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james.mcgough@comcast.net

LIUNA Independent Hearing Officer:
Attn: Peter Vaira, Esq
Local 2 Election Officer
Attn Barbara Zack Quindell

Re Appeal of Local 2 Election Officer decision re Wendell Hawkins

Dear Mr. Vaira:

This appeal of the Election Officer’s decision on the eligibility of Wendell Hawkins to run for Office in Laborers local 2 is on my behalf, on behalf of Wendell Hawkins  and on behalf of those members similarly situated as a class that have been unconstitutionally deprived

§         of due process,

§         of  their rights as union members to be informed of the rules, policies, procedures, and lawful orders they are constitutionally and ethically obligated to obey

§         of their right to receive notice before being deprived of their property rights

§         of their right to honest union management

§         of their right to have union business conducted in the most business like, efficient manner

§         of their right to be treated fairly

§         of their right to be presumed innocent and honest and to have this presumption being given greater weight than the integrity of the clerical records of local 2, which everyone in a position to know acknowledges are rife with error, unreliable, lacking in integrity, incomplete, and easily susceptible to fraud.

Attached for the record is a copy of the Election Officer decision of Feb 14, 2001, together with my notice to you of February 15, requesting an expedited appeal in the offices of local 2. Despite numerous communications with the Election Officer on February 15 & 16 by email and telephone, I was not informed of this decision until yesterday when I received it from Wendell Hawkins.

Wendell Hawkins is a 25 year member of local 2. He is by all accounts a good union member who reports corrupt contractors that do not pay welfare and pension benefits. The former trustee of local 225, Sam Salerno now field rep in local 152, was in periodic communication with Wendell Hawkins during the last quarter of 1999 and the first quarter of 2000 because Wendell was working on a job site over which 225 had jurisdiction and Wendell was reporting non compliance by Quality Construction Company with its collective bargaining duties to pay benefits. Sam Salerno was fighting on behalf of a member who was in good standing in local 2 in March 2000, the time frame in question. Both Sam Salerno and local 225 field rep Verne Pappas, would in the course of their duties, check Wendell’s status with local 2. Wendell was informed he was in good standing in March 2000 and would not have to leave the job site.

The sign in sheets for local 2 union meetings in March, April, and May of 2000 will show, I contend ,that Wendell Hawkins signed in and was allowed to attend the union meeting to which only members in good standing are allowed entrance. His admittance to the meetings was an indication to me and others that he was a member in good standing.

Wendell Hawkins insists he paid his union dues in January, 2000 for the quarter, got a receipt, and threw that receipt away in May 2000 when he received a receipt that indicated he was paid from January 2000 through December 2000. Wendell called the hall and asked how much he had to pay in order to get a Local 2 union jacket. He was told $241 but was not told that it included a reinstatement fee that was now being charged to members who had been suspended for non payment of dues. Wendell didn’t question the amount. All he knew was that by paying $241 he would get his jacket because jackets were being issued to members who had paid their dues for one whole year.

Wendell got his jacket and with it the message from Local 2 that he had paid his dues for a year-from January 2000 to December 2000. Wendell and others relied upon that message. I know I interpreted it as a sign he was in good standing for January 2000-December 2000.

In January 31, 2000, Wendell received an official communication from local 2 to the effect that the International’s records showed he was reinstated in 1998 and that he was in good standing with both the local and international.

With the trustee of local 2, Randy Dalton, willing to state that the records of local 2 are in error in every possible way, with the GEB Attorney on record as saying the trusteeship was being extended an additional 4 months for the sole purpose of correcting local 2’s erroneous records, and with the error prone manual system now in place, I do not see how in good conscience the Election Officer should give greater weight to the testimony or lack thereof of the records than to the testimony of an admitted honest union member.

The former field representative, Vince DiVarco, will state that Wendell always paid his dues on time.

Joanne Caruso, former clerical secretary of local 2 in January-July, will state that the records of local 2 are not complete because Dave Maine from local 5 came to local 2 when she was on vacation and threw records out. Joanne was not asked about this record destruction  by the election officer who was not aware of it at the time she telephoned Joanne at my request. Dave Maine, now secretary-treasurer of local 5 is an honest man I like very much. I do not know what records he threw out when Joanne was on vacation. Joanne might.

Because Wendell Hawkins is an individual and a member of racial group that has systematically been discriminated against by organized crime controlled locals, his case demands further consideration.

Justice demands that Wendell Hawkins be given more credibility than the omission of a recording,

Wendell Hawkins is being unfairly deprived of due process in this matter because the provision in LIUNA’s constitution that automatically suspends a member without any warning or notice is patently unfair.

Wendell relied on multiple messages from authorized agents of the union that he was a member in good standing in March, April, and May of 2000.

It is not fair to tell someone something consistently for 14 months and then at a nomination meeting say, “oops, we made a mistake a year ago. Your reliance on our messages was misplaced, Gotcha!” The members of local 2, especially those who have been most mal treated and deliberately kept in the dark about union matters deserve better.

Please issue an order to the election officer of local 2 to declare eligible for office those members who were nominated and found to be ineligible because of non payment of dues. This is not a request for a variance. It is a request for justice and equity, for a liberal interpretation and not a strict constructionist interpretation of LIUNA’s constitution- a document most members never see much less know about so pervasive is the effort of LIUNA to keep members in the dark and uneducated.

I am not a candidate. I want as a member of local 2 a contested election for every office.

Please issue your ruling as soon as possible. Gods bless America, the rule of law, and the establishment of JUSTICE in the Laborers Union. Be Equitable and provide equity.

James William McGough
Laborers for JUSTICE, Director