Officers and Executive Board of Local 18

3515 Prospect Ave.

Cleveland, Ohio 44115

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

At the January 14, 2006 Executive Board Meeting I witnessed an attack on Sister Patricia Kohl, Executive Board member from District 6, that was both vicious and contained some outright lies. It was orchestrated by the officers and obviously coached and rehearsed beforehand. I was forced to sit on my hands until the meeting was opened up for the visitors to speak. I can’t be stopped from exercising my right of free speech in an open letter to the Officers and Executive Board Members of Local 18.

First, where is it written in Federal Law that any member of any union in America cannot exercise his or her right as an American citizen to Freedom of Speech? It is not, but it is clearly outlined that every union member in America is guaranteed the right to Free Speech by the Labor Management Reporting Disclosure Act of 1959. This act came about from the McClelland Hearings which investigated the manner in which Officers of many unions in America suppressed members who didn’t agree with leadership of unions. Labor union members are the only group that Congress has guaranteed this right in a separate and specific law addressing the right of free speech and receiving annual finance records. Not the Elks, Moose, or any other fraternal organization that members receive benefits for membership. After all, Unions began as fraternal organizations with no recognition by employers guaranteed under law as exists now.

Second, you as Officers and Executive Board members are required by law (TITLE V of the LMRDA) to ask questions and seek out the information that the actions of the business manager is based on.

Third, I have been in contact with Pat Kohl for more than a year now concerning the issues that she had raised with the business manager and the president of Local 18 relative to the administration of Local 18’s Apprenticeship Program. In my opinion the issues she raised in her meeting of December 2, 2004 with the business manager and Administrator of the Apprenticeship Program were legitimate and she should have been commended for bringing these issues to their attention. Pat’s only concern was how the contributions to the Apprenticeship Fund made in each members behalf was being administered. Basically, she was ostracized for being a whistle blower.

In the matter of her being a sore loser: She was accused of that Saturday by another board member; what about the 4 or 5 races that were determined by less than a 2 percent difference in votes. Don’t these members deserve the chance for a level playing field during the campaign for any office in Local 18? Is it not acceptable for another member of Local 18 to advocate on behalf of a member as Sister Kohl has?

As Rank and File members of Local 18 first, shouldn’t you be more interested in protecting the rights of one member over the choice of insuring that the government by the Officers and for the Officers continues as it has for this 66 or more years?

If you think I’m exaggerating ask an Officer of Local 18 how you came to be chosen to sit on the Executive Board. I can say with no hesitation that many of you were chosen at a meeting of Officers of Local 18 and some by a teleconference meeting of these same officers.

In closing I would like to ask every one of you to be patient and allow The Department of Labor (required by law to be unbiased in their decisions) to sort out the matter of the 2005 Local 18 elections. I’m sure that certain members would say that the DOL is out to destroy unions. But ask yourself this; why would employees of the DOL want to put themselves out of a job by “destroying the union”? I would add that when the investigator from The Department of Labor Office of Labor-Management Standards came to my house as part of the investigation of the Local 18 2005 Officers Election and when I asked him what union he belonged to, he showed me his membership card in The National Union of Labor Investigators a division of AFGE Local 12 (www.afge12.org). So a union member in good standing was investigating allegations of wrong doing in another unions’ election. It seems to me that reasonable minds would come to reasonable conclusions in this matter. I ask each of you to log on to www.local18membersvoice.com and read everything to make sure that you are acting with all the information available to you. For those of you who are not comfortable with responsible criticism of your actions as an Officer or Executive Board member of Local 18, I suggest that you listen to the words of Harry Truman “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen”. Please feel free to call, write, or e-mail me if you have any questions.

Fraternally,

Paul T. Gonter

Register # 1747891

paulgonter@yahoo.com

740-502-3724

CC: IUOE GP Vincent Giblin

IUOE GC Richard Griffin

IUOE GS Christopher Hanley