The complaint, filed in District Court, seeks to prohibit international officials and local officials and the local union administration from “interfering” with the governance of Local 8248 and seeks to reinstate Maynard.

“For many years, the defendants have engaged in a conspiracy to mislead, deceive, confuse and intimidate the plaintiffs and other governmental agencies which bear the responsibility for administering the labor laws in the territory and on the national level,” the complaint reads.

It also accuses Steelworkers International officials of retaliating against local members’ grievances and coercing local business to fire union members who sought grievances.  Among the companies local members are claiming the union influences are Hess Oil Virgin Islands Corp, and its successor, HOVENSA;   Jacobs Engineering Inc; and St. Croix Basic Inc.

Christiansted attorney Michael Sanford, representing the St. Croix Steelworkers local union administration, said Tuesday afternoon he had not yet read the complaint.  The local administration, led by Sub district Director Frederick Joseph, overseas four Steelworkers chapters on St. Croix, the largest of which is Local 8248.

That chapter’s approximately 2,000 members include workers at HOVENSA, St. Croix Alumina, Virgin Islands Telephone Corp, and in the local government.  Repeated calls to Joseph on Monday and Tuesday were not returned and attempts to reach representatives of the companies named in the suit were unsuccessful.

Steelworkers attorney David Jury, reached at Steelworkers headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pa., said he did not know the complaint was pending and did not know it had been filed.

“As I have not seen the complaint I have no comment,” he said.

The lawsuit has been in the works since the Steelworkers’ International officials announced on Aug. 31 at a press conference that they were asking Maynard to resign.  Steelworkers district Director Homer Wilson and International Vice President Leon Lynch said they had learned in June that Maynard had been convicted of embezzling money from a St. Croix businessman in 1994.  Steelworkers by laws prohibit convicted felons from holding office and, they said, that gave them no choice but to ask Maynard to resign.

Maynard said union officials knew about his record when they hired him as a field worker in 1998.  At the time, he was part-way through a five-year sentence at the Golden Grove Correctional Facility.

“When Frederick Joseph hired me, I was doing weekends in jail,” Maynard said Tuesday.

Sanford said an exhaustive search of local court records turned up nothing concrete before the April election, and he said union officials chose to ignore “heresay and innuendo” about Maynard.

The disagreements between local and international officials has resulted in a separate court battle about the union headquarters in Estate Whim.

Last Wednesday, Joseph and Sanford filed a complaint in Territorial Court asking the court to order Maynard to hand over the keys to the building.  Maynard changed the locks after he was asked to step down.  He did that because the locks would have been changed on him, said Maynard’s attorney, Lydia Logie Moolenaar.  She said Joseph retaliated by cutting off the phone and electricity and firing the secretary, Raquel Nieves.

Sanford said that according to the Steelworkers’ constitution, the building’s contents are supposed to be administered by the sub-district director and that Josephs merely wanted access to the paperwork inside the building.  The building is owned by local 8248 members, Moolenaar said.

“Pursuant to the administrator-ship, they are required to perform certain functions which they cannot do because David Maynard has refused to leave the building,” Sanford said Tuesday.  “We want a court order saying Maynard is not supposed to be there.”

The case is in Territorial Court today at 11a.m., Moolenaar said.
Despite his being at the forefront of the battle between local and international officials, Maynard said neither the standoff over union headquarters nor the class action lawsuit is an attempt on his part to keep his job.
“All I’m trying to prove is that they knew about my record,” he said.
Maynard said the class action suit is a reflection of the discontent union members were feeling long before he was asked to step down.  He said that once he and former Local 8248 President Lloyd Daley began fighting too hard for local members’ rights, international officials squeezed them our.

Daley, whose son, Timothy embezzled more than $11,000 from the local union, stepped down in 1998.
Maynard said the international’s union officials urged him to run for election because they thought he could defeat Daley’s supporters.
Frederiksted attorney Ronald Russell, who is representing the class action defendants along with attorney Marshall Webster, said many local union members have long-standing grievances against the international union.
Russell said international officials “misinformed” the local membership about Daley.
“The international had demonstrated what we consider a pattern of disenfranchising the membership here,” Russell said. “That’s why Daley was unpopular with the membership.”
Now, Maynard’s and Daley’s names are side by side at the top of the class action suit.
“I guess Daley and I had the same thing happen to us,” Maynard said.

“Grasp this opportunity,” Moolenaar told the new citizens Wednesday. When she had the chance, she did.

Moolenaar is herself a naturalized citizen of the United States who went to become a local attorney with her own law firm in Christiansted. She said Wednesday that she doubts she would have become a lawyer if she had not become an American citizen.

Many of the new citizens come from other countries in the Caribbean but some come from as far away as France, Germany and Africa. They each had to give up their citizenship to the countries they were born in before being allowed to become American citizens.

