyl? His address is listed as the Ukrainian & Religious Studies Institute.

On to the 2008 LM-2 because there's still no explanation as to why Local 20 was in the red 

at the end of April, 2008:

There it is! 

The local paid SEIU INternational $668,970 in per capita tax for the four months in 

2008 and erased the $262,800 debt to International it incurred in 2007. The assumption has to 

be that the $262,800 owed from 2007 was unpaid tribute and that the local paid that amount 

plus $406,170 for 2008. If that matches the International books I suppose it's legal; it just 

seems like a lot of money for the members to have to pay. What exactly do they get in return?

I still don't understand why Local 20 lists it rent payments in three categories, for the four 

months of 2008, a total of $122,226. I don't blame them for wanting out; 820 W. Jackson is an

expensive office.

Officers still drew "decent" salaries and employee salaries were down, perhaps in preparation 

for the move. One thing is odd, the union didn't seem to be doing any withholding from 

salaries in 2008. Totally unimportant, the IRS doesn't care.

Every story has to have an end and if anyone is still with me here it is:

This long exercise proves nothing! We already knew Hobbs was a crook and nothing in the 

2007 or 2008 LM-2, while I question many of the amounts, shows us anything other 

than what is already known: unions spend large amounts of money and there is very little

oversight. In my opinion, Office of Labor-Management Standards does a good job with what

little manpower and budget they have but unless the members, who are the union, question the

hired help, officers and employees of the union, nothing will ever change.

My final comment is directed to unions in general: I wouldn't give a credit card to a sixteen year 

old so "why in the hell would I trust a union officer with one?"

Animation courtesy of Animation Buddy

UNITE HERE page on UNION DISCLOSURE BLOG

There is a UNITE HERE page on UNION DISCLOSURE BLOG
 
Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees & Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union

Whee doggie! The National has a lot of money but that's to be expected - 366,958 local members and receipts of more than $141 million! Of course, the National has to have a lot of rev-e-news when they dish out $41,502,155 to the boss-es & em-ploye-s. I guess they just trying to keep the un-emply-ment rate low!

The comments section is interesting: lawsuits, employee theft, money going everywhere - you need an accounting degree to understand it! The comments do pose a question. If the union is currently undergoing an audit to determine if the LM-2 is correct, how can they answer "yes" to question 12? I thought you were supposed to conduct an audit prior to filing.

12. During the reporting period did the labor organization have an audit or review of its books and records by an outside accountant or by a parent body auditor/representative?

Yes

Picky, Picky.

I leave the $10,768,258 depreciation of a $12,294,826 asset (office furniture and equipment) to anyone who understands IRS Pub 946.

I'm not the only fan of UNITE HERE. A quick google turns up, among others, UNITE HERE EXPOSED. Read a little and it seems that the 2004 merger between UNITE and HERE has come apart at the seams.

Former UNITE leaders Bruce Raynor (suspended April 21st from his job as UNITE HERE general president) and Edgar Romney have teamed up with, who else, SEIU strongman Andy Stern against their rival, former HERE boss, John Wilhelm. It's open conflict and blood in the streets (not really but one can dream now and then:-). Read Ben Smith's reporting.

I say "Keep up the good work" to the whole bunch.

Roland Burris & Blago - Chicago's Dream Team

Bloomberg reports that the FBI may (and the radio news just said would) turn over a wiretap to the Senate Ethics Committee, reportedly a conversation where Burris offered Blago's a "Blago campaign contribution" for the vacant Illinois senate seat.

"Senator Burris does not object to the Senate Ethics Committee hearing the tape", said his lawyer.

I would remind the Senator that Gary Hart, John Edwards and Bill Clinton, to name a few, also said "bring it on" and we see the results. Two who were never elected and one  who was impeached, though acquitted.

Perhaps it just Daley politics as usual out of the Windy City state but when the wind is blowing west, the stench is obvious even in Colorado.

You say Roland Burris has ties to mob controlled unions ? Who knows what the truth is?

ATU Local 1001 - RTD Arbitration

RTD week long strike in April, 2006.

It's three years later but it's the same old cast in more troubled economic times.

What were the gains other than public resentment?

Link to the 2/24/2009 Colorado Department of Labor and Employment order denying the RTD employee members of ATU Local 1001 the right to strike and ordering arbitration.

