October 1997
Published by
Laborers for Justice & Democracy
1601 Ocean Avenue, #346
San Francisco, CA 94112
There will be no reform in LIUNA until the members are given the Democratic right to elect the District Council officials by a secret ballot vote.
You don't have to be a genius to see corruption at the district council level. The Mob ran the New York District Council for years. In Chicago, the District Council is being charged with several ethical practices violations. In California , we have a Business Manager making $3,200 a week. He is elected by a group of delegates, not the rank & file; some of these delegates are District Council officials themselves.
What is really disgusting in that while Archie Thomas, a member of Laborers Local #67 and Business Manager of the District Council, is paid $3,200 a week, members of Local #67 are being raped at the City Hall project in San Francisco by a corrupt contractor, CST ENVIROMENTAL.
In a recent newspaper articles titled "City Hall's Bargain Basement Workers," members of Local #67 told how they were being exploited by the contractor and the local union. One worker said the asked to be laid off so he could receive medical benefits for his pregnant wife.
The Business Manager of Local #67, Jerry Rodarte, told the reporter, I have done "everything I can do." He says he has filed grievances since 1994 with the Northern California District Council for various infractions. Rodarte say one of the grievances requests compensation for all the money workers have paid out-of-pocket for medical expenses. "So far," Rodarte says, "the District Council has taken no action against the company.
Can you imagine Archie Thomas making $3,200 a week and he will not process a grievance filed by his own local? He is allowing a contractor signed to a one-job agreement to rob his own brothers and sisters. As we went to press, members has not received their benefits.
Brother Rodarte, if the District Council is not processing your grievances, you should contact the Inspector General's Office or the GEB Attorney's Office for advice on these matters to keep yourself in the clear; of file charges against the District Council. Remember who took the rap last time: Tony Garcia, not any of the big fish at the District Council.
CST has been charged with several CAL-OSHA VIOLATIONS dating back to February 1991. They include scaffold violations, failure to provide safety belts, and failure to replace protective clothing. CST was also found to have 112 shipping record violations and 240 record keeping violations, and they were responsible for burning down a Hayward school (cost to the taxpayers: $1.8 million).
Who ever gave this company a one-job agreement should be fired for incompetence. What the hell kind of District Council and Local Union allow a company not to pay fringe benefits to the members on LIUNA?
YOU, the working Laborer, pay your District Council officials' and their families' benefits every month- why should those officials allow contractors to be several months behind at your family's expense?
Business Manager Ron Nobili of Bridgeport Local #665 was assaulted by Shaun Cashman, President of the Connecticut State Building Trades Council and Business Manager of Local #611. The scuffle broke out after Nobili and Cashman disagreed on a project agreement. Nobili told Cashman, "Of course you support this project labor agreement- every time one gets signed, your son's billboard company gets the contract"
This brought Cashman around the table where he started a fist fight with Nobili. International Vice President Armand Sabitoni, District Council Business Manager Charles LeConche and Training Director John LeConche did nothing to stop the fight.
This isn't the first time Nobili has been assaulted . He once asked a question regarding expenditures and Dominic Lopreato hit him over the head with a water pitcher. Arthur Coia was sitting next to Dominic and did nothing to stop that incident. Of course, that was before the current reform program.
You have to get 30 credits in order to retire! Having a bad year or illness in the family could force you to work 35 years in order to get your 30 Credits! Does 55 years of age and 25 credits sound good?
Can't the union bosses give you something better than only 55% of your hard earned pension if you don't have 30 credits? Are they working for you or are you working for them?
Labor Voice
P.O. Box 845
Glastonbury, CT 06033
These Brothers and Sisters are fighting the Rhode Island Mob for democratic rights for all members. Local #230 was run by the Mobster Dominic Lopreato for years before he went to prison and left his cronies in charge.
CLOUT MAGAZINE brings us the latest propaganda from the corporate union bosses at the District Councils and International to justify their inflated salaries.
Don't take our word for it - just read Archie Thomas' article in CLOUT: "There will only be one way that Labor will slip away quietly> That is when every employer pays a fair wage." With Archie Thomas as a negotiator, there is no danger of fair wages in the landscaping or asbestos-removal industries- he cut the fair wages to minimum wages.
Or read Mike Quevedo, Jr.'s article: "Every Laborer must come to know that there are enemies they will rarely see. They usually wear expensive clothes, drive fancy foreign cars, work in big offices and live in extravagant homes. " Who do you mean, Mike? Arthur Coia ($225,000 a year ) has a couple of Ferraris and a mansion in Rhode Island. Max Warren ($280,000 a year ) drives a Cadillac. Archie Thomas ($185,000 a year ) also drives a Cadillac. Do they qualify as they enemy, Mike? After all, they take this money out of the pockets of every working Laborer in the Union.
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