Why was Monin Rehired?
BLE members question rehiring of Monin by Dubroski and why union is paying ousted president more "hush" money
CLEVELAND and OTTAWA – Concerned BLE members embarrassed by their union’s "collaboration" with VIA Rail to eliminate the craft of conductor are now asking questions about the sweetheart deal their ousted International President has received from the man who tossed him out of office.
Specifically, on the BLE Members internet discussion site (see below, message #232, #233), they are asking in posted messages why Clarence Monin is getting paid more money after he was voted out of office than he was earning as International President. And they are wondering whether that "dog" will bite again?
According to highly reliable BLE reports, new International President Ed Dubroski hired Monin to "hush him up" and to keep him from instigating a new recall election against him and General Secretary and Treasurer Russell Bennett. In addition, Dubroski feared Monin would work for unification with the UTU as he had agreed to do by signing his name on AFL-CIO documents. Dubroski also signed all AFL-CIO documents in favor of unification with the UTU.
Dubroski’s secret deal with Monin includes:
- Full International President’s salary (approximately $135,000)
- $100 per hour consulting fee on top of his salary (no limit on hours)
- Full benefits
- BLE continues to pay $25,000 Cleveland country club membership and monthly dues
Only about 50% of the BLE’s active membership voted in its recall election in which Monin lost to Dubroski by 18 votes. Of the 13,737 valid ballots cast, according to the Journal of Commerce, only 6,937 BLE members, or 50.03%, out of a total active membership of more than 25,000, favored removal of Monin.
This was the first successful BLE recall in 136 years. Yet many officers and members in the BLE are questioning why an "impeached" President would be making more money after being voted out of office than he was in office, say highly reliable BLE sources.
According to BLE insiders, Monin had planned to begin a new recall campaign against Dubroski, and to seek a recount because of serious allegations of irregularities with the recall vote count. Those factors gave Monin the leverage to cut a more lucrative deal for himself, and left Dubroski in a weakened position as he assumed the President’s office in a highly divided union. Since Dubroski’s margin of victory over Monin was only 37 votes out of the 13,737 valid votes cast, according to the Journal of Commerce, Dubroski had a weak political base to depend on. However, BLE sources said that Monin also had a strong case for a recount because of irregularities with the vote count, which could have invalidated the recall election and embarrassed Dubroski and Bennett. The result: A fat deal for Monin.
BLE Members Discussion List Home Page: Archive: Message #232
Date:
Oct 28 1999 20:23:48 EDT
From:
"Mark Preston" <preston_mark@hotmail.com>
Subject:
Re: VIA RAIL - What the hell did we do up there ???
BLE Members Discussion List Home Page: Archive: Message #233
Date:
Oct 29 1999 11:30:17 EDT
From:
MarcusM403@aol.com
Subject:
Re: VIA RAIL - What the hell did we do up there ???
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