If the Communications Workers of America has its way, it may disconnect America in Aug. as strikes near at 3 regional telephone giants. On Aug. 3, CWA members authorized strikes at BellSouth and US West, and CWA’s board authorized a strike against Bell Atlantic. CWA President Morton Bahr smugly proclaimed, “We have serious problems, much negotiating to do and very little time to go.” Contracts expire at Bell Atlantic and BellSouth on Aug. 8 and US West on Aug. 15. If CWA doesn’t compromise: 73,000 workers at Bell Atlantic in DE, ME, MD, MA, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI, VT, VA, WV & DC; 48,000 at BellSouth in AL, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, SC & TN; and 36,000 at US West in AZ, CO, ID, IA, MN, MT, NE, NM, ND, OR, SD, UT, WA & WY will be on strike.
Boss Doctors Union’s Books
Louis DiFiore, the business manager of the International Brotherhood of Painters & Allied Trades Local 466 in Warrensburg, NY, pleaded guilty in federal court on Aug. 4 to misdemeanor counts of doctoring the union’s books. He admitted to making false entries in union accounting books and failing to maintain proper records of trust accounts. DiFiore was responsible for loss of $23,725, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, which alleges he embezzled $12,125 of it. He faces 2 years in prison and a $200,000 fine. He has been business manager since 1951. [Albany Times-Union 08/05/98]
QUOTABLE QUOTE
“This union has been run by a small group for their own benefit… It’s time for the good members to rise up and revolt against the self-serving little men in charge.”
-U.S. District Judge David N. Edelstein on Teamsters, expelled president Ron Carey & acting president Tom Sever in a Jul. 28 statement.