letters to judge berman

7/29/2019 Letters to Judge Berman

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Hon. Richard Berman

Jarret Weinrich 29 Joyce Drive Chestnut Ridge, N.Y. 10977 834-300-2384

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~ O O ~ ~ ~ ~ \ - - - - ~ - M a r c h 32013RICHARD M, BERMAN U.S.D.J.i / ~ / 1 3

United States District Judge500 Pearl StreetNew York, N.Y. 10007-1312Re: NYCDCC WALL & CEILING CONTRACTDear Hon. Richard Berman;I believe the Wall and Ceiling contact that is before you should be approved. Ivoted for this contact and feel it is in the best interest of all NYC District CouncilCarpenters.The wage package is fair and in keeping with the cost of living index. "FullMobility" will allow the Contractors to man their jobsites with skilled carpenters. Itwill allow for the best man to produce for the Contractor. The NYCDCC havebudgeted an appropriate amount of funds to see that the Contractors abide by theircontract.

The 21st Century is upon us and the NYCDCC is leading the way with thecompliance part of the contract.

Th nkyou

( ~'.

Case 1:90-cv-05722-RMB-THK Document 1237 Filed 03/05/13 Page 1 of 1

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(l.Ak ~ rLoLL+SO O f i t O 1 E . ~.. Michael Santillo~ v ' \ l ~---------------_ ...... Local #2287RICHARD M 3 . " E R ~ ( US.D.J. Ubc#S2821177

Hon Richard M Berman I ('SUnited States District JudgeDaniel Patrick MoynihanUnited States Courthouse500 Pearl St.NY, NY 10007qo -(v- t;7z,lI have been a member for 30 yrs. My father was a member for 2S yrs . I have a brother who is a superfor a union contractor. As you can see my family is union all the way. And we are all for full mobility.I have been a foreman on multiple large projects for my company which included hotels, Schools andcommercial space. It is imperative that when you are running a job that you know each individualsspecific job skills. I have been with my company for over 20 yrs. and there are still certain jobs my bossdoesn't think I'm qualified for. How can we ask him to take 1/3 of the crew from the OW L list.

If we as a Union are not productive and do quality work we will lose even more market share, which will in return affect our benefi t funds even more. WE must have full mobility going forward.

Michael Santillo

llSOC SDNYD 0 C U ~ v l t N T

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( _ ~ k -fa A..tlutS O O ~ R E ~ . .. V\1t . ................ - - - - - - - - - ICHARD M. " E ~ N U.S.D.J.Dear Honor Richard M. Bennan, '!/'I r1Thank you for taking your time to ask for comments about Full-mobility. I am in theCarpenters Union for 29 years, and we finally get to vote on the contract. They vote down fullmobility and ignore the members. Mike Bilello ran on "no to full-mobility," but turned his backon us the minute he got in as EST. Second, you did not approve the contract. They went andspent $800,000.00on computers already. At first, we were told the contractors were going to payfor them, but the Union said no, the members would pay for them. I don't get it. We lost dental,eye-glasses, co-pay went up on our medical, and we are going to pay for the computers for thecontractor. Now, they say it's going to cost us $22,000.00 a month to work these computers.Please help us on this. You are our last hope, so please listen to the members about this.

Sean O'Neill29 Year member13 Galewood dr ( 0 ' ~ ~ f j ~ IDJHazlet, NJ o ,.::- ..... ~ ; : ; l07730 MAR O ~ ~ ~

CHAMBERS OFRICHARD M. BERMANU.S.D.J.

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USDCSDNY .'IDOCU[vIENT U N I ~ r E D STATES DISTRICT COURTELEC1'RC)N.I' ( ' :\ I l YF'LE J ! T H E R N DISTRICT OF NEW YORK 1 1,- t\ .- I ~ UNITED STATES COURTHOUSE C ++ 40 CENTRE STREET~ ~ T ; ~ L E D - ~ 0 3 2 Q i 2 l L N E W Y ~ : ~ ) N 8 ~ ; . ! ~ ~ : 10 0Cl.h J.cL.,t+-P;/t.

S O O R D ~ ~ BHAMBERS OF RICHARD M. BERMAN

UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE - - - - ~ ~ - - - - - - - RICHARD M. ~ ; f . S S . D . J .Michael Cramer March 8, 2013 26 Colby Drive Dix Hills, NY 11746

RE: USA v. District CmUlcil, et aI., 90 Civ. 5722 (RMB)Dear Mr. Cramer,

Thank you for your letter dated March 4, 2013 (copy attached) indicating your supportfor "Full Mobility." If you have attended one of our court conferences, you know that I welcomeand appreciate hearing from the union members.Respectfully, you are mistaken in one regard. You indicate that "as I'm told, the onlyreason the contract is not in place is because of you." In fact, no complete final contract

approved by the Union, even to this day, has yet been presented to me for review. On or aboutFebruary 27,2013, a memorandum of understanding was forwarded to me, but that does notconstitute a (complete) contract approved by the Union.I am forwarding a copy of your letter to the Union and the Review Officer for theirinformation and reply.

Richard M. Berman

cc: Dennis M. Walsh, Esq.James M. Murphy, Esq.Enclosure


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March 4, 2013

CHAMBERS OFHon. Richard M. Berman RICHARD M. BERMANU.S.D.J.United States District Judge

Daniel Patrick Moynihan Court House500 Pearl StreetNew York, NY 10007-1312

Sir,I am a Carpenter In local 157 Of the NYC Distr ict Council of Carpenters. I think that full mobility is goodfor the members and contractors. Good hard working carpenters will worry less about getting laid offsince they can go to the next job with the contractor. Contractors will be more competitive since theyknow their work force and don't have to deal with the riff raff that comes from the hall. The people whoaren't any good probably won't work anymore bu t it's long overdue. So please approve this contract. Itwas negotiated in August 2012. It 's now March 2013. Seven months have passed, and as I'm told, theonly reason the contract is no t in place is because of you. Your decision to do nothing has cost my fellowbrother and sister carpenters dearly. The loss in benefits and pay raises, in these trying times, becauseof your inaction is unconscionable. You probably have your pay check direct deposited every 2 weeks toyour bank and every time you go to the dentist or get a prescription i t's covered. How would you like tohave that taken away because of one man's inaction. It almost seems like some lobbyist got to you.Anyway, do something. Stop dragging this on, make a decision already.

;;;::L1 t - - . ~ - - - -Michael Cramer26 Colby driveDix Hills, NY 11746


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Hon. Richard M. Berman W.DavenportU.S.D.J (I...'.fa ltt.L..t.ti1,. L.U.1S7

so R D E K / ~ ' 3 ..U.S. C o u r t m ~ M . B E R M - - . s . D _ J : - - - 7 ~ 5 9 Shore Rd #6L 500 Pea C SDNYNY,NY,

CHAMBERS OF'fIllOMAAI:) M. a ~ " M A NU.S.O.J.

IDear Ju ge Berman; I have been a member ofINYDC si ce f983 and have worked thru about 10

contrac s, tHis is t,he firsto'ne not signed timely.The. i ;consent decree hflS been in place for about 2/3 of

my care r a ~ d c o ~ r u P t i o n still continues. The NYDCplaced man into a position of loG. who was up toi Ihis neck! in cfrrupt practices regarding the O.W.L.

and the placr.ment of dirty stewards. This so calledmobilit used to be called the request system and

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the Court found our past Pre-so In contempt for hisactions ' e g a t d i n ~ t ~ e request .system .and this mannow col ects a SIX figure penslon,go figure. The

iwhole i ea of a trade union is to shape out

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Imembers for work. With the contractors picking allthe carpenters except the steward, corruption willflourish. Please say no to mobility and give us theright to vote on our contract. How in America canwe the carpenters be denied the right to vote in ourown union ... Also ask Dennis Walsh about thestatus of the "Blue Card Boy " ..

Fraternally Yours

William Davenport L.U. 157 ,UBC #2007-1698347-755-4573 Or , [email protected]


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I i : . ! 1 1 1 : ~ O l ~ ,~ , -- CHAMBERS OFFlICHARD M. BERMANr U.S.D.J.- __._.. _ ... __ _ rhonorable Judge BermanUnited States District JudgeUnited States Courthouse,

Honorable Judge Berman,My name is John Staunton ,my UBC # is 5963-3630,1 am a member of the carpenters Union forpast 25 years and 1 am writing you in response to the contrac t that is before you,1 am against it ,I amagainst full mobility, if this contract gets pasted it will spell the end of the Union, it will tell anybodywho is on the OWL to go find another way to make a living as the contractor will not have any reasonto call the council to look for men,

We the rank and file members voted on this contract last year and voted it down by a 4 to 1 margin, yetour delegate body voted to pass the contract against our wishes,this the same delegate body that justvoted themselves a large pay raise, while we members that are out in the field are told that we musttake a 10 or 20 percent pay cut on certain PLA jobs,I for one and I am not alone am struggling ,livingfrom pay check to pay check as it is, how am I suppose to survive taking home less, we have alreadygiven up $2 .13 an hour that were due to receive on Jan. 1 t 2012,

If this contract is passed it will give the contractor all the power ,a number of years ago they had whatwas called the request system to which is basically the same as full mobility, and it led to wide spreadcorruption and strong arm tactics by the contractors against the workers, what is to stop this fromhappening again?

