BMWE NEWS
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80% OF LODGES REJECT SECONDING OF FLEMING RECALL

Washington, D.C., May 14, 2002 - A count of the ballots to determine whether the recall petition filed by BMWE Lodge 320 to recall BMWE President Mac Fleming was conducted on May 14, 2002. BMWE has 747 Lodges located throughout the United States and Canada. Under BMWE's Constitution and Bylaws, a recall petition must first be seconded by at least 50 Lodges located in one-third of the States and Provinces under the jurisdiction of the Brotherhood. Thus, under the very low seconding threshold of the Constitution and Bylaws, it takes only 6.6% of BMWE Lodges to second a recall petition and move the process to a recall vote.

Preliminary results show that of the 747 BMWE Lodges eligible to vote, only 145 Lodges, or 19.5%, voted in favor of seconding the recall against President Fleming. This means that 80.5% of the Local Lodges rejected seconding the recall petition against President Fleming. Official certification of the balloting result by an independent arbitrator is pending final resolution of challenged ballots. Should the final verified tally exceed the minimum requirement of 50 Lodges in favor, a special election will be ordered to determine whether the membership, through the Lodges, will vote to recall. The Constitution and Bylaws requires a majority of Local Lodges (374 Lodges) to vote in favor of recall in order to remove a Grand Lodge Officer from office.

The overwhelming lack of support for the seconding procedure is a vindication of President Fleming's leadership and a blow to the small, politically-motivated minority who have orchestrated the recall. The low turnout and lack of support on the seconding of the recall is a vote of confidence by the membership for President Fleming.

After the vote count, President Fleming expressed his heartfelt appreciation for the overwhelming majority of Lodges and System Federations/Divisions who did not support the seconding of the recall. "I am grateful for the support of the majority of System Officers and the 80% of BMWE Lodges who saw through this ill-conceived and divisive recall and I look forward to getting beyond this issue so that we can together focus our collective energies on the many important issues facing BMWE's membership."

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