BRIAN BRENNAN

                                 BLUE CARD MAN

 

Sunday, December 4, 2011

UBC Reinstates Carpenter who was expelled and fined $25k

Informed sources say that former UBC member Brian Brennan has settled his lawsuit (see below) with the New York City District Council of Carpenters and will be reinstated back into the UBC.

Brennan a 26-year veteran carpenter was ordered expelled and fined $25,000 by the trial committee on March 25, 2010 "for causing dissension among the members of the Brotherhood and violating the Obligation."

Brennan's trouble started back on May 14, 2009 when he participated in a small demonstration outside the District Council's Hudson Street offices against union leadership over a plan to withhold quarterly benefits checks from members who refuse to sign the "Blue Card" and grant the trustees of their welfare fund a new power to levy fines against them.

About 1,000 of the union’s 18,000 or so working members did not signed the "Blue Card."


Carpenters being a vocal lot staged the demonstration and Brennan, one of the few who sticks his neck out brought a sack of flour as a heavy-handed prop as a sign of Mike Fordes cocaine habit.

"We called it 'Mike's coke.' Everyone knew he had a big habit."

A fracas broke out when Brennan tried to go inside to confront benefit-fund officials. He was arrested, accused of hitting a security guard. "I didn't hit anybody," he said. "I'm the one got hit." The district attorney declined criminal charges, but Forde's lieutenants (Pete Thomassen, Lawrence D'Errico, Charles Harkin and Dennis Sheil) filed charges against him.

Disgraced former Carpenter head Michael Forde, pleaded guilty in 2010 to federal racketeering and bribery charges, and was sentenced to 11 years in a federal lockup.

Brennan's attorney, Robert Felix, filed a lawsuit on March 16, 2011 against the Council requesting a jury trial seeking reinstatement and recover back pay.

Carpenters Brian Brennan Suit Usdc 03242011 - Copy

At a court conference last month, Review Officer Dennis Walsh stated, "I've always been very sympathetic to Mr. Brennan's plight, and I have told the UBC that I thought it was a situation that they should revisit.....[I] also let my opinion be known to the UBC that I think that is a lawsuit that should be settled rather than district council moneys being expended going forward."

The settlement has not been made public, "we don’t know exactly how much the settlement is, but they did settle and Brain Brennan will be reinstated," the source said.