Honolulu, Hawaii - On Wednesday September 13th SPiT-FA and their International representatives took our Hawaii campaign to a whole new level after SPiT-FA Vice President Joseph McCray physicality assaulted 63 year old United Federation LEOS-PBA Organizing Director Steve Maritas during a greet and meet of Paragon Systems, Inc protective service officers PSO's in Honolulu, Hawaii in a unprovoked attack by McCray as shown above.
Luckily this physical assault of Maritas by SPiT-FA Vice President Joseph McCray was captured on video. As you will see from the above video the 63 year old United Federation LEOS-PBA Organizing Director Steve Maritas was at this location holding a scheduled greet and meet of Paragon Systems, Inc PSO's in Hawaii in the courtyard across the street from the Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalanianaole federal building in Honolulu, Hawaii.
During the shift change Maritas decided to move closer to the front table in the public area so that any Paragon PSO who did attend this greet and meet could see Maritas was there to greet them. Once Maritas was seated at the table he noticed a pamphlet on the table and started to read it. Soon after SPiT-FA Vice President Joseph McCray and Todd Yukutake SPIT-FA local Secretary treasurer of the Hawaiian local who were at least 40 to 50 feet away noticed Maritas sitting at the table.
Thereafter SPiT-FA Vice President Joseph McCray approached Maritas who was sitting in the chair and tried to physically take the brochure Maritas was reading from his hand stating this was his personal property. Once this happened Maritas immediately put his right hand behind his chair while sitting and still holding the brochure. McCray then immediately got closer to Maritas putting his hand on the chair and the other hand on the table trapping Maritas.
Maritas who knew McCray for at least 20 years when Maritas was McCray's former boss / supervisor was now in fear for his life, told him to backup. When McCray refused, Maritas used his left hand to create some distance between them. Immediately on doing this SPiT-FA Vice President Joseph McCray sucker punched Maritas in the head who was wearing reading glasses at the time, while still sitting down with his right hand behind his chair and only one leg on the floor.
SPiT-FA's version of Events clearly differ from the actual video which SPiT-FA was unaware we had in our possession as noted by one of the Paragon PSO's who sent a email to the entire 140 Paragon PSO's in Hawaii, Guam, Saipan and American Samoa.
United Federation LEOS-PBA Organizer Brother B (r) Paragon Hawaiian PSO Chef (center) and UFLEOS-PBA Organizing Director Steve Maritas (r)
---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Shellback OC9 Date: Thu, Sep 14, 2023 at 9:46 AM Subject: Course Correction. Footage from the Maritas Incident on 9/13/23 Good Morning my fellow PSO's Chef here. I wanted to follow up on the story that's been circulating around the incident between Steve Maritas and SPFFA yesterday 9/13. This is a great example of how a story can be twisted to suit a narrative, like how our country has become so divided. This is a great teachable moment: always follow through on the entirety of the story or incident. This is even closer to us here in this case as the debate and subsequent vote comes up for our union representation. Both parties currently have representation at Restaurant Row and engaging our PSO's on their advantages of their's and disadvantages of the other's Union. Needless to say this is hotly debated . As heard from the SPPFA side, allegedly Steve Maritas sexually assaulted a member of the SPPFA representatives by grabbing his genitals after the SPPFA demanded that he return a SPPFA pamphlet that he took from their table and was reading at an adjacent table. That in itself is no crime (the reading part that is). The story goes a SPPFA rep goes over to the table that Maritas is seated at (reading the opposition's pamphlet) and "suggests" he returns the pamphlet to which Maritas declines. The conversation becomes heated, Maritas is on his feet then the SPPFA rep claims that Maritas says "I'm going to grab you by the balls" and then proceeds to follow through on his claim. The SPPFA rep then punches Maritas and the two are then separated. HPD is dispatched and Maritas is charged. Here is the link to the footage: https://drive.google.com/file/d/16Arzfy0IJmAairu4ZhW3KEI4FAvF9jsN/view?usp=drive_link The players: Maritas is in black.....SPPFA in blue. The video shows a different story. Maritas is sitting down reading the pamphlet when the SPPFA rep walks up and demands that Maritas return the pamphlet as his "personal property" when in fact it was laid out for informational purposes to PSO's. Keep in mind there is NO law against reading the opposition's information, in fact it is a smart move on Maritas/LEOSA's behalf. When Maritas refuses, the SPPFA rep actually punches Maritas while he is seated. (no genitalia grab) as Marita takes the punch. The video ends as the surrounding reps (on both sides) intervene to seperate them. From there, our own President Akua Awuae calls HPD and tells them their side of the story, allegedly to a SGT he knows.
The other officers claim no sexual assault based on eyewitness testimony and possibly this footage but Maritas is arrested and charged anyway by the SGT. Currently Mr. Maritas is seeking legal advice as this is clearly NOT what happened as SPPFA claims. Based on the video footage, he will win easily if he pursues it further. The rubber meets the road: So let me ask you this my fellow PSO's, this is the first time in FOREVER that we have seen any representation from our union (SPPFA) and when it does show up, THIS IS WHAT WE GET????? Sucker punches on the opposing union rep (while sitting down) and some long winded story about "dick grabbing?"
Needless to say from the sound of my email "voice" (no longer proper and safe) I've HAD IT with our union and you should be too! What if this had been you? Oh that's right our UNION DOESN'T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT YOU. Ask the PSO's who recently had NO REPRESENTATION in suspensions handed out @ Bishop Street recently. If you are not willing to vote these guys out (SPPFA) then you deserve what you get, stop bitching & STFU. Any for those guys who keep insisting Maritas is crooked, here he is taking a SUCKER PUNCH WHILE SEATED FROM OUR UNION!! I don't know about you, but this tells me EVERYTHING I need to know. Stop complaining on the bench and get in the game! Geez I'm only a PT employee now and I seem to have more dog in the fight than 95% of the FTE's Vote when the NLRB sends the ballots out in the mail next week, don't "think" about it.... BE ABOUT IT!
