Displaying what has become his trademark tactic, Atlanta Local 225/Southeastern Carpenters Regional Council (SECRC) organizer Jimmy Gibbs recently melted down in profane rage while verbally attacking a passerby at a union demonstration in Atlanta. And it was all caught on tape!
"I make fu-king more than you do, so shut the fu-k up!" screams Gibbs at his victim. "So shut the fu-k up mother fu-ker and get the fu-k out of here! Move your ass back to Iraq or somewhere if you like Saddam and those sand people! Go! Go! Go!"
For years, Atlanta area citizens have complained to the police about intimidation tactics and threats used by Gibbs and an ever-changing cast of SECRC union-paid homeless agitators who show up for unruly demonstrations at sites that employ carpenters and drywallers exercising their right to work as non-union merit-shop tradesmen in Georgia. In almost all cases, Gibbs and his agitators have been allowed to harass and abuse anyone who comes within striking distance by claiming protection under the First Amendment statute of free speech.
That is about to change.
The carpenters union has already been slapped with a $1.7 million jury verdict over illegal protest tactics devised by Gibbs and other union bosses in the case of Fidelity Interiors v. SECRC. Now Atlanta lawmakers and business leaders are questioning why Gibbs and his cronies are allowed to hide behind the First Amendment while denying the right of free speech to anyone who crosses their path.
Amateur video captured Gibbs and his union-paid bodyguard as they recently confronted the young passerby who was standing on a public sidewalk. The young man, who was exercising his free speech right to question Gibbs' spending of union money and tactics of sending a busload of desperate homeless people to scream pro-union rhetoric on Atlanta street corners, soon learned that his free speech rights meant nothing when in opposition to Gibbs' free speech rights.
Here's a transcript of the encounter after Gibbs refers to the Arabic race as "sand people."
Passerby: "You call them sand people?"
Gibbs: "Get the fu-k off! Go, go, go, go, go!"
Passerby: "Now that's racist. That is racist, sir."
Gibbs: "I ain't racist."
Passerby: "You called them sand people. That is racist."
Gibbs: "You go and kiss their ass then."
Passerby: "You have gone over there and you have made fun of Arab-Americans . . . Barack Obama has shown that racism is wrong for America. You go around calling people sand people? What the heck is wrong with you?"
Gibbs: "Sand people. They live in the sand country. Go, go, go!"
Passerby: "They live in the sand, they're sand people? This guy doesn't like Arabs."
Gibbs: "You wearing your fu-king shirt, you wear your shirt thinking people gonna give you some sympathy. We don't give no sympathy here. You don't get none of that here from us."
Passerby: "I know."
Of course, anyone who has followed the carpenters union Local 225 demonstrations designed to upset spinal injury victims and disabled Iraq War veterans at the Shepherd Center know that sympathy and compassion for anyone other than a union boss is not in the SECRC and Local 225 playbook.
Sometimes, grown men can only take so much whining and pathetic excuses before putting the hammer down.
On August 11, 2009, U.S. District Judge Richard W. Story ruled in Atlanta federal court that a $1.7 million jury award against the Southeastern Carpenters Regional Council will stand. The move by Judge Story is just one more nail in the coffin of a failed, and very expensive, attempt by the Atlanta carpenters union to illegally drive a small Atlanta drywall contractor out of business.
Readers of this website know that on February 10, 2009, a jury awarded plaintiff Fidelity Interiors, LLC, $1.7 million at the conclusion of a civil trial where Fidelity claimed it had suffered considerable financial damages due to a series of illegal secondary boycotts staged by the Atlanta carpenters union Local 225.
For months, the Atlanta carpenters have used union dues to pay a battery of lawyers to inundate Judge Story with a flurry of motions designed to allow the union bosses to get out of paying the money owed to Fidelity.
On Tuesday, the judge put an end to all the nonsense. Unless the union burns through hundreds of thousands of more dollars in member dues filing an appeal, it's time for the union bosses to pay the man at Fidelity. Here's the judge's ruling.
We here at The Circle Group applaud the proud men and women who work at Fidelity, Judge Story, and the courageous jury that last February looked the union thugs in the eye and used their power to right a considerable wrong.
Here's the press release and statement from the attorney for Fidelity announcing the judge's decision to uphold the jury award:
JUDGE UPHOLDS $1.7 MILLION SECONDARY BOYCOTT RULING AGAINST UNION "AREA STANDARDS" CAMPAIGN
Earlier this year, a federal jury in Atlanta returned a verdict in favor of Fidelity Interiors, LLC, an Atlanta area drywall subcontractor, against the Southeastern Carpenters Regional Council (the Union), for $1.7 million, finding that the Carpenters Union conducted an illegal secondary boycott in its Atlanta "area standards" campaign. Subsequently, the defendant union submitted a motion to the judge seeking a ruling in its favor or, in the alternative, a new trial. Among other things, the union claimed that the jury had been improperly instructed, because the jury was allowed to consider both lawful and allegedly unlawful union conduct without being more specific in the jury charge. The judge rejected this union argument, finding that the appropriate test is to consider the totality of the evidence in determining the motive or object of the picketing.
The union also argued that the damages awarded by the jury were excessive and against the great weight of the evidence, and that most of the damages were pure conjecture and speculation. The court rejected this argument as well, finding that the company had offered substantial evidence suggesting that its business would have grown and that income and profits would have grown, but for the secondary conduct of the union. The court noted that the history of Fidelity provided the basis for an appropriate projection of the profits it would have earned but for the actions of the union, and that the jury had the discretion to accept or reject Fidelity's projections. The court suggested that the union was trying to avoid significant monetary liability by arguing that it was too difficult to quantify the work that the union prevented Fidelity from obtaining. Finally, the court concluded that the union interfered with Fidelity's work on projects in progress or to be awarded, resulting in Fidelity's dismissal from those projects before completion, and that the union had interfered with Fidelity's established client relationships, resulting in clients' refusal to invite Fidelity to bid on new projects because of the union's conduct.
The case involved a factual pattern beginning in 2004, in which the union sent Atlanta building owners, property managers, and general contractors, a "warning letter" indicating that if a "non-area standard" paying employer worked at their premises, there would be demonstrations and other forms of union activities directed at their locations. Where the "substandard" contractor or subcontractor was not removed by the owner, property manager, or general contractor, picketing often occurred. In some instances, the picket signs did not clearly identify whom the primary labor dispute was with, and the chanting, noise making, and other such tactics were often directed against the building owners, property managers, and even tenants.
The secondary boycott laws prohibit a union from threatening or coercing a neutral third party, to cause that neutral third party to cease or reduce doing business with the employer that is the subject of the labor dispute, or to require the subject of the labor dispute to enter into a union agreement.
According to attorney Jim Wimberly, who along with Kathleen Jennings of Wimberly, Lawson, Steckel, Schneider & Stine, P.C., represented the plaintiff, "I am pleased that the court did not let the union hide behind the "smoke screen" that the damages were too indefinite to be the subject of a legal claim. A union that is engaged in illegal secondary boycotts, and thereby hurts innocent third parties, should not be able to hide behind such technicalities to avoid the consequences of its own wrongful conduct. Innocent third parties were hurt, and indeed terrorized, and both the judge and jury recognize that this type of conduct should not go unpunished."
James Wimberly, Esquire
The case is Fidelity Interior Construction v. Southeastern Carpenters Regional Council, No. 1: 05 CV 2938 (N.D. Ga.) and Judge Richard Story's order denying the union's post-trial motions issued on August 11, 2009.
On the corridor walls in The Circle Group headquarters in Alpharetta, employees, associates and their families enjoy dipping a hand in paint colors of their choice and leaving a handprint on the Circle Group wall.
Here's how Jerry Marchelletta, the head of The Circle Group, describes the wall, and what it represents:
"Everyone and their families that have anything to do with our business are encouraged to put their handprint on the wall, along with a single word that they feel embodies who they are and/or what Circle means to them."
It's a simple gesture, but these are the sort of gestures that speak volumes. Here are just some of the words left by the handprints, and the names of the authors.
ABC May 21 praised the introduction of the "Freedom From Union Violence Act of 2009" (H.R. 2537) by Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.). The measure would levy a fine of up to $100,000, a prison sentence of up to 20 years, or both, to any person that commits an act of violence or extortion against another person during a labor dispute.
"Lawmakers on Capitol Hill need to send a clear message that any violence or intimidation during labor disagreements will no longer be tolerated," said 2009 ABC National Chairman Jerry Gorski, president of Gorski Engineering, Inc., Collegeville, Pa. "This legislation is long overdue to help protect all workers in the construction industry."
The "Freedom From Union Violence Act of 2009" would close a loophole in the Hobbs Act, a federal law that prohibits actual or attempted robbery or extortion affecting interstate or foreign commerce. The measure now goes to the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security for further action.
Thanks to the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) for awarding The Circle Group its 2009 ABC Platinum Safety Training Evaluation Process (STEP) Safety Award. It's the fifth time The Circle Group has been awarded the STEP.
The Circle Group salutes all its supervisors and employees who make it possible for TCG to be recognized for industry awards. Safety is job #1 at TCG, and we want to keep it that way!
Congratulations are in order for The Circle Group's Jeff Musto and Bob Subin, who led TCG team on the contract at The Mansion on Peachtree.
This stunner of a hotel in Buckhead was just named one of the USA's best new hotels by Conde Nast Traveler, the world's most recognized luxury travel magazine. Here's the link.
In the heart of Atlanta's best shopping area, The Mansion on Peachtree is 42 stories of luxury hotel rooms and condominiums that have attracted visitors and residents from around the world.
Congrats to Jeff and Bob and the entire team at The Circle Group who made the job such a great success!
Sometimes, the stink of a sorry excuse for a carpenter's union tactic cannot be ignored.
Righteous citizens cannot look away. Community leaders speak out. The media investigates.
All of the above has happened, and now the Southeastern Carpenters Regional Council (SECRC) and its rogue organizers are hiding out from the media and the good citizens of Georgia.
Earlier this month, SECRC "special projects director" Jimmy Gibbs took a bus load of homeless "protesters" out to the Shepherd Center. The idea was that they would march and dance and scream and shout in front of the world-renown rehabilitation and care facility for patients suffering serious spinal cord and brain injuries. The union strategy was to create such a stink that the Shepherd Center and its general contractor would fire a drywall subcontractor hired under Georgia's merit shop rules.
Thanks to the Shepherd Center's belief that extortion and bullying can only be turned back by honorable action, Shepherd Center chairman of the board James Shepherd told the union to get lost, and that he was not about to tell his general contractor to bend to the will of a bully. The non-union subcontractor stayed on the job.
The union's reaction? It found out where Alana Shepherd, James Shepherd's mother, lived. It sent out more homeless people to hold a banner that read "Shame on Alana Shepherd" near the entrance to Alana's neighborhood.
Simply put, Alana Shepherd is one of the most respected women in the history of Atlanta. She gives tirelessly to countless civic organizations and charities. She has changed the lives of hundreds of people who have suffered the terror of brain and spinal cord injuries.
It's a highly personal mission. When James Shepherd was a young man in 1973, he almost died in a surfing accident. It was his mother Alana who kept him alive. And part of this mission was founding the Shepherd Center to help those who had suffered the pain of an injury that almost killed her son.
There is no way that James Shepherd will bend to the will of the union. And he's not the only one who thinks that the union has gone way too far.
MyFoxAtlanta, the Fox affiliate in Atlanta, sent a news crew out to document the despicable union tactics.
Is it any wonder that the Atlanta carpenters union and their tactical mastermind, Jimmy Gibbs, refused to even answer the TV reporter who wanted to give them a chance to comment for the report?
James Shepherd was kind enough to give TheCircleGroupTruth.com a copy of the letter he sent to Jimmy Gibbs. Here's the letter, reprinted with the permission of James Shepherd:
April 9, 2009
Mr. Jimmy Gibbs
Director of Special Projects
Southeastern Carpenters Regional Council
United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America
3710 Executive Center Drive
Suite A
Augusta, Georgia 30907
Dear Mr. Gibbs:
We have started the project, as you are well aware. I wanted to give you a little history on how we arrived where we are. We bid the project and Choate Construction was the successful low bidder. We then sat down and reviewed the subcontractors with them. As we evaluated them, we analyzed not only the pricing but also the reputation and references. Frankly, based on the picketing I had observed in front of Colony Square and other sites by the Southeastern Carpenters' Regional Council, I did not have a favorable opinion of that particular union. The behavior I have witnessed over many months by the picketing Carpenters is a great concern to me that anyone in our facility would behave in such an unprofessional manner and disrupt our patients. I have seen women "cat called" from the sidewalk and pedestrians intimidated by the yelling, chanting and physical positioning of these carpenters.
We respect and value the union subcontractors we have used over the years and those who will be participating on this project. They are professional in their behavior and polite to not only our staff but to our patients and families. Your group has proved very publicly that they are not of this caliber. You stooped to a new low by picketing in front of my mother's street. Neither the Shepherd family nor Shepherd Center has any dispute with your union and your targeting any of us by name reflects poorly on your public image. Fortunately, the neighbors are lifelong friends and are supportive of the position we have taken because they too have watched how your union behaves.
You have had your attorney ask that we allow you to picket our lower entrance. We refused this because Spalding Street was the entrance we used on the prior project and are using again. We cannot allow use of that entrance for construction traffic because it would take the vehicles through the deck that houses our patients and families and the added traffic of untrained persons would put them at risk. I am concerned by your attorney's letter stating that Spalding Street was dangerous and then watch you position people there anyway. I trust they are truly union employees covered by workmen's compensation or have good health coverage. There are always rumors and one is that these are day laborers. That would leave you with quite an exposure if you were willingly placing the innocent and the uninsured in peril.
Georgia is a right to work state and I favor the merit shop approach where the contractor is selected based on price, reputation, efficiency and professional behavior. Over the 20 years we have expanded, the majority of the subcontractors have been union, with a smaller percentage of non-union in certain trades. We have valued the professional conduct and work ethic of all those who have worked here. I believe just as Jimmy Gibbs that providing anyone with a job in these trying times is admirable.
I fully expect you to continue to picket through the job, as is your right. I also fully expect you to abide by all the legal obligations that go along with that right. I will be sharing this letter with our boards, our neighbors, the AJC and the contractors in the area so they may form their own opinion about who they want to present to project owners as they negotiate or bid work going forward.
Sincerely,
James Shepherd, Chairman
Shepherd Center, Inc.
Cc:
The AJC
The Atlanta Business Chronicle
Mr. Gene McHugh -- Fox5 TV
Mr. Bob Walker -- 11 Alive TV
Associated Builders and Contractors
Associated General Contractors
The Circle Group salutes the courage and integrity of James Shepherd and Alana Shepherd. You are an inspiration to all.
In the construction industry, there is nothing more important than a company's safety record. The goal at The Circle Group has always been to provide the best safety in the business for our field employees.
Of course, everybody talks that talk. At The Circle Group, we're proud we walk the walk when it comes to making sure our crews come home safe and sound.
Our safety committees meet every month to review safety status. Monday marks the time for a safety meeting on every job. Every day finds a Circle Group supervisor providing extensive training on equipment such as lifts, shot guns, etc.
The proof of our commitment to safety comes when OSHA inspectors stop by for a site visit and we are the only contractor not to receive a citation, even though we usually have the most workers on a job.
Here's the list of The Circle Group Safety awards:
2002
Charlotte Westin Convention Center Hotel - Recognition of Safety Achievements
Construction Association of South Florida "Golden Hard Hat Award"
2003
Subcontractor of the Year - Recognizing Outstanding Achievement in safety
2004
ABC - Safety Training & Evaluation Process - STEP Award - Gold Level
ABC - Safety Award of Excellence
2005
ABC - Safety Training & Evaluation Process - STEP Award - Platinum Level
ABC - Safety Award of Excellence
2006
ABC - Safety Training & Evaluation Process - STEP Award - Platinum Level
ABC - Safety Award of Excellence
2007
ABC - Safety Training & Evaluation Process - STEP Award - Platinum Level
ABC - Safety Award of Excellence
National Safety Excellence Award-Specialty Trade Contractor
2008
ABC - Safety Training & Evaluation Process - STEP Award - Platinum Level
We salute every Circle Group employee who takes the extra effort to make sure a Circle Group job site is the safest site around. You are our heroes.
We here at The Circle Group Truth would like to thank everyone for the letters that have come in from all over the country after we posted last week's YouTube video. It's the video produced by CBS 2 Atlanta News that shows how exploited homeless people from Atlanta were forced to act like idiots by the Southeastern Carpenters Regional Council (SECRC) in front of an Atlanta Peachtree Street office building February 26, 2009. Here's the YouTube video:
A former union member who's been shunned for standing up to the bosses passed along another YouTube link. It's a news report from NBC 4 in Washington, D.C. that first aired three years ago:
In this instance, a "special projects director" from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Council of Carpenters (a sister union of the SECRC) herded homeless residents from D.C. shelters into downtown D.C. for a rigged "union demonstration" against a contractor. It's the "same old same old." Obviously, nothing has changed years later.
Watch how the union special projects director hides his face when a news reporter confronts him. He's too ashamed to talk to the reporter. Or is he too scared? One thing is for certain: the bosses back at union headquarters were also too ashamed and/or scared to talk to the D.C. journalist.
It gets worse.
This week we heard of plans by the SECRC and its own special projects director, Jimmy Gibbs, to sink the union to an even newer low. The union has informed the Shepherd Center that it plans to bus the same homeless horde that marched down Peachtree Street last month to the Shepherd Center because it doesn't like a contractor who worked on the center.
Why would the Atlanta carpenters union and their exploited homeless agitators want to make life miserable for the brave people and their families who have gone through unimaginable pain and are fighting their way back? Does the carpenters union have any sense of decency left? Have they no shame?
We call on all honorable carpenters and their families in the Atlanta area to rise up against the Southeastern union bosses to stop this disgraceful activity planned at the Shepherd Center. Paid "union demonstrators" screaming and shouting and dancing in front of the Shepherd Center, where brave veterans and young people are courageously fighting to regain their health, is an insult to all good people.
Write to the union. Write to your congressman. Call the police. Alert the media.
Do not let rogue union agitators terrorize the Shepherd Center.
On Thursday, February 26, Atlanta police responded to calls of an unlawful disturbance being staged by the Southeastern Carpenters Regional Council (SECRC) in downtown Atlanta at the Peachtree Center. The numerous police units who responded to the scene found an unruly mob of paid agitators under the supervision of SECRC special projects director Jimmy Gibbs, who fled the scene as law enforcement closed in. And it was all caught on tape!
The background: For some time, business tenants, residents, and visitors to downtown Atlanta have been harassed, heckled, and, in some cases, threatened by paid demonstrators recruited by Gibbs. The Atlanta carpenters union, Gibbs' employer, believes it wise to pay non-carpenters, many pulled from homeless shelters, to do the dirty work union members refuse to do.
Under the guise of the protections of the First Amendment, Gibbs and the union bosses have goaded the homeless people to be as disruptive as possible outside businesses in which the union claims have some sort of connection to work being done by carpenters not being paid "area standards." Gibbs and his union bosses claim the demonstrations are not picketing, which is strictly regulated by the National Labor Review Board, but are merely "protests."
Readers of this website who've followed the successful litigation by Fidelity Interiors, an Atlanta contractor, against the union are well aware of the falsity of this argument. The "protests" are coercive and, in many cases, entail illegal secondary boycotting, which is also regulated by the NLRB.
For a long time, the Atlanta media has looked the other way as the carpenters union forced indigent homeless people desperate for a meager hourly wage to act like idiots outside Atlanta businesses. But now that a news crew from WCGL-TV, the local Atlanta CBS affiliate, has captured the carpenters' union illegal tactics on tape, the good people of Atlanta are learning that they have rights, too.
We at The Circle Group Truth salute the journalists from WCGL-TV and the Atlanta police who stood up to the union mob and shut down the carpenters' illegal tactics on February 26.
To borrow the phrase of the Atlanta cop who ran off Gibbs, let us "put this in layman terms" for the union:
You and the desperate mob you're using to terrorize the good people of Atlanta are through.
Three weeks ago, TheCircleGroupTruth.com broke stunning news of the February 10, 2009, federal court victory by Atlanta-area drywall contractor Fidelity Interiors against the Southeastern Carpenters Regional Council (SECRC).
Fidelity, which sued the Atlanta carpenters union for damages suffered because of the carpenters' illegal secondary boycott of contractors who sought to hire Fidelity, was awarded $1.7 million in the federal jury verdict.
Reporters who cover labor unions have been flocking to this website since we broke the news, as have rank-and-file members of the SECRC -- who've been kept in the dark about the verdict by their leadership.
On February 18, the Construction Labor Report distributed by the Bureau of National Affairs (BNA) published news of the Fidelity courtroom victory.
On February 23, the National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC) published an extensive report of the Fidelity courtroom victory. Much of the NLPC report concerned documents and news first released on TheCircleGroupTruth.com.
Despite the best efforts of the union propaganda machine to suppress the truth of the SECRC's stunning courtroom loss, reporters -- helped by information first published on this website -- are waking up to the cold facts. We at TheCircleGroupTruth.com are dedicated to putting the truth to power, and it is our leadership pledge to our readers that you will get the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth about this ever-changing story.
Here is the NLPC story pulled from documents first published on TheCircleGroupTruth.com:
This just in! Stay tuned for further news
on this breaking story!
For IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 10, 2009
JURY FINDS UNION COMMITTED SECONDARY
BOYCOTT IN DOWNTOWN ATLANTA
(Atlanta, GA: Feb. 10, 2009) A federal jury in Atlanta today returned a verdict in favor of Fidelity Interiors, LLC, an Atlanta area drywall subcontractor, in the amount of $1.7 million, against the Southeastern Carpenters Regional Council (the Union), finding that the Carpenters Union conducted an illegal secondary boycott in its Atlanta "area standards" campaign.
Beginning in late 2003, the union has sent Atlanta building owners, property managers, and general contractors, a "warning letter" indicating that if a non-area standard paying employer worked at their premises, there would be demonstrations and other forms of union activities directed at their locations. In many instances, where the "substandard" contractor or subcontractor was not removed by the owner, property manager, or general contractor, picketing occurred. In some instances, the picket signs did not clearly identify whom the primary labor dispute was with, and the chanting, noisemaking, and other such tactics were directed against the building owners, property managers, and even tenants.
In general, secondary boycott laws prohibit a union from threatening or coercing a neutral third party, to cause that neutral third party to reduce doing business with the employer that is the subject of the labor dispute, or to require the subject of the labor dispute to enter into a union agreement. While the union claimed it did not intend to involve neutral third parties in its labor dispute, the evidence revealed otherwise.
Further, and ironically, internal union reports revealed that the biggest threat to Atlanta area standards might have been the union itself. One union witness candidly testified to this at trial. That is, union contractors were allowed to contract with substandard subcontractors, while non-union entities were not. The union was, in essence, condemning in others the same practices it was condoning among its own union contractors, and the jury likely concluded the situation was totally unfair.
Fidelity Interiors was represented by Jim Wimberly and Kathleen Jennings of Wimberly, Lawson, Steckel, Schneider & Stine. Wimberly stated, "It is unfortunate that so many innocent third parties were harmed by the union. It is also ironic that the union condemned in others the very same conduct it condoned among its own contractors. I believe the jury simply would not accept this nonsense, and that the union will be forced in the future to confine the subject of its activities to those with whom it has a labor dispute, rather than innocent third parties."
Ray Gunter, owner of Fidelity Interior, stated, "I am happy with the ruling, particularly in that as a result of the ruling, I believe that there will be more free and open competition for work in downtown Atlanta, benefiting everyone, rather than a privileged few. I believe the union was trying to establish some type of monopoly for union work downtown."
For more information contact:
James W. Wimberly, Jr.
Wimberly, Lawson, Steckel, Schneider & Stine, P.C.
Suite 400, Lenox Towers
3400 Peachtree Road, N. E.
Atlanta, GA 30326
Phone: 404-365-0900
Fax: 404-261-3707 jww@wimlaw.com
On February 9, 2009, the long anticipated jury trial of Fidelity Interior Construction v. Southeastern Carpenters Regional Council (file no: 1:05-CV-2938) is scheduled to begin at the Atlanta federal courthouse.
For fans of labor litigation, this one's a doozy.
Here's the background. Fourteen years ago, Atlanta native Ray Gunter started Fidelity, a small business run out of his basement doing subcontracting; strictly dry wall and acoustical ceiling jobs. His specialty was working on doctors' offices and medical buildings. It was a small business. Ray bid the jobs, his wife did the books, and Ray treated his non-union crews well.
Ray was living the honest life of a small businessman until January 15, 2004. On that date, according to Ray's lawsuit, the SECRC began a terror campaign to destroy him.
It was a harassment campaign waged by the SECRC to get Ray to accede to the union demands for him to pay "area standards" to his drywallers. It didn't matter to the union bosses that Ray and his Fidelity Interior Construction was a small business abiding by the state laws of Georgia -- a right-to-work state. What mattered, according to depositions of SECRC union bosses filed in federal court and now part of the public record, was that Fidelity was big enough to attract small commercial jobs, yet small enough not to have the resources to withstand the SECRC as the union bullies began attacking building owners and general contractors involved with Fidelity jobs.
But a funny thing happened as the southeast carpenters union waged its terror campaign: Ray, the guy who was supposed to buckle, fought back. On November 16, 2005, Fidelity sued the SECRC in federal court under the provisions of Section 303 of the Labor Management Relations Act to recover damages for an alleged series of unlawful secondary boycotts waged by the SECRC in an attempt to destroy Fidelity.
At The Circle Group Truth, we're going to give you a front row seat on this litigation. We're going to show you how a union tried to destroy a small business over a $23,000.00 job. You're going to read, in the union bosses' own words, all about the shakedowns, log rolling, invasion of privacy, identity theft, and all the other illegal actions that the southeast carpenter union thugs dream up in their union halls.
You're going to see how the union bosses brag about co-opting policemen to do their bidding, how the union bullies scour databases for addresses of neighbors of ordinary folk like Ray Gunter, how the union boys sneak their union stooges into small businesses with hidden tape recorders to ferret out information like hungry rats. You'll also read how the union boys look the other way as signatories to their own contract ignore area standards.
Stay tuned for one hell of a shock.
At The Circle Group, Christmas is a time of giving.
Every holiday season, The Circle Group offices donate to a variety of causes. The Circle Group wishes to thank all those who helped make 2008 a record in gift-giving!
This season, employees of The Circle Group through the holiday party raffles raised $10,000 for the Cruz Family Trust, collected hundreds of unwrapped toys for Toys for Tots, and gathered another 28 bags stuffed with toys for the Starlight Children's Foundation to benefit needy youngsters.
The Circle Group salutes the employees and their families who give so generously every year. May everyone have a joyful and prosperous New Year!
After being rebuked by a federal judge in front of a packed courtroom last June -- see "Shameful" at The Circle Group Truth website -- a Southeastern Carpenters Regional Council organizer laid low for a bit. No more goon squads sent to patrol the neighborhoods of Circle Group owners and no more freaky letters to neighbors. (He did keep shipping poor homeless guys to wave banners out in the suburbs of Alpharetta -- some habits die hard.)
Well, the organizer is back. His latest trick is to send a harassing email to an owner of a children's center in a Midwestern state. The email wails about a contractor, based in the Midwest, who's hired The Circle Group for a job in Georgia.
From: xxxxx xxxxx [mailto:jg8182@hotmail.com] Sent: Wednesday, December 10, 2008 8:56 AM To: info@thechildrenscenter.com Subject: Doug Maibach
Does Doug Maibach believe that carpenters need healthcare so they can take their children to the doctor when they get sick? Not here in Atlanta Georgia, Barton-Malow and Doug has decided to use the Circle Group a drywall contractor that does provide healthcare for all of their carpenter craft workers so many of these workers children can't get the care they need. Please ask Doug see that these carpenters have healthcare and retirement. Thanks
First off, the email's allegations are just plain false. The Circle Group, since its founding in 1993, has offered its employees an outstanding benefits package. After a probationary period, all Circle Group employees are offered paid medical and dental coverage (with no deductibles), paid term life insurance and a 401(k) retirement account.
Also, why in the world is the SECRC organizer trying to harass a children's center thousands of miles from his command center at the union hall? Because -- STOP THE PRESSES -- an executive of the contracting company that hired The Circle Group took an unpaid post on the board of directors of the children's center.
Okay, so know we know this organizer likes to interact A LOT with pre-schoolers. But that ain't the kinky part.
This organizer is something right out of "Deliverance." Check it out: He's got a thing for grandmothers. The personal email address account used to harass the pre-school in the Midwest was also used to harass the mother of one of the Circle Group owners, a 74-year-old grandmother.
When it was pointed out to the organizer how sick it was to be harassing grandmothers, the paragon of virtue started crying that it wasn't his email account used to go after the grandmother.
Then how come the server information shows that the email account used to harass the Midwest pre-school was the EXACT SAME ACCOUNT used to harass the grandmother?
Organizer, we now bequeath you the official GRANNY STALKER.
If you've been following all the noise that the Southeastern Carpenters Regional Council has been making about contractors who hire non-union carpenters, you're probably asking yourself: "What the heck is a 'corporate campaign?'"
Cutting to the bone, it's a campaign to harass, extort and make life a living hell for a contractor who won't buckle under and do the union's bidding.
A union starts a corporate campaign when it has a darn good idea that if it tried to organize a group of targeted workers according to the rules of the National Labor Relations Board (the governmental agency that regulates union activities), the targeted workers would vote AGAINST the union.
So when a traditional organizing tactic won't work -- i.e., a free and open election where workers have a right to either vote for or against union representation -- union activists and their cronies now favor a strategy that may include ANY actions that the union views as capable of pressuring the company to give in to union demands.
Rather than go on strike, a union "launches a blitz that may include: a boycott, pickets, leaflets, negative public relations, harassment of customers, lawsuits, blackmail . . . " National Legal Policy Center, January 5, 2007.
For years, the carpenters' union has not been able to reach its objectives in Georgia, a "right-to-work" state, by organizing or even bargaining. So it attempts to blackmail management of The Circle Group into caving in to union activists by sending hateful letters filled with lies, ugly images and propaganda to the homes of neighbors of the owners of The Circle Group.
When the neighbors of Circle Group management revolted against this harassment and told the union to take a flying leap, union agitators combed through databases and pulled out the home addresses of general contractors who hire The Circle Group.
The message these union thugs are trying to send the general contractors? "We know where you live, and if we can't terrorize The Circle Group into giving in to our demands, you're next! We'll hunt you down in your homes and make your life miserable, too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
"We won't quit until we embarrass you in front of your neighbors or stalk your employees and, sooner or later, you'll stop doing business with The Circle Group just to get us out of your hair. And the real target of our plan, The Circle Group, will have to buckle under!!!!!!!!!!!"
There's one problem with these harassment campaigns. Now and then, the harassers meet a wall of people who will not take it. They will not be railroaded into a union agreement. They will not stand idly by as union thugs troll children's daycare centers or taunt grandmothers.
In the history of these campaigns, usually the adults inside the union come to their senses and toss the freaks and the haters to the curb. The damage to the reputation of the union has been done, but at least the union management doesn't have to hide their faces in shame within their community for their outrageous actions.
It's never too late to do the right thing, carpenters' union. It's time to pull back from the daycare centers and apologize to the grandmothers of the world for your sick behavior.
Life is good, union boys. When you're ready to walk like a man and stop the juvenile hi-jinks, people might actually start to listen to what you've got to say.
The document is full of facts relevant to the current situation where the Southeastern Carpenters Regional Council is trying to use a harassment campaign to pressure merit shop contractors to do the union's bidding. What's particularly notable is how the ABC's document clearly states "The Merit Shop Philosophy."
Here are excerpts from the Philosophy:
"ABC of Georgia strongly advocates the Merit Shop philosophy, which emphasizes construction projects are awarded to the lowest responsible bidder, based solely on merit, regardless of union affiliation. Many ABC general contractors use open shop as well as union subcontractors on the same job to successfully complete projects on time, and within budget -- construction that reflects the highest in quality and safety standards. Free enterprise and open competition are what ABC of Georgia passionately supports."
The ABC Guide is noteworthy for its statement of facts such as this:
"Just 6.8 percent of Georgia's private construction workforce belongs to a union; which means approximately 93 percent of the construction workforce is non-union. (source: Current Population Survey compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics & Census Bureau.)"
Interesting reading. We at The Circle Group thank the ABC for making the effort to put together such a thorough document.
On another note, the web team at The Circle Group wishes to thank all the visitors to The Circle Group Truth and this blog. We especially wish to thank all the commentators who've passionately debated issues in the comments section of the blog. Your honesty and insight are very, very appreciated.
May you and your families have a joyful holiday, and thank you for all your support.
There are some labels that a man or woman wears like a badge of honor. One label that we here at The Circle Group wear with pride is our membership for over 10 years in the Associated Builders and Contractors of Georgia (ABC).
The ABC is a construction trade association representing the commercial and industrial markets with 300+ member companies and more than 2,500 individual participants throughout the state of Georgia. It is one of 78 chapters in the National ABC Federation based in Washington, D.C., which has more than 25,000 member companies across the U.S. This national affiliation allows ABC to provide members with a broader range of resources and services, in tandem with it actively supporting our industry's interests on a local level.
ABC of Georgia is the only construction association that unites the entire construction team -- developers, general contractors, specialty contractors, suppliers and industry professionals -- to create an environment that encourages members to work together to achieve common goals. Is is the voice of Georgia's commercial construction industry. For a list of upcoming events, click here.
There's a new video on the ABC website that tells a great story about the organization (Click here).
One of the recent causes we have taken up on this site and in the media are the attacks on the administration of Berry College by the Southeastern Carpenters Regional Council.
In accordance with the wishes of Berry College, we have decided to cease the debate on this issue in this forum. We appreciate the support of all those concerned, but wholeheartedly agree with the belief that it is time to move on.
We remain committed to all our employees and customers. You're the best.
"Let's Go Crazy, Let's Get Nuts!!!!!!!!" December 10, 2008
The Circle Group was founded in 1993 with the principles that stressed good ethics, a burning desire to do great work for the customer, and the absolute commitment to treating our employees generously and fairly.
The Southeastern Carpenters Regional Council appears to have been founded on the principle that unbridled insanity and obsessive behavior are perfectly normal in this day and age.
For the past 24 hours, the carpenters union has bombarded this website with a rain of comments that have impugned the integrity of the owners of this company, the employees, and family members of our employees. They have sent personal emails at all hours of the night to the owners of the company. They have ranted at all hours on forums of the Rome News-Tribune, a fair newspaper that covers issues such as the appearance of the carpenters union and their hired protestors carrying banners that attack Berry College.
Here's the best of the lot, sent between midnight and 8 a.m. from some visitor named "Steve," a self-acknowledged fan of the Southeast carpenters' union.
12:09 a.m.
"Are you guys hiring? Your website only shows a handful of jobs."
12:40 a.m.
Failing to get a response, "Steve" chimes in 31 minutes later.
"Why won't you post any of the pro-worker responses? Why does everything have to go through you first?... I know that you'll probably allow this post, just to prove me wrong.
12:45 a.m
"Steve" is not happy that no one is getting back to him. Five minutes later, he's got another message.
"..the blog is titled "speak your mind" but you won't print it. Why are you scared of the truth?
12:47 a.m.
He's just getting warmed up.
"free speech suppressor!"
12:51 a.m.
"Steve" is not getting the love. So he bangs this out.
"your traffic tripled!!! Wow! Can your site handle me, one other guy..."
1:01 a.m.
Now he calls out for support from Berry College (after the carpenters' have waved derogatory banners blasting its president.)
"I hope the christians at Berry College go to your website so they can see your dishonesty firsthand."
Later, still in the early morning hours.
Not getting the love from the sleeping webmaster of this website, "Steve" moves over to comments section on the Rome News-Tribune. He now goes after the administrators of Berry College.
"Am I angry? Yes. Is it misplaced? I don't think so. Don't you believe that Christians have to set an example? Do you really believe that Berry can lie with swine and not attract the stench?"
Later still that same morning.
After a Rome News-Tribune reader questions "Steve's" ethics of going after Berry College, "Steve" disappears and a pro-union supporter named "Terry" takes up the campaign.
"When Berry College discovered Robert Parker was stealing timber did they allow him to continue to work on campus?"
Later still that same morning
"Terry" must have gone to bed, for now "Steve" is back, and he's bringing the hate. Not at The Circle Group, not at Berry College, but now it's the moderator of the comments section of the Rome News-Tribune that has incurred his wrath.
Moderator,
"why did you include the post with anti-union link but did not include my initial post with a link to the Department of Justice? Are you also trying to suppress the truth?"
