Sigurd Lucassen
Encyclopedia
Sigurd Lucassen was a carpenter and an American
labor
leader. He was president of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America
from February 1988 to 1995.
, New York
, to Erling and Clara Lucassen in 1927. His parents were both Norwegian
immigrants. His father was a unionized carpenter, and his mother a unionized garment worker. Lucassen was rarely called by his full first name, and most people referred to him as "Sig" or "Siggy."
When the Great Depression
began in 1929, the Lucassens moved about 40 miles south to Long Branch, New Jersey
, a small beach town on the New Jersey
coast. Although his father often was out of work, his mother (a member of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union) continued to hold a full-time job and support Sigurd, his father and his brothers.
Lucassen went to work stacking fish in an ice house when he was nine years old. Despite having to work, he continued to attend school. He played football
at Long Branch High School, where he received good grades and graduated in 1946.
Lucassen went to work as a nonunion carpenter after high school in order to gain skill as a carpenter. A year later, in 1947, he married Audrey West—a girl he had known since elementary school. The couple had two children (a son and a daughter).
In 1952, Lucassen joined Local 2250 of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters. He became a committed unionist, and was elected business representative of his local in 1960. He became known as a skilled negotiator. Lucassen was eventually elected president of his local, and was elected to several positions in the Carpenters' state organization. Convinced that apprenticeship and training programs were important to growing the union as well as providing skilled labor for economic growth and development, Lucassen co-founded and helped raise funds for the New Jersey Alliance for Action, a labor-management development coalition which sponsored apprentice and journeyman programs.
Lucassen was appointed a vice president of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters in the 1970s. He moved to northern Virginia
and worked out of the union's headquarters in Washington, D.C.
unexpectedly retired and first vice president Patrick J. Campbell
assumed the presidency. Campbell won election outright in 1985. But Campbell, too, resigned from office early, stepping down for health reasons in February 1988. First vice president Sigurd Lucassen was appointed president to succeed him.
In September 1989, Lucassen revealed that Campbell had approved $95 million in loans to various builders, only to have nearly all the construction projects lose money or declare bankruptcy. Half the union's annual budget of $200 million might be needed to write off the loans. Lucassen blamed Campbell and bad advice from investment advisors, and initiated several lawsuits against them. But several elected union leaders and union members accused Lucassen in federal court of colluding with Campbell to approve the loans.
When Lucassen ran for election outright in 1991, he was challenged by the union's national secretary, John S. "Whitey" Rogers. It was the first contested election for presidency of the carpenters' union since 1915. The election split the union's 15-member general executive board, with half the members supporting Lucassen's slate and half supporting Rogers' slate. In a hotly contested election rife with allegations of fraud, Lucassen and his running mates Dean Sooter, first vice president; Paschal McGuinness
, second vice president; Jim Patterson, general secretary; and Jim Bledsoe, general treasurer, won. Sooter stepped down in 1993, and McGuinness became first vice president. Lucassen appointed Douglas J. McCarron
, secretary-treasurer of the Southern California Council of Carpenters, second vice president.
in 1988, in San Diego
in 1990 and Orange
and Riverside
counties in California
in 1991. Although members challenged the consolidations, a federal appeals court upheld union Lucassen's right to force consolidations if they are in the interest of union members.
Lucassen was an active participant in the controversy over the spotted owl
and the harvesting of timber in old growth forest
s. He strongly opposed any Endangered Species Act
protection for the spotted owl in Washington, denounced existing protections for old-growth forests, demanded that these and other federally-owned timberlands be opened for extensive logging, and launched scathing attacks on environmentalists. When the federal government offered job retraining funds to the union to assist workers out of work due to federal forest policies, Lucassen angrily turned the grants down.
In June 1991, Lucassen launched a "Ready to Rebuild America" campaign. The goal of the publicity effort was to build support for major new federal public works projects which would employ, among other others, out-of-work carpenters.
