Responding to an anti-UBC handbilling effort by the Rochester Building and Construction Trades Council (RBCTC), the Northeast Regional Council of Carpenters has stopped paying dues to the Rochester group.

Executive Secretary-Treasurer Michael Capelli explained the move in a recent letter to the RBCTC, calling for unions to end “untenable battles that produce no tangible positive outcomes for any of our members.”

To read EST Capelli’s letter, click below.

Since this time last year we have implemented several new effective programs and tools – all of which have one purpose – to generate more work opportunities for our membership. Our Centralized Dispatch has enabled you to have more representation out securing work than ever before. Our Team Room Structure has transformed our organizing department into a regional area standard protection program. Our Membership Union Participation Program supports our Team Room efforts by putting membership muscle where it’s greatly needed – right at the front doors of those who look to undermine our collective strength. And our Shop Steward Continuing Education Program is aimed at strengthening the lines of communication within our Union.

The UBC was formed because PJ McGuire recognized that the carpentry trade was changing as master carpenters raced to meet the demands of a rapidly growing nation; and the only way to protect and defend carpenters was through organizing their collective strength. In 1881, that meant just over 2000 skilled craftsmen coming together to form the first United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners local. I honor our great history and traditions, and give thanks for the hard work that was done to get us here.

Today I want to thank you all for your continued patients and commitment to this union. I look forward to building upon our strong foundation – by joining together in solidarity to protect our trade jurisdiction and expanding our economic opportunities.

Carpenters Claim BCTD, Labor Officials

Are Waging ‘Unlawful Extortionate Campaign’

By Elliott T. Dube

The AFL-CIO’s Building & Construction Trades Department, its president, and four other high-profile labor officials have violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act and Washington state law by engaging in an “unlawful extortionate campaign” to force the Carpenters and Joiners of America to make monthly payments to BCTD and to be governed by its rules, according to a complaint filed Feb. 21 in a federal district court in Washington state (Carpenters and Joiners of Am. v. Building and Constr. Trades Dep’t, E.D. Wash., No. 12-109, 2/21/12).

The 246-page complaint was brought by the Carpenters, a number of its affiliated councils, and 19 individual plaintiffs in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington. In addition to BCTD and its President Mark Ayers, the plaintiffs are suing: Ed Hill, president of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers; Jimmy Williams, president of the Painters and Allied Trades; Ron Ault, president of the Metal Trades Department; and David Molnaa, president of the Hanford Atomic Metal Trades Council.

The defendants have been conspiring to carry out a “campaign of intimidation, threats, violence and other unlawful extortionate conduct” to compel the Carpenters’ entry into multiple “involuntary agreements,” according to the complaint.

Specifically, it alleges, the defendants have been trying to extort the Carpenters to make monthly payments to BCTD in perpetuity, to let BCTD exercise the Carpenters’ rights to recruit, accept, and train dues-paying members, to enter into BCTD-negotiated project and other agreements, to be bound to BCTD’s Plan for the Settlement of Jurisdictional Disputes, and to allow BCTD to control the Carpenters’ political activity, among other things.

“The Carpenters are not part of the BCTD, they do not want to pay and continue paying the BCTD and Councils their bloated monthly payments in perpetuity for anti-competitive services, rules, regulations and membership restrictions unrequested, unwanted, and unnecessary, and they do not want to give over to the BCTD Defendants their dues-paying members as chattels or to surrender an interest in or control over the Carpenters,” the complaint states.

Suit Says Campaign Has Been Ongoing Since 2008

The defendants and various “co-conspirators” began a nationwide “Push-Back-Carpenters Campaign” in October 2008, according to the complaint. It alleges that the campaign has included the vandalizing of property used by members of Carpenters Local 57 in St. Louis, “veiled death threats” against a Carpenters officer in St. Louis, the successful pressuring of the Metal Trades Department to kick out the Carpenters, the stealing of confidential Carpenters membership information, and “violence and vandalism” in Seattle.

Additionally, at the September 2009 AFL-CIO convention, a resolution was passed that “authorized the BCTD Defendants to charter Carpenters unions should their extortionate conspiracy be unsuccessful,” the complaint asserts (55 CLR 953, 9/24/09).

The campaign was announced publicly at a June 2010 rally in St. Louis, at which the BCTD defendants made a “formal declaration of war” against the Carpenters, the complaint alleges. It says those defendants also established a formal committee to do “whatever it takes” to get the Carpenters to submit to BCTD control (56 CLR 781, 8/26/10).

Complaint Includes Nine Claims for Relief

The complaint’s RICO claims charge each defendant with violating 18 U.S.C. § 1962(d) by conspiring to breach Section 1962(a), which makes it unlawful for any person to use income derived from a “pattern of racketeering activity” to acquire any interest in a covered enterprise, and Section 1962(b), which prohibits the acquisition of control of the Carpenters through a pattern of racketeering activity. The complaint also alleges violations of two analogous sections of the Revised Code of Washington.

The five individual defendants each have violated and have conspired to violate 18 U.S.C. § 1962(c), which bars a person from using a pattern of racketeering activity to conduct a covered enterprise’s affairs, according to the complaint.

The complaint also accuses Ault, Hill, Williams, and Molnaa with violating Section 411 of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act by revoking the plaintiffs’ participation in the Metal Trades Department without providing the plaintiffs with required due process rights, taking adverse actions against the plaintiffs that were not taken against any other similarly situated members, and keeping the plaintiffs from attending department meetings.

The complaint requests punitive damages and declaratory and equitable relief. Additionally, the plaintiffs seek injunctive relief enjoining the defendants from carrying out “any further extortionate conduct.” The complaint also requests court orders for the “dissolution of the BCTD enterprise and/or a reorganization of the BCTD prohibiting the BCTD Defendants and any co-conspirators” from having any control over the BCTD or the Metal Trades Department, for the restoration of all the plaintiffs’ rights and privileges as Metal Trades Department members, and for the defendants to “disgorge all ill-gotten income and gains received from their unlawful extortionate campaign and conspiracy.”

The attorney for the Carpenters and a BCTD spokesman were unavailable for comment.

This Council considers representation to be one of the most important decisions any carpenter can make. Before considering signing this card and authorizing another entity to collectively bargain on your behalf, you should ask specific questions like:

• How can the Sheet Metal Union better represent me than the United Brotherhood of Carpenters Union?
• Why would I want to be represented by an international union whose pension fund is critically underfunded according the DOL?
• What will the contractor base be?
• What international body will be my representation?
• Who would be my representative?
• What will my wage and benefit structure be?

As a reminder of your obligation, signing this authorization card is a violation of the oath we all took upon becoming journeyman carpenters; to uphold the laws of the Constitution and to support each other in solidarity. By signing this card, you would be turning your back on the Union that has represented you throughout your career; while undermining the Brothers and Sisters you work next to every day.

This Union is only as strong as our weakest link – don’t be that weak link. If you are solicited by anyone to sign a card, you should feel completely comfortable refusing. Please contact your Council Representative to provide them with the name of the person who approached you.  And take the opportunity to champion the many benefits we share as a result of our solidarity. We cannot be divided.

In recent days we have uncovered a small group of individuals who are collaborating with other trades to advocate for separation from the United Brotherhood.  We believe these actions have been initiated by a former Business Agent who is working to undermine our organization and enrich other trades by telling members that starting a new union is the best move for their future. We believe this member is involved in these actions for his own personal gain, not to better the lives of those around him.

During tough times is when solidarity matters the most. Instead of working hard to make their union better and stronger, they are attempting to undermine the union and endanger the livelihood of their fellow brothers and sisters – past, present and future. The selfish and hypocritical actions of these individuals disrupt the solidarity of our organization by eroding our collective strength.

