Union Accused Of ‘Terror’ Campaign

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The New York Sun

A general manager of a construction firm has asked a federal judge to dissolve an 800,000-member union because several supporters of the local in New York allegedly waged a three-year “campaign of terror” against him.

The lawsuit filed against the Laborer’s International Union of North America claims that a group of members of the Local 78 threatened and stalked the employees of a nonunion construction firm in Queens. The construction firm, Asbestos & Lead Removal Corporation, and its general manager, George Kourkounakis, filed the suit recently in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn.

The legal complaint catalogs a long list of alleged run-ins between Mr. Kourkounakis and local union members. Most recently, a union member last month struck Mr. Kourkounakis with a billy club, breaking his hand, according to the legal complaint. Starting three years ago, union members have been harassing Mr. Kourkounakis by throwing bricks through the windows of his home, leaving threatening phone calls, and vandalizing his car and his employees’ cars, the complaint alleges.

The suit claims the union would also tamper with his job sites in order to create safety violations for regulators to discover. In one instance, union members littered one of the company’s job sites with asbestos roofing material so the company would be fined, the complaint said.

The business manager of the Local 78, Edison Severino, denies the allegations.

“I’ve known this guy for years,” Mr. Severino said, referring to Mr. Kourkounakis. “A real character. He has a pretty colorful imagination.”

The Local 78 represents 3,000 laborers in New York and Long Island who remove lead, asbestos, and other hazardous materials, Mr. Severino said. The union frequently tries to organize Mr. Kourkounakis’s employees, Mr. Severino said.

When asked about the specific allegations leveled against him and 11 unnamed union members listed as defendants, Mr. Severino said the union does not “use scare tactics” and operates lawfully.

“I’m not a tough guy,” Mr. Severino said. “I’m an immigrant worker.”

Mr. Severino said it is Kourkounakis who has threatened him and other union organizers. On one occasion, Mr. Kourkounakis wrapped a hairbrush in his jacket and pointed it at Mr. Severino, as though it were a gun, Mr. Severino said.

Calls placed to Mr. Kourkounakis and his attorney were not returned yesterday. The legal complaint claims that the actions of Local 78 members were “vengeful and sadistic” and amount to a “campaign of terror.”

The lawsuit asks the judge to dissolve both the Local 78 and its parent union, according to the complaint. It also requests money damages.


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