Many of New York City’s school bus drivers say their union local is so awash in corruption problems that they want the parent union to appoint a trustee to run it.þþAnd some drivers say they are angry and baffled that the parent union has done so little to address their concerns that their union, Local 1181 of the Amalgamated Transit Union, has been sullied by guilty pleas and indictments among its leaders. þþThe president of the 15,000-member local is facing trial this month on federal charges of obstructing justice, accused of hiding Mafia involvement in the union. Its longtime secretary-treasurer is to be sentenced next month on federal racketeering charges, while the woman who manages the local’s pension fund continues to run it even though she pleaded guilty in August to obstructing justice.þþAnd in perhaps the most embarrassing development, Matthew Ianniello, who the authorities say is the acting boss of the Genovese crime family, admitted in September that he had helped arrange for bus companies to make payoffs to Local 1181 officials. Mr. Ianniello, known as Matty the Horse, made the admission as he pleaded guilty in Federal District Court in Manhattan to obstructing justice.þþ“It’s a disgrace,” said Gloria Flaherty, a bus driver for nine years. “The union local is all run to the leaders’ benefit. They don’t represent the members. The major problem now is the international union. They’re aware of what’s going on and they just don’t care.”þþBut officials with the parent union noted that they appointed an outside lawyer to examine Local 1181’s affairs after Mr. Ianniello pleaded guilty and pointed an accusing finger at the local’s officials.þþLeo Wetzel, the parent union’s general counsel, said, “We have retained an independent counsel to review, to ferret out as best he can, what’s in the public record and to recommend appropriate action.”þþDrivers aligned with a dissident group within the union local, Members for Change, called the move too little, too late, coming 15 months after the local’s president, secretary-treasurer and pension fund director were indicted. These critics assert that money is missing from the local’s pension and strike funds.þþBut a review of the local’s finances by the parent union did not find any money missing, Mr. Wetzel said. “There’s no question that the members of the local are being serviced,” he added.þþMr. Wetzel said the parent union could not oust the pension fund director, Ann Chiarovano, despite her guilty plea, because she is not an officer of the local union, which is based in Ozone Park, Queens. þþ“The international doesn’t have any authority over whether or not she’s removed,” Mr. Wetzel said.þþThe secretary-treasurer, Julius Bernstein, was forced by federal prosecutors to give up his post in June, when he was indicted a second time. The union’s president, Salvatore Battaglia, continues in his position despite his indictment. þþTensions escalated at a recent meeting at John Adams High School in Queens where drivers voted on whether to uphold a challenge to Local 1181’s election last year. The slate headed by Mr. Battaglia won, but several drivers said that they had faced intimidation and that when they went to vote, they found that someone had already done so in their name. þþthe meeting, Mr. Battaglia asked bus drivers to stand up to show whether they supported or opposed the challenge, which would result in a new election, according to people who attended. Afterward, a union spokesman said the challenge had been rejected, 1,100 to 72, but several Battaglia critics said the margin was much narrower, with about 60 percent opposing the challenge and 40 percent favoring it. They also said it was unfair to require the drivers to vote by standing because many were scared to be seen as opposing the local’s leadership.þþSeveral dissidents said that before the meeting they approached three union vice presidents from other cities who had been sent to monitor it. þþ“We went up to talk to them to ask whether a secret ballot was in order,” said one driver, Warren Zaugg. “They got up from their chairs and literally turned their back on us.”þþRodney Richmond, a union international vice president from New Orleans who observed the meeting, said he did not recall any drivers requesting a secret ballot. “I don’t think anybody turned their backs on anyone,” he said. “Our backs were already turned.”þþJohn Bisbano, a driver for 13 years, said Mr. Battaglia dominated the meeting, not letting anyone else speak. “You have the American flag flying here, and you can’t even ask questions,” Mr. Bisbano said. “It’s like having a meeting in Red China.” þþAsked about the drivers’ allegations, Steve Mangione, a spokesman for Local 1181, said, “Everything was conducted according to the way the meeting was supposed to be run.”þþMr. Bernstein, the secretary-treasurer, was charged with obstructing justice, extorting money from a bus company and conspiring with Mr. Ianniello and others to extort $100,000 from a medical center that rented office space from the union. þþGovernment prosecutors say they have tape recordings of conversations showing that the indicted Local 1181 leaders met repeatedly with Ciro Perrone, a top Ianniello lieutenant, at Don Peppe’s, a restaurant near the local’s headquarters.þþMr. Wetzel said the parent union could find no public record that Mr. Bernstein had pleaded guilty. But the dissidents’ main lawyer, Carl Levine, said officials in the United States attorney’s office in Manhattan had told him that Mr. Bernstein had pleaded guilty. Mr. Bernstein’s lawyer, Michele Bonsignore, did not return phone calls requesting comment. þþOfficials with the United States attorney’s office said documents in Mr. Bernstein’s case were sealed, but Judge Kimba M. Wood of Federal District Court has issued an order scheduling his sentencing for Dec. 29. þþMr. Mangione said the local was in good condition. “The union and its leadership have never been stronger,” he said. “Salvatore Battaglia and the executive board recently negotiated the best contract in the industry.”þþ
Source: NY Times