In closing 1 beg of you Judge Berman not to allow this contract to pass, it is unfair to the working manand woman to give up so much while those who say they represent us are clearly making deals behindclosed doors,as was told to me this morning the EST Mike Biello was telling some of the shopstewards that the contract was to be in place on the 18th of the month

sincerely,John Staunton

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CHAMBERS OFRICHARD M. BERMAN David Rohner O'Rourke85-10 16S th Street, 3rd FloorJamaica, New York 1132

U.S.D.J.

clMk +0 'ikM.S O O R D ~ ~ .....March 7, 2013------------_. .- . .....RICHARD M. BE1M1N U.S.D.J.3 It rHonorable Richard M. Berman '3

United States District JudgeDaniel Patrick MoynihanUnited States Courthouse500 Pearl StreetNew York, NY 10007-1312

USDCSDNYDOCUMENTELECTRONICALLY FILEDOC#:______DATE FILED: 3 / II / t :s

RE: Wall Ceiling and Carpentry Association and NYC District Council of Carpenters 2011- 2016ContractDear Judge Berman,I am writing you in regard to the upcoming decision in the above mentioned contract. Myconcern with this new contract is what is commonly referred to as 'Full Mobility, where anemployer can staff projects almost entirely with people of their choosing, as opposed to thecurrent system in which they have to staff about 3 of every 10 carpenters from the DistrictCouncil of Carpenters union 'Out of Work' list.The reason this change concerns me is that I believe it will disrupt the more equitabledistribution of work hours to all dues paying members, as well as create a hostile workatmosphere for the employees and ultimately lead to various forms of corruption.Firstly, in an industry traditionally rife wi th nepotism and favoritism, the out of work listprovides all members an alternative to be dispatched to jobs in a fair and balanced way.Secondly, given the nature of the construction work, job availability increases as a job starts andslows as projects come to a close, layoffs are and inevitable fact of life for carpenters. Manycarpenters know that if they are layed off, they have a good chance of being dispatched toanother job within several months. With this, most carpenters are comfortable refusingcorrupt offers (i.e. working for cash or off the books, working unpaid hours, working for areduced wage not agreed to in the contract, etc), knowing they have a relatively good chance ofgetting other work from the 'out of work list' in a somewhat timely manner. This helps to selfpolice an industry known fo r corruption and allows employees the ability to ensure they arepaid honestly fo r a fair days work and that their taxes are paid. However, if contractors havetota l control over the people they select to staff the projects, I believe the 'out of work' list willno longer be a viable option for carpenters as it may take several years to be dispatched toanother job. Some contractors wil l recognize this and wil l hold it over their employee's heads;


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to provide for their families, I fear a sizable portion of carpenters may feel obligated to agree tocorrupt practices in order to continue working.Please take into consideration that the Fun Mobmty clause in the currently proposed contractwill severely undermine the NYC District Council of Carpenters members' abili ty to fightpotential corruption. When a similar contract came up for a member vote, the contract wasoverwhelmingly voted against by the members primari ly due the concept of 'full mobility'.I thank you for your time.

S i n c e r e ~ ,~ j ) ~ t ~ J ) ~David Rohner O'RourkeCarpenters, local 926 (Brooklyn)


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Honorable Richard M. BermanUnited States District CourtSouthern District Of New YorkJob Steward AllianceDear Judge Berman;

CHAMBERS OF RICHARD M. BERMAN U.S.D.J.

The Job Steward Alliance is an assembly of certified U.S.C. Stewards that originated in June 2010. Thepurpose of this grassroots group is to unify the job stewards on the frontlines and create a supportgroup that would protect U.S.C. doctrines. Over the last two years the group has grown to almost twohundred certified job stewards and has been recognized by ou r internat ional union. We feel we areachieving the protection our jurisdiction, solidarity and helping to keep our union strong.Our group depends on the ou t of work list fo r its livelihood. These dedicated members do not travelaround with companies. After the job is completed, they return to the Out of Work List and wait for thenext dispatch. There are a large number of stewards that take advantage of the steward status becauseone gets sent out from the list much sooner then the regular rank and f ile. We have a challenge in ourunion trying to keep the stewards essential principles front and center while not to jumping the O.W.L.fo r ones personal gain.Over many discussions on the Full Mobility issue, our group is unanimously opposed to what this policyholds. As the union representatives dedicated to upholding the rules and regulations on the job sitesaround New York City, we see this more clearly than most. We witness how companies manipulate therules and the workers for their advantage. Many company workers are intimidated into compliance.These members wi ll never speak out against their employer for fear of being replaced by a worker thatwill ignore safety and unfairness. Many company men and women secretly depend on the job stewardto speak on their behalf with suggestions when the boss is not around in fear of being a whistle blower.Sometimes a dishonest steward buddies up with the boss. This is when the major source of corruption isestablished. The underpinnings of corruption are when these bad stewards leave members off theirsteward reports and add ghost workers. This new technological campaign with devices does nothing toimpede this practice.The million dollars that this exploratory compliance policy could be better well spent on the dilapidatedmedical benefits our members have lost. Only better educated members, sincerely committed stewardsand severe penalties to violators can stop corruption. The new "two member" jobs undermine thefairness on a jobsite. There was a reason why our union always had the second man on the jobappointed as the union steward. They would protect U.S.C. doctrines, sustain contracts and keepjobsites on a level playing field. Now the second "company" worker will be appOinted the job stewardresponsibilities without any mandatory steward training and their apparent allegiance to their currentemployer. Perhaps permitting the seasoned, proven stewards not waiting on the O.W.L. would help ourunion? These veteran stewards hkave b1eden t h r o h ~ g h ~ u . m e r o u s l c d l a s l s l es, tYhears of x ~ e : s ~ ~ i n i n g _and have invaluable "hands on"witness by example, how a stew

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be a good steward in a class room. Stewards that have dedicated their careers for over 20 years shouldbe rewarded and not waste their leadership skills at home on the O.W.L. Inexperienced stewards aregiven large jobs and are easily manipulated by the bad contractors. We owe it to these devoted men andwomen to keep them working before they retire after all they have invested in our union.These are some other issues that the J.S.A. feel should be considered and are not in the conversation onFull Mobility:Intimidation to receive cash payments: This harms the benefits department and creates a bond betweencontractor and worker not to protest because they are equally engaging in an unlawful act. This toxicenvironment is a corruption that must not be tolerated. This also contributes to tax evasion andfraudulent behavior.Oppress members to not speak out Workers are forced to ignore OSHA and other health and safetyregulations. This behavior contributes to the potential for accidents that could kill or wound innocentworkers of aU trades on the job site. This also undermines our obligation to the U.B.C. Constitution.Lumping and quota mandates: To enforce work production and quotas is a violation of the contracts andthe U.B.C. doctrines. This creates dissension between all members and makes one look like they aremore indispensable to the contractor then the member dispatched from the O.W.L.Discrimination: This will open the flood gates for member inequity. Older members that cannot work asfast as a younger worker will be cast aside in the name of production. Women will be treated differentlyand only kept around when a quota is required to keep or on specific jobs. Race discrimination will beallowed to run rampant on all jobs. Quotas will be kept only when they are mandatory and enforceable.Standards and quality production: The workmanship and the superiority that unions have based theirreputation on will be compromised. Jobs will be rushed and the level of quality will be left behind leaving abad name on unions to compete with the non-union sector.

Judge Berman, we ask that you consider these important issues the J.SA feels need to be addressed inthe Full Mobility conversation. We are firmly committed to protecting our union and its members. We canonly do this with your help by keeping a level playing field for our honorable men and women to providefor their families with dignity. Please reject the Full Mobility clause in the up-coming contract.Thank you for your time and interest of our memberships concerns.

Respectively yours,Job Steward AllianceMarch 9th , 2013JSANYC.COM


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Honorable Richard M. BermanUnited States District CourtSouthern District Of New York

Dear Judge Bennan,


Allow me to introduce myself: My name is Mitchell Sonntag. I am a certified Job Steward thatlias worked with the tools ofour trade for the last 32 years. I have been elected to various electedoffices in our union over the last 13 years. Last month I was elected president ofCarpentersLocal 157 on a grassroots populist backlash against a wellfunded slate nominated by theExecutive Secretary Treasurer of the District Council.We all thank you for the opportunity to express our opinions on the proposed CollectiveBargaining Agreements for the New York City District Council ofCarpenters.

