By KEVIN NEVERS

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is seeking to force Local 150 of the International Union of Operating Engineers to hold a new election of officers, after an investigation concluded that improprieties in the incumbents’ campaign may have affected the outcome of the election held on Aug. 25, 2007.

On Monday DOL filed suit in the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of Illinois alleging that Local 150 used both union funds and employer funds to promote incumbent candidates, in violation of U.S. Code. That suits seeks an order declaring null and void the re-election of eight officers and instructing Local 150 to hold a new election under DOL supervision.

Local 150, based in Countryside, Ill., represents around 23,000 heavy equipment operators, some 4,100 of them in Northern Indiana.

Returned to office in last year’s election were President and Business Manager Bill Dugan; Vice-president James Sweeney; Corresponding Secretary Steven Cisco; Financial Secretary David Fagan; Treasurer Marshall Douglas; and Executive Board members Matt Ruane (District 1), Daniel Schrader (District 3), and Willis Wisely (District 8).

Dugan has since resigned the presidency, Sweeney assumed it, and James McNally was appointed to the vice-presidency by the Executive Board.

The suit was brought by DOL following an investigation of a complaint lodged on Jan. 7, 2008, by Joseph Ward, who had unsuccessfully challenged incumbent Dugan for the office of President and Business Manager. That investigation, the suit states, “found probable cause” to believe that union as well as employer funds were “used to promote” the incumbents’ re-election, in violation of 29 U.S.C. Sec. 481(g).

Under that section, “No moneys received by any labor organization by way of dues, assessment, or similar levy and no moneys of an employer shall be contributed or applied to promote the candidacy= of any person in any election . . . . Such moneys of a labor organization may be utilized for notices, factual statements of issues not involving candidates, and other expenses necessary for the holding of an election.”

The DOL’s Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) has the authority to investigate union officer elections when a complainant has exhausted all internal union remedies and has filed a complaint in a timely fashion. According to an “Election Investigation Profile” published by DOL, if “an investigation reveals violations that may have affected the election outcome and voluntary compliance is not obtained, OLMS will file suit to have a federal district court set aside the the challenged election and order a new election under OLMS supervision.”

If, on the other hand, “OLMS determines that an allegation raised has no merit, or that a violation occurred but could not have affected the election outcome, no further action is necessary and OLMS closes the case.”

In addition to an order instructing Local 150 to hold a new election, DOL is also seeking in its suit “the costs of this action” and “such other relief as may be appropriate.”

Another Lawsuit

Monday’s suit is the second brought against the troubled Local 150 in less than three months. In the first, filed in July, two operators allege that at least three members of the Joint Grievance Committee accepted a bribe to fix the outcome of a grievance filed against their employee.

The plaintiffs further allege in that suit a pattern of racketeering activity. “Defendants’ fraudulent acts are not isolated but rather are part of a fraudulent pattern of conduct through which the defendants encouraged, supported, and otherwise participated in a pattern of and practice of soliciting, seeking, securing, and otherwise accepting bribes to fix, change, or otherwise unfairly impact grievances involving Local 150 members,” the suit states.

Posted 10/2/2008