The employees did strike for a week in 2006 at the end of their last contract. It's unclear to me if there were any actual gains. As I recall, the employees were out for a week and ended up with pretty much what RTD initially offered. Did any of the union bosses or lawyer Jones give up a penny? I think it's also important to remember that union officers (including shop stewards) are paid for x hours per month at the top rate for their respective occupational group so their own raise is going to be larger money-wise than most/all of the grunts actually doing the job. Who's interest is being served?

I wonder how much sympathy there is for the employees in today's economic climate and with RTD needing at least another .04% sales tax increase from the citizens or face a $2.2 billion deficit by 2017, mostly the results of Cal Marsella's pet project - Fastracks.

Do I think that the RTD employee members of ATU Local 1001 are overpaid? ABSOLUTELY NOT! If I were an RTD bus driver or mechanic, I'd want a raise and the benefits I was promised. As a Colorado voter, will I vote for another sales tax increase in 2009 or 2010? ABSOLUTELY NOT! We fell for the B.S. in 2004 when the sales tax increase was the answer to all of RTD's problems so fool me once "shame on you" - fool me twice "shame on me".

With boss and head cheerleader Marsella leaving for greener pastures in the private sector, it'll be interesting to see what direction RTD takes. Only time will tell what RTD's future is but I believe it's a pipe dream to think that the voters will approve another increase. I'll also wait and see what comes of the arbitration between RTD and ATU Local 1001.

In the meantime, there is a way for the members of ATU Local 1001 to ensure themselves a raise (almost $600 per year for RTD employees, less for private contractor employees but a raise none-the-less) before there is an arbitration decision and new contract - PETITION FOR DECERTIFICATION and throw "dem bums" out in an election. The folks at the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundations will be happy to help.

20 Centuries Ago?

I'm listening to President Obama's press conference announcing federal judge Sonia Sotomayor as his nominee for Supreme Court Justice and he made a small gaffe, 20 decades not centuries. 

We knew what you meant to say, Mr. President.

Judge Sotomayor seems to be a reasonable choice and I wish her a speedy confirmation and a distinguished career as a high court jurist.

All you need is faith and trust... and a little bit of Pixie Dust - Peter Pan

In Honor Of Our Fallen Comrades Memorial Day -2009 Courtesy of USAFlags

BUS-TED In Orlando

I received an "anonymous" email with an interesting subject and no explanation:

On Orlando bus Route 39, it dawns on passenger: The driver's a kid!

Well, that peaked my interest so I googled it and sure enough, it's a true story from Orlando Florida in October, 2006. It has absolutely no relevance to the blog but it's Sunday morning and everyone deserves a laugh now and then. Read the full story.

As an ex bus driver myself, I had flashbacks and about split a gut when I read the kids "defense":

While speaking with the suspect ... in reference to obtaining his biographical information, he asked me "what is going to happen to me now"? I told him he was being placed under arrest for grand theft auto and would be transported to the JAC. At that point, he stated "why, I drove that bus better than most of the LINX Drivers could. There isn`t a scratch on it. I know how to start it, drive it, lower it, raise it". He also stated he has completed courses for obtaining a CDL and on how to drive the bus.

Perhaps he should have been paid instead of arrested! Enterprising young people need encouragement.

Animation courtesy of the AnimationLibrary

Right-To-Work v. Union Security (Protection) Clause

There are currently 22 right-to-work states. That leaves (of course :-) 28 states and the District of Columbia with laws that allow a union security or protection clause. I don't know if the average worker is "better off" in one environment or the other but I don't want anyone, union or anti-union, to try and force-feed me any crap.

It's 2009 and as a thinking person, I have to ask: "If unions are such a great deal for me, why do they insist on laws allowing my employer to deduct money from my paycheck just so I can keep my job?" I won't even comment on the (choke, gasp) "Employee Free Choice Act", the most blatant, self-serving bucket of chicken manure ever proposed. Thankfully, it's starting to look like it's on life-support and it's only a matter of time till the plug is pulled.

I make many other decisions on how to spend my money, why not allow me that choice also? I promise, that if a union offered me something of value I couldn't get on my own, I'd gladly authorize a payroll deduction to them.

The amount of money the unions spend to protect the unions is staggering! Long ago, I belonged to the B.S.A. and even as poor as my parents were, always found the ten cents a week to pay my dues. Is it possible that the difference between the B.S.A. and the unions, is that the B.S.A. has adult leadership?

My challenge to all the so-called labor leaders, looking out only for the welfare of the "down-trodden" worker: "Quit hiding behind the cowardly Federal/State protection laws and compete like a (wo)man!". It would earn my respect.

