To Finish with the 2008 LM-2

I had to leave for a while but to finish my earlier thoughts:

Almalgamated Transit Union Local 1001 by-laws:

SECTION 10

Expense Vouchers

All bills shall be submitted to the Local in writing. All bills must be accompanied by a voucher of the Local and duly approved and signed by the P&BA and the RS&C and approved by the EB of the Local. They shall be submitted to the Examining Committee. This committee of three (3) Members will examine the bills and report to the meeting after signing same. All bills will be subject to the approval of the Membership. The EB shall have the authority to pay bills between meetings subject to the approval of the Membership. No expenditure in excess of $5 shall be passed at any meeting unless the request has been approved by the EB.

All checks must have two (2) signatures. They must be signed by the FST & ABA and the P&BA.

No funds from the treasury of this Local shall be used for political purposes without the approval of the Membership at the duly constituted meeting.

I didn't know that the LU was going to donate $120,000 to  Protect Colorado's Future in 2008. Then again, I was ill and off work. It doesn't surprise me that I didn't know because I have already been told "We have no obligation to notify you" when I ask about the CBA ratification vote held January 10th, 2009. I was naive when I thought that perhaps a local had some responsibility toward it's dues paying members.

What does make me wonder is that every other member I've talked to expresses shock when I tell them that the LU donated 120K to a single political committee. Did the LU follow the 

by-laws?

Section 6

Officers

The Officers of this Local shall consist of a P&BA, a VP, a RS&C, a FST & ABA and CS’s.

Howard Alton is the elected VP, NOT the Assistant Business Agent.

The Chief Stewards are Officers of the LU NOT employees.

I suppose I can excuse screwing it up in 2007, after all it was the first LM-2 ever required of the LU. It's difficult to find any explanation other than intentional misrepresentation when it's two years in a row. 

Q. What liability exists for violations of the reporting requirements?

A. Under the LMRDA, officers are subject to criminal penalties for willful failure to file or misrepresentation of a material fact while knowing it to be false, or for knowingly failing to disclose a material fact in a required report or in the information required to be contained in it or in any information required to be submitted with it. The reporting labor organization and the officers required to sign Form LM-2 are also subject to civil prosecution for violations of the filing requirements. Section 210 of the LMRDA (29 U.S.C. 440) provides that "whenever it shall appear that any person has violated or is about to violate any of the provisions of this title, the Secretary may bring a civil action for such relief (including injunctions) as may be appropriate." Under the CSRA and FSA and implementing regulations, false reporting and failure to report may result in administrative enforcement action and litigation. The officers responsible for signing Form LM-2 are also subject to criminal penalties for false reporting and perjury under Sections 1001 of Title 18 and 1746 of Title 28 of the United States Code.