USDOL Sues Carpenters Over 2005 Election
_____________________
Claims that Union imposed unreasonable limits on candidates and blew
procedure for election of delegates
05/17/06
Last week the
Department of Labor filed a
complaint in federal court challenging the legality of the 2005 election of
various officers of the Regional Council of Carpenters, including
President/Executive Secretary-Treasurer, First Vice President, Second Vice
President, Warden and various other high ranking offices in the union.
The Regional Council is one of the largest trade union councils in the
country, having grown in recent years to encompass locals as far as west as
Iowa and far south in downstate Illinois.
According to the complaint, the July 2, 2005 election was won by acclamation
of the union's delegates, but several members seeking to run for office
protested. They claimed that the union imposed an unreasonable candidacy
requirement: a nominee for a Chicago Regional Council office must have
served as a delegate for three successive years prior to being nominated for
office. The complaint is unclear on the background on this allegation, but
evidently the effect of imposing this requirement would be to eliminate the
overwhelming majority of union members from being a candidate. Under
federal law, union election criteria cannot have such a mathematical
impact. This was the Supreme Court ruling in United Steelworkers of
America v. Usery (1977) (meeting attendance rule illegal; made over 96%
of members of local union ineligible to run for office).
Also, the Carpenters suit claims that not all delegates participating in the
July 2005 nominations and election were themselves elected by secret ballot.
The DOL contends that the union broke the law, specifically Section 401 of
the federal
Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act. The relief? Start
over: void the elections and hold new nominations and elections of
delegates for each of the forty-two locals within the council, at the
union's expense.
Craig Oswald of the US Attorney's office is lead counsel for the USDOL.