The new citizens also were required to live on United States soil for five consecutive years, have no criminal record, possess a basic understanding of U.S. government and history, be able to read, write, and speak English and be willing to swear an oath of loyalty to the country.

Moolenaar said the new citizens considered the event to be a very big deal.
“They were tears,” she said. “It was a very emotional time.”

The tournament raised $2,500 for the V.I. Bar Association Scholarship Fund.

In other title matches, Flavia Logie and Marcia O’Neale used strong serves to defeat the team of Patty Hensley and Susan Armstrong for the Women’s A Doubles title, 6-2, 6-3.  In Men’s B Doubles, two of St. Croix’s top junior players, Devon Locke and Justin Aronstein, fell to the team of Clarence Shanklin and Roger Carrington for the title, 6-1, 6-3.

In the most competitive of the title matches, Lydia Moolenaar and Dynel Soto battled for two hours against the team of Jackie Holt and Debbie Schreiber before coming out on top, defending their title from last year.  The first set was close, with Moolenaar and Soto edging Holt and Schreiber, 7-5.  The second set was even more exciting for the 80 spectators as Holt and Schreiber brought their intensity up another notch but came up short, 7-6.
Finally, Christian Nelthropp, one of the top 16 year-old players in the Caribbean, teamed up with Magda Finch to win the Mixed Doubles Open category, 6-3, 6-4, over Kelley and Logie.

What should you do if someone hits, pushes or shoves you? What should you do if someone calls you a bad name? Three members of the Young Lawyers Committee of the VI Bar Association spoke to fourth-fifth and sixth graders Thursday at Eulalie Rivera Elementary School on simple steps to easily resolve conflicts.

The conflict-resolution class was held as part of Education Week, which ends today. The members were Ernest Batenga, counsel to the Attorney general; Lydia Logie, a Territorial Court Attorney and Albert Meade, who is in private practice. Their solutions presented to about 150 students.

“Before you throw that punch, just stop and think about what you are doing,” Batenga said to his group of fourth-graders. Logie told fifth-graders, “Never resort to hitting.” She suggested telling a teacher or even talking through the problem. “Don’t be afraid to say how you feel. How you feel is very important,” she said.

Sixth graders questioned Meade on issues beyond conflict resolutions. They wanted to know how to handle peer pressure and the consequences of crimes like gun possession. “They were very perceptive and receptive,” Meade said. “I think we don’t give our children enough credit.”

Logie promised her fifth-graders she would return monthly to visit and discuss conflict resolution. Batenga said he gave his fourth-graders his business card and told them to call whenever they had questions. By 4 p.m. Thursday he received two calls. The school’s principal, Anita Gondon Plaskett, said her school improvement team came up with the idea.

“We felt that by having children think through problems, they could find alternatives to fighting and disrespecting each other,” Plaskett said. Logie said, “There’s so much violence in school these days….if we start at the elementary level, then maybe we can stop it from escalating to that level.”

In the past three weeks, Central High School had two stabbing incidents. Earlier this year, and Education Complex student shot another. The Senate Education Committee this week forwarded to the Rules Committee the proposed Safe School Act of 1997, which would provide stiffer penalties for students found with weapons on campuses. The legislation was sponsored by Sens. Almando “Rocky” Liburd and Judy M. Gomez after the stabbing death of Charlotte Amalie High School student Lamar”Chappa” Knight in 1995.

When we talk about women rising, Lydia Logie Moolenaar must be one of the women at the top of that class in the territory. Just look at this…in 1998 Lydia got married, had a baby – Julissa Anne and now is getting ready to go into private practice in the field of law.

“ I am very excited about my life right now,” said Moolenaar, who graduated from Central high School. She attended Thurgood Marshall Law School and received her Juris Doctor in Law. Attorney Moolenaar has also passed both the Texas and the V.I Bar exams, certification for her to practice law in both of those places.

Despite her success in law, Moolenaar readily admits that she focuses her attention on her new husband, Roland Moolenaar and baby Julissa. By way of celebrating her new status, Moolenaar held a big all-day and late night chiristening party for the little one last Sunday at the couple’s home in Strawberry. The activity started with a church service at Holy Cross Church and ended with a party. Topping the guest list was the Honorable Judge Edgar Ross, who was not only Moolenaar’s former boss, but also Julissa’s godfather. Also on the list of special guests were Alejandra R. Gibson, the baby’s godmother and her husband Darrell, both of whom had made the trip from New Jersey for the christening.

Also attending the activity were Atty. Flavia Logie and her dear friend Clive Gumbs, Norma Mason, Jilio Encarnacion and wife Gloria and the couple’s son, Cecilia Donovan who spearheaded the making of the baby’s clothes; Jacqueline Pinney and daughter Emerald, Alana, Kyran, Kaelan, Natalia and Christia and husband Ulysses, Brad Thomas and friend Sarita, Laura Logie, Atty. Pat Welcome, Lyndon McLeod, who made the baby’s day bed, Dan Lawrence and Pablo O’Neal and family.