In 1993, a federal judge castigated Lucassen for snap elections he had ordered in a Los Angeles local. U.S. district court judge Edward Rafeedie ordered new elections for Local 803 in Orange County, California. After imposing a trusteeship on the local in 1991, Lucassen ordered Southern California Council secretary-treasurer McCarron to hold elections on just a few days' notice. Nominations and voting were held in the same 24-hour period. Local union members sued, and Judge Rafeedie agreed that the elections were illegally held. Rafeedie singled Lucassen out, writing that the way the elections were handled lent credence "to the inference that this election was intended to produce certain results."
In 1994, a federal jury in Arkansas
found the Carpenters and the United Paperworkers International Union
guilty of tortious business interference
. BE&K Construction had won a bid from the Potlatch Corporation to upgrade and expand a pulp and paper mill. A short time later, the jury found, Potlatch canceled the contract after union representatives threatened pickets, arson, violence and rioting. Lucassen denounced the $10 million award against the union, and appealed.
In 1995, Lucassen imposed a trusteeship on Carpenters Local 17 in New York City
. The local, which represented carpenters at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center
had been accused by a federal investigator of giving work to only a few, select members of the local union who were involved with organized crime
.
was challenged for the presidency of Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO
(BCTD) by A. L. "Mike" Monroe, president of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades
. The Carpenters were the largest BCTD affiliate, and Lucassen opposed Georgine's re-election even though Georgine's running mate was Carpenters' first vice president Paschal McGuinness. Monroe, Lucassen and others argued that Georgine had failed to maintain the effectiveness of local BCTD councils, refused to fund organizing programs and allowed jurisdictional disputes to get out of hand. They also claimed that Georgine's role as chief executive officer of ULLICO left him little time to devote to BCTD business. In a close election, however, Georgine won.
, president of the Service Employees International Union
, challenged incumbent Lane Kirkland
for the presidency of the AFL-CIO
. The race was a bitter one, and Kirkland resigned the presidency of the AFL-CIO in mid-election. Thomas R. Donahue
, the AFL-CIO secretary-treasurer, was named acting president of the federation and ran for president in his own right.
Lucassen was an early and strong Sweeney supporter. Although Lucassen's retirement was seen by some as possibly moving the Carpenters union into the Donahue camp, most union delegates to the AFL-CIO convention voted for Sweeney.
(DOL), which agreed that the election should be overturned. DOL sued the union, and in 1995 reached a settlement with Lucassen and the union calling for a new election. Realizing he could not win after having essentially admitted he had committed fraud in the 1991 election, Lucassen chose to retire instead. McGuinness, meanwhile, had been accused of, and subsequently settled, racketeering charges and had quit his international union post to run for secretary-treasurer of the BCTD.
At the 1995 convention, Lucassen announced his retirement and nominated McCarron as general president. He also nominated Jim Patterson for the merged secretary-treasurer position and Andris Silins as first vice president.
McCarron ran unopposed, and easily won election as president.
s and sailed them in the winter. Lucassen died in March 2001.
The New Jersey Alliance for Action annually awards the Sigurd Lucassen Labor Award in his honor.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
labor
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
leader. He was president of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America
United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America
The United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America is one of the largest building trades union in the United States. One of the unions that formed the American Federation of Labor in 1886, it left the AFL-CIO in 2001.-Early years:...
from February 1988 to 1995.
Early life
Lucassen was born in BrooklynBrooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, to Erling and Clara Lucassen in 1927. His parents were both Norwegian
Demographics of Norway
This article is about the demographic features of the population of Norway, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.-Total population:...
immigrants. His father was a unionized carpenter, and his mother a unionized garment worker. Lucassen was rarely called by his full first name, and most people referred to him as "Sig" or "Siggy."
When the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
began in 1929, the Lucassens moved about 40 miles south to Long Branch, New Jersey
Long Branch, New Jersey
Long Branch is a city in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city population was 30,719.Long Branch was formed on April 11, 1867, as the Long Branch Commission, from portions of Ocean Township...
, a small beach town on the New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
coast. Although his father often was out of work, his mother (a member of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union) continued to hold a full-time job and support Sigurd, his father and his brothers.
Lucassen went to work stacking fish in an ice house when he was nine years old. Despite having to work, he continued to attend school. He played football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
at Long Branch High School, where he received good grades and graduated in 1946.
Lucassen went to work as a nonunion carpenter after high school in order to gain skill as a carpenter. A year later, in 1947, he married Audrey West—a girl he had known since elementary school. The couple had two children (a son and a daughter).
In 1952, Lucassen joined Local 2250 of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters. He became a committed unionist, and was elected business representative of his local in 1960. He became known as a skilled negotiator. Lucassen was eventually elected president of his local, and was elected to several positions in the Carpenters' state organization. Convinced that apprenticeship and training programs were important to growing the union as well as providing skilled labor for economic growth and development, Lucassen co-founded and helped raise funds for the New Jersey Alliance for Action, a labor-management development coalition which sponsored apprentice and journeyman programs.
Lucassen was appointed a vice president of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters in the 1970s. He moved to northern Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
and worked out of the union's headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
Election as president
In October 1982, Carpenters president William KonyhaWilliam Konyha
William Konyha was a carpenter and an American labor leader. He was president of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America from January 1, 1980 to October 31, 1982....
unexpectedly retired and first vice president Patrick J. Campbell
Patrick J. Campbell
Patrick J. Campbell was a carpenter and an American labor leader. He was president of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America from November 1, 1982 to February 1988....
assumed the presidency. Campbell won election outright in 1985. But Campbell, too, resigned from office early, stepping down for health reasons in February 1988. First vice president Sigurd Lucassen was appointed president to succeed him.
In September 1989, Lucassen revealed that Campbell had approved $95 million in loans to various builders, only to have nearly all the construction projects lose money or declare bankruptcy. Half the union's annual budget of $200 million might be needed to write off the loans. Lucassen blamed Campbell and bad advice from investment advisors, and initiated several lawsuits against them. But several elected union leaders and union members accused Lucassen in federal court of colluding with Campbell to approve the loans.
When Lucassen ran for election outright in 1991, he was challenged by the union's national secretary, John S. "Whitey" Rogers. It was the first contested election for presidency of the carpenters' union since 1915. The election split the union's 15-member general executive board, with half the members supporting Lucassen's slate and half supporting Rogers' slate. In a hotly contested election rife with allegations of fraud, Lucassen and his running mates Dean Sooter, first vice president; Paschal McGuinness
Paschal McGuinness
-Early life and career:Paschal was born in County Cavan, Ireland. During his early life, he learned the Carpenter trade via an apprenticeship program. After emigrating to the United States, Paschal joined Local Union 608 of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America in November 1957...
, second vice president; Jim Patterson, general secretary; and Jim Bledsoe, general treasurer, won. Sooter stepped down in 1993, and McGuinness became first vice president. Lucassen appointed Douglas J. McCarron
Douglas J. McCarron
Douglas J. McCarron is a labor union activist and, since 1995, president of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America.-Early life and career:...
, secretary-treasurer of the Southern California Council of Carpenters, second vice president.
Presidency
Lucassen instituted a general policy of consolidating locals throughout the country. He began the process as soon as he took office. He consolidated locals in Los AngelesLos Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
in 1988, in San Diego
San Diego, California
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...
in 1990 and Orange
Orange County, California
Orange County is a county in the U.S. state of California. Its county seat is Santa Ana. As of the 2010 census, its population was 3,010,232, up from 2,846,293 at the 2000 census, making it the third most populous county in California, behind Los Angeles County and San Diego County...
and Riverside
Riverside County, California
Riverside County is a county in the U.S. state of California. One of 58 California counties, it covers in the southern part of the state, and stretches from Orange County to the Colorado River, which forms the state border with Arizona. The county derives its name from the city of Riverside,...
counties in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
in 1991. Although members challenged the consolidations, a federal appeals court upheld union Lucassen's right to force consolidations if they are in the interest of union members.