We cannot, and will not stand for this.

Let me be clear, there is no organization that can better represent the needs of carpenters than the Northeast Regional Council of Carpenters. The strength of our Union comes from our ability to communicate openly and directly with you, our members. We will continue to keep you informed, and we want to hear from you. Your Council Representatives are always available to serve your needs – please contact them whenever you have any questions.

3300 Whitehorse Pike, Mullica Twp., NJ 08037

MEMBERS . The Local’s phone number will still be 609-567-0400, however please note that phone service may be down temporarily in the afternoon hours on the 2^nd. If you need to speak to a Council Representative, please contact  Dennis Garbowski at 609-432-4214  or call the Council office at 877-284-5270.

Feb 2^nd’s scheduled Union Meeting will still will be at the VFW in Bayville.

383 Veterans Boulevard, Bayville, NJ 08721-3325

http://maps.google.com/maps/place?q=VFW+bayville+NJ&hl=en&cid=6001001636673012852

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

It is my pleasure to welcome all New Jersey and New York state union members to our newly expanded organization, the Northeast Regional Council of Carpenters (NRCC). As your Executive Secretary-Treasurer, my goal is to ensure you are kept informed of all council activities that affect you.

I am excited about our new organization because I know that our 30,000 NRCC members now make us one of the most powerful trade organizations on the East Coast. However, there will be challenges and I understand that many of you are concerned about what the future will bring. I assure you that as a lifelong carpenter, I believe this plan is the best way to keep our members working and provide greater long-term financial stability for our families.

The United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners has existed in America for 130 years. We have survived longer than any other skilled trade organization because of our ability to adapt to industry changes. I began my apprenticeship in Local 393 in Camden and worked many years in the field before being named local business agent, district representative, and then EST of the New Jersey Regional Council of Carpenters. I saw how well the local union structure served us, and how we grew into a county and then state force. Over the last few years, however, the duplication in administrative, clerical, legal, and facility costs just became unsustainable in a struggling economy.

Rather than risk having more and more members sitting in local halls instead of working on jobsites, union leadership realized we must again adapt to remain competitive. That is why I endorsed President McCarron’s plan to form the NRCC.

The strength of our brotherhood has always been you, the member. The larger, stronger NRCC will allow our craftsmen-and-women to speak with one powerful voice to developers, businesses, and government officials. It will create a bigger brand for both commercial and residential development. Most importantly, it will ensure that our members are earning a good wage and bringing home a steady paycheck.

The NRCC is undergoing a comprehensive restructuring that includes drafting expanded operation procedures. These changes are being discussed with the locals’ Executive Board officers. I know that many members are concerned about the NRCC pension and annuity funds, but I am confident that the funds are solvent and can cover current and future benefit obligations. If you are concerned about accessing your pension or benefit funds information, please visit the member only sections for both the New Jersey
Regional Council and Empire State Regional Council at www.northeastcarpenters.org. Those members who need additional answers can call the NJ Carpenters Funds office at 732-417-3900 or Empire State Benefit Funds office at 631-952-9700 for detailed explanations.

Throughout the coming weeks, I will be sending you more information about our regionalization efforts and what they mean for you. I will answer any question from our members and I will always give you a straight answer. For instant updates about the NRCC, please visit www.northeastcarpenters.org and sign up for our electronic bulletins.

Thank you for your patience during this challenging, but exciting, new opportunity for our union. I will work my hardest to make sure our members are employed and receiving the benefits that they have earned. I look forward to talking to each of you in the coming weeks and I am committed to a strong council that is built on transparency and accountability in all of its operations. Please feel free to call me at 732-417-9229 with any questions, ideas, or concerns. I know that the Northeast Regional Council of Carpenters will provide you and your family with enhanced opportunities and benefits now and for many years to come.

Fraternally,

Michael Capelli

EST