CITY'S BIGGEST CONSTRUCTION UNION HITS SPEED BUMP ON ROAD TO INDEPENDENCE
NYC DISTRICT COUNCIL OF CARPENTERS INSPECTOR GENERAL RESIGNS
The city’s largest construction union has hit a snag in its journey to independence.
David Pié, inspector general of the New York City District Council of
Carpenters, resigned earlier this month. His departure is a “setback”
for the union, according to a report issued by the union’s independent
monitor, as it works to eventually shed the need for outside
supervision.
The union created the inspector general’s office a few years ago as
part of its efforts to eventually operate without a monitor. The
monitor, appointed as part of court supervision that began in the 1990s
to help root out organized crime and corruption in the union, has
gradually shifted responsibilities to the inspector general’s office.
“While the [Office of Inspector General] — like the District Council —
has made tremendous strides, the departure of the current Inspector
General is definitely a setback and will require the [Independent
Monitor] team to be more active in investigations in the near term,”
Glen McGorty, the union’s monitor, wrote in a report filed in federal
court this week. “Our first order of business will be to help identify a
suitable replacement. Once a new Inspector General is in place, I
believe that the district council will continue to benefit from the
support of and collaboration with my office.”
McGorty notes that the union will also work to address “lingering
distrust” of the inspector general’s office, which predated Pié.
The report states that Pié left after finding employment closer to
where he lives. When reached by phone, Pié said his reason for leaving
was personal and declined to discuss the issue. He said the inspector
general’s office is “well on its way to accomplishing its mission.”
His departure follows other recent leadership shakeups at the union. The district council elected a new President,
Paul Capurso, in February, following the resignation of two presidents
amid allegations of misconduct. It appears that the union could also
have a new monitor next year. In his report, McGorty notes that he
considered leaving, but has agreed to stay at least through the end of
the year and will consider extending his term “unless the needs of the
union would be better served by a new monitor.”
The carpenter’s union has been under court supervision since 1994, a
product of a federal racketeering case. The district council, which is
made up of nine local unions, counted nearly 20,000 members as of
September. Last year, leaders of two locals, 157 and 926, were arrested
on conspiracy and fraud charges. The district council’s parent organization, the United Brotherhood of Carpenters, took over local 926
and voted in October to extend its supervision, until the local shows
it can “function effectively,” according to McGorty’s report. The
monitor also notes that the district council is considering in light of the criminal case against the locals.
What do you expect the international union Is corrupt, Mccarron has had Control of the brotherhood for 25 years doesn't anyone understand that he himself Spencer and Capelli and the rest are corrupt?
ReplyDeletePie left because he was a corrupt no good piece of shit.
ReplyDeleteThe Nunes decision didnt help.
Distrust? Are you kidding me?
We wouldnt piss on these guys if they were on fire.
Geiger. Wait until the unrest from your corrupt wall and ceiling contract. Whats that you say? Pie was getting envelopes of cash?
Stay tuned.
The UBC is going to be burned down.
Members are holding the matches.
We are coming for all of you.
The fact that this guy and his replacement collude with the EST and Team McCarron to bring members up on charges as means of suppressing their criticism about their misdeeds, is all you need to know about the NYC Carpenters Council. How much is the settlement Nunes is going to cost??? Yet Geiger keeps getting a check.
ReplyDeleteOne of the main reasons why a lot of this conduct has gone unopposed by working members is because work has been relatively good for the last few years. But what happens when the next projects don’t materialise because of CoVid?? Billions of dollars of private real estate projects that were to be constructed by signatory GC’s and Subcontractors now and going forward are now tabled. What’s the saying about idle hands are the tools of devil or the revolutionary??? I can smell the smoke now.......
ReplyDeleteGonna be a long slow winter. With no recovery in spring.
ReplyDeleteThe time will be near to rise up and move the members in the right direction.
Its obvious that the current membership is only moved by paychecks not career.
Soon.
Here’s where you will see Dead pension funds listed: https://www.treasury.gov/services/Pages/Plan-Applications.aspx
ReplyDeleteCheck out the Obituary for Pension Funds here
ReplyDeletehttps://www.treasury.gov/services/Pages/Plan-Applications.aspx
When is the retirement dinner for Mikey cheap suits Capelli ?