Lucassen was an active participant in the controversy over the spotted owl
Spotted Owl
The Spotted Owl, Strix occidentalis, is a species of true owl. It is a resident species of forests in western North America, where it nests in tree holes, old bird of prey nests, or rock crevices. Nests can be between 13 and 66 yards high and usually contain two eggs...
and the harvesting of timber in old growth forest
Old growth forest
An old-growth forest is a forest that has attained great age , and thereby exhibits unique ecological features. An old growth forest has also usually reached a climax community...
s. He strongly opposed any Endangered Species Act
Endangered Species Act
The Endangered Species Act of 1973 is one of the dozens of United States environmental laws passed in the 1970s. Signed into law by President Richard Nixon on December 28, 1973, it was designed to protect critically imperiled species from extinction as a "consequence of economic growth and...
protection for the spotted owl in Washington, denounced existing protections for old-growth forests, demanded that these and other federally-owned timberlands be opened for extensive logging, and launched scathing attacks on environmentalists. When the federal government offered job retraining funds to the union to assist workers out of work due to federal forest policies, Lucassen angrily turned the grants down.
In June 1991, Lucassen launched a "Ready to Rebuild America" campaign. The goal of the publicity effort was to build support for major new federal public works projects which would employ, among other others, out-of-work carpenters.
In 1993, a federal judge castigated Lucassen for snap elections he had ordered in a Los Angeles local. U.S. district court judge Edward Rafeedie ordered new elections for Local 803 in Orange County, California. After imposing a trusteeship on the local in 1991, Lucassen ordered Southern California Council secretary-treasurer McCarron to hold elections on just a few days' notice. Nominations and voting were held in the same 24-hour period. Local union members sued, and Judge Rafeedie agreed that the elections were illegally held. Rafeedie singled Lucassen out, writing that the way the elections were handled lent credence "to the inference that this election was intended to produce certain results."
In 1994, a federal jury in Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
found the Carpenters and the United Paperworkers International Union
United Steelworkers
The United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union is the largest industrial labor union in North America, with 705,000 members. Headquartered in Pittsburgh, U.S., the United Steelworkers represents workers in the United...
guilty of tortious business interference
Tortious interference
Tortious interference, also known as intentional interference with contractual relations, in the common law of tort, occurs when a person intentionally damages the plaintiff's contractual or other business relationships...
. BE&K Construction had won a bid from the Potlatch Corporation to upgrade and expand a pulp and paper mill. A short time later, the jury found, Potlatch canceled the contract after union representatives threatened pickets, arson, violence and rioting. Lucassen denounced the $10 million award against the union, and appealed.
In 1995, Lucassen imposed a trusteeship on Carpenters Local 17 in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. The local, which represented carpenters at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center
Jacob K. Javits Convention Center
Jacob K. Javits Convention Center is a large convention center located on Eleventh Avenue, between 34th and 38th streets, on the West side of Manhattan in New York City. It was designed by architects I. M. Pei and partners. The revolutionary space frame structure was undertaken in 1979 and...
had been accused by a federal investigator of giving work to only a few, select members of the local union who were involved with organized crime
Organized crime
Organized crime or criminal organizations are transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals for the purpose of engaging in illegal activity, most commonly for monetary profit. Some criminal organizations, such as terrorist organizations, are...
.
Involvement in BCTD affairs
In 1995, Robert GeorgineRobert Georgine
Robert Georgine is a retired labor union activist and leader in the United States, and the former president, chairman and chief executive officer of the Union Labor Life Insurance Company....
was challenged for the presidency of Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO
Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO
The Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO is a constitutionally mandated department of the AFL-CIO. It was founded on February 10, 1908, as a way to overcome the jurisdictional conflicts occurring in the building and construction trade unions...
