Local Union Drops Charges

Charges of misconduct against two members of the union representing Columbia Facilities employees were dropped Thursday.

Twelve union members accused Kelvin McAllister, former president of Transport Workers Local 241, and former union vice presidential candidate Ramon Rogiers of notifying Columbia University Facilities of attendance violations that led to the 12 being suspended, and of alerting Spectator to the suspensions. In their letter to the union's recording secretary, they stated that McAllister and Rogiers' alleged whistle-blowing actions were "un-becoming of a member or of an officer."

"That is anathema to a union, that another member, particularly an officer, would play a role in getting somebody suspended," said Terry Klug, the recording secretary of Local 241 during McAllister's tenure as president. Klug was appointed spokesperson for Local 241 by Enzo Rodriguez, the current president of the union, and one of the 12 suspended workers who brought up the charges against McAllister and Rogiers.

Spectator reported on Dec. 11 that neither Rogiers nor McAllister was responsible for revealing the overtime violations to the newspaper.

Rogiers and McAllister said they anticipated that the trial would be canceled since the individuals bringing up the charges did not have enough evidence pointing to their guilt. McAllister called the charges "bogus," especially since Rodriguez told them they would not receive the specific charges against them until the day of their trial. They alleged Rodriguez used the issue to rally votes in his favor during the last union election.

"To use this as a campaign ploy, it was character assassination, or an attempt to discredit me as a union representative and someone who had credibility with the University," he said.

Klug denied this claim, saying the 12 members dropped the charges "in the spirit of peace and reconciliation." "They felt they needed to do it because we have so much else going on in the union, so much else," he said. He added that he could not comment on the evidence that the 12 members may or may not have had to substantiate a case against McAllister and Rogiers.

Though this set of charges was dropped on March 6, union leadership voted to push forward another set of charges against McAllister, this time brought by current treasurer Carlos Centrone. Centrone alleges McAllister broke rules in the union constitution when he allowed a non-union member access to the office's computer and when he sent a letter of grievances about the 2006 union election to several newspapers and labor organizations. The trial is set for March 23.

McAllister said he was not allowing his friend access to union documents on his computer, and that it was not a violation to bring media attention to possible "irregularities" in the 2006 election. "He [Centrone] is trying to personally attack me so I will get suspended, so I cannot run for office in the union in the next five years," he said.

Klug declined to comment on the most recent allegations except to say they are pending.