The Voice of the Rank & File

Published by
Laborers for Justice & Democracy
1601 Ocean Avenue, #346
San Francisco, CA 94112

Arthur Coia's boys up north have run into a heap of trouble after they set up a "multi craft" union to steal the work of the other construction crafts at a lower rate of pay. In a letter sent to LIUNA locals last June the Toronto Building trades explained: "At the last Canandian Building Trades Convention held in Vanvouver June 3-5, 1998, a resolution was overwhelmingly adopted (only one vote against it) requesting the governing body of the Building Trades Department to expel the Laborers International Union of North America unless certain steps are taken by LIUNA to rectify a most ugly situation in Toronto and the province of Ontario."

More rcently the Canadian Labor Congress (similar to the AFL-CIO in the US) has put LIUNA "under full sanctions for failure to comply with an Impartial Umpire's decision . " The next step may be to boot LIUNA out of the Congress completely. LIUNA "entered into an agreement that provides a vehicle for the creation of an Independent Electrical, Mechanical, and Communications Workers Union,

Members of the Canadian Building Trades Accuse LIUNA of entering into sweetheart agreements with employers and collusion to defeat the legitimate organizing efforts of the appropriate craft unions in Canada. The Impartial Umpire found LIUNA guilty of failure to comply with the impartial umpires guilty ruling in three internal disputes, and LIUNA's refusal to pay per capita tax."

Disappearing Democracy in Fresno

At the regular union meeting held on September 21,1998 the officers of Local #294 refused to read the bills or the minutes of the previous months. What happened to the reform program and Democracy?

At the August Local meeting Carlos Lujan and the "270 Concerned Members" presented a cake to Deputy Supervisor Ken Casarez with a message written in the icing thanking him and the leaders of LIUNA for allowing Corruption to continue In the Local Union. Amazingly, Casarez accepted the cake in front of the whole membership!

Lujan and the "270 Concerned Members" have been exposed the corruption in Local #270 and demanded accounting for the members money. They are planning to picket a few targets to get their point across.

Did Luskin Lose Coia's Case?

On November 6, of last year Arthur A. Coia was charged by the GEB Attorney for "knowingly associating with members of organized crime and accepting benefits from a LIUNA service provider." Have you ever heard anymore about this?

Union leaders close to the case say "Arthur is going to beat all the charges and remain in office". Does that surprise anyone?. If we kick everyone out of LIUNA who associated with organized crime we won't have a General Executive Board left. That is how the General Executive Board survived for years: Mob puppets protected by corrupt Union lawyers.

Strange Appointment to Trust Fund

Why has International First Vice President Mason Warren kept Ray Duran as the man in charge of San Jose Local 270? Duran has all ready been found guilty of "barred conduct." He was found guilty of authorizing expenditures without approval of the membership. And of submitting false evidence to a GEB hearings officer. Members of 270 report that Duran lost over $180,00 in bad stock investments, made without executive board approval or membership approval.

Is this the type of guy who should be running the day to day operations in 270 as Business Manager? He is the right guy as long as he puts Max Warren's cronies on the union payroll and delivers large donations (of the members money) for Warren's pet political projects.

The latest chapter in this bizarre story unfolded at the Bay Area Hod Carriers Trust Fund meeting in August. Local 36 and 270 are both part of this Fund - and Max Warren has been trying for years to divert the Hod Carriers money into the District Council's shaky Trust Fund. 10 minute before the meeting began Trustee Duran asked one of the workers in the fund office to write a letter seating Ken Casarez (Max Warrens assistant) as a trustee of the Bay Area Hod Carrier Trust Fund

Once again, Duran and Warren have violated the policies of the Internal Reform effort. The reason for the illegal appointment of Ken Caseraz became obvious when the empoloyer Trustee, Ryan O'Brien of the CCMCA, made a motion to merge the 270 Hod Carriers into the Northern California Laborers Trust Fund. Guess who seconded the motion? Ken Casarez Casarez claimed the Laborers Trust fund provide the same benefits for $2.00 less per hour contribution. Has anyone told Casarez about the crises in 1992 when $25,000,000 had to be transfered from the District Council Pension Plan into to their Health and Welfare plan, because it was going broke?

The Bay Area Hod Carriers is a small plan but we have never transferred money from the pension plan to provide health benefits for the members.

As the Business manager of Hod Carriers Local #36, I have sent two letters to the Inspector General W. Douglas Gow, asking about this illegal appointment.

"Lets face it if the "Reform" program was real, Max Warren, Ken Casarez, and Ray Duran would all be gone." Alex Corns.

Voice of the Rank & File is published by the Laborers for Justice and Democracy<. We are dedicated to winning justice and true democracy for all members of the Laborers International Union of North America, working within the parameters of the LIUNA constitution. If you have an article or other useful information for the members of our Union please mail it to us at: