UNION BIG OUT
Carpenters boss ensnared in monitor’s probe
THE PRESIDENT OF the city’s biggest trade union suddenly resigned Thursday amid an investigation by the union’s anti-corruption monitor into unspecified allegations, the Daily News has learned.
Steve McInnis, president of the District Council of Carpenters, was asked to step down following allegations brought to the union’s court-appointed monitor, Glen McGorty.
The charges were referred to the monitor on Dec. 18 and, after a review, McGorty recommended that McInnis (photo) resign “due to an infraction of personnel policy.”
The District Council, which represents 23,000 union members from locals across metro New York, refused Thursday to disclose the nature of the “infraction.”
A statement released by McInnis appeared to hint at a possible allegation of sexual misconduct.
“After over two decades as a rank-and-file member and officer, I realize that I have not always put my family first,” McInnis said in the statement. “After much consideration, it is with great sadness that I close this chapter of my professional life, but I look forward to focusing on my family at this time."
McInnis’ lawyer, Ryan Donovan, declined to discuss the nature of the allegations.
“It's not corruption, and that’s all I’m going labor to say,” Donovan, of Harris Conway & Donovan, told The News. “I can’t comment on anything having to do with the allegations.” Donovan later called back to retract his assertion that it’s not labor corruption. McGorty, the court-appointed monitor, declined to comment. The union has been overseen by a court-appointed monitor for years and has long been tainted by corruption among its leadership. Several of McInnis’ predecessors have been forced out of office due to scandals. In 2009, thenCouncil President Michael Forde was indicted with nine others in a massive corruption scheme, including rigging job referrals and drug abuse. He pleaded guilty to racketeering, bribery and perjury and was sentenced to 11 years in prison.
On Thursday, Matt Walker, the council’s director of operations, declined to discuss the nature of the allegations that forced McInnis out.
The union’s website bio of McInnis states, “Stephen firmly believes that the hard-working members of the union deserve quality healthcare, middle-class wages and dignity in retirement through a defined benefit pension and treats his position not as a job but as a cause.”
McInnis will be replaced by an interim president, Graham McHugh, starting next week. He is currently president of Local 157.