In my opinion, the proposed CBA's are a travesty that will erode the objectives ofthe ConsentDecree and will lead to a wave of clandestine corruption.So-called "Full Mobility" is a Trojan horse and a misnomer. The contactors assert they need it beremain competitive. The "Great Recession" of the past few years led to construction industryunemployment levels of approximately 30%. Yet not a single major signatory contractor wentout ofbusiness in that period. It is my understanding when the 67% - 33% ratio wasimplemented by the SDNY, contractors were asked to provide documentation to prove theirclaims of economic hardship but were unable to do so.The current and past CBA's allow any contractor to tenninate any employee without any priornotice. For example, if a carpenter is referred to a job and is deemed unqualified to perfonn thejob that person can be fired that same day and the carpenter will have no recourse against theemployer. Full Mobility is a control mecl\anism over their workforce.The big lie of the contractors and their allies in the District Council leadership is the majority ofcarpenters on the Out ofWork List are somehow under qualified, lazy or unwilling to work. Thisis a discriminatory and false mantra that cloaks the unspoken fact that the demographics ofmanycontractor workforces are a quilt ofnepotism and good old boy networks. It is not purely aboutskills, frequently it is who you know that keeps carpenters employed.Fonner District Council President Peter Thomassens contemptuous awarding of "Full Mobility"to profitable contractors in 2000 lead to a corporate crime wave by unscrupulous contractorswhich lead to millions of dollars lost to benefit fund fraud. Contractor labor racketeering beginswith low bids being placed on knowing a core group of employees that willingly will defraud thebenefit funds by working for less or for cash.Unfortunately, most carpenters know ofno prosecutions and or convictions of contractorsupervisors, estimators, accountants and most importantly union c a r p e n t e ~ ~ ~ ~ ' " ~ ' ~ ' ~ . ~ ~ = = =participated in conspiracy to defraud our union benefit funds. The generapeople that get in trouble for benefit fund fraud are stewards and council ; y ~ : t W t l ! o n l y~ t a i M l S N . J l l t hELECTRONICALLYFI

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the implementation of "Full Mobility" the stage is set for more corruption, destructive economicstratification of the membership and workplace discrimination and abuse.While I have your attention, I would like to add word on the NYCDCC Delegate Body. I am anelected District Council Delegate. It is a dysfunctional mess. It is a soviet-style democracy, withthe outward appearance of a functioning democracy when in reality it is staged show thatbenefits the oligarchy of the District Council. We have experienced By-Law violations by theleadership, selective dissemination of information, omission of information, seeminglypurposefully abridged minutes that clearly do not accurately reflect the proceedings. DistrictCouncil employee/delegates have a super-majority in the delegate body and they appear to beutilizing parliamentary tactics that tend to put a damper on true exchange and meaningful debateat delegate meetings to the determent of the membership.

Sincerely,Mitchell SonntagUnion CarpenterMarch 10, 2013


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Hector R. Cartagena, Jr.521 Manhattan Avenue

------------_ ...... -RICHARO M. 7 ~ 1 ,;..s.o.J.

Hawthorne, NY 10532914-282-9151Job-StewardUBC# 4951-8222March 6, 2013

~ i ~ ~ 1 ~ 3 j [nited States District JudgeHonorable Richard M. Berman USDCSDNY CHAMBERS OF500 Pearl Street . [,,,., JMENT RICHARD M. BERMANU.S.D.J.ew York, NY 10007 r J :CTRONICALLY FILEDDOC #:___-----DArE FILED: 0 3 / l \ / I':>Your Honor,

I am writing to you today to share with you my thoughts on the proposedFull Mobility. I am a 27 year member of the New York City District Council ofCarpenters. I have attended their 4 year technical college for 23 year's. 1am highlyskilled and highly trained.I started my career with Local 17 in the Bronx. When they underwentrestructuring, I found myself a member of Local608. When 608 lost its charter, I

found myself a member of Local 157.I share this with you because I wantyou to know that I have been throughmany changes and restructuring processes. Where many find change scary andunwelcomed I know change to be a normal and inevitable part of life. I also want toshare with you that I have served all three locals as a Job Steward. That I haveserved as a Job Steward proudly for close to 20 years.It is with this history in the field that I share with you my thoughts. It is myunderstanding that the issue of Full Mobility was presented to the membership in

the form of a vote. That the rank and file membership voted down and byoverwhelming numbers, they turned down the fun mobility. I t is also myunderstanding that the vote was open to both Company Men and the Men who gettheir work from the OWL. Yet it was still voted down. Most members know thatthis industry is riddled with corruption.

, The Companies run their work force with propaganda. To the pOint that itsounds like a broken (vinyl) record.


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A. You're from the Local, you're unskilledB. You get your work from the OWL, you must suckC. You're a Job Steward, you must be lazy

It goes on and on. Same with the corruption. It's at all levels. The forms andshapes too many to list. I tell you this hoping you understand that it evenhappens at the Company Level. That greed is America's biggest disease. Togive the Contractor's Association Full Mobility is Absolute Power. Which willmost definitely lead to Absolute Corruption.

It is my belief that the Delegate Body that voted to include the FullMobility in the present contract currently before you, violated the trust themembership put in them. The membership made their wishes apparent yetthe Delegate Body ignored their voting results. One can't help to ask whattheir agenda might be, if this is one of those apparent forms of corruption.Where the taste for a higher salary at the Council Level has turnedRepresentatives of the membership into Council "Yes" Men.

As a born American, raised on Democracy, I have to ask respectfullyso, that you turn down the present contract. That you recognize and respectthe fact that the membership as a majority does not want Full Mobility. Iguess all that I could ask, is that you consider all that I have said when youmake your final decision. That you realize that if you decide to let FullMobility through i t will only open the door for only more Corruption in anIndustry that is already plagued.Sincerely concerned,

Hector R. Cartagena, Jr.Job StewardUBC #4951-8222


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90 C S-=J-zz

March 10, 2013CHAMBERS OFRICHARD M. BERMANHon. Richard M. Bennan U.S.D.J.United States District Judge

500 Pearl StreetNew York, NY 10007-1312Dear Judge Berman:Here they echoed the arguments o fslavery advocates like John C. Calhoun and GeorgeFitzhugh, who claimed that chattel slavery, was more humane andjust than wage-labor marketcompetition. Slavery provided a kind ofcradle-to-grave welfare state for its workers, becauseowners had a permanent economic interest in the whole person, while northern employers hadonly a temporary interest in the worker while he was productive and exploitable. This view ofthemoral equivalence ofslave labor and wage labor led some cynical Europeans to observe that theCivil War was nothing more than a disagreement between one group o fcapitalists who wantedto own their slaves and another group o fcapitalists who wanted to rent their slaves by the hour.Labor leaders claimed that northern antislavery advocates failed to see that capitalism actuallygave employers so much economic power that they did not needphysical coercion inOrder to dictate terms to their workers. This was the principal argument infavor ofunionpower-unions provided a countervailing power to that oforganized employers. Unions U leveledthe playingfield, " and were necessary to address the fact ofunequal bargainingpower (Hale 1923, Reynolds 1991)Revert back to slavery? That is exactly what Full Mobility will achieve. Complete power in thehands of the employer/corporations. Presently, organized employers are more sophisticated thanever whereby, absolute power corrupts absolutely. Quite simply, any corruption that may haveexisted in the past was initiated by those most likely to benefit: The Company.With Full Mobility nepotism will run rampant. In many companies your success depends notonly on the caliber of your carpentry skills, but on how much the foreman likes, or dislikes you.These large and small companies have evolved with employees that have served the companiesfor years and others for decades. What has developed over the years is a form of GROUPDYNAMICS whereby new workers from the out of work list are often rejected. Company menare rotated from job to job within the company as Company men and Requests from the OWL.While these company men enjoy full time employment, 4 to 5000 men remain on the OWLdeveloping Skill Atrophy.

Regarding corruption, the Motorola scanning device is not any more effective than the presentday sheet system for Stewards reports. However effective, the cost of the device is significant.Handing in Steward's reports in person allows the Steward to communicate with Businessrepresentatives and other Stewards regarding the conditions with our union and companies.The Court wrote: "This Court, sitting in equity, will not fashion a remedy that is wholly in favorof contractors, while denying any relief to union carpenters for whose e J ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ! ' J I i b = = =Rules were drafted and included in the Consent Decree." USDC SDNY

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I conclude that a fair and proper remedy, having in mind the several interests affected by it, willinclude these elements:(1) Abolish the Request System in its present form. This will require that the relevant provisionsin the 2006 CBAs be declared void.(2) Allow a contractor to select particular carpenters for a job up to but not in excess of67percent of the total carpenter work force. That percentage is made up of the contractor's SOpercent under the SO/SO Rule, and an additional 17 percent, representing one-third of, and tocount against, the Union's SO percent. The remaining 33 percent of the carpenter work force willbe assigned by the Union from the OWL.(3) Restore the six-month provision contained in Job Referral Rule 5(B), so that a contractorcannot request a carpenter and have that carpenter count against the Union's 50 percent unlessthat carpenter has been employed by that contractor during the previous six months. But underno circumstances may carpenters chosen under Rule 5(B) count against the 33 percent assignedby the Union directly from the OWL.This resolution is fair and equitable because it recognizes contractor's economic and competitiveconcerns by allowing them to select most of the carpenter work force on any particular project,while restoring the Out-of-Work List as a meaningful source of employment for carpentersseeking work.Sincerely,


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Honorable Richard M. BermanUnited States District CourtSouthern District Of New YorkBill Walsh8423 14th AvenueBrooklyn, New York, 11228Dear Judge Berman;

1 5 ) ~ ~ ~ \ Y l ~ fIlM lQAR 11 2013CHAMBERS OFRICHARD M. BERMANU.S.D.J.

March 8th , 2013

I am a proud member of Local 157, of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters. Over the last twentyseven years I have participated with my union in many capacities. I have been a certified job steward forover twenty years. Elected Delegate to the NYCDCC and served as Financial Secretary for Local 157 in2001 for two terms. I founded the Fraternal Order of Woodworkers and helped to form the Job StewardAlliance. Currently I am the Financial Secretary of Local 157, a Delegate and a member on the NYCDCCAudit Committee.At the recent cour t status hearing on February 2th, 2013, I was given the privilege to address the courtwith concerns that I feel are of great consequence to my union. The Full Mobility issue is the numberone interest that I have. Hundreds of members have directed me time and time again that they areagainst Full Mobility the contractors are trying to impress the membership with. As you know in thepast, the members voted against Full Mobility and they are still against it today. Please advocate thatthe members may have an active roll in their future and recommend they get to vote on their contract.The only reason why the recent contract vote returned to the Delegates voting is because some didn'tcare for the results from when the members voted down the last contract with Full Mobility.

Members that endorse Full Mobility are "company" workers who are distressed to be dispatched fromof f the "out of work list" and cling onto the contractor avoiding confrontational situations. Many otherunions operate their work dispatches with the union supplying the workforce with different ratios like90% from the union out of work list and 10% from the company. I believe we should have theconservation about this long overdue "Skills Certification" program within our Labor Technical College.Every member should be required to pass an ability competency test so the contractor cannot complainthey are not getting the qualified members. Contractors have been cherry picking the O.W.L.'s mostskilled workers and carrying them in their hip pockets for years. All the fruit has been picked from thetree by abusing the request system. Then contractors complain they can't get a superior carpenter fromthe O.W.L. after fleecing the system for years with help from our past corrupt leadership.To take away the out of work list and give the company all the control on a job site will forever changewhat a union stands for. Workers deserv,e a proper safe, non-competi tive workplace that will allowthem to provide for their families. The new "two member" jobs undermine the fairness on a jobsite.There was a reason why our union always had the second man on the job aPPOinted the union steward.They would protect U.B.C. doctrines and keep contractors on a level playing field. Now they will appointthe second "company" worker the job steward responsibilities without any trai nallegiances to their employer. This new contract allows the third man dispatch


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list as a steward. Numerous jobs are done by two members on an International Agreement andcomplete a major part of the work. Then the contractor will bring in an outsized crew to rush the projectand press the workers. This atmosphere is toxic and sets the stage for corruption. If you don't jump highenough and fast enough, regardless of safety, you won't be invited to the next job. You will face the longwait and feel the wrath of being on the O.W.l. When it was a SO/50 ratio, dedicated union memberswere the compliance program. The committed, loyal rank and file would report back to our union ifsomething was fraudulent on a job. They knew they would return to the O.W.l. when the jobs werecompleted and not be invited to the next job. They were not looking the other way just to be asked tobest sent to the upcoming job. Imagine how members would unify and support each other if they allknew they would be on the O.W.L. together? Loyalty would be with the union the way it should be, notthe company.This new compliance posture is only a technological panacea that will not prevent the corruption thatwas conducted in the past. There is no provision to stop a corrupt steward from adding or keeping aworker off the $1.000.00computer device. This was the main component of how the On Pars anddishonest stewards robbed our membership of millions of dollars. I suggested to the court last weekthat we keep the current written reports and tweak them to accommodate new poliCies at our Council.However, the most important component of this idea is to demand severe penalties when a corruptsteward and contractor try to deceive our union. Expulsion and criminal charges with the U.S, Attorneywould be a definite deterrent to crimes. In the past and even today, a corrupt member gets a small fineand a stern warning. Crime pays in our union. Many have robbed us, became very wealthy and vanishedunscathed.With a vague million dollar price tag on this exploratory compliance program, perhaps we could begiving back the lost medical benefits to the devoted retirees and members. Why can't we commence asix month trial period with new unyielding penalties and an up-dated paper job steward report systembefore we commit to this expensive experimental up-grade? I am a strong advocate for moving with thetimes and using technology but this program has more negatives than positive prospects for the cost.Members being able to cross check hours on a jobsite are a step in the right direction but by no means amajor deterrent to corruption. Only a very small percentage of members will actually participate withthis "Watch Dog" program.The other major problem is that the due process demanded by the court in the stipulation and order hasnot always been followed in my opinion. I am a Delegate for the members of Local 157 It is myresponsibility to listen to my membership and bring their concerns to the Delegate body floor in a timelymanner. Numerous times the Council has presented there agendas without giving the Delegates enoughtime to go back to the members for their input. This is wrong and violates the Consent Decree. Theunbalanced Delegate body is comprised of more paid salaried NYCDCC employees then rank and filemembers. A salaried employee will always support what's in their best interest when it comes to whosigns their check and pays their mortgage. The newest contract that we are currently reviewing wasvoted on in August of 2012. This contract had a totally different compliance formula then one we areasked to consider today. The new evolving devices and expenditures were not part of what was votedon back in August. Back in the original compliance proposal, the Labor Management Department was to


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split the cost of the compliance program with the contractor bu t now our membership must foot theentire bill. This is wrong and completely unlike the August contract. The Delegates didn't even vote onthis new proposal that you are asked to rule on. Is that what the court desires?Once again, thank you fo r always permitting the members participate in the court hearings and listeningto the members. The Contractors and the NYCDCC have their agendas. The members only have theirhard work, principles and your wisdom to make this right for future carpenters.Your Honor, I realize you must have countless cases a year. A Review Officer is appointed to supervise,report back to the court with their recommendations and give their opinion to a Judge. Our ReviewOfficer Dennis Walsh has done an extraordinary job to help get our union on firm ground. With hisguidance and supervision we now have established protocols and proven policies in place to moveforward. Someday Mr. Walsh will move onto to other prospects and we will come to finally operating ahealthy organization on our own, free of corruption. Please don't forget the rank and file voices who arethe ones who bear the load fo r many.We depend on a fair and honorable union and appreciate when you allow us to speak. We hope you arelistening.

jitJJlBill Walsh


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ELECTRONICALLYFILEDDOC : . _ - - - - - . , . . _ ~ _DATE FILED: '3 It... \


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!I I I \ !

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c f.tlt -It '1),e"r~ O ORD;?A::s- - - - - - - - - - _ ......- - RICHARD M. BE,Rf.ANj!.S.D.J.

Honorable Richard M. Berman 'I'"/'3f 5 ) ~ ~ U \ Y l ~ f O I U\i MAR llZ013 U!J11/2013 CHAMBERS OFRICHARD M. BERMANU.S.D.J.Southern District of New York

HE 90 Civ 5722(RMB)

As a long time member and shop steward I'm gravely concerned about the proposed -FullMobility"'. As well as the institution of the new 3 dispatch rule regarding Carpenters on the Outof Work Ust. Both are in direct opposition to rebounding from entr enched corrupt practices,officers and contractors. The maladies are not fully remedied.The members cast their individual votes directly against such a travesty as is the MFul1 MobilitY'months ago in 2012. OUrs ballots cannot be silenced by an end run. This nation was built onthe democratic premise of the individual vote collectively speaking for the people. This issacred.We are fighting for the union that we deserve, despite finanoal and emotional cost.The Carpenters union is fraught with historic bias against women, people of color, olderworkers and those vocal against corruption and unfair practices. Heaven help those score thequadruple.The union must be setup to serve the majority and carry out their will. Not to -setup" thehistorically oppressed. Further delegating their families to loss of health insurance, lack ofcollege opportunitieS, and a bleak reti rement future.The ratio of company people to those from the out of work list should not increase, as it isalready grossly unfair to the members. The -Full Mobility'" along with the 3 dispatch rule wouldincrease the corruption and oppression exponentially. Neither is fair, democratic, or in the bestinterest of the union membership.

