UPW workers petition Several United Public Workers members are circulating a petition calling for the UPW's parent organization to place the local union under trusteeship, saying convicted former state Director Gary Rodrigues continues to hold undue influence over the union.
for trusteeship
They seek to remove Rodrigues' successor
as the state directorBy Rick Daysog
rdaysog@starbulletin.comKeith Faufata, a UPW member since 1981, said that he and other petitioners also are asking that the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees remove and suspend Rodrigues' successor, Dwight Takeno, and replace all but one member of the union's executive board.
Faufata believes that the UPW's board held an "illegal meeting" on Friday when it named Takeno, Rodrigues' longtime supporter, as the union's new state director.
Rodrigues, state director of the 12,000-member UPW since 1981, was under suspension at the time and had no authority to call the meeting, his critics said.
UPW state President George Yasumoto, the union's next-highest-ranking officer, attempted to cancel the meeting, but the board went ahead. The petition asks that Yasumoto be retained as a board member.
"The UPW is the membership. It's not board and it's not Gary," said Faufata, a former member of the union's executive board. "We want to make sure things are done right, and right now we don't believe they are being done right."
UPW officials did not return calls, and an attorney for the union had no immediate comment. AFSCME officials could not be reached.
Under trusteeship, AFSCME can appoint a representative or a team of representatives to run the day-to-day affairs of the union until new elections are held.
Faufata said that organizers hope to collect more than 2,000 signatures and present them to AFSCME President Gerald McEntee.
On Thursday, McEntee suspended Rodrigues and stripped him of his authority two days after a federal jury found Rodrigues guilty on 101 counts of mail fraud, money laundering and embezzlement. His daughter Robin Haunani Rodrigues Sabatini, 38, an accountant, also was found guilty, of 95 counts, including mail fraud and money laundering.
Rodrigues and Sabatini will return to federal court tomorrow to learn whether they will have to forfeit more than $300,000 in consulting fees.
In the petition, Faufata and his fellow organizers also are asking that AFSCME:
>> Revoke an agreement by the board to provide retirement and other benefits to Rodrigues. According to Faufata, Rodrigues' retirement package and unclaimed vacation and sick leave could be worth "six figures," based on his $202,000 annual salary.
>> Hold new elections for the state executive board.
>> Amend the UPW's constitution to allow the rank and file to directly elect all state and unit officers. Currently, the union's top state officers are picked by delegates to the union's convention. Unit officers are elected by the membership but require the approval of the state director and the executive board.
Faufata said Rodrigues' conviction vindicated a complaint that he, UPW member Angel Santiago-Cruz and former UPW shop steward Keith Chudzik filed with AFSCME three years ago that Rodrigues retaliated against members and hid details of questionable financial deals.
After a one-day hearing in July 1999, AFSCME found Rodrigues innocent of the charges.
"He was a powerful man ... and for the first 15 years, he did a lot of good with that power," Faufata said. "Now that power is coming back to haunt us."