Michael J Connor

MEMO
271 Mulberry Street
New York, NY 10012

Honorable Richard M. Berman
United States District Court
Southern District of New York
United States District Courthouse
500 Pearl Street
New York, NY 10017-1312
RE: US v DC of NYC ofthe United Brot
America, et al 90 Civ.S722 (RMB)
Dear Judge Berman:
s and Joiners of

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CHAM6EAso!
RICHARO M. BERMAN
U.S.O.J.
This letter is submitted in support of the Petition to Vacate the employment veto
of Michael Bilello. I first entered the Carpenter's Union in 1974 when I was
seventeen.
Early one Saturday morning, in the summer of 1999, a clandestine meeting was
held in the back room of a restaurant in Queens. Out of fear of reprisal secrecy
was paramount, because everyone at the meeting was there to strategize about
upcoming Local Union delegate elections to be held that summer and the District
Council elections to be held later that winter. Everyone at the meeting was
running on tickets opposed by Mike Forde and the entrenched power structures
prevalent throughout our union. It was there, at that meeting, that I first met Mike
Bilello. He, as with most of us, was putting his livelihood and maybe safety on the
line to oppose the inequities and illegalities rampant within our union.
Mike Bilello's attributes as a man of honor and integrity are beyond reproach. My
attempts to relate to you his honesty, intrinsic grasp of the fundamental nature of
right and wrong, or his willingness to do whatever is necessary for the good of the
membership would fail in comparison to the letter you already received from
fellow member Ms. Lisa Narducci; wherein she so succinctly stated the many
positive qualities that EST Bilello possesses. Instead, I will attempt to show you
some other reasons the reversal of this veto is so important to the survival of our
umon.
USDCSDNY
DOCU1V1ENT
ELECTRON1CALLY riLED
DOC#: _____
DATE hlED:---771-l, I '-2
Case 1:90-cv-05722-RMB-THK Document 1355 Filed 07/16/13 Page 1 of 3
First, this veto has daubed Mike Bilello, an honest and capable man, with the
same paint that covers all the convicted and corrupt officials that he courageously
opposed while they held dominion over the industry. His inability to fight this
veto inside our own union without the exorbitant cost of legal representation and
the waste of the court's time flies in the face of everything that organized labor
stands for. His reputation has been so unjustly sullied that only a reversal of the
veto can repair it.
Second, the removal of an honest hardworking, duly elected carpenter from office
has left our union with a management team that in every instance, either at the
local union level or at the District Council level, learned their leadership qualities
and political savvy during the time of Mike Forde's sway. This is not to say that
they were complicit in his methods, but instead that they learned well the politics
of keeping one's mouth shut in the face of omnipotent power. I am sure you did
not receive any letters in opposition to this veto from Mr. Bilello's coHeagues at
the District Council. We need people in power that learned their leadership where
Mike Bilello learned his: in opposition to omnipotent power.
Third, during his tenure the RO has not imposed any form of reprimand other than
full veto. This has inadvertently created an even more insidious fear of action than
was experienced by those in the back room of the restaurant in 1999. Three years
into the RO's control, if we are ever to regain autonomy, an internal review of the
RO's decisions has to be created. An IG team was placed into position by Mr.
Walsh; they are doing their job with incredible results, why not utilize them fully.
Since so many of the delegate body members were employed at the District
Council one could argue that even the vote to continue the RO's powers for
another 18 month term was the resul t of these fears. A reversal of the veto would
be a great first step in our ability to internally question the RO's actions without
wasting the court's time.
Last, the veto of EST Bilello, if allowed to stand, will do irreparable damage to
what little faith the working carpenter in the field still has in the democratic
process. I f the highest oflicial we elect can be removed, for what appear to be
procedural gaffs, where does our democracy stand? "Why vote at all?" one might
10gicalIy say. Although the RO has probably acted inside the parameters of his
vast powers it doesn't mean he acted justly or with foresight.
Your Honor, I know this letter seems coming with only two days left
before your hearing on the Petition on the I 8
t1
of July. My delay in writing this is
due to only one thing, fear of the negative repercussions that sending this letter
may heap upon me. I am not a retired member; I am a shop steward who is active
in union politics. I recently took a three day course that is a requirement for
working at the District Council, the hiring from those who attended is about to
begin. 1 know that the sending of this letter will negate any chance of considering
Case 1:90-cv-05722-RMB-THK Document 1355 Filed 07/16/13 Page 2 of 3
me for any position, yet it had to be written. Mike Bilello is not corrupt, is a
capable and patient leader; whether one agrees with his decisions or not, it is vital
to the integrity of our democratic process that he is allowed to serve his full term
and then let that very process decide the next step. I respectfully ask you to
reverse this veto.
Michael J. 0
Local 157
SO ORDERED: ~
Date: ?/I./a ~ ~ I I .......
Richard M. Berman. U.S.DJ.
Case 1:90-cv-05722-RMB-THK Document 1355 Filed 07/16/13 Page 3 of 3