FOR THE RECORD

Arthur Schwartz, whose union clients include Transport Workers' Union Local 100 and many of the District Council 37 locals that are at odds with Executive Director Lillian Roberts, has long had a reputation for infuriating the union establishment as well as management negotiators.

The soft-spoken Mr. Schwartz's knack for getting under the skin of those he takes on was never more apparent than during a pretrial deposition he took last month in preparing to represent former Civil Service Technical Guild President Roy Commer in his ongoing court bid to be reinstated as a union member.

Mr. Schwartz was deposing Eliot Seide, a veteran official of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees who heads its Minnesota District Council but was a Deputy Administrator of DC 37 for much of the time that Mr. Commer led the Tech Guild from 1998 to 2000.

During the deposition, which he conducted by phone, Mr. Schwartz asked Mr. Seide whether he had ever referred to him in a derogative fashion. Mr. Seide responded that he had once described Mr. Schwartz as "a union ambulance chaser."

Asked what he meant, Mr. Seide responded that Mr. Schwartz "looked for unions that had internal situations going on, and you'd run after them hoping to pick them up for yourself." He added that he didn't believe Mr. Schwartz played a constructive role in the labor movement, prompting the attorney to ask if that meant he was a "destructive" force.

One of the AFSCME lawyers who listened in on the deposition, Barry Levy, interjected, "Arthur, what does this have to do with the case?"

But Mr. Seide eventually responded, "I'm third-generation union. I got into this so I could build powerful workers. I don't think that's what you're about. I think you're about getting clients for yourself, and I think you're about exacerbating problems in locals so you can get new clients so that you can make more money."

Mr. Schwartz was able to parry the suggestion that he was the one who was not on the side of the angels by citing past testimony by former DC 37 Administrator Lee Saunders regarding the 1998 corruption scandal that had led AFSCME to place its flagship union under trusteeship for 40 months.

Mr. Saunders said that "these investigations and the accompanying press reports have had a very negative impact on the Council's staff and that many of the good, experienced staff of the Council have been looking for other employment as a result."

Mr. Seide concurred with that opinion, saying the media coverage of the wrongdoing "destroys trust and integrity."

Mr. Schwartz's point, it appeared, was that Mr. Seide and Mr. Saunders viewed the exposure of the corruption as the real problem, not AFSCME's having ignored dissidents' allegations of wrongdoing until the problem had mushroomed out of control.

* * *

Arizona Sen. John McCain, expected to be one of the leading contenders for the Republican nomination for President in 2008, is among those being honored by the Sergeants' Benevolent Association at its 99th annual Heroism Awards on Oct. 19 at the New York Hilton.

The union will also posthumously pay tribute to six officers in other NYPD ranks who died in the line of duty, in one case while serving in Iraq.

They are: Dets. Daniel Enchautegui and Det. Dillon Stewart, Police Officers Francis Hennessy, Eric Hernandez and Kevin Lee, and Police Officer James McNaughton, who in August became the first member of the NYPD to be killed while doing military duty as a Staff Sergeant in Iraq.

Cocktails will be served beginning at 6 p.m., with dinner to follow at 7:30. For further information, call Colleen Ashton at (212) 343-5642.

* * *

An NYPD Detective who disabled a crazed armed man even as he was shot numerous times last year received honorable mention in the 2006 Police Service Awards competition sponsored by Parade Magazine and the International Association of Chiefs of Police.

David Harris, who helped to subdue a gunman who was trying to destroy a religious statue in Queens Village in June 2005, was scheduled to receive a plaque and a gold lapel pin during the awards ceremony in Boston Oct. 17.