Judge Grants AK Steel's Motion to Amend RICO Lawsuit Against USWA
18 September 2000
Judge Grants AK Steel's Motion to Amend RICO Lawsuit Against USWA
MIDDLETOWN, Ohio, Sept. 14 AK Steel said a
federal judge on Wednesday granted its motion requesting to amend the federal
Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act lawsuit it filed May
8 against the United Steelworkers of America (USWA) and other defendants. The
complaint alleges the defendants have engaged in unlawful, violent,
extortionate and racketeering acts against AK Steel and numerous other
companies.
In addition, the second amended complaint asserts that Administrative Law
Judge Thomas Michael Patton of the National Labor Relations Board found on
August 2, 2000, that the USWA and two of its locals were jointly liable for
approximately 80 unlawful, violent acts committed against Rocky Mountain Steel
(Pueblo, Colorado) and its replacement workers.
Judge Patton also found that the USWA and its locals deliberately
destroyed crucial documents relative to the trial. Judge Patton found the
USWA and its locals had caused and encouraged violent misconduct and that
their relentless propaganda campaign against so-called "goon-guards"
encouraged violence. According to AK Steel, Judge Patton admonished the union
by saying, "Rather than repudiating and disavowing picket line misconduct or
otherwise taking serious steps to prevent misconduct, the Union sought to
excuse misconduct by blaming APT guards."
According to AK Steel, among Judge Patton's findings were nearly 50
incidents in which USWA picketers spat upon, dented and scratched replacement
workers' vehicles, causing more than $35,000 in damage. In an interview with
the trade publication New Steel magazine published in June, USWA international
president George Becker was quoted as saying, "Standing out there with a
picket sign, yelling at someone going by, or spitting on a truck, or even
taking a sign and smacking it along side of a truck -- I don't consider that
violence."
AK Steel's complaint alleges that Rocky Mountain Steel is one of many
companies targeted by the USWA's racketeering and corrupt practices since at
least 1979. The complaint now alleges the USWA and its co-conspirators are
responsible for more than a dozen acts of arson and more than 250 acts of
extortion against AK Steel, primarily in Mansfield, Ohio where members of USWA
Local 169 have been locked out since September 1, 1999.
In a recent Mansfield incident, the words "Die scab" were scratched into
the paint of a replacement employee's vehicle according to AK Steel's RICO
complaint.
The RICO complaint alleges that AK Steel has already sustained millions of
dollars in damages but that a specific amount cannot be determined because
defendants' actions in furtherance of the conspiracy continue. The suit
alleges AK Steel is entitled to recover three times the damages it has
sustained.
According to the complaint, the USWA and certain of its officers and
agents have employed a strategy utilizing violence, intimidation, threats,
coercion and extortion in its dispute with AK Steel in Mansfield. According
to the complaint, jack rocks, riots, murderous threats and attempts to
completely destroy companies are common tools used by the USWA in labor
disputes when employers exercise their legal rights to operate with
replacement workers.
Named in the 200-page lawsuit as defendants in addition to the USWA are:
Local 169, USWA, AFL-CIO, Richard L. Trumka, secretary-treasurer of the AFL-
CIO, George F. Becker, president of the international USWA and Leo W. Gerard,
secretary-treasurer of the USWA.