Transcript Speech:
Thank you Mr. Chairman, Brothers and Sisters.
Nine years ago you put your trust in the Unity Team and elected them to lead this union.
On my campaign website I have outlined in great detail how the Unity Team has betrayed that trust.
I urge all of you to go to my website.
I am in favor of the membership voting on all contracts and assessments.
Every major union in the country has this fundamental democratic right written into their by-laws.
My opponent is opposed to a membership vote.
My opponent will tell you we have a representative democracy, a system where the membership elects delegates to speak and vote for you.
Having been an elected delegate for eight years, I am here to tell you that the system has failed you.
In the 2001 contract negotiations The Unity Team "bargained away" the job referral rules. The Unity Team had absolutely no constitutional or legal authority to bargain this rule away.
The Unity Team has abused their power, violated their oath of office, violated the Consent Decree and more importantly betrayed the trust of the membership.
Our Bylaws plainly state, the "delegate body" has final approval on all contracts. Yet your elected delegates never voted for this contract change. Why? Because The Unity Team stole the Vote from the delegates.
It was not until September 15, 2005 in a NY Times article that we learned of this unconscionable deceit.
Now my opponent is going to tell you that what I am saying never happened, never existed.
He is going to tell you everything was "explained and spelled out."
I have challenged my opponent twelve times to show us where the negotiating committee recommended bargaining away the job referral rules, and replacing it with a "new system" where contractors handpick 100 percent of the work force.
I have challenge my opponent twelve times to show us the Carpenter Magazine where you clearly explained this "new system" to the membership.
On February 20, 2007 after years of costly litigation The Unity Team was found GUILTY OF CONTEMPT by the United States Court Of Appeals for illegally bargaining away the job referral rules.
Last month The Unity Team was in court arguing that bargaining away the job referral rules was "Good for you... but bad in its execution."
The consequence of their willful deceit and corruption is still to be determined by judge Haight.
The Unity Team has spent millions of YOUR dollars defending their corrupt actions.
To pay for their deceit they Tripled Your Assessments giving you the BIGGEST DUES INCREASE in the history of the carpenters union, and they support plans (anyone say Blue Card) to take even more of YOUR money after the election.
Of course denying you a membership vote!
My opponent is going to tell you they did nothing wrong. Yet they were found guilty of contempt for illegally bargaining away the job referral rules. Judge Haight is charged by the court of appeals to find a remedy to the action the Unity Team says does not exist.
On July 1, 2006 The Unity Team CUT your pension benefit by 26% and told you it was an increase!
My opponent has now admitted that your pension was cut, because I raised the issue.
He will say of course we cut the pension. As "trustees its our job to make sure that when you retire you have a pension." Our job is to "make tough decisions" to protect our benefit funds. And when we make those tough decisions, we are going to be honest and tell you.
No argument there, I think we all agree with that.
I am not challenging the judgment of those tough decisions.
I challenged my opponent, twelve times, Don’t just tell us…show us the Carpenter Magazine.
Right here Right now, for the record where you explained those tough decisions to the membership of this union.
With all your resources and 100 year combined experience, It should be easy enough, to prove me wrong.
Sadly you cannot, because in both these examples you have misled and deceived the membership.
At the last meeting the Unity Team again deceived the membership saying that when they took office our pension benefit credit was worth $80.00. The International union change the benefit formula in 1998 one year before the Unity Team took office.
If The Unity Team can't be trusted to tell the truth about the 2001 contract and the 2006 Cut in our pension, how in the world can they be trusted with two billion dollars in assets?
Let me add one more thing about the pension fund .
We were told…the trustees decided beginning July 1, 2003 to reduced the hourly contributions in the welfare fund by $1 per hour and reallocate the $1 per hour into a creation they call a supplemental pension fund."
“This reallocation of $1 per hour was said to be seamless to the membership and only a temporary measure.”
"The trustees will move the $1 back to the welfare fund should it become necessary."
Fast Forward one year later to July 1, 2004:
We receive a $2.82 per hour raise the trustees recommend putting $1.00 per hour into the welfare fund to increase funding.
It is at that point, what was said to be "temporary and seamless" to the members in 2003 has now become permanent and seamed.
Question: Why wasn’t the $1.00 per hour put back like the trustees said?
Question: We never had a supplemental pension fund before why do we have one now?
We are not being told the truth!
The $1 dollar an hour has cost you thousands of dollars in lost wages with no benefit credit to your pension.