Providing the music for the christening party was the electrifying Stanley and the Ten Sleepless Nights and DJ Jabaar. The food was prepared by family members and friends. Moolenaar who is going into private practice with Atty. Jean-Robert Alfred, says she is looking forward to the new challenge and that she will do her best to make a success to her new job. Her husband, Roland, who is an Enforcement Officer with DPNR, says he is very excited about the marriage. The couple has been married for seven months.

Being a journalist, you generally catch some pretty good information. The latest word is that a young legal eagle, none other than Ms. Lydia D. Logie, has passed the Texas Bar. A new addition to the Territorial clerk to Judge Edgar D. Ross. After Ms. Logie aces the Virgin Islands Bar, I wonder what her next step will be? Managing assistant attorney general, attorney general for the territory or perhaps senator – she could go for the governor’s seat. Who knows? One thing is for sure, she is a talented and beautiful young lady who gets what she wants.

Oh, by the way, please disregard any email or faxes regarding myself sent to you by that insidious little terrorist I have dubbed the UNALibeler……

The battle over control of a United Steelworkers of America local union has moved to federal court, with a brief stop Wednesday at Territorial Court. Attorneys for the USWA international union filed a petition in Territorial Court to have Local 8248 president David Maynard evicted from the local’s headquarters in Estate Whim.

Local 8248’s attorneys had already filed a class-action lawsuit in District Court Tuesday on behalf of Maynard, other officers and about 90 union members against international officials, alleging various irregularities in their takeover of the local. Territorial Court Judge Edgar Ross was presiding over the evictions petition Wednesday but was forced to stop the proceedings after Local 8248 attorneys filed a notice to have the case transferred to District Court.

The attorneys, Lydia Logie Moolenaar and Martial Webster, said the “notice of removal” meant that Ross had no choice but to bow out of the case unless the District Court sends it back to him. The attorneys argued that the issues in this case involved federal labor laws and should be heard in federal court. They also have a second suit pending in District Court on behalf of former Local 8248 president Lloyd Daley and want that and all other legal issues combined and decided in the federal jurisdiction.

The dispute centers around the international attempt to remove Maynard from office because he has a felony conviction. Fredrick Joseph, USWA sub-district director, testified before Ross – before the proceedings were halted – that federal labor laws and the union bylaws bar a convicted felon from holding a union office. Under questioning by his attorney, Michael Sanford, Joseph said he needs access to the building and records to file grievances on behalf of union members. During his testimony Wednesday, Joseph said he had heard “rumors” of Maynard’s legal problem but had no proof until after Maynard was elected, even though the conviction was in Territorial Court.

He said the local is still under his administrator ship, which means he had control over its bank accounts and other records, but he said Maynard refuses to leave the office and had changed the locks on the building. Maynard has admitted that he has a conviction of extortion, but maintains that Joseph and other USWA officials knew about it, but still encouraged him to run for office because they wanted Daley out as President.
Moolenaar said Joseph had all the power to the Whim building cut off and the telephones disconnected. The class-action suit alleges that international officials including Joseph are interfering with operation of Local 8248 even though Maynard has not been officially charged with any violation as president nor been given a hearing on why he should be removed. Also named as defendants in the suit are Hovensa Oil and several of the refinery’s subcontractors who have labor contracts with USWA.

The Juanita Gardine school is getting a facelift with the help of the Young Lawyers Committee and the VI Bar Association. The groups are not offering the regular paint job; instead they are offering mentoring and free programs in reading and math on Saturday mornings.

The initiative from the lawyers comes as part of their Law Week activities and the group’s willingness to provide some assistance to the community. “ We wanted to provide something concrete and meaningful to the community and so we thought that an educational program would meet the bill,” said Lydia Logie.

The programs got of the ground last weekend with some hundred students from the school and about nine lawyers participating. The attorneys met with the students and spent quite a lot of time getting to know them. They discussed how they developed their careers and talked about the student’s expectations. The lawyers advised the students to stay in school and told them that getting an education should a top priority.
School principal Lionel Sewpershad said he welcomed the assistance of the Young Lawyers Committee. He said he would be encouraging the lawyers to read the students and to provide them as much motivation as possible. Sewpershad also said he plans to try to get more teachers, community groups and parents involved in the Saturday program. “We must try to make the program work because the general welfare and education of the students depends on its success,” Sewpershad said.

Young Lawyers Committee members participating in the program are Logie, Diane Russell, Yvette Ross, Maxwell McIntosh, Natalie Nelson, Gizette Canegata, Miles Plaskett, Rhonda Hospedales and James Geocaris. Senior VI Bar Association members participating in the program are Zeke Jennings, R. Oliver David, the law firm of Alkon, Rhea and Hart, Bryant, White, Barnes and Simpson, Coon, Sanford and Amerling and Holt and Russell.