CLICK HERE to read about the legal costs being paid by the UTU International.
Brothers & Sisters,
We recently received copies of the UTU International compilation of legal costs from a Save Our Union supporter. We knew legal costs to the UTU were mounting, but we were absolutely appalled to see the concrete figures.
The seven Intervening Defendants, John Babler, Victor Baffoni, Roy Boling, James Brunkenhoefer, James Cumby, John Fitzgerald and Tony Iannone have told many members that they oppose the efforts to uphold our lawful right to a meaningful and informed vote on the SMART merger because the UTU is in financial trouble and we must merge with the SMWIA to be financially rescued.
In his testimony on May 28, Tony Iannone stated,
“So we wanted to protect the UTU from further litigation. That was first down on our list.”
And James Brunkenhoefer stated in his declaration to the court,
“A critical issue for the UTU is its financial stability … Accordingly, when we voted to approve the Merger Agreement in June 2007, it was my view that on the table was not just the issue of the merger but the very survival of the institution.”
Instead we have all seen the evidence of just the opposite. Here is what General Secretary & Treasurer,
"Action taken by delegates to the 2007 convention mandated the GS&T prepare an annual budget for the operation of the UTU.
"The budget President Futhey, Assistant President Martin and I prepared for 2008 was developed with a goal of improving the reserves of the International funds by 50 percent by year end,"
It is not surprising that now that Paul Thompson and some of his big spenders are out of office, the new administration has been able to effect such a turn-around in the UTU financial situation. What is surprising is that even though the Intervenors are faced with the truth, they continue to attempt to convince people of just the opposite. We suppose they are convinced that if they bray often and loud enough, someone might actually begin to believe it.
We now have concrete evidence of just how much financial damage these seven are doing to OUR union and is beyond belief that they could continue to proclaim their alleged concern and fiduciary responsibility as board members toward the UTU and its members.
Make absolutely no mistake about exactly what is happening. They are the only ones who are causing these costs to continue to snowball. These seven “UTU officers” have used the dues monies of SMWIA members to continue to oppose the rights of UTU members. As you can clearly see, to date, their self-centered actions have cost the UTU almost $400,000.00 in legal fees alone.
When you look at the dates of the costs keep in mind that the UTU had worked out an agreement with the Plaintiffs in early January 2008. That agreement was for the UTU to work with the SMWIA to create a SMART constitution and submit it to the UTU membership for a democratic, informed ratification vote. These seven officers intervened and prevented that from happening. They are solely to blame for every legal cost to UTU members since that first week of January.
Now they have caused a lengthy, absolutely unnecessary, appeals process that will continue to increase the costs to each and every UTU and SMWIA member.
What are the costs to the dues monies of SMWIA rank-and-file members? How much money has Mike Sullivan spent on the seven Intervening “UTU” officers? Additionally, once the Plaintiffs prevail in upholding our rights, the UTU may well be ordered by the court to reimburse the Plaintiffs legal costs. Add it all up and you can understand just how much financial damage these seven officers are doing.
Why doesn’t Mike Sullivan put an end to this and tell his seven (would you call them UTU or SMWIA?) officers to allow us a vote on a SMART constitution? How much more of their “concern” can all of us tolerate and afford?
