Spano wants managers ousted from Teamsters in Elmsford 
By KEITH EDDINGS  THE JOURNAL NEWS  (Original publication: June 27, 2004) 
-Westchester County Executive Andrew Spano is attempting to remove 185 lawyers, managers and other upper-level employees from the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which would end their right to bargain collectively with the county. 
-The effort was not prompted by the ongoing federal investigations into corruption at the Teamsters local that represents the county workers, but is intended to correct a wrong that occurred when the managers were allowed to unionize in 1993, a Spano adviser said. The local, number 456, is based in Elmsford.
-"People who have management positions should not be represented by the Teamsters," said Susan Tolchin, Spano's chief adviser. "If they're managers, they're managers. If they're union, they're union. If you look at the list, some of the people, or all of them, should be considered management." The list includes 44 assistant county attorneys and dozens of assistant commissioners and directors in nearly every county department, including Health, Probation, Human Resources, Social Services, Parks, Public Works, Correction, Transportation and the county clerk's office, and in the county sewer and water districts.
-Dan Kane, the trustee who runs the Teamsters local, recently sent a letter to members warning that Spano's effort has "dangerous repercussions for you and your families" by exposing them to "unilateral changes in working conditions." He did not return phone calls.
"All of us are concerned about what this is going to mean in terms of future salaries and benefits and the contracted terms we've negotiated so far," said union member Meredith Waltman, the director of administrative services for the Department of Public Works. "What happens to that, we don't know."  The Teamsters' fight to maintain its ties to the county workforce is the second in a year.
In 2002 and 2003, as the allegations of corruption at the local mounted, Waltman helped lead an effort to decertify the local and organize the county managers into an independent union or affiliate them with another union. The effort failed.
-The national Teamsters last year appointed a trustee to run Local 456 amid charges of nepotism, favoritism and financial mismanagement by its leadership. On Wednesday, a shop steward at the local was arraigned on charges that he provided himself with a no-show job at a Yorktown construction project. 
-The steward, Scott Doyle, is the son of Edward Doyle Sr., who in 1999 agreed to a seven-year suspension as the local's president to settle charges that he cheated the local of proceeds from the sale of used cars. He denied the charges. The county Public Employment Relations Board is expected to hold a hearing on Spano's request to reclassify the county Teamsters as managers so that they could be removed from the union.  
-The bargaining unit represented 400 employees when it organized under the Teamsters 11 years ago. Its membership has shrunk by about half since then, in part as other positions were reclassified.  The county Teamsters have been working without a contract with the county since Dec. 31, 2001. 
Reach Keith Eddings at keddings@thejournalnews or at 914-694-5060.                              Page views:  since   7/6/04