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One of the largest employee trade unions in the United States placed a California District Council that represent various Tri-Valley workers, including employees for the city of Pleasanton locked in stalled negotiations, under emergency administratorship following a recent audit that found “serious deficiencies” within the council’s leadership.
Administratorship refers to a process where an outside party assumes day-to-day control of a body, like the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees’ District Council 57 now finds itself.
According to a June 6 letter to its union members, District Council 57 administrator Walter Blair said that AFSCME President Lee Saunders placed the regional council under the emergency leadership change and that the national union would assume responsibility for the “day-to-day affairs of the council” effective immediately.
Blair, under the district council’s new administration, will serve as the administrator. Saunders’ executive assistant and the national union’s field coordinator will also step in to serve as deputy administrators.
“In my opinion, an emergency situation exists in California District Council 57, AFSCME, AFL-CIO in that dissipation or loss of the funds or assets of the council is threatened and the council is acting in violation of the International Constitution,” Saunders said in a letter to District Council 57 officers.
While Blair wrote in his June 6 letter that placing the national union affiliate under an administratorship is “never made lightly”, the intent was to serve the best interests of the union’s membership.
According to Blair, a recent audit conducted by the International Union found “serious deficiencies in the management and accounting of union funds and other violations of AFSCME’s Financial Standards Code”.
“Council 57 was notified of these deficiencies and given an opportunity to take corrective action,” Blair wrote in the June 6 letter. “However, its inability to do so has posed a threat to the fiscal stability of the council.”
But Blair also said that the district council administratorship will have no impact on any local unions or their elected leaders.
Some of those local unions under the District Council 57 umbrella include Pleasanton City Employees Association Local 955, which represents city employees; Local 2428, which represents East Bay Regional Park District employees; and Local 2019 which represents East Bay Municipal Utility District employees.
“Council 57 business representatives will continue to work with your locals to provide representational services,” Blair said. “We will remain connected with your local’s leadership to address any other matters of concern. Together we will continue to grow our union, build power, and protect public services.”
The Weekly reached out to District Council 57 to see if there were any potential impacts the administratorship could have on Pleasanton employees given that they are currently negotiating on a new contract — the previous contract between the city and the union ended on May 31 after having already been extended from its original end date on March 31, according to the May 20 City Council agenda packet.
No one from the union council has responded as of publication time.
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