AN AMERICAN LIVES HERE!

If you've read bits and pieces of the blog, you may know at least parts of my story. Born in a little town in the piney woods of east Texas 62 years ago, Viet-Nam vet, non-practicing skeptical Southern Baptist, a little left, a little right and sometimes in the center with a lot of libertarian thrown in for good measure. I try to warn folks not to accept, as gospel, the propaganda from either the right or the left. I vote, pay taxes and I love my country and the American people! I'm curious by nature and I'm fortunate (or un, depending on your viewpoint) to have the time to read the news from around the world on a daily basis. I'm not the brightest bulb in the pack but I think I can tell right from wrong, perhaps from being in the wrong so many times in my sometimes ill-spent past.

Some will say that I'm anti-union. I strongly deny that accusation. I'm actually pretty ambivalent toward the concept of a union but I'm strongly pro-America and American worker and it disgusts me to see the corruption and amoral self-serving actions of today's labor bosses and other politicians. I strongly believe that union members (and the general public for that matter) are doing a lousy job of policing their unions! I understand, I didn't do my due diligence for the two years I belonged to ATU Local 1001.

My disgust extends to the many industries where the crooks, hucksters and flim-flam artist have long been allowed to wreak havoc and now come crawling to the taxpayer with their hands out. Perhaps I'll live long enough to see the unions cleaned up and start in on the banking business. ROFL! At least I can hope, that if there is a God and a Hell, there is also a special place in that Hell for all the miscreants who have propelled us to this time of crisis.

Myself, nowadays, I'll continue to make the statement - the members are the union and the bosses, from Local to International, are nothing but the hired help! Without the member money, the union ceases to exist. Unions in themselves are neither good nor evil but the concept of a democratic workers organization has been bastardized to the point where unions exist only to keep unions in existence.

I've read the Bureau of Labor (BLS) statistics and I'll agree with what the unions proclaim so loudly - in a given industry, union members tend to earn more than their non-union counterparts. What the BLS warns, and the unions ignore, is that there are other socio-economic factors that must be taken into account before drawing any conclusions.

I also warn against a literal interpretation of the claim that in today's recession, the heavily unionized states have a higher unemployment rate than states that protect unions to a lessor degree. The same is true of the claims that right-to-work states have lower unemployment rates than states that allow the union protection clause (which ought to be sent straight to the darkest regions of hell where it belongs).

All the claims are true to a certain extent but do not stand alone as either an indictment or exoneration of labor unions. I believe, much like Will Rogers, a little common sense and watchfulness will lead a person to the truth much quicker than anyone's load of statistics.

Two other stories, both from Investor.com (Investor's Business Daily), caught my attention today:

Live Better, Don't Work Union

Crazy Against Trade

In closing, I'd like to quote Mark Twain (one of my favorites):

"Figures often beguile me," he wrote, "particularly when I have the arranging of them myself; in which case the remark attributed to Disraeli would often apply with justice and force: 'There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics."

Image courtesy of Cowboy Clip Art

And Here's the Rest Of The Story

Federal Charges Brought Against Twelve Members of Operating Engineers Local 17 

or

"I was robbed!" cried the crooks 

It's a year old and it doesn't look like DOL was involved - The FBI got em'all. Charged with conspiracy to commit racketeering, 7 counts of extortion,  conspiracy to commit extortion and attempted extortion. Looks like the boys from Local 17 are out of action. Charged were:

GERALD H. FRANZ, JR., Business Representative, age 45

JEFFREY A. PETERSON, Business Representative, age 45

GERALD E. BOVE, retired, past Business Representative, age 62

MICHAEL J. CAGGIANO, member, age 38

JEFFREY C. LENNON, member, age 53

KENNETH EDBAUER, member, age 63

GEORGE DEWALD, member, age 50

MICHAEL J. EDDY, member, age 39

THOMAS FREEDENBERG, Business Representative, age 51

And here's the rest of the story:

It gets even funnier (ironic not ha-ha) if you look at the 2008 Local 17 LM-2. A couple of the International boys are running the local and here's one of the LM-2 Remarks:

General Information: In December 2008 allegations of fraud were made against one of the investment managers employed by Beacon Associates LLC II, in which Local 17 invested. Such allegations suggest that the value of the underlying assets managed by the investment manager was overstated and that such overstatement dates back to prior years. As of the preparation date of this filing, the exact loss to Beacon has not been determined, however management of Beacon estimates the maximum loss to Local 17 to be approximately $ 775,000. The market value of Beacon shown in  Schedule 5 of this LM-2 filing reflects the estimated market value of the Local's investment in Beacon as of December 31, 2008. 