Now the Carpenters are complaining that we are hiding something because we didn't post all their comments NOW. The carpenters' union message is pretty much this: "You, The Circle Group, won't do what we want. You won't do EXACTLY what we want. You won't do EXACTLY what we want WHEN WE WANT IT. And since you won't do all of the above, we are going to throw a fit." Reminds us a little bit of Veruca Salt from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Memo to the carpenters' union: We are anxious to print your comments submitted on this website -- in due time. We think your words prove what we have said all along about how you behave. Most people would be embarrassed by the messages you send at all hours of the day and night, and how you think it is appropriate to treat people. That doesn't mean we will post all your comments -- this is not a bulletin board for you to repeat your lies. There is only so much of your hateful comments that people can take. If you want to offend people, do it through your own web site. If you have something of substance to say, it will be posted.
But give us time, carpenters' union. You have sent a lot of messages, and we need time to get them uploaded. Unlike carpenters officials who are paid to offend people and hire homeless people to picket day care centers and elementary schools, we have an obligation to our families, our employees, and our customers. We have an obligation to our general contractors to make sure they get maximum value per our agreements with them. You may not have real jobs, but we do.
It goes back to the principle of treating our customers with the respect they deserve to be treated. It goes back to backing our employees to the fullest. It goes back to doing what's right.
Lots of Breaking News to tell you! But first this word.
We have decided not to post any more of our new projects in order to protect our clients and innocent people from harassment, questionable actions and possible illegal activity from Jimmy Gibbs of the Southeast Carpenters union and his band of hired protestors.
Mr. Gibbs of the Southeastern Carpenters Regional Council (SECRC) is one of our biggest fans here on TheCircleGroupTruth, as shown on our stat counter, and by his cryptic emails to our webmaster attempting, and failing, to be threatening.
Mr. Gibbs, the "director of special projects" at the union, is using this site as a weapon against innocent people. Sadly, Mr. Gibbs, after reading about The Circle Group work at Berry College on this site, has now targeted the honorable president of Berry College, Dr. Stephen Briggs.
When Mr. Gibbs and his hired protestors showed up in Rome, Georgia, recently with a banner attacking Dr. Briggs, the Rome police (pictured above) showed up in force and escorted them to the outskirts of town. See the news story in the Rome News-Tribune.
We at The Circle Group deplore the fact that a college president has become an unwilling target of the SECRC/carpenters' union and its crude campaign to unjustly embarrass an esteemed educator.
However, some good Breaking News is that the unique visitors to the CircleGroupTruth have tripled since the launch of our blog! We are getting a flood of visitors from throughout the United States and worldwide.
The Circle Group was recently awarded a contract for the construction of the new dormitories at Berry College. The $1.8 million project will consist of two three story dorm buildings. Berry College is a comprehensive liberal arts college located on a beautiful 26,000 acre campus in Rome, Georgia. The project is slated to begin right away and completed by July 2009. Congratulations to Donna Barrett who worked on the project for The Circle Group!
The Circle Group steps up to the plate at the new Gwinnett Braves Stadium in Buford, Georgia! Thanks to Casey Kilgore, the estimator that closed the project, The Circle Group was awarded nearly a $1,000,000 contract. Work includes the build-out of 20 suites, players and coaches quarters, and a state-of-the-art concession, guest, and press box area. Construction on the $90 million Triple-A baseball facility is well under way, as the first ball game is scheduled for April 2009. Play Ball!
Construction is well underway on the $150 million, 5-star St. Regis Hotel and Residences in Atlanta. The Circle Group is one of the biggest sub-contractors on the 26-story building, which will have 150 hotel rooms and suites, a 9,000 square foot ballroom, and 58 luxurious, customized residences.
When one of the country's largest convention centers took a direct hit from the historic tornado that struck downtown Atlanta, The Circle Group mobilized to take on the emergency repairs, using 250 employees on round-the- clock shifts.
The recently completed 42-story Mansion Hotel & Residences represents another successful project to add to The Circle Group's growing portfolio of high end hospitality and residence projects. It is a landmark, iconic structure situated in the heart of Buckhead.
Home
This season, employees of The Circle Group through the holiday party raffles raised $10,000 for the Cruz Family Trust, collected hundreds of unwrapped toys for Toys for Tots, and gathered another 28 bags stuffed with toys for the Starlight Children's Foundation to benefit needy youngsters.
Cutting to the bone, it's a campaign to harass, extort and make life a living hell for a contractor who won't buckle under and do the union's bidding.
Lots of Breaking News to tell you! But first this word.
The Circle Group was recently awarded a contract for the construction of the new dormitories at Berry College. The $1.8 million project will consist of two three story dorm buildings. Berry College is a comprehensive liberal arts college located on a beautiful 26,000 acre campus in Rome, Georgia. The project is slated to begin right away and completed by July 2009. Congratulations to Donna Barrett who worked on the project for The Circle Group!
The Circle Group steps up to the plate at the new Gwinnett Braves Stadium in Buford, Georgia! Thanks to Casey Kilgore, the estimator that closed the project, The Circle Group was awarded nearly a $1,000,000 contract. Work includes the build-out of 20 suites, players and coaches quarters, and a state-of-the-art concession, guest, and press box area. Construction on the $90 million Triple-A baseball facility is well under way, as the first ball game is scheduled for April 2009. Play Ball!
Construction is well underway on the $150 million, 5-star St. Regis Hotel and Residences in Atlanta. The Circle Group is one of the biggest sub-contractors on the 26-story building, which will have 150 hotel rooms and suites, a 9,000 square foot ballroom, and 58 luxurious, customized residences.
The Circle Group