The secondary payee information is essential in tracking who was paid for work by the DeStefano campaign. This is of particular interest because questions have been raised as to the validity of the “union bug” that appears on campaign literature mailed by the DeStefano campaign. A union bug is a mark whose use is reserved for print shops that meet union employment requirements, with each bug carrying an identifying number to track its origin. It’s like a fingerprint for each union printing shop.
“DeStefano’s mailers contain a bug, but with no identifying number,” said Cooney. “And because they do not list secondary payees on their filing, there is absolutely no way to know that their mail has been created and sent by a union certified shop.”
Cooney explained that DeStefano’s mail does list “Universal Printing” under the postage number, but there is no Universal Printing company in Connecticut that has a union shop. “So, if his material was printed in Connecticut by a Universal Printing company, it was done so by a non-union shop and used a fraudulent union bug,” Cooney said. “If it was printed outside of Connecticut, there are still serious questions about whether the union bug is fraudulent. And regardless, DeStefano touts wanting to create jobs in Connecticut, but sends tens of thousands of his own money to out-of-state print shops.” Cooney noted that all of Dan Malloy’s mail printing is done by Harty Press in New Haven, a certified union shop.
That from a Malloy press release. Okay. I checked my DeStefano mailers, and they do not have the numbers the Malloy campaign is talking about. They otherwise look just like the union lables on other campaign mail. Can anyone with knowledge of union printing shops give us an idea of what this actually means? I have a very hard time believing that DeStefano, given his robust union support, is faking union labels.
Meanwhile, the Malloy campaign has filed a complaint with the Elections Enforcement Commission.
Source
"Complaint Filed with EEC against DeStefano and Slifka Campaigns." Dan Malloy for Governor. Press Release. 2 August, 2006. (No link yet)
9 comments:
Union bugs need an ID - and if there aren't any, JDS is going to need a print shop to step forward right now saying they printed it to shut this down.
Of course, none of the papers covered Lieberman's scab printing, so maybe JDS is in the clear.
For the intrepid reporters among us, there are only 2 GCIU shops in state, and 4 Allied Printing Trades shops. Should be a quick matter to resolve, depending on the bug.
http://gciu.org/shop.shtml
DeStefano’s mail does list “Universal Printing” under the postage number, but there is no Universal Printing company in Connecticut that has a union shop
Okay, so let's give DeStefano the benefit of the doubt, and say the bug is real, and this Universal Printing shop they used is a union one out of state. If it was done outside of CT frankly that will piss enough people off in and of itself. This is a guy campaigning on creating jobs, and he's spending thousands out of state on something that could be done by CT workers? Not exactly smart, politically.
What are you gonna remember Chris? You have really tried to toughen up your image in the last couple of days. First you called DeStefano a "sissy", then you talk about how you will "promise" to remember this threat. Maybe you have watched too many "Die Hard" movies while working the graveyard shift at Blockbuster. Nobody pays attention to you. You constantly throw out comments like "Word from inside the DeStefano campaign is the wheels are coming off. The atmosphere is grim and the candidate is tense." Who do you know inside the DeStefano camp? I'm willing to guess nobody. You do nothing but post anti-DeStefano posts, and add nothing to the conversation.
If you actually take the time to look at JDS's campaign finance reports, you'll see that his main print shop (assuming he isn't fudging by paying a consultant who pays a print shop) is Harty Printing in New Haven. They do a lot of political stuff, so I've got to assume they've got a union shop, but they're the people to check with. This is a silly thing, but that doesn't mean it can't be significant.
By doing a Google search on 'Universal Printing' and GCIU, you will find that Universal Printing is a GCIU shop in St. Louis.
By doing a CFIS search, you will find that the DeStefano campaign uses a company called 'The Strategy Group' to do their direct mail. The Strategy Group is from Evanston IL.
It appears as if The Strategy Group is using Universal Printing for the mailings.
The other story that I've heard, unattributed, is that the press release was sent to various news wires. Most wires contacted the DeStefano campaign and got the details about the printing and refused to run the story.
Further checking on CFIS reveals that on the last filing, DeStefano spent $121,745 on printing via The Strategy Group.
Is it a concern that the DeStefano didn't get his direct mailing firm to use a Connecticut firm instead of a St. Louis firm. Maybe a little bit.
Is it a concern that the Malloy concern is issuing press releases alleging fraud without knowing what they are talking about? In my mind, this is a much bigger issue.
There is a Universal Printing in St. Louis MO (a union shop - both APT and GCIU). DeStefano's direct mail consultants are in Illinois (the Strategy Group).
So if it's a mail piece with a bug, that's probably who you'd want to call.
Harty is not a union shop, in fact there isn't a single union print shop in New Haven. They're such slim pickins in CT that I don't think an out-of-state job is crossing the line, however much Chris wants to fling crap at him (remember, not every shop can do every kind of job!)
I couldn't find details of where the campaign spent their printing money, so I'm going on what's been in this thread -- but if the two comments here are true, I'd guess he's doing local for some things, and union for the big jobs.
As for a fake bug, check if one of the two shops listed will own up to the piece (assuming people care about the issue on substance rather than as a way to strut and demagogue around the union label issue). Anyone else in here union, or is that someone else's job?
By the way, it's interesting to me that while the Senate race is turning into a fight to win approval from the state's african american population, the Governor's race seems to be turning on who can make the inner cities look worse. Way to motivate the base, guys. Sigh.
Incorrect. Ace Printing on Long Wharf in NH is a union shop.
Don't forget people: At the 2005 JJB, Dan Malloy's campaign knick-nacks that were left at each attendees table setting were made in China. Anyone who still has one of these, turn it over and see for yourself.
Anon 1149:
Incorrect. Ace Printing on Long Wharf in NH is a union shop.
What is this comment related to? No one mentioned Ace Printing, New Hampshire, and certainly no-one alleged that the fine people at Ace aren't union.
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