Tech Guild Mocks Democracy

Four different chapters of the Civil Service Technical Guild have festering election controversies, ranging from ballots being improperly opened before the scheduled count to eligibility issues pertaining to both members and candidates.

Tech Guild President Claude Fort has tried to wash his hands of the controversy, saying he does not involve himself in the chapter votes. That answer is unsatisfactory; when that many chapters have serious problems, it suggests that either the union has taken too casual an attitude or that it is tacitly condoning questionable actions by candidates who support its leadership.

The most-egregious protest involves incumbent President Kursheed Siddiqui of Chapter 3, covering Health and Hospitals Corporation employees. He lost by a 2-to-1 margin to challenger Giuseppe D'Ancona, then protested the outcome because he claimed some candidates for delegate positions should have been ruled ineligible and members didn't have enough time to return ballots because the 16-day voting period came during the midst of the Christmas holidays.

For an incumbent official to make such arguments is ludicrous, given that he could have exercised some control over both matters, particularly the scheduling of the vote. Mr. Fort should have told him in no uncertain terms that it was time to acknowledge the results and step down before he embarrassed himself further.

Instead, Mr. Siddiqui was permitted to hold a membership meeting in a restaurant in Jackson Heights - far from Bellevue Hospital, where a majority of his members work - at which a majority voted to re-run the election. This is democracy at its worst, and it was compounded by the presence at the restaurant of two of Mr. Fort's closest allies, Tech Guild Secretary Ahmed Shakir and Executive Committee Chair George Lawrence.

Mr. Shakir's own chapter election was subject to different shenanigans, starting with the premature opening of more than half the ballots, which were then stapled shut in time for the vote count. Rather than hold a second mail ballot, Mr. Shakir ordered that the re-run be a walk-in vote March 19 that is likely to produce a lower ballot return.

These and the other two chapter votes at issue are examples of how not to conduct fair elections. If Mr. Fort cannot put a stop to the nonsense, the larger Tech Guild membership should move for a change in leadership.