an honest day's work for an honest day's pay
Erin King Sweeney vows to fight union changes to protect ‘loyalists’
the documents that john kelder's elected compatriots found were not what one would expect to find
dino amoroso left nassau otb with many documents never seeing the light of day
many of us work. others like park strategies, robert meara et sl collect for doing nothing
politics does not always deliver much in the way of truth, honesty, work etc
this is a problem and honest workers et al suffer
the iranians are expert in reassembling shredded documents if your staff is not up to the task. we all remember the embassy saga?
Kevin McCaffrey, Suffolk County legislator, gets revote in contested Teamsters election
Suffolk County Legis. Kevin McCaffrey speaks beside Legis. Robert Trotta during a news conference at the William Rogers Legislature Building in Hauppauge Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2015. Photo Credit: Barry Sloan
National Teamsters union officials have decided to allow ballots to be counted in a union election in which Kevin McCaffrey, minority leader of the Suffolk County Legislature, is seeking to regain his post as president.
The Washington D.C.-based executive board of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters had impounded ballots in a revote of a Local 707 election that McCaffrey lost in November, said Kara Deniz, spokeswoman for the national union.
The winning slate of candidates had opposed repetition of the election.
The board voted last Friday to reject the appeal by the victors and allow the election to go forward. The new ballots will be opened on Wednesday, said Susan Oddo, the Nassau local’s new recording secretary.
McCaffrey and other incumbents ousted in the November election had asked for a new vote because 92 ballots had not been delivered to workers of a Midwood ambulance company. A new election was held, but ballots were impounded because of the appeal
The ousted slate should have been aware the ballots had not been delivered, and also did not seek a revote in a timely manner, Oddo said.
Local 707 represents 2,400 workers in the trucking and food service industries, along with employees of Nassau Regional Off-Track Betting Corp.
McCaffrey, a Lindenhurst Republican, lost the union election in November to John Kelder by six votes. McCaffrey had held the $106,000-a-year union post since 1994.
The union last year cut pension benefits for retirees after it reported the fund has only $34.6 million to pay $47.6 million in benefits this year. The pension fund receives $7.5 million in contributions a year. Pensions eventually could be cut by up to two-thirds, McCaffrey said.
McCaffrey critics have blamed him for the pension cuts.
McCaffrey said job reductions in the trucking business and contract concessions during the Wall Street meltdown led to the shortfall.
McCaffrey, who was running a heated legislative re-election race at the time of the union election, said he was optimistic about his chances to regain the presidency of the Teamsters local.
Kelder was traveling and unavailable for comment.
Separately, Supervisor-elect Laura Gillen says her team has received allegations about documents being destroyed by current town administration.
Hempstead Town Councilwoman Erin King Sweeney, seen in September, has been at odds with outgoing Supervisor Anthony Santino for months over her ethics reform proposal. Photo Credit: Howard Schnapp
Hempstead Town Councilwoman Erin King Sweeney on Tuesday accused outgoing Supervisor Anthony Santino of negotiating changes to the union’s collective bargaining agreement so his “loyalists” would be protected when Supervisor-elect Laura Gillen takes over in January.
Town spokesman Mike Deery acknowledged negotiations with the union were occurring but would not provide details.
“The administration has been working on a proposed agreement with the union to expand the protection of workers’ rights,” Deery said.
King Sweeney, a Republican who has been at odds with Santino for months over ethics reform, said she would fight any attempts to put Santino “loyalists in positions of power in the new administration.”
“Any last-minute attempted power grabs by Santino will be met with swift and severe resistance,” King Sweeney said. “It is time to loosen his vise grip and move forward.”
Charles Sellitto, president of CSEA Local 880, which represents town workers, could not be reached for comment.
Gillen earlier Tuesday asked Santino to investigate allegations that documents and data have been destroyed or deleted since the Nov. 7 election, according to a letter Gillen sent to town officials.
In her letter, Gillen wrote that her transition team has received allegations “concerning the destruction and deletion of materials, documents and or data,” but she did not elaborate. She did not disclose who made the allegations.
“The Supervisor-elect is passing along allegations that were brought to the attention of her transition team, and she is confident Supervisor Santino would want to ensure this type of activity is not taking place during the transition period,” Keith Corbett, counsel for Gillen’s transition team, said in a statement Tuesday evening. “It is reasonable to request an investigation to ensure the integrity of the Town’s property, documents, data and information. Additionally, it is not uncommon to preserve all town files, documents, computers and data inviolate until the transition is complete.”
The letter was hand-delivered to Santino and copied to Town Attorney Joe Ra and Arthur Primm Jr., the town’s commissioner of information technology.
“There are no town records that are being destroyed,” Deery said.
Gillen, a Democrat, asked Republican Santino to investigate any potential mishandling of town records and provide her with a report before her inauguration on Jan. 2.
She said the town’s employees “have a lawful obligation to retain and preserve” all town records both in hard copy and electronic formats.
Gillen wrote that records should be preserved through her transition “regardless of any other past practices.”
“I am confident you can agree such action is necessary to ensure the best interests of the Town’s taxpayers,” she wrote.
No comments:
Post a Comment