ReplyDeleteSource: Sweeney Willing To Back Juliano, But Wants Ballantyne Gone
ReplyDeletehttps://newjerseyglobe.com/legislature/source-sweeney-willing-to-back-juliano-but-wants-ballantyne-gone/
Source: Sweeney willing to back Juliano, but wants Ballantyne gone
ReplyDeleteSenate President willing to pull plug on Christie ally Michele Brown
By David Wildstein, June 15 2020 4:07 pm
Senate President Steve Sweeney is prepared to back Gov. Phil Murphy’s nomination of Paul Juliano to the Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield Board of Directors, but he wants the ouster of John Ballantyne to be part of the deal.
Sources close to Sweeney told the New Jersey Globe that the Senate President has no problem advancing Juliano for the post, and is willing to see Republican Michele Brown lose her job, but he wants Ballantyne gone too.
Ballantyne had been a top official of the northeast Regional Council of Carpenters and a supporter of Murphy’ 2017 gubernatorial campaign, but was for what the union claims was malfeasance.
The Carpenters dissolved the local council to get rid of Ballantyne, who filed a whistleblower lawsuit.
Murphy named Ballantyne to chair the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority.
Sweeney, a close political ally of Carpenters Union leader Frank Spencer, is seeking to link Ballantyne’s ouster with Juliano’s nomination.
Seven Democratic state senators have come in out in support of Juliano’s nomination.
Brown was a close politically ally of former Gov. Chris Christie, who nominated her for the Horizon job in 2017.
She is now the executive director of the Christie Institute for Public Policy, which allows the former governor to continue his pitch for civility in American politics.
Anyone still not seeing how this goes back to george norcross III
DeleteSweeney dear friend and benefactor of norcross.
Spencer dear friend and benefactor of norcross.
Norcross is an insurance underwriter to include healthcare ( horizon)
Install Trish Mueller ( norcross protege and pres of his Pac) to be the director of political affairs for nrcc... Combining pacs and money laundering campaign funds via norcross to mayor kenney of phila and pa supreme court justice kevin DOUGHERTY... To make inroads in phila and se pa. Pa Bc/bs .. In which ed coryell was a member of that board. Now gone.
Pa redistricted to maintain democrat strongholds in this area ... Pa sc justice dougherty the upholding vote.
There is much more.
Ive written about this for 4 years.
Its all out there to see.
Know the players and you know the moves.
keep this version of the article, as it has been modified~ https://www.google.com/amp/s/newjerseyglobe.com/legislature/source-sweeney-willing-to-back-juliano-but-wants-ballantyne-gone/amp/
Deletethis is the version to record~
DeleteSenate President Steve Sweeney is prepared to back Gov. Phil Murphy’s nomination of Paul Juliano to the Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield Board of Directors, but he wants the ouster of John Ballantyne to be part of the deal.
Sources close to Sweeney told the New Jersey Globe that the Senate President has no problem advancing Juliano for the post, and is willing to see Republican Michele Brown lose her job, but he wants Ballantyne gone too.
Ballantyne had been a top official of the northeast Regional Council of Carpenters and a supporter of Murphy’ 2017 gubernatorial campaign, but was for what the union claims was malfeasance.
The Carpenters dissolved the local council to get rid of Ballantyne, who filed a whistleblower lawsuit.
Murphy named Ballantyne to chair the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority.
Sweeney, a close political ally of Carpenters Union leader Frank Spencer, is seeking to link Ballantyne’s ouster with Juliano’s nomination.
Seven Democratic state senators have come in out in support of Juliano’s nomination.
Brown was a close politically ally of former Gov. Chris Christie, who nominated her for the Horizon job in 2017.
She is now the executive director of the Christie Institute for Public Policy, which allows the former governor to continue his pitch for civility in American politics.
HEY SPROLLES IM PRETTY SURE WERE NOT BANKRUPT. BECAUSE OF COVA. WHY DONT YOU FESS UP TO YOUR POOR PERFORMANCE MANAGING OUR MONEY. YOU COULD NOT RUN A DOLLAR STORE. NO SHOCK WE ARE BROKE AND YOU ARE BLAMING COVA. YOUR ARE AN IDIOT ALWAYS WAS ANS ALWAYS WILL BE. WHAT A MORON !!!!
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DeleteNorcros’s participation the affairs of the Carpenters Union is unfortunately very relevant.
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ReplyDeleteTo the posters saying the EAS is going bankrupt, what is the story here? I am getting ready to retire after 31 years. Is my pension in jeopardy?
ReplyDeleteOk, let me see if I can clarify what the other posters are talking about.
Delete1) Is the EAS going broke?? As of now the EAS is not broke. If the council is bringing in less money than it spends then eventually the EAS will go broke. Is this likely to happen? Well consider who is managing the affairs of the EAS. What’s their track record else where? So I’d say it is quite possible the EAS could go broke near term. Where does the EAS get its money from? From working members who pay dues collected by their employers and paid to the Union. This funding source can and will be lost through the loss of market share and or members who revoke their dues deduction authorisation. Members deciding to not pay their dues will have a much more severe and immediate impact on the solvency of the EAS. A loss of market share is a gradual loss of revenue. The 3rd, and highly unanticipated loss of Council revenue will be due to CoVid related new work stoppages.
2) Is your Pension in Jeopardy? First the financial solvency of the EAS and that of our Pension Fund are technically not directly related; the two are separate legal entities. But unfortunately your Pension Fund is in jeopardy because it’s health is primarily dependent upon hours worked which equal contributions. If the Pension Fund sees a reduction in hours worked its financial health will start to rapidly decline. Investments matter but they are a distant second to actual hard money contributions.
Be advised that the EAS leadership is working to aggressively merge the NJ and Philly Pension Funds. This will not benefit you as a retiree because the same ilk (George Laufenberg) who ripped NJ Pension Fund participants off will eventually be ripping us off next. Next up, NJ doesn’t collect a significant portion of the benefits owed to their members from delinquent contractors. Once NJ takes over our Philly Pension Fund the same thing will happen here.
In closing you should plan on your pension payment being reduced over time to compensate for all of the above. But don’t worry the guys who dissolved your local, your autonomy, who created the MUP program, and who took away your vote on every single matter related to your career and retirement will sail off into the sunset while they cash a pension check for $15,000 every month. If you sit on the sidelines thinking that this only effects us new members YOU ARE Wrong!!!!
Can you do anything about it?? Yes, you can start pushing back, or you can wait to die in the showers......
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ReplyDeleteNo. 1. Your working for three reasons; one, because of the actions of what the prior MRC set up and maintained, two because you can do the work, and three because there is work. But the boom is at least temporarily over due to CoVid. The current EAS managers are not going to do any better running Philly, than their McCarron approved peers did running NYC, for example, into the ground. What’s the EAS big plan?? Cut wages and benefits via provisional carpenters.
Delete2. Yes. Request copies of the financials from your Council trustees and Delegates. CoVid stopped work in Philly for over a month, that equals a loss of millions of dollars. Going forward most big private jobs are now on an indefinite hold which will lead to a further loss of work. If CoVid blows up again, which it looks like it’s on course to do so, this Fall will be ugly. A reduction in new work will lead to a loss of millions of dollars in revenue collected from the members.
3. The Philly Pension Fund Accrual Rate was recently increased to match the Jersey Fund Accrual Rate. The Philly Fund and the Jersey Fund will be merged near term. The trustees that “represent” Labor/members will vote in favour of whatever the Council tells them to or else they will be fired.
4. The biggest new jobs are on hold because no one wants to drop billions of dollars right now due to CoVid. If new work drops significantly so does the corresponding revenue. A big drop in revenue is hard to absorb over the next year in consideration of what the EAS spends. Do you know how much the Council has spent in two years on Council Rep Credit Cards alone???
5. The consensus from most members close to retirement is “I’m almost retired I’ll be safe you guys gotta fix this thing on your watch”. The point is that you will suffer as much as the rest of us working members even if your retired because your retirement is dependent upon our contributions. So it goes for working members so it goes for retired members.
If your happy with the status quote then your selling us Young Bucks out or short.
6. There are mountains of facts posted on this blog to justify pushing back. But If your a satisfied member who doesn’t mind his vote being taken away as it relates to every critical piece of your career and retirement than you should fight to keep things the way they are. Do you not mind seeing $0.10 taken from your check without your vote? I do!!! Are you comfortable with the fact that the executive management of the UBC is subject to a grand jury inquiry??? Etc., Etc.,
I am opposed to losing my Union, my vote, my autonomy, and going the way of the rest of UBC. I am.opposed to paying thousands of dollars a year in dues and PAC contributions for nothing in return other than concessions and provisional carpenters.
I will be pushing back on my own and with other like minded members. I only need a computer and a little knowledge of the law to win. It’s on. Good luck.
Let me step in for a second. First read the news articles for yourself. They reported the Eastern District Council laid off 50 employees due to the virus. BS.The word is they terminated 50-100 employees and it had nothing to do with the virus. They alerted reps BEFORE the virus the Council was in financial trouble and would need to shut down programs,close facility's and get rid of employees. That is exactly what they did.It had nothing to do with the virus.They called special meetings with reps just a week into the Coivd work stoppage detailing the shutdowns and terminations. They declared the council was in severe financial trouble. One has to wonder how after just getting a huge influx of cash and assets from the Northeast Council rape.Story goes they are taking it in the ass financially with the Puerto Rico BS venture. Go find the listings for the Puerto Rico expenditures.The UBC International is pulling the same BS. They are trying to write off bad debt and cover for bad investment moves and shifting of members money on the Covid Virus.
ReplyDeleteIn regards to pension,. I see no evidence they are aggressively trying to merge the Northeast and Keystone funds. What they are doing and have been trying to do for years is merge the Northeast and New England funds.Why do you think Mark Ehrlich is gone? They have already illegally merged one Northeast fund with New England.
Is your pension in danger. You bet your ass.McCarron is tanking defined benefit funds and replacing them with Variable annuity's. This is so your check can be cut at will and your retirement check amount will be fund performance based. This is so they can continue to loot and mismanage the funds and cut your check when they lose your money. Look up the Grow Act.Lets not forget McCarron and his cronies wrote and financed the Multi Employer Reform Act they are using to rob their own UNION retirees.Ask your UBC Ohio Brothers whose Pension fund McCarron tanked and then cut using MPRA. This was after he forced the councils to merge at gun point and created a new plan. He then moved all new and many exiting signatory's into the new plan crippling the old Defined Benefit Plan.He then ordered the plan Trustees to cut the retirees checks using MPRA. Want the documents. Go to the ALL AMERICAN PENSION CRISIS facebook and search for them. Read about the Michigan UBC Carpenters he is destroying next.
What he said......
DeleteI will say that I do know for a fact that Spencer and Co. do want to merge the Philly and Jersey Pension funds according to an actual fund Trustee that is also not a Council Employee.
But yeah what he said!!!!!
Sad but true.
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ReplyDeleteWhat about my Puerto Rico needs volunteers comment?
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ReplyDeleteWhen you leaving?? Truth is the Puerto Rican workers do not need more UBC scum bags to tell to go f.. themselves...I am sure they do not need more low life UBC scum bags and the UBC criminal enterprise to try to exploit their country and workers. Hey I wonder if the Puerto Rican leaders know about the ongoing criminal investigation into UBC corruption. Lets see how that information works for the UBC effort to extort Puerto Rican workers.
ReplyDeleteHow come there hasn't been any discussion about how the Philly delegate elections went on this site?
ReplyDeleteWhat’s the point? They were rigged from the beginning. Even if someone challenged the results what would mean?? Nothing. The majority of Delegates elected would still be Council Reps who will vote to protect them selves at the expense of the member. Your on your own.
DeleteThey used a slate led by representatives that give out jobs to win the election. Many developed unions voted out the use of slates in an election to prevent this type of corruption but not us. We need this to suppress the members and it worked great.
ReplyDeleteExactly. The Delegates Not United Slate. Are they using their own money or the members dues money for their giveaways and refreshments they promised in their mailer to get the sheep to vote for them?
DeleteThe Delgates Not United Slate are now the Delegates for Local 258.
ReplyDeleteHey Delegates Not United for Local 258 are you using the mix 20/20 for hiring members? Come on tell the truth Hand, Hocker and every Representative for that matter in the EASRC. PUT YOUR RULES FOR HOW CONTRACTORS AND THE UNION HAVE TO HIRE MEMBERS IN DETAIL ON THE WEBSITE PLEASE
ReplyDeleteRest easy. Big changes coming for the " mix 20/20.
DeleteAs a matter of fact... To quote the nrlb attorney..." Holy shit, this is huge and has implications so far reaching it will affect ALL unions using this deceitful practice"
Dont look at the program itself ... Think more along the lines of extortion for dues card cba rights signatures and how they are obtained.
Stay tuned. Its been addressed.
It is much bigger than you think especially the illegal collection of dues esp after the takeover. Its important to note that that was NOT a " merger"... Big legal difference.
Maybe I can help. Members are free to solicit signatory contractors for their own work, Council Reps were free to refer members to work for signatory employers upon the request of said employer up until 2016 when the MRC got dissolved. Following the dissolution of the MRC Ballantine imposed a new rule that members will only be referred to work via the Mix 20/20 system. Any Council Rep that’s referred members out to work outside of the Mix 20/20 system would be fired immediately. The goal of the Mix 20/20 system was to get members to complete the application which included an authorisation to have any and all dues deducted from their wages. Most members never took the bait and never signed the Mix 20/20 applications thereby authorising any deductions from their wages.
