Was Knocked Off Ballot
'372' Denies Appeal Of Dissident's DQ

By MEREDITH KOLODNER

About 300 Local 372 members voted Dec. 12 to accept the union election committee's recommendation to remove a dissident from a ballot for the executive board, after he was allowed about three minutes to argue against the exclusion.

TONY FERINA: Says hearing was stacked.

The election committee gave a 10-minute report explaining that the member who nominated Tony Ferina to represent the local's 14,000 School Aides was not in good standing. After three people spoke on the matter, a local delegate, who is also reportedly the wife of a top local official, called the question, which triggered the vote.

Can Appeal to AFSCME

Mr. Ferina now has 10 days to appeal the decision to DC 37's parent union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

"I didn't have the chance to represent my side of the story," said Mr. Ferina. "I think that a matter as important as who's on the executive board is worth more than three minutes."

Local 372 President Veronica Montgomery-Costa did not return calls requesting comment.

LARRY LUTHER DAVIS: Questions ruling.

Mr. Ferina, who ran in 2005 on a slate opposing Ms. Montgomery-Costa, used his time to read from a prior AFSCME decision that allowed a candidate in another local who had been nominated by a member not in good standing to be placed on the ballot.

A lawyer for Local 372 told those assembled that Mr. Ferina's case was different, because he knew that he could have nominated himself. If he had done that, there would have been no way to contest his candidacy. The lawyer also suggested that Mr. Ferina should have known that Belinda Boyd was not in good standing since he is the shop steward at the school where she works.

Said He Didn't Know

Mr. Ferina said he had no idea that was the case since Ms. Boyd transferred to Newtown High School from another school in 2001. Mr. Ferina became the shop steward in 2004, after two other individuals had held the position.

Larry Luther Davis, who is running against Ms. Montgomery-Costa for president next spring, spoke after Mr. Ferina was told his time had elapsed. Mr. Davis argued that if a member in good standing goes to a meeting and accepts the nomination from a member who is not in good standing, the nominated member's standing should supercede that of the person doing the nominating. The lawyer disagreed.

The question was called by Ms. Lopez, a delegate from District 24, while there were still about four people standing in line waiting to speak. A union rep then stood in front of the microphone to prevent Mr. Ferina from trying to speak again. The members voted in favor of calling the question and approved the election committee's report.

A hearing for Mr. Ferina must be scheduled by AFSCME within 40 days of receiving his appeal.

Plan Runoff for Post

Local 372 still has not released the results of the Nov. 13 election, which was reportedly a 12 to 12 tie between two candidates who both support Ms. Montgomery-Costa. The president did, when asked directly during the meeting, acknowledge that there had been a tie and that there would be a runoff election between incumbent Lillie Taylor and Barbara Richardson, but did not say when it would occur.

Mr. Ferina was running to be the chapter chair for the local's 14,000 School Aides. The chair also sits on the executive board. The election committee disqualified him from running after it determined Ms. Boyd was not in good standing. Ms. Boyd believed herself to be an up-to-date member for seven years since she carried an AFSCME card, attended union meetings and voted in the 2005 union election. Mr. Ferina said that he had expected that he would not be given sufficient time to make his case at the meeting. "It's just impossible to go into the details and explain to the members what happened in three minutes," the School Aide said. "This is how they censor all the members."