My opponent is going to say we have hard times ahead and now is not the time to change experience trustees with someone new.
I could not disagree more.
The board of directors of Citigroup were all experienced men and they nearly destroyed that once great company.
There are twelve trustees and not one of them told you your pension was cut by 26 percent until I raised the issue.
This is exactly why we need an Independent Voice at the district council.
There is a debating tactic that says, if you cannot defeat the facts of what your opponent is saying invent false issues in an attempt to mislead and distract the audience.
Sadly that is the path my opponent has chosen.
You will hear that the General President removed me from office.
This is nonsense, more deception and he knows better.
I was not removed from office.
The General President has no authority to remove elected officers from office. Local 157 was placed under trusteeship, which I exposed as phony. As a result of being under trusteeship all local meetings even our Christmas party was suspended, all elected officers and activities were suspended not removed.
EST Forde confirms what I am saying in a letter dater December 5, 2007 to the membership of local 157.
No allegations or charges of wrong doing were ever made against me. I did not seek re-election...end of story.
Let me add one more thing about the trusteeship of Local 157, last week President Thomassen said:
“I was in the office with Mike when McCarron called, He Asked, what is going on with the local?
We said George was fired as a business agent but he is staying as a vice president, He is elected and we can’t take him out of that position and he is going to become the president.
“McCarron said no way PUT THE LOCAL UNDER SUPERVISION.”
What President Thomassen just described and admitted is an unlawful trusteeship established in bad faith in order to stop George Dilacio from becoming president.
At last nights meeting I repeated what President Thomassen said, He did not deny saying it and he added “McCarron wanted to disband the local.”
There are federal laws to protect the rights of members and their local.
The General President cannot just disband a local at will.
The fact is the trusteeship of local 157 was unlawful and the constitution was not followed.
The Unity Team unrestrained and armed with all the Internationals levers of money and power, employ fear, propaganda and fraud by requesting a trusteeship be place on local 157.
They abused their power, and used the weapon of trusteeship to stifle democracy and deny members their legally protected rights.
The trusteeship left 4500 members and their families in the dark, without a voice in union affairs for almost a year.
You will hear I have no accomplishments ridiculous, I have more important things to say to you in ten minutes. Go to my website to read my accomplishments... end of story
You will hear I have no experience. This is where they got me and I plead guilty. I have absolutely no experience at misleading and deceiving the membership.
Let me give you an example of their experience. On-Par, Boom, Tri-Built, L&D, these companies were notoriously known as cash companies and defrauded our union out of million of dollars for years under their watch.
That's what they call leadership!
Let me add one more thing about On-Par, on April 2, 2008, On-Par filed a 100 million dollar lawsuit against the district council alleging among other things, the district council engaged in a conspiracy to utilized a corrupt scheme to manipulate the job referral rules in exchange for secret payoffs.
Let me quote two Independent Investigators and a federal judge on the assessment of the Unity Teams Anti-Corruption program.
"The union’s anti-corruption program is nearly worthless.” --Walter Mack June 3, 2004
"The anti-corruption program is composed of members of the district council who do not have any formal investigative training or experience; do not have a handbook of investigative procedures or written guidelines and cannot on its own do much more than inquire into allegations of improper conduct."--William Callahan December 2007
“The district council has not demonstrated they can combat corruption and adequately police themselves without further government involvement and court supervision.”--Judge Haight August 11, 2008
The other night my opponent said "the government is not our friend and isn't there to help us."
If it wasn't for government oversight On-Par, Boom, Tri-Built and L&D would still be defrauding your benefit funds out of tens of millions of dollars right under their 100 year experience trustee nose.
The membership expects us to seek elected office for the right reasons, and the right reason is to challenge the status quo, to serve the common good, and to leave this union better than we found it.
No one expects us to agree on everything. But we are expected to govern with integrity, honesty, good will and clear convictions.
Change is not going to come from within, Change is going to come from having an Independently elected voice at the district council, who is not part of the unity team to act as a "check and balance" to prevent abuse of power.
There is a famous quote by a 19th century historian. "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
This union needs an Independent voice at the district council, fighting for and looking out for, We the people...
On election day, I ask that you do one thing.
Pause, Ask yourself.
Are you better off Voting for three leaders all singing from the same song book?
Leaders who betrayed your trust!
Leaders who mislead you!
Or are you better off Voting to challenge the status quo?
This is your moment.
This is your moment to question authority and challenge the status quo.
This is your moment to agitate, speak up and lead. This is your union.
Thank you
God bless you