(BCTD) by A. L. "Mike" Monroe, president of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades
International Union of Painters and Allied Trades
The International Union of Painters and Allied Trades is a union representing about 140,000 painters, glaziers, wall coverers, flooring installers, convention and trade show decorators, glassworkers, sign and display workers, and drywall finishers in the United States and Canada...
. The Carpenters were the largest BCTD affiliate, and Lucassen opposed Georgine's re-election even though Georgine's running mate was Carpenters' first vice president Paschal McGuinness. Monroe, Lucassen and others argued that Georgine had failed to maintain the effectiveness of local BCTD councils, refused to fund organizing programs and allowed jurisdictional disputes to get out of hand. They also claimed that Georgine's role as chief executive officer of ULLICO left him little time to devote to BCTD business. In a close election, however, Georgine won.
Support for Sweeney insurgency
In 1995, John SweeneyJohn Sweeney (labor leader)
John Joseph Sweeney was the president of the AFL-CIO from 1995 to 2009.-Early years:Born in The Bronx, New York, Sweeney is the son of Joseph and Agnes , both Irish immigrants. The family moved to Yonkers in 1944, where Sweeney attended St. Barnabas Elementary School and graduated from Cardinal...
, president of the Service Employees International Union
Service Employees International Union
Service Employees International Union is a labor union representing about 1.8 million workers in over 100 occupations in the United States , and Canada...
, challenged incumbent Lane Kirkland
Lane Kirkland
Joseph Lane Kirkland was a US labor union leader who served as President of the AFL-CIO for over sixteen years.-Biography:...
for the presidency of the AFL-CIO
AFL-CIO
The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, commonly AFL–CIO, is a national trade union center, the largest federation of unions in the United States, made up of 56 national and international unions, together representing more than 11 million workers...
. The race was a bitter one, and Kirkland resigned the presidency of the AFL-CIO in mid-election. Thomas R. Donahue
Thomas R. Donahue
Thomas Reilly Donahue was Secretary-Treasurer of the AFL-CIO from 1979 to 1995 and served briefly as its acting President during the second half of 1995.- Early life :...
, the AFL-CIO secretary-treasurer, was named acting president of the federation and ran for president in his own right.
Lucassen was an early and strong Sweeney supporter. Although Lucassen's retirement was seen by some as possibly moving the Carpenters union into the Donahue camp, most union delegates to the AFL-CIO convention voted for Sweeney.
Retirement
In 1993, "Whitey" Rogers asked the U.S. Department of Labor to overturn the Carpenters' 1991 election on the basis of fraud. He presented his case to the United States Department of LaborUnited States Department of Labor
The United States Department of Labor is a Cabinet department of the United States government responsible for occupational safety, wage and hour standards, unemployment insurance benefits, re-employment services, and some economic statistics. Many U.S. states also have such departments. The...
(DOL), which agreed that the election should be overturned. DOL sued the union, and in 1995 reached a settlement with Lucassen and the union calling for a new election. Realizing he could not win after having essentially admitted he had committed fraud in the 1991 election, Lucassen chose to retire instead. McGuinness, meanwhile, had been accused of, and subsequently settled, racketeering charges and had quit his international union post to run for secretary-treasurer of the BCTD.
At the 1995 convention, Lucassen announced his retirement and nominated McCarron as general president. He also nominated Jim Patterson for the merged secretary-treasurer position and Andris Silins as first vice president.
McCarron ran unopposed, and easily won election as president.
Retirement and death
Lucassen retired to Middletown, New Jersey, where he had purchased and restored a home. He built ice boatIce boat
An ice boat is a boat or purpose-built framework similar in functional design to a sail boat but fitted with skis or runners and designed to run over ice instead of through water. Ice yachting is the sport of sailing and racing iceboats. Sailable ice is known in the sport as "hard water" versus...
s and sailed them in the winter. Lucassen died in March 2001.
The New Jersey Alliance for Action annually awards the Sigurd Lucassen Labor Award in his honor.