CLEVELAND, December 1 -- Another in the recent flurry of Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers ("BLE") releases about the United Transportation Union ("UTU") got it wrong, even though UTU published the full district court opinion voiding Article 78 of the UTU Constitution in the UTU News this month.

To begin with, Article 78 did not permit expulsion of members who circulated unfavorable statements about the union, as reported by BLE; rather, it prohibited willful circulation of untrue statements. Additionally, the district court clearly said that under the statute involved, even libel and slander are protected.

BLE also got it wrong when they said that both Eugene Ruocchio and Robert A. D'Angiolillo were reprimanded by UTU for publishing articles in a local newsletter which were critical of the union. Mr. D'Angiolillo never had charges brought against him in the local. His only claim was that he was disenfranchised because he voted for Mr. Ruocchio. Further, Mr. Ruocchio didn't publish anything in a local newsletter. He included remarks in a personal letter to the Local President that the General Chairman's wife had done something inappropriate that she had in fact had not done with respect to a refund check from movers.

Additionally, neither one of them ever wrote to the Department of Labor or the Congress about the handling of the union's pension fund. Beyond that, it was not UTU that brought the charges, but rather the General Chairman brought a charge against Ruocchio only about the false statements that had been made about his wife. The local trial board found Ruocchio guilty of willfully circulating a false statement after a fair and complete trial, but International President Charles L. Little overturned the verdict because of the law.

UTU then claimed the case was moot, and the district court agreed. However, on appeal, the Court of Appeals sent it back to the district judge, who then considered the legitimacy of Article 78, eventually voiding it.

"The BLE release about Article 78 is so full of inaccuracies that we wonder why it was even drafted. If our members want a full report of what the district court said, they are free to read it in the UTU News where it is being published this month by order of the district court," said International President Charles L. Little.

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