ReplyDeleteTo date most members still find their own work without any help from the Council or the Mix 20/20 system. Council Reps are now allowed to refer members out to work again outside of the mix 20/20 system.
Conclusion: You and every other working member are on there own.
Why is this policy and procedure not documented on our website. This would allow all the members to obtain the knowledge they need to understand how jobs are distributed by the union hall? Can you also elaborate on who the representative is that distributes the jobs to the members and what is the procedure used to pick which member gets specific jobs? This needs to be clarified and made public just like any organization in 2020 would do for their members. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteIts a fair question.
DeleteIts reasonable.
Heres how it works.
You were told that in order to find work you had to sign up for the mix 20/20.
This of course was to be your access to employment to feed yourself and your family.
They sent you a " skills sheet" that was written by a 4th grader who has no idea what our business and jurisdictional work as CARPENTERS is.
All nice and tidy. Niche work.
Specialty.
At the bottom... A condition of you accessing the " only" way to employment.... Was a paragraph that asked you to sign over your cba rights to the then nrcc ( this was not a merger... Legally it makes a difference) to allow them to take dues from you.
From the day they " dissolved" our council ( again legally this is an important point)
Till present.... If you never signed that paper and even if you did you did so under fraud and duress they were not legally allowed to withdraw dues from your check.... And further... You have a right to sue both the contractor and the ubc ( locally) for payroll theft and misrepresentation ( and quite a bit more)
Those that signed the list wpuld then be cherry picked off the list by people like jr hocker, sean anderson, mike campbell, to name a few ...and would be put to work under the friends and family program.
Without getting way into the weeds. This has been filed with the appropriate agency.
Sworn affidavits and other supporting docs forwarded.
You will see a " change" shortly.
Stay tuned.
What I just outlined is not really a policy it is more a review of what has been the practice of how members get work in the Philly area. The closest thing there is to a policy is what was written on one the old “new member” documents that stated that the MRC is not a “hiring hall”, that you can be referred to work by a Council Rep, and that you can solicit your own work. Most members (70%) in the Philly area found there own work, excluding the speciality trades.
DeleteThere was never was a real member work referral Policy and there was a reason for that; you can’t violate a policy that doesn’t exist, and thereby get sued or charged for failure to represent. This probably won’t change in the future.
When it comes to manning specific jobs that usually only happens when an employer needs more Labor than he currently has, then that employer will call the Hall and ask for x number of members. In some cases the employer will ask the guys on the job for referrals.
If your looking for work the best thing to do is put together a resume you can send to employers, call the hall and ask for a list of active jobs, and a list of signatory employers, then you can contact employers who might need more Labor and you can introduce your self to new employers. If the Hall tells you that they don’t keep this info or you can’t have it you can challenge both points. Last but not least you can ask your Rep what the in demand certification is and then get that.
Hope this helps
We no longer have a " hall" .
DeleteWe no longer have business managers that were entrusted to work in the interest of our members and their respective locals.
We no longer have organizers that worked in specific regions of said locals on behalf of their members.
We do have an assistant EST.
A team leader.
Council reps.
Alll of whom do not work under the same CBA as you or i.
They are " at will" employees and can be terminated at any given time for going against international and actualllly doing whats right for members.
Many of these same characters.. Who arent under your cba, are also now your delegates who cast votes on your behalf but have no skin in the game.
See any conflicts yet?
We have council reps who are working in THEIR best interest by following orders that are rubber stamped fiats of mccarron.
See any conflicts yet?
You dont have a voice.
No vote.
So go back to work and keep paying weekly dues for zero representation or input.
Some union huh?
Some Union it was, and some Union it is now not......
ReplyDeleteImagine if you will. Being a longggg time member.
DeleteHaving to call to find out if its still a " work rule" to have water provided on the job.
Why?
It should be a no brainer right?
It used to be plain as day because we actually had a booklet that clearly stated our work rules.
28 of them.
And in that booklet there was indeed a written work rule that stated " suitable drinking water must be provided at all times.. When the temperature exceeded 65 degrees.. Ice must be provided.
Soo. Yeah. Imagine its 95 out and theres no water let alone ice... But since mike hand has " streamlined" our work rules ( which means gave them away)
You ACTUALLY have to call and make sure that its still a rule.
Whats worse!!!
The superintendent is a retiree with " special dispensation" from mike hand to run the job... A retired guy who SHOULD KNOW the rules, but says, is that a rule anymore?
So. You have to actually call to find out.
This is your new union.
Thanks mike hand and rob naughton.
You scumbags.
You built this.