( i i f i l Y 1 ' 6 ' i l r v o ~ * 1 I l ' arfa-w.mnh'gs- o f ~ f f i e m i l ' e r m l l t wrto w d t i t ' a r n ~ - m m : : ' t r < ! < J ttraininS and Hvelihood?

g0 .nkY '\~ 3 ~

eronica SessionCarpenter LU 926 USDCSDNYDOCUMENT

ELECTRONICALLY FILEDDOC#:- - - - - - - - ~ ~ - - - -DATE FILED: b s / r z 1 r ~


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1 f I j ) ~ ~ U rmDemian D. Schroeder14 Meadow Street IJ\i J1AR 122013Brooklyn, NY 11206March 11,2013 RICCHHAARDMSERSOF

M.SERM ' tHon. Richard M. Berman - _ - ! : U ! : 2 : . S . ~ D . J ~ . ~ . . . . w 11 lo,,.,, United States District Judge Daniel Patrick Moynihan SO O R ~ r : > .. United States Courthouse IC , Fl D 500 Pearl St. RiCHARDM. BERMA1lisf.J-: - - New York, NY 10001-1312 I' 2f tSubject: Uniled Siales v. Districl o u n c i ~ el ai., 90 Civ. 5722 (RMB) 1, 1.3Reference: Document 1231, ftled 2-27-13Dear Judge Berman:

Thank you for permitting verbal, and written comments, to be heard by the Court.I am a union carpenter, Certified Steward, and Member ofLocal 45, Queens.My reason for writing is to request the attached petition be filed, to supplement the letter I submitted toYour Honor in Court, (2/27/13.)The petition includes six rank-and-ftle Carpenters, who all agree with the contents of that document, and are Members ofLocal Unions affiliated with the District Council. Also, the article "Job Rules ofCarpenters' Union Encourage Corruption, U.S. Charges" by journalistSteven Greenhouse, published in the New York Times, September 15,2005, provides relevant historicalcontext for anticipating the potential effects from 100% employer control of hiring, on our future; sowe recommend this story be added to the Court record, as well.Respectfully,Demian D. Schroeder

USDCSDNYDOCUMENTELECTRONICALLY FILEDDOC : - - - - = ~ r - - - -DATE FILED: OS/ii/t 5


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Respectfully submitted,NYCDCC Rank & File CarpentersName: Date: Local Union No.

LoctCL 4S- - 4 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ - - ~ ~ ~ ' _ 4 ~ - ~ ______ ~ ~ ~ ~ __

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ __ ~ ~ ~ ______ ~ ~ ~ J 9 0~ __ ~ ____ ~ __ ~ ~ ____ ~ - _ 5 ___1_3___________ O _ G A _ ~ ~ q _ ~ _ ~ __

~ ~ r D h \ ( ~ S e S ~ ~ \ a Y )

~ - 2 7 - / 3 LOCAL IfS

Tuesday, March 27, 2012 157blogspot.comUnion carpenters reject work-rule changes


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http://www.nytimes.coml200S/09I1S/nyregionllScarpenters.htmlSeptember 15.2005Job Rules ofCarpenters' Union Encourage Corruption, U.S. ChargesBy STEVEN GREENHOUSEFederal prosecutors have asked ajudge to hold New York City's carpenters' union in contempt for changing theunion's job referral system without government approval, arguing that the changes will encourage morecorruption.The United States attorney in Manhattan, David N. Kelley, said in a motion that in changing the job referralsystem, the New York City District Council ofCarpenters violated a consent decree it signed in 1994 in responseto a federal effort to eliminate corruption. Prosecutors said the union was dominated by the Genovese crimefamily, and it was widely criticized for letting mob bosses pick carpenters to put up and take down displays atthe Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. The consent decree requires the district council, which represents nearly25,000 carpenters, to obtain federal approval before changing its job referral system.In court papers made public this week, Mr. Kelley argued that the changes give construction contractors far moreleeway to hire whichever carpenters they want, irrespective of length of unemployment. The old systemgenerally required them fIrst to hire the carpenters who had been unemployed the longest.Prosecutors say corruption will be easier under the new system because contractors will have more power topressure unemployed carpenters to do their bidding."Because contractors can handpick virtually 100 percent of the work force at a job site, carpenters are nowbeholden to contractors for job opportunities," Mr. Kelley wrote. "Carpenters who are at the mercy of employersfor job assigmnents know that if they stand up for the enforcement ofunion rules or legal requirements or refuseto work of f the books or for cash when asked by a contractor, they run the risk ofbeing laid off."Many contractors prefer paying workers of fthe books, he said, to avoid paying fringe benefIts and to hideevidence that wages are below those required by the union contract.Mr. Kelley fIled the contempt motion last month with Judge Charles S. Haight Jr. of United States District Courtin Manhattan, who oversees the consent decree. The government also wants the district council's president, PeterThomassen, cited for contempt. The union has until October to fIle its response.Gary Rothman, a lawyer for the council, defended the revamped system, saying it was part of a contract, signedin 2001, that is good for the city's carpenters."The employers wanted the ability to hire whom they want and when they want without restriction, and theunion got a good deal out of it," Mr. Rothman said. "They got a 25% percent increase over fIve years. That was amagnificent contract. The journeyman carpenter makes over $70 an hour with benefits."Mr. Rothman questioned why prosecutors fIled their contempt motion four years after the contract was signed.He defended Mr. Thomassen, saying he was just one member ofa 20-person negotiating team.The United States attorney's office declined to elaborate on the motion.Many rank-and-fIle carpenters say the current job referral system is unfair because it has left many of themunemployed for months at a time, while favored carpenters find steady work."This new job request system is horrible," said Gregory Butler, a Harlem resident who has been in the union for13 years. "It's among the worst things that ever happened to us. They can get guys who work fOT cash. They canget guys to work for less than the regular rate. IUnder union rules, companies must hire hal fof their carpenters from the union's out-of-work list. Before 2001employers also had the right to give priority to unemployed workers who had worked for them in the previoussix months.But now employers can hire virtually anyone they want off the out-of-work list.


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Daniel Patrick Moynihan CHAMBERS OF-United States Courthouse (It/l +0 J.,let. R I C H A ~ ~ s ' i . ~ . E R M A N500 Pearl Street ~ i 9 ORDERED:New York, NY 1 0 0 0 7 - 1 ~ _ _ R..!\S____ ...__ .:::.'

RICHARD M. BERMAN U.S.D.J. - . ,Dear Judge Berman, VI)/r? March 10, 2013I first want to thank you for accepting comments on full mobility and

the implementation of the technology to combat corruption.In the past the NYC District Council of Carpenters leadership we'rethe facilitators of corruption along with Contractors and the Mob. As Mr.

Walsh had mentioned in one of his interim reports I'll paraphrase "Localbusiness agents had their own fiefdoms with a compliment of badintentioned players" (Companies, BA's, Mobsters, and Stewards). It shouldbe noted that's the way things were run. If a member were to speak upthey would be blackballed. The international would be fully aware of thesituations and would do nothing to act on behalf of the membership. I willrecall Paschal Mc Guiness EST of NYCDCC who was convicted ofembezzlement and barred from being a member or employee of the DC.Subsequently he was embraced by Douglas Mc Carron and appointedpresident of the building trades of NY by a very corrupt Mc Carron, Just oneof this man's misdeeds against the membership that provides his living.

So as we stand today any contractor can buy limited full mobil ity fortwo carpenters on a job through an International agreement. TheInternational lets the contractor have two company men work a jobwithout a steward.I would provide the exact details of the International if someonewould furnish them to me. I read the court transcripts from 2/27/13 whenBen Torrance said "historically in the bad old days the contractors wouldpay the members cash to avoid paying the benefits for the members". I say

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to you Sir that the situation wi ll become dire if you le t the contractor havesay over how the jobs are manned.

The men working fo r the company will not speak out against themfor fear of being fired. Jobless carpenters can't pay their bills or feed theirfamilies with no work. Most members don't show up at the councilmeetings because they are disgusted with the way they have been treatedby the District Council Management. With Scott Danielson as the head ofthe IG's office you may as well place John Gotti as the EST of NYCDCC. Letme say that the 67% - 33% ratio given to the contractor already is almostnever enforced by the business representatives currently in place. The levelof experience of the reps varies from mid-grade to subpar. They come tojobs and never have the agreements to reference to members, and theirbest answer to every question is "you're lucky you are working".

The lack of concern or action by the DC on behalf of the members isthe reason that participation is at an all time low. If you listen to the DC youwould be led to believe that shop stewards are the cause of all theproblems at the funds office. I would remind you that a previous head ofthe benefit funds (Stuart Grabois) was a prosecutor in a court of law, whocouldn't recognize the corruption that was happening in front of him. AlsoJoseph Oliveri was a Wall and Ceiling executive and trustee of the DC. Mr.Oliveri is an associate of La Cosa Nostra. To give full mobility to the Walland Ceiling association would be a slap in the face to every honest hardworking carpenter in the NYCDCC. Please remember that the Internationalput the current Grievance Committee in place under their recentsupervision. Finally, the 4,000-6,000 dues paying members could literallydie waiting fo r work on the very dysfunctional Out of Work List (OWL).Every other construction trade sends out a much higher percentage of theirmembers from the hiring hall with a good deal of success. One last issue inregards to the anti corruption technology, I read in the transcripts that Mr.Murphy said that labor management was kind enough to give lmilliondollars to implement a trial run of the technology. He also mentioned thatthe LMC had an addit ional 12 million dollars in that fund as well. Thecontractors were paying the bribes to avoid paying benefits, although there

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were members taking cash I think the contractors should bore theresponsibility of payment because they initiated the misdeeds thatdefrauded the members. Judge Berman I already pay $19,000.00 a year formedical benefits through the DC for my family. The benefits that I receivehave a 10% deductible and the highest co-pay in the construction industry, Icannot afford to make to owners of the companies any better off then theyare already.

The implementation of this technology is a good idea for themembers to get the benefits and vacation checks that they were robbed ofin the past by corrupt DC employees and Contractors. The fact that thebenefits can be disputed by the contractor will clog up the benefits fundsand will furnish the contractors with the excuses they willwant to withhold payments. I noticed the wording that the benefit hourswould be able to be disputed a week after the pay checks were issued; thisis alarming because I've personally waited for pay checks for two weeks ormore at times. Also the language used in court about the stewards beingresponsible for the scanners is too vague, am I atfault if the software is faulty or the unit gets a virus online? I have nocontrol over that. What about the possibilities of the benefits funds gett inghacked? For any corrupt contractor that wants too, they can pay someoneto do that.If the Department of Defense is vulnerable to being hacked it's safe toassume that the DC benefit funds are as well.Judge Berman the fact of the deficient behavior by the DC with theapproval of unlawful By-Laws that have yet to be corrected by the ROdoesn't sit well with the membership. It breeds a deep distrust that hasnever been quelled by any authority. As well the DC did not post on-line acomplete contract for review by the members. The memberswon't be able to competently contact their delegates and direct them howto vote on the contract without information. The members already voteddown contracts in 2012 and would like the opportunity to vote again as areal democracy would. I will include emails and the DC's responses to the

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questions to-provide you with the better understanding on how they treatthe membership.

I trust you Judge to prescribe your objective sense and say no to fullmobil ity and payment of the technology by the membership.Thank You your Honor for your time and consideration .Sincerely, Mr. WiUiam Kane Local 2287 ~ W ~ / ~

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(129 unread) - enakllib - Yahoo! Mail Page 1 of 1

Search Mail Search Web !:! Hi, billSENT CONTACTS CALENDAR Fw: MollY .. 2287 Meet Re: 2287 .. Re: 2287 .. 1 Fw: 2287 ..

Compose Delete Move Actionslnbox (129) Re: 2287 MeetIng from bill kane to 1 recipient Aug 21, 2012ConversatiOnsDrafts Mr.Wa I please let me know what action was taken against KevinFleming.Thank: you Sincerely William KaneSentSpam (15) From: bill kane To: Dennis Walsh Trash Sent Wednesday, June 27,20126:20 PM

Subject Re: 2287 MeetingFOLDERSMESSENGER Thank: you Mr.WalshAPPUCATlON8

From: Dennis Walsh .. . To: bill kane

f ''t Sent Wednesday, June 27,20124:43 PMSubject Re: 2287 Meeting.... . Bill: I will look in to this. DMWNew Rule in New York. UttIeNeck M If you pay for car insurancein New York you'd better read this . On Jun 27. 2012, at 4:35 PM, bill kane wro(e:{Comparisons.oTg}

Dear Mr.walsh,Hi Dennis 1m writing to (ell you about my experience at last weeks 2287 meeting. Iwas asking Kevin Fleming about the NYFCA {Mark Breslin contractors informationalspeech. President F leming went over some of the details of that speech,so I asked himsome opposing questions about the meeting and he started hitting the gavel to (ell me Iwas out oforder.Mr.Walsh I will be the frrst to admit to you if I was out of order, tsimply was that Kevin Fleming wasnt intres!ed in any opposing points of view. Mr.Fleming was asked many opposing questions which seem to anger and f1us(er him to thepoint where he ajourned the meeting fOf 10 minutes. I thought this was odd, lve neverseen any union official adjourn a meeting because they didnt like the questions they werebeing asked. I was very upset and called out to him asking ifhe needed to call JohnMcGrath to tell him what to do next,he responded back that i should "suck his dick". ididnt respond to him. Dennis i know that im not the easiest member to deal with ,butbehavior like this is very unbecoming for someone who is president of a union. I wouldlike this President to pubicly apologize to the membership for his lack of marmers or i fhe refuses I will bring him up on charges and asked that he be censured for his lack ofjudgment . Thank: you for your time with this matter. Sincerely William Kane 516-9743956

'1;

3110/2013http://us-mg6.mail.yahoo.comlneo/launch?.rand=7htqvlpu4kklv


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Search Web

CALENDAR Looking for contract .. Fw: Posting DC conlr...Delete Move Actions

Fw: PoeUng DC contracts on the website from bill kane to 1 recipient 0",,20.2012

- Forwarded Message- From: K_me Patlel1lOll


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Search Web [ ! Hi, billSENT CONTAC... CALEND. .. Fw:Cur.. Fw:Cur... Re: Cur .. Fw:Cur... UpcomI... r Re: Upc ..

AdChoicesCompose Oelete Move ActionslnOO.. (129) Re: UpcomIng CBA'S from bill kane to 1 recip\e!1t MarS, 2012Conversations

Mr Wa 'a s the reason it took an entire week to answer this email. Who infonned you that you would not be releasing the notes from the flnorcoveres negotiations( Name and Sent Title please).Mr.Walker I would like to infonn you that this is a trade UNlON not a Monarchy there is no such thing as ultimate authority in a democratic organization. Maybe

Drafts

Spam(15) those individuals that you noted to be in ultimate control can also be ultimatley responsiblefor theyre actions as well. I invite you Mr.Walker to exercise yoor right to come to theTrash meeting to experience the REALITY of what members are concerned about, and you could FOLDERS answer questions from the people who provide the funding for the paycheck you deposit everyweek.Thank you sir. Sincerely William Kane 516-974-3956 MESSENGERAPPLICATIONS

From: Matt Walker To: bm kane Sent: Tuesday, Mardi 6, 2012 10:30 AM Subject: RE: Upcoming CBA'S BiII-J only have the name of the lead member John McGrath, John Ballantyne and Frank Spencer as

New Rule in New York ut!Ie Sopervisor and Asst Supervisor had ultimate authority at that time. The council will not be releasingNed< H you pay for car "",urancein New Yorl< you'd better read thi... notes that those members may have regarding the negotiations Please exercise your right to attend the{Comparisons.org} Forumfrown Hall meeting on 3-13-12. See below announcement from the DC website:All members are invited In attenda Town Hall meeting at IheDislrict COWIciI on Tuesday, Mardi 13th at 4:30pm.The Executive-Secretary T:reasun:r, President and Vi_President, as well ulhe RO, will address Ihe members inatteodam:e and _ ! h e i r questions regarding CBAs, Amalgamated and Ihe NLRB vore, court maItmI and anyother topic of geueral interest.The meeting will be held at on Ihe Second Floor at 395 Hudson Street, New York, NY (use CIarl


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- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

March 10, 201r" r: ~ ; ; u 'J:'

Hon. Richard M. Berman - Petition to Deny 'Full M o ~ : i ~ i ~2913 Sommer Plac

Bronx, NY 1046

BY FIRST CLASS MAILHon. Richard M. Berman CHAMBERS OFUnited States District Judge RICHARD M. BERMANDaniel Patrick Moynihan U.S.O.J.United States Courthouse500 Pearl St.New York, NY 10007-1312

Re: United States v. District Council, et 1. #1"'1 ~ . , . ~ ftC\ -If ~ l90 Civ. 5722 (RMB SDNY)Sf , ...J.+ .(. r, .r''I !.,14, f 'JPetition to Deny 'Full Mobility' S O O R ~ R E D : .((""S .

Dear Judge Berman:

Whereas, we understand 'Full Mobility' to be similarly or specifically defined as: the permittingof a contractor to select the entirety of its workforce, less the Steward that is to be dispatched

'blindly' from the Out-of-Work Lists (OWL); and 'Two-Man Jobs' as: the permitting ofacontractor to select the entirety of its workforce without a Steward;

Whereas, in 2007 Pete Thomassen and the NYCDCC were found in contempt of court;

Whereas, Judge Haight's "67/33" May 2009 order was in effect a reward to the Contractors for

their participation in the contempt of court allowing Contractors to request an additional 17% ofthe job workers beyond "SO/50" rather than reestabl ishing Consent Decree Job Referral Rule 5.B.

- 1 rF[rsDC SDNYI.l :rXl(lIMENT ItL L I : : : ~ ' T R O N I C A L L Y FILED IIDOC #:

L ~ i \ T E 1 ~ ' I L E D ~ - 5/13/1=1


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Hon. Richard M. Berman - Petition to Deny 'Full Mobility' March 10,2013

within "50/50";

Whereas, every contractor that did not have at least 50% until May 2009, and at least 33%thereafter, oftheir workers under the Wall-Ceiling and Carpentry Association (WCC) CBAdispatched to job from the OWL were in violation of the NYCDCC Job Referral Rules;

Whereas, in March 2012 the membership did not approve to the WCC CBA, it is generallyunderstood and accepted that the most significant reason for the rejection was the inclusion of'Full Mobility';

Whereas, it is evident with experience and information that 'Full Mobility', particularly 'TwoMan Jobs' under 'Full Mobility', will further embolden and provide additional opportunities for

contractors to: extort members to accept cash payments and forgo benefit payments in exchange for

current and future work, thereby committing tax evasion, benefits fraud and extortion;circumvent Out-of-Work Lists (OWLs), with circumvention of the OWL significantlyenabling contractor to 'blacklist'/'blackball' members;

ignore OSHA and other health and safety laws, thereby increasing the likeliness forhealth and safety violations and incidences;

enforce work production quotas, which are expressly forbidden in our CBA's; increase the hiding of faulty materials and poor and incomplete workmanship;

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Hon, Richard M. Berman - Petition to Deny 'Full Mobility' March 10,2013

commit age, sex, and race discrimination; older workers and females are far less likely to

employed, and the reduction or elimination ethnic diversification and the re-occurrence ofethnic segregation of entire crews to entire job-sites to entire companies will emergeagain with few to one ethnic groups;

there again will be crews,job-sites, and companies that will be mostly to wholly 'Irish','Eastern European', etc;

Whereas, 'Full Mobility' as currently stated does not specifY the number of times 'Full Mobility'may be violated before its removal and the enforcement of '50/50', Currently, the remedy statedis WCC CBA, Article VII, Section 6(b), "Any disputes hereunder shall be processed under thegrievance and arbitration procedures ofArticle XIII of this Agreement, The arbitrator shall beempowered [but not required] as a remedy to reinstate the 50:50 hiring ratio provisions ofSection 4 of this Article VII for the duration ofthis Agreement for any Employer found to haveacted willfully and with bad intent to violate the staffing and payrolling requirements of thisAgreement." Potentially and highly probable, reverting to '50/50' is not likely to be applied afterone infraction, consistently applied to II companies equally, or applied at all;

Whereas, 'Full Mobility' will increase apathy, further disenfranchise the membership, stifledemocracy, choke dissenters, and gag whistleblowers.

Whereas, 'Full Mobility' unequivocally circumvents social justice, one the founding principles of

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labor unions;

Whereas, "Full Mobility' will further oligarchic control ofour supposed representativedemocracy;

Whereas, 'Full Mobility' further converts the Union into a mere benefit funds administrator and'shell corporation' through which the Contractors transfer liability.

Whereas, 'Full Mobility' will eliminate for many members job opportunities and opportunities toup-keep and increase one's skills and knowledge.

Whereas, electronic submission of Steward Reports are admittedly more efficient than papersubmission and provides great opportunity for oversight of the membership by the membership,however effectiveness will be significantly reduced under 'Full Mobility'. 'Full Mobility' willencourage members to not report wrong-doing by their co-workers. Under 'Full Mobility'members will be more beholden to their employers and less supportive of their union due tocomplete contractor control of hiring and dismissal. Under 'Full Mobility', when a contractorlearns a member is a whistleblower, there is a greater likeliness that employment with thatcompany will not continue. When word of whistleblowers will travel throughout the industry,under 'Full Mobility', without contractors being required to use the OWL, members are moreeasily and likely to be 'blacklisted'l'blackballed';

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Hon. Richard M. Berman - Petition to Deny 'Full Mobility' March 10, 2013

Whereas, 'Full Mobility' was and is a 'negotiation' in bad faith. Overall, 'Full Mobility' is of greatbenefit to the Contractors and is of little benefit to the Union and its members. It destroys thebalance between Union and Contractor;

Whereas, 'Full Mobility' is anti-union because it removes significant influence from the Unionand transfers significant control to the Contractor;

Whereas, 'Full Mobility' is primarily about control not productivity. The controll ing effect of'Full Mobility' is not only over the job-site, or the workers on the job-site, or the workers duringwork-hours, or workers within the company. The controlling effect of Full Mobility' extendsbeyond the job-site, beyond work-hours, beyond the company. Members have been in the pastand will even more so under 'Full Mobility" be expected and required to work faster, work morehours during the work week, and take less vacation time in order to retain their current job andfuture job opportunities with a company;

Whereas, I, and other OWL/'Hall' members, particularly stewards, have observed for many yearshow beholden many, ifnot most, 'company-men' are to their employers. 'Full Mobility' willfurther this divisive and destructive hold of 'indentured servitude'. Subjugation through 'FullMobility' would be indefinite. Worker resistance to subjugation is one of the reasons why laborunions were initially formed and why they are still necessary. Moreover, subjugation will always

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lead to one of two actions: exodus or revolt;

Whereas, 'Full Mobility' further undermines the two purposes of the 1994 Consent Decree, ])"that there should be no criminal element or La Cosa N ostra corruption of any part of UnitedBrotherhood ofCarpenters and Joiners ofAmerica (the "UBCJA"), including the DistrictCouncil and its constituent local unions;" and 2) "to ensure that the District Council and itsconstituent local unions shall be maintained and run democratically, and without unlawfulinfluence from outside membership;"

Whereas, 'Full Mobility' is antithetical to the November 1,2010, UBC Constitution, Section 2,Objects: It does not help to organize workers. I t does not encourage an apprenticeship system. Itdoes not help to develop, improve and enforce the program and standards ofOccupational Safetyand Health. It does not cultivate friendship. It does not help to develop good public relations inthe community. It does not assist to secure employment. It does not reduce the hours of dailylabor. It does not coordinate bargaining toward the goal of taking wages out of competition. Itdoes not help to eliminate competition between members. It does not elevate the moral,intellectual and social conditions ofALL members and it does not improve the carpenters' trade;

Whereas, 'Full Mobility' is antithetical to the Aug 8, 2011, NYCDCC Bylaws, Preamble: It doesnot promote and protect the interest of the membership. It does not elevate the moral, intellectualor social conditions of all working men and women. It does not assist union members in sickness

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and distress. It does not encourage apprenticeship. It does not cultivate friendship. It does not

assist members to secure employment. It does not uphold the dignity of labor. It does not resistoppression;

Whereas, 'Full Mobility' is antithetical to the Aug 8, 2011, NYCDCC Bylaws, Section 2,Consistency with Judicial Orders: because it is inconsistent with the consent decree;

Whereas, 'Full Mobility' is antithetical to the Aug 8, 20 II , NYCDCC Bylaws, Section 3, Objects:It does not promote protect the interest of our membership. It is not democratic and it is not freefrom corrupt influence. It does not encourage an apprenticeship system. It does not elevate thestandard of the craft It does not cultivate a feeling a friendship amongst the members oftheBrotherhood. It is not assist the members in procuring employment. It does not protect themembers against injustice. It does not improve the moral, social and intellectual conditions of themembers in all working people;

Therefore, as a t7+ year member ofNYC Carpenters' Local Union 157, affiliated to the NewYork City and Vicinity District Council ofCarpenters (NYCDCC), as the only candidate to runagainst Forde for Executive Secretary-Treasurer in the 2008 NYCDCC election, as one of thetwo RO approved Executive Secretary-Treasurer candidates in the 2011 NYCDCC election, asan RO approved candidate in the 2012 NYCDCC Presidential election, as the recently electedLocal Union 157 Recoding Secretary, as a Certified UBC Steward, I petition you, the Hon.

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Hon. Richard M. Berman - Petition to Deny 'Full Mobility' March to, 2013

Richard M. Berman, United States District Judge, NYSD, to deny the acceptance andimplementation of Full Mobility' in any agreement with the NYCDCC and/or affiliatedorganizations until at least June 30, 2016.

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( " , , ~ ~ . do,tt.,t.SO ORDERED:__R!1J__________ RICHARD M. BERMAN U.S.D.J. March 8 2013"S"V,'S

Hon. Richard M. BermanUnited States District JudgeDaniel Patrick MoynihanUnited States Courthouse500 Pearl StreetNew York N.Y. 10007-1312

~ ~ ~ DCSDNYDr . ~ t . ' - ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' '- t ' l ! : : : ! \

~ ~ : ~ l ~ ~ ! ~ 1= E C 1 T U J ( ~ I C A L L Y riL-Q( )CCHAMBERS OF DE IE FILED:RICHARD M. BERMANU.S.O.J. 3/13/13Your Honor Richard M. Berman,

Thank you for your patience and concern for our Carpenters Union. This must be as hard for youas us to make a decision on full mobility. I thank you for your invitation to write you on this topic.Men and Women join the Carpenters Union because they want a decent days pay and good

benefits, that the union bargains for it's members. We all work hard to give the company a good days work,or we will get layoff. Regardless if the company hire us directly or we were refer from the out ofwork list(OWL).When a company is extremely busy they put more carpenters to work. When the company slowsdown they lay of fworkers. These carpenters either call companies on there own for work, shape jobs andput there name on the job referral list (OWL). Companies need manpower to complete ajob for thecontractor on a days notice a weeks notice or down the road after bidding on jobs for the next year whenthe job is ready to start.Full mobility means that company's have there company men that they keep busy, call around onthere own to see who's available when they need manpower, and last I assume call the OWL if they can'tfind any more skilled workers to do there job. Choosing the cream of the crop so to say first and the steward

from the OWL.Lets not forget the pasts. Men with visions to start a union of skilled carpenters. When companies

abused labor by outbidding one another paying labor low pay and no benefits. The union united men andwomen to fight for better pay, working conditions and benefits for there families and themselves. It wasn'tthe companies that said lets unite. It was men and women on picket lines and striking for a better way oflife.Now we have full mobility vs. a 33% match to company carpenters. We all can't be the cream of

the crop and a company man for that matter. Everyone wants to work even the members on the OWLthat's why we join the union. The 33% ratio helps the union keeps members hoping for a good years work,and new members hopeful in finding a home (company) and elder carpenters working.The OWL with full mobility may in the long run hurt the union. The OWL protects union

members when work is slow. Companies have a place to call for manpower. It also projects a status ofmoral support for our union and economy.I join the union in 1972. A shop steward for the last 15 years. The company not all ofthem want to make more money if they can by bidding jobs union signing our contract and thenundermining there workers by not paying them union wages. Just last week I found 4 men on another floor

sanding and finishing a newly wood floor we just installed. One man had a union card, another said he wasin the union had no wallet or lD, and the other 2 had no union cards at all. All was reported on the stewardsreport. After 5 working days they have to join the union I believe. Most times the companies just removes


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them from the job. There is still a strong need for stewards and business rep. For it is a thin line that weprotect for a strong union.

With all things being equal each company will have it's share of company men andreferral carpenters. Makes bidding ofajob also equal with the 33% ratio without fuJI mobility. Stewards,members and business reps will also keep it equal by protecting there work and jurisdiction.

Benjamin Franklin quoted" do it right the first time or don't do it at all'.

Sincerely,John Bevando


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March 10, 2013BY FIRST CLASS MAILHon. Richard M. BermanUnited States District JudgeDaniel Patrick MoynihanUnited States Courthouse500 P"earl St.New York, NY 10007-1312 ,f"k to IOtIt,I.

SO O A D E A E D ~Re: United States v. District Council, et al.90 Civ. 5722 (RMB SDNY) - - ~ ' - ' 8 _________Full Mobility RICHARD M. BERMAN U.S.D.J.

'1/11/IJ.Dear Judge Berman,

I have been elected to hold office at my local union and I am an elected Delegate to the District CouncilDelegate body. I won my first election in the spring of 2010, as Delegate to the International Conventionof the UBC. My next run fo r office was fo r President of Local Union #608 and won. Seven days later thelocal was dissolved by the UBC. My local was then merged with Local #157, where Five months later thePresident Lawrence D'Errico, resigned under scrutiny by the RO Dennis Walsh.

Myself and several members of the former Local #608 ran fo r the executive board of 157 and won. I wasthen elected Vice President ofthe largest Local in the UBC. I was then elected 157 Delegate to NYCDCC,which I am still today.

I stepped down from the Vice President of my local, November 2012, because, in my opinion the localdoes no t have any effect on the process, as it stands today. Other than collection of dues from members,and forwarding the funds onto the NYCDCC and the UBC, the Local Union has no say whatsoever, on theday to day business of working Carpenters.

USDCSDNY-1 DOCUMENTELECTRONlCALLY Fa EDDOC#: -~ IATE FILED; 6 / 1 3 ~ 11~ I


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I need you to understand that I have had, and still have the support of the members because I believewhat they believe, and We, believe that, Full mobility will be the death nail to our members and to ourunion. Never the Racial and discriminatory ramifications, t.his will cause through out our trade.This part of the proposed CBA's that have been voted down by the Rank and File, and then voted onagain and passed by a ~ ~ p l d e O : ' majority of the Delegate body.

The members have been shut ou t of this process by the Leadership of the NYCDCC, by not truly

communicating with the Membership, the reasons that "Full Mobility" is for the betterment of ou rUnion.

From my viewpoint this idea of "Full mobility" can only hurt our already suffering membership. The socalled Anti-Corruption part of "Labor Management" is nothing but a smoke screen to avoid dealing withthe everyday problems seen on every Jobsite. It's basically "Throwing the Baby Out with the Bathwater".Creating this "Labor Management" wing of the NYCDCC, and the New Electronic Reporting of hours, isagain, going to take away our shop stewards ability to keep their co-workers and themselves, informed,of what is going on thru out the city and on other Jobsites. This is another way of turning away thememberships voice and keeping them uninformed, to the point that the members no longer feel theyare part of something, to be Proud of.

Please do not be swayed by the fast talking hired mouth pieces of the Wall-Ceiling and CarpentryASSOciation, and the sellout leadership of the NYCDCC.

Thomas McGonnigle, 32 Year Member-2


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(It,1c to Ittle."'..so ORDERED: Gregory A. ButlerUnion Carpenter'1"'1,'.. 2.rt8 ____ UBC ID # 7164-3698RICHARDM. BERMAN U.S.D.J. 1580 Amsterdam Av # 461/11/11 New York, NY 10031March 8, 2013Honorable Richard M. BermanUnited States District JudgeDaniel Patrick MoynihanUnited States Courthouse500 Pearl StNew York, NY 10007-1312Your Honor,

f/D) [g g II WI [g fQIW iAR 122013 Il!JCHAMBERS OF RICHARD M. BERMANU.S.D.J.

USDC SDNYDOCUMENTELECTRONICALLY rILEDDOC #:_________DATE FILED: 3/r5113 ,

I am a union carpenter in New York City. I have been in this union fo r 20 years, a journeylevel carpenterfor 16 of those years, a certified shop steward for 14 years.

I am writing you today to urge you to stop "full mobility".The employers in our indust ry have a long history of using control over employment to manipulate

union carpenters to tolerate on the job abuses, including working for less than union scale and working of f thebooks.We've already experimented with lett ing employers have 100% control of employment - the "'request

system" which many of them abused, the On Par situation being the most notable case but far from the onlyone.

If "full mobility" is imposed, the majority of carpenters will lose their ability to rely on a democratic,union-control led source of employment and will have to do what they have to do to get work, even if thatmeans tolerating contract violations.

We won't be able to stop that with iPads or any other high tech methods.As stewards, i f we are the only ones on the job who don't have to rely on a contractor fo r employment,we'l l be the only ones with any Investment in Investigating labor abuses. We'll be a minority of one on a site full

of company men, desperate to do whatever they need to do to keep working, and desperate to cover up theiremployer's labor abuses, just to keep their jobs.

I urge you, reject full mobi lity and protect our out of work list.Thank you


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- --------------------USDCSDNYDOCUMENTELECTRONICALLY FILEDDOC#:DATE FILED: 3113/13

March 12,2013

Your Honor,In response to your edict on February 27, 2013, I respectfully pose the following question:Does the newly proposed manning provisio

letters to judge berman

Documents