Where do my dues go?

GSEU Finances

For over a decade GSEU maintained the minimum dues contribution allowable by CWA, 1.15%. In 2004 GSEU/CWA 1104 raised dues significantly. It is imperative, then, that members be aware of how their money is used. According to the Labor-Management Disclosure Act, all unions must submit financial statements called LM-2’s to the federal government. Below you will find downloadable pdf’s of CWA 1104’s LM-2s from 2000 to 2003 (keep in mind that these cover GSEU (the Education Division) as well as the Communications and Operator Services Divisions)). You may find more current LM-2s at this site http://erds.dol-esa.gov/query/getOrgQry.do . You need not worry about the various fields to be filled in--all you need is CWA 1104’s file number (055-823) to locate current downloadable LM-2s.

CWA 1104 LM-2 (Financial Statements)

2001

2002

2003

2004

Summary

If you do not want to read through all of that, here is a summary of the income of several GSEUofficers. It is worth noting that on August 27, 2004 the Executive Board of CWA International (and by implication the Executive Board of CWA 1104) stated that the pay for business agents was $1,200 per month and that the annual pay for Executive Vice President was $55,770 ($1,897.50 per month +$33,000 per year). Several salaries below, including that of Kathleen Sims, exceed the correct amounts.

Officer/Fiscal Year:	2000-2001	2001-2002	2002-2003	2003-2004	2004-2005
Rahmi Bula, Albany BA	N/A (position was held by Sims)	N/A (position was held by Sims)	$12,000	$10,800 +$327 in disbursements	RESIGNED Position held by Michelle Withers
Ramon del Castillo, Stony Brook BA to 2002	N/A (position was vacant)	$17,729	N/A (position taken over by Pruden)	N/A (position taken over by Pruden)	N/A (position taken over by Pruden)
Monazir Khan, EVP to 2002, Binghamton BA thereafter	$24,453+$1,000 (allowances)	$46,906+$1,800 (allowances)	$30,165+$300 (allowances) +$5,684 in disbursements	$15,112 +$3,665 in disbursements	$14,400 +$1,996 in disbursements
Leah Muir, Buffalo BA for part of 2004	N/A (position was vacant)	N/A (position was vacant)	N/A (position was held by Oldenburg)	$1,200 +$238 in disbursements	RESIGNED position held by Bamidele Tayo
Scott Oldenburg, Buffalo BA from 2002	N/A (position was vacant)	N/A (position was vacant)	$11,400 +$2,728 in disbursements	$9,300 +$3,362 in disbursements	RESIGNED See Leah Muir and Bamidele Tayo
Chad Pearson, Albany Chief Steward to 2002, BA at large thereafter	N/A (chief steward pay unknown)	$17,891 +$5,776 in disbursements	$37,244 +$26,128 in disbursements (not a typo)	$47,410 +$21,132 in disbursements (not a typo)	$47,410 +$23,888 in disbursements (not a typo)
Hernan Pruden, Stony Brook BA from 2002	N/A (position was vacant)	N/A (position was held by Castillo)	$11,400 +$791 in disbursements	$13,200 +$4,270 in disbursements	$12,000 +$1,650 in disbursements
Kathleen Sims, Albany BA to 2002, EVP thereafter	$18,252+$1000 (allowances) no info on disbursements	$46,867+$2,200 (allowances) +$22,713 in disbursements (not a typo)	$55,654+$2,200 (allowances) +$26,366 in disbursements	$57,684+$2,400 (allowances) +$37,245 in disbursements	$55,787+$2,200 (allowances) +$17,026 in disbursements
Bamidele Tayo, Buffalo BA	N/A (position was vacant)	N/A (position was vacant)	N/A (position was held by Oldenburg)	N/A Position was held by Oldenburg/Muir	$13,200 +$5,527 in disbursements
Michelle Withers, Albany BA for part of 2004	N/A (position was held by Sims)	N/A (position was held by Sims)	N/A (position was held by Bula)	1,200	$12,000 +$2,84 in disbursements

Some notes on the above chart

�Unfortunately, the fiscal year straddles the changes in office, so it has been difficult to ascertain actual pay. The 2003-2004 report provides the most accurate information since in most cases there were no changes in office: Sims's annual pay, despite numbers thrown out at DMB meetings, is over $57,000 a year ($4,807/month).

�Disbursements are essentially reimbursements for money spent on union business (travel, photocopies, postage for grievances, etc). These numbers, when within reason, can represent an active officer out filing grievances and meeting with members. But note some of the reckless expenditures (“disbursements”) of Sims and Pearson. No other officer even in the other divisions of 1104 comes close to the $20,000 mark. Sims’ expenses in 2003-2004 amount to over $100 a day for every day of the fiscal year! It would seem entirely possible that more responsible spending could take place. And it is worth noting that when Sims was President of GSEU in the mid-90s, GSEU went into receivership because of massive misspending. Regardless of one’s opinion of such disbursements, members need to ask whether they have seen tangible results from this kind of spending.

�Some of the blank spots (marked N/A above) are the result of Khan, Sims, Kniffin, and O'Gorman refusing to let Buffalo have local representation. A similar scenario occurred in Stony Brook where the elected representative was not approved of by the Khan, Sims, Kniffin, and O'Gorman regime. Instead they appointed Ramon del Castillo to the position. Note too that the vacancies correspond to the campuses which opposed the merger between GSEU/CWA1188 and CWA 1112 and CWA 1104.

�We would like documentation on just how many grievances were filed by the officers above to get a sense of how well service to members corresponds to increases in pay.

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