Old Guard Tops Reformers In School Bus Union Vote

JOHN BISBANO: Sees bright side in defeat.

An official with ties to the disgraced past leadership of the union representing school bus drivers was narrowly elected president March 26 after two candidates who broke away from the leading reform group siphoned votes from its nominee.

Michael Cordiello, a longtime board member of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1181 during a period in which it was dominated by the Genovese Crime Family, gained the presidency with 2,708 votes to 2,526 for John Bisbano, who headed the Members for Change slate.

Defectors Run 4th and 5th

The third-place finisher in the sixman contest was Vinnie Buttaro, who received 1,067 votes under the tally recorded by the American Arbitration Association. Thomas Nero, a founder of Members for Change who broke away after his colleagues would not give him the group's presidential nomination, ran fourth with 561 votes, and Raymond LaRoche, an activist who defected in January for the same reason, was next with 284.

Two of the other three top positions in the 15,000-member union were won by Members for Change candidates: Simon Jean-Baptiste was elected vice president, and Jean C. Calixte won the secretary-treasurer's race. The contest for recording secretary went to one of Mr. Cordiello's running mates, Thomas Gemmott, over Warren Zaugg of Members for Change, which won another key position when Brijida Pilgrim, by just six votes out of more than 7,000 cast, defeated Anthony Battaglia for the first delegate slot.

EDDIE KAY: Old guard will still hold sway.

Mr. Battaglia's father, Salvatore, is serving a 57-month Federal prison term after pleading guilty to racketeering charges that included shaking down bus-company owners, in some cases in return for not trying to organ- ize their employees at the Department of Education.

Was Run By 'Matty the Horse'

Matthew "Matty the Horse" Ianniello, who Federal prosecutors have identified as a boss of the Genovese Family, also pleaded guilty in 2006 to controlling the union, primarily through his close friend, longtime Local 1181 Secretary-Treasurer Julius "Spike" Bernstein. Mr. Bernstein also pleaded guilty to racketeering charges prior to his death.

The reformers accused International ATU President Warren George of being slow to act against the corruption allegations, noting that he made no changes even after Mr. Ianniello acknowledged in Federal court that the local's leadership had been under his thumb. It was only after Salvatore Battaglia was forced by prosecutors to step down as Local 1181 president in November 2006 as a condition for bail being granted that Mr. George imposed a trusteeship. Members for Change asserted that the trustees favored officers who served under the old regime, keeping them in place even after they, led by Mr. Cordiello, refused to talk to an outside attorney whom the International ATU hired to probe the local's operations.

'Sorry We Couldn't Deliver'

Mr. Bisbano said in a Jan. 27 phone interview, "I just feel bad we couldn't deliver for all the people that went out working for us every day, going out early in the morning in freezing weather." He said Members for Change officials had heard of instances at several bus garages in which shop stewards loyal to Mr. Cordiello had told union members that they would fill out their ballots for them, but added that he did not plan to challenge the outcome.

The election of several members of his slate to key positions, Mr. Bisbano predicted, would ensure that the union would be run more honestly than in the past, explaining, "I think that everybody will be watching each other and it will be a legitimate local."

Eddie Kay, a veteran union organizer who was a key volunteer assisting Members for Change, was less certain, and clearly disconsolate about not capturing the presidency.

"It's a terrible thing to take a loss to crooks," he said. "We thought we were gonna win, but members fool themselves.

"It is," he continued, "a victory in a union that spent 30 years not allowing any democracy that we finally got a fair election."

Asked whether he thought the board members from his slate could ensure that democracy would be extended to the local's operations once the new officers are sworn in April 2, Mr. Kay said, "No. I think [the old guard] will still control it. But at least we have a voice for sanity, for honesty and for standing up for the members."