back to Niagara Falls Reporter archive
It's time for Butch to go.
Butch Quarcini has got to go. His ironclad grip over once proud Laborers Local 91 must come to an end. Whether he is voted out by the union membership, forced out by the Feds or just retires, we hope his reign comes tumbling down soon.
How the members of Laborers Local 91 elect to run their union is their business. But how these hardworking construction workers can look the other way as Quarcini pads the union payroll with his family and cronies -- all with jobs that pay more than rank-and-file members earn in two years breaking their backs -- is beyond us. And when you throw in the perks -- automobiles, vacations, expense accounts, pensions, business trips and the power to decide who goes to work and who doesn't -- you have the makings of a job that would make a despot drool. To us, this looks like a real good deal for "Quarcini Nepotism & Cronyism Inc." and a real lousy one for the rank-and-file union members who are lucky if they work 25 out of 52 weeks.
Let's hope the hardworking members of this beleaguered union can muster the courage to rise up and throw out their leadership. After all, if the Serbs, Russians and East Germans can rid themselves of their dictators, surely the working men and women of Laborers Local 91 can do likewise here in Niagara Falls.
If the members can't do it, maybe the Feds can. A grand jury in Buffalo has been hearing testimony and examining evidence about on-the-job violence against people and property here in Niagara County that in almost all cases involves Laborers Local 91. If you're working construction in Niagara County, you'd better watch your back. Just ask the carpenters and bricklayers who were assaulted building the new high school. Or ask the tourists who were abused and intimidated last summer, simply because they checked into the then-Radisson Hotel. We wish the Feds well.
Whether Quarcini is thrown out by his membership, ousted by the Feds, or simply decides to retire, it's time for him to go.