FRANK DURKAN BRIAN O'DWYER GARY SILVERMAN CHRISTOPHER DOWNES* VICTOR GRECO CODY K. McCONE

GARY P. ROTHMAN• STEVEN ARIPOTCH J. P. DELANEY

DAVID H. SCHULTZ** RAUL GARCIA ANGELIOUE NYE GWENDOLYN COYLE DONNA A. CANFIELD ROBERT DUNNE

JASON S. FUIMAN'

M. GLADYS T. ORANGA ANDREW R. GRABOIS

O'DWYER & BERNSTIEN, LLP

ATTORNEYS AT LAW
PAUL O'DWYER WAY
52 DUANE STREET
NEW YORK, N.Y. 10007
(212) 57 1-7 100
(516) 248-4224
FAX (212) 571-7124

PAUL O'DWYER (1907-1998)
OSCAR BERNSTIEN (1865-1974)

OF COUNSEL:
THOMAS J. HUGHES, JR.
ANNE M. PAXTON
MICHAEL CARROLL
CRAIG NUSSBAUM

ALSO ADMITTED IN NJ "ALSO ADMITTED IN CT ALSO ADMITTED IN PA & NJ

WRITER'S DIRECT DIAL

September 22, 2005 By Fax – 212-637-2686

Edward Scarvalone, AUSA

United States Department of Justice 86 Chambers Street

New York, New York 10007

Re:   United States v. District Council of New York City and Vicinity of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America

90 Civ. 5722 (CSH)

Dear Mr. Scarvalone:

We write to formally request the Government to remove the name of Peter Thomassen from the pending contempt motion. For the reasons set forth below, the Government is perpetrating an injustice by singling Mr. Thomassen out for contempt in this motion. The District Council will vigorously defend its position that it did not act in contempt of the Consent Decree in negotiating a change in the request language contained in the expiring collective bargaining agreements, but even if that negotiated change is found to have been at variance with the job referral rules approved in the Consent Decree, the Government will have wrongly singled out Mr. Thomassen for his role as one member of a large negotiating committee.

Mr. Thomassen's role in the 2001 collective bargaining was that of a member of the negotiating committee. Pursuant to Section 8 of the approved District Council By-Laws, "The Executive Committee shall serve as the collective bargaining committee for conducting negotiations with employers. The Executive Committee shall have the authority to appoint additional members to serve on the any negotiating committee. Pursuant to Section 5 of the By-Laws, the power to finally approve collective bargaining agreements is vested in the Delegate Body.

Edward Scarvalone, AUSA September 22, 2005

Page 2

The only information in the Government's motion that sets Mr. Thomassen apart from any other member of the negotiating team is that he testified in the hearings concerning the tenure of Walter Mack, at which the Government asked him certain questions about the change in the request rules. That Mr. Thomassens's actions during the 2001 negotiations were, indeed, as part of a team is evident from the colloquy excerpted at page 9 of the Government's brief in support of its motion* In that exchange, Mr. Thomassen is quoted as acknowledging he did not ask the government if the union could change the job referral rules (emphasis added). Then the Government asked if he was aware of anyone else asking the government (to consent to the changes), to which Mr. Thoamssen answered, "To be honest with you, I'm not aware of anybody asking if we could change that. We entered into collective bargaining with an open mind that we were going to do the best we could for our members."

Notwithstanding the Government's clear understanding of the group effort, as evidenced by the questions posed to Mr. Thomassen, the Government has seen fit to single Mr. Thomassen out in this contempt motion. We also note that the Government does not seek any remedy in its motion with respect to Mr. Thomassen different than the remedies it seeks with respect to the request system, the Consent Decree and the District Council as an entity. Moreover, there is no requirement that he be named as a nominative party for the District Council, begging the question, why he was named individually? The message being sent by the Government is crystal clear — one who speaks out effectively and forcefully in opposition to the Government's position does do at their peril. This is not the message the Justice Department should sending.

For all of these reasons, this letter is intended to urge the Government to withdraw its motion with respect to Mr. Thomassen. Doing so is just and proper in the circumstances. It can be accomplished with a letter to the Court. Please feel free to discuss with me any comments you may have about this.

Very truly yours,

0'DWYER & BERNSTEIN, LLP

By:Gary Rothman

Cc: Michael J. Forde Peter Thomassen Denis Shiel III

dc-acc-scarvalone re contempt 092205