What is the world coming to? Crooks stealing from crooks!

Local 17 may be going for a record - 12 crooks in the union itself and they invested with another crook - poetic!

If you're looking for the Operating Engineers in the DOL disclosure room, you'll need to find IUOE-ENGINEERS, OPERATING, AFL-CIO in the dropdown box.

California Financial Crisis and SEIU

From what I gather SEIU boss, Andy Stern, is not a real nice guy and some of the SEIU tactics are more reminiscent of a 30's gangster movie or the early Hoffa Teamsters than what you'd expect in 2009 America. Be that as it may, Google Reader just brought me an interesting WTH post on THE UNION LABEL BLOG. WTH (Warner Todd Huston) attributes his post to the Jon Ortiz The State Worker blog on the Sacramento Bee site.

The interesting tidbit both report:

Ortiz notes that on page 18 of the overview of the 2009-10 state budget, the report suggests the following:

The Legislature could direct the administration to score budgetary savings if it chooses not to approve the labor agreements proposed by the Governor with the state employee units represented by Service Employees International Union Local 1000. (These agreements reduce the number of furlough days for these state workers from two days per month to one day per month.) In addition, the Legislature could reduce state employee salaries by an additional 4.6 percent in 2009-10 for more General Fund savings.

Someone in the state's Legislative Analyst's Office grew a pair and decided to "tell it like it is" It remains to be seen what the SEIU reaction is going to be.

photo courtsey of WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Colorado News - Safeway, King Soopers & UFCW Local 7

The contract between Colorado Safeway and UFCW Local 7 expired May 9th, 2009. The "members" authorized a strike but agreed to continue working until May 30th while talks continued. Safeway and King Soopers have a lock-out agreement and King Soopers has stated they will lock-out if the Safeway workers walk out.

That's the news synopsis and we have one more little wrinkle. King Soopers went on strike in 1996 and Safeway locked-out it's employees. Colorado/Safeway paid more than $5 million in unemployment to the locked-out workers during the strike. Safeway challenged the claims and finally, the Colorado Supreme Court upheld the workers right to unemployment during a lock-out.

Enter the republican legislation and we have the law that currently exists: locked out workers can draw unemployment if it's an "offensive" lock-out but cannot draw benefits if it's a "defensive" lock-out. A King Soopers lock-out because of a Safeway walk-out be considered a "defensive" lock-out and the locked-out employees WOULD NOT receive unemployment benefits.

Colorado now has a democrat Governor and democrat legislation so HB-1070, that would allow ALL locked-out workers to receive unemployment benefits, was introduced. The original effective date was in 2010 and it wouldn't affect (unless there were a really looong strike) any current labor negotiations but in the final days of the legislative session that ended May 6th, the effective date was changed to July 1st, 2009 and sent to the Governor. Interesting timing!

Surprise! Much to the consternation and dismay of the UFCW, democrat Governor Bill Ritter vetoed HB-1070 at 4:55 PM on  May 19th and issued a press release stating:

"I believe it is ill-advised and counterproductive to enact legislation that materially impacts the relative bargaining position of parties in the midst of ongoing negotiations."

It's obvious our first term governor wants to be re-elected in 2010; I'll leave the discussion of the Governors true motives and political future to the pundits and applaud the Governor for his veto - Drive a wooden stake through it's black heart and kill it forever! And while you're at it, let us Coloradoans have our deserved right-to-work and banish union protection clauses to the dark pits of hell where they belong.

Colorado Safeway, King Soopers and Albertson's workers - grow up. You absolutely have the right to walk off the job and the other employers absolutely have the right to lock-out their employees if there is a strike going on. If you get locked out, it's exactly what you agreed to and paid for! If you buy into the load of horse poop the UFCW bosses have been trying to sell you, you have no one to blame but yourselves when you no longer have a job; I suspect there are at least two unemployed Coloradoans (and likely some out-of staters willing to move) waiting for every job the UFCW Local 7 members throw away.

You're getting some bad advice from Ernie, Kania, John and the rest of the bosses. Ask them how much of their comfortable salaries they're going to give up to help you out when you're unemployed and can't even collect unemployment.

Any organization that needs Federal and State protection to simply stay alive needs close watching!

It's 10 o'clock - do you know where your money is?

Image courtesy of the AnimationLibrary