| Dock Builders side with the New York City District Council of Carpenters
A group of 700 city dock workers voted today to stick with the New York City District Council of Carpenters instead of joining Amalgamated Carpenters and Joiners Union, a competing union with alleged mob ties. Bilello had portrayed Amalgamated as a group trying to escape federal regulations after they were "weeded out" of a system that was plagued by years of corruption. A representative for the District Council put the count at 361 to 186, though the official outcomes of the vote had not yet been released. "The result demonstrates the well-reasoned judgment of the fantastic majority of those who voted," Walsh said. , an attorney and founding leader of Amalgamated Carpenters, fired back at the allegations made by Bilello and Walsh in an exclusive interview with Real Estate Weekly this week, calling the claims of his mob ties "ridiculous" and defending the reputations of those at the helm of his union's leadership. Everybody was well-informed of the issues and as concerned as I was. I will be following any additional efforts of the Amalgamated principals very closely and will enforce the Consent Decree in every situation where Amalgamated might represent past or present members of the District Council. Walsh was installed by the courts in June 2010 to monitor the 25,000-member District Council after a racketeering scandal rocked the District Council in 2009, when several senior officials were arrested for breaking the terms of a 1994 consent decree against racketeering. Bisceglie wasn't available for comment following the vote. "The fight may not be over, but with this vote our members have delivered a tremendous blow to the criminal elements that are seeking to obstruct our progress forward," Bilello added. Now, more than ever, we proudly stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters. The dock builders and members of the NYC District Council of Carpenters build and maintain city docks and also do underpinning, pile driving and foundation work on projects like the massive Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn and the Hudson Yards development in Manhattan. "I'm extremely happy," said Ivan Schweikert, 45, a 27-year veteran with the Dock Builders who voted for the District Council. Angelo R. I was fairly confident that it would go this way. "These are people who were players in this organization who were removed or vetoed from their positions or resigned based on findings of corruption on their part," Bilello said earlier this week. "They refused to be misled by false promises of those that have surefire in the past that they cannot be trusted. They have me labeled as this mob attorney, which is total crap, and I want to set the record straight. "Give me a break," Bisceglie said. Dock Builders side with the New York City District Council of Carpenters |
Friday 30 March 2012
Dock Builders side with the New York City District Council of Carpenters
