Lawrence J. Mazzola

San Francisco Local Signs DOL Consent Order, Yields Control

Submitted by Carl Horowitz on Mon, 08/27/2007 - 00:00

Local 38 of the United Association of Plumbers, Pipefitters and Journeymen isn’t quite as powerful as its leaders, or for that matter, critics, thought it was.  The U.S. Department of Labor was reportedly set to cut a deal with the union’s de facto boss, Lawrence J. Mazzola, Sr., effectively dropping a suit it filed against the union back in November 2004.  Somewhere along the line, DOL stiffened its spine and imposed tough sanctions against the San Francisco local.  The union had been accused of diverting funds from five benefit plans toward the upgrading of a hotel-resort complex in rural Northern California it ran.  It also had major expansion plans, the centerpiece of which would be a tribal casino.

Labor Department Set to Allow San Francisco Chieftain to Walk

Submitted by Carl Horowitz on Mon, 07/16/2007 - 00:00

Let it never be said that Lawrence J. Mazzola doesn’t know how to cut a deal.  According to various sources, the longtime business manager, secretary-treasurer and trustee of San Francisco’s United Association of Plumbers, Pipefitters and Journeymen Local 38 has arranged to have the U.S. Department of Labor drop planned sanctions against him and other union officers.  The department back in November 2004 announced it had filed a civil complaint against the local leadership, current and former trustees, and benefit plan administrator for diverting more than $36 million in assets of five employee benefit plans toward the renovation and operation of the Konocti Harbor Resort and Spa at Clear Lake in Kelseyville, Calif.  “The Plumbers plan officials mismanaged the investments and placed the benefits of thousands of union workers at risk,” said Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao at the time.  “This Administration is committed to protecting the employee benefits of America’s workers, and we won’t hesitate to act when plan officials are not managing their workers’ benefits responsibly.”

San Francisco Pensions Go for Strange Real Estate Deals

Submitted by Carl Horowitz on Mon, 02/27/2006 - 01:00

Local 38 of the United Association of Plumbers, Pipe Fitters and Journeymen has an unusual set of priorities.  Through its pension funds, the union owns a fleabag single-room occupancy hotel in downtown San Francisco that’s straight out of an early-period Tom Waits song.  The San Francisco union claims it doesn’t have yet the money to upgrade the structure.  Yet fund managers somehow managed to discover $36 million lying around to pump into a non-ERISA “convalescent trust fund” that owns and operates the Konocti Harbor Resort and Spa on Clear Lake in Kelseyville, about an hour-and-a-half’s drive north of the city.  A number of people are unhappy with this arrangement, starting with the U.S. Department of Labor.

 

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