XOxoxo, Chef
In addition to the false story SPiT-FA Representative Todd Yukutake, told to the Paragon PSO's as noted above who was also eye witness to the event and who was seen on the video with McCray, the SPiT-FA International has doubled down on this false story by filing federal charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) citing the same false narrative that SPIT-FA Vice President Joseph McCray was assaulted by Maritas. See the official NLRB charge below.
UPDATE SPiT-FA VICE PRESIDENT JOSEPH MCCRAY FILES A TRO AGAINST MARITAS. IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT MCCRAY CLAIMS IN HIS WRITTEN & SIGNED AFFIDAVIT TO THE COURT THAT HE IS A RESIDENT OF HAWAII WHICH HE IS NOT!
If McCray can't even get it straight on where he lives / resides, what else is McCray lying about in this statement?
It should also be noted that in McCray's affidavit he makes certain statements to the events that day which are clearly inconsistent with the video.
At 00.20 Joseph McCray starts walking from the courtyard which is about 50 feet away towards Maritas who is sitting at a table reading a brochure. At 00.43 McCray approaches Maritas and tries to take the brochure from his hand. Maritas immediately puts it behind his back at 00:45. McCray states this is personal property sir. at 00;48 McCray repeats that it is personal property sir. At 00;50 McCray states again Grab a personal property sir. At 00:51 Maritas states Really and at 00:52 McCray states Ya Really. Maritas, who was in fear for his life and safety, tries to create distance from McCray so he can get up and away from McCray.. At 00:53 McCray then raises his right hand and makes a fist to hit and assault Maritas. He then hits Maritas in the left side of Maritas's head. Then Maritas, who was just assaulted by McCray falls downward from the punch from McCray. At 0:53 McCray States I'll FUCK YOU UP FUCK as he hits Maritas. At 0;54 Brinkner is heard saying YO, YO and the video ends. (Please Note: Maritas had his right hand behind the chair and one leg crossed while sitting and Maritas is wearing reading glasses at the time of the Physical Assault).
Prior to the September 13th assault on September 12th SPIT-FA National Organizing Director Dwayne Phillips and SPIT-FA Vice President Ryan Kelly unexpectedly showed up at our scheduled greet and meet and started to disrupt our meeting. Phillips who was acting like a clown refused to leave our meeting citing this was a public place. During this confrontation Maritas had asked him politely to leave this private meeting as noted on the video. Only after Phillips offered those Paragon PSO's at the meeting challenge coins and they refused to acknowledge Phillips and his offerings, Phillips and Kelly then left our meeting in embarrassment as the Paragon PSO's looked on and were amazed as to what just happened.
Since this incident, Maritas has hired a local Hawaiian attorney and is looking to have his day in court. No charges against SPIT-FA Vice President have been filed at this time to the best of our knowledge. This is a developing story.
The NLRB mail ballot election to represent the 140 Paragon PSO's in Hawaii, Guam, Saipan and American Samoa will begin on Monday September 18th, The United Federation LEOS-PBA Law Enforcement Officers Security & Police Benevolent Association Hawaii, Guam, Saipan and American Samoa is confident they will win this election hands down after witnessing this video on the actual event vs SPIT-FA's false version of its Union Thug tactics by McCray.
EMPLOYEES ELIGIBLE TO VOTE:
Those eligible to vote are: All full-time and regular part-time armed and unarmed protective security officers employed by Paragon Systems, Inc., performing guard duties as defined by Section 9(b)(3) of the National Labor Relations Act, and assigned to federal facilities in Hawaii, Guam, Saipan, and American Samoa, under Contract No. 70RFPW19DW9000002, with the Department of Homeland Security, Federal
METHOD AND DATE OF ELECTION
The election will be conducted by United States mail. The mail ballots will be mailed to employees employed in the appropriate collective-bargaining unit. On Monday, September 18, 2023 at 12 noon (Hawaii-Aleutian Standard Time), ballots will be mailed to voters by an agent of the National Labor Relations Board, Subregion 37, whose office is located at 300 Ala Moana Blvd Rm 7-245, Honolulu, HI 96850-7245. Voters must sign the outside of the envelope in which the ballot is returned. Any ballot received in an envelope that is not signed will be automatically void.
Those employees who believe that they are eligible to vote and did not receive a ballot in the mail by Monday, October 2, 2023 (Hawaii-Aleutian Standard Time), should communicate immediately with the National Labor Relations Board by either calling the Subregion 37 office in Honolulu at (808) 541-2814, the Region 20 Office in San Francisco at (415)356-5130, or our national toll-free line at 1-844-762- NLRB (1-844-762-6572).
All ballots will be commingled and counted by an Agent of the National Labor Relations Board, Subregion 37 Office at 300 Ala Moana Boulevard, Room 4-127, Honolulu, HI 96850, on Monday, October 23, 2023 at 1:00 p.m. (Hawaii-Aleutian Standard Time). Parties choosing to observe may be required to participate remotely by Zoom Government, selected by and arranged for the Board Agent conducting the count. No party may make a video recording or save any image of the ballot count. In order to be valid and counted, the returned ballots must be received in the National Labor Relations Board, Subregion 37 Office prior to the counting of the ballots.
United Federation LEOS-PBA now represents more Paragon Systems Inc Protective Service Officers PSO's than any other security union. Representing Paragon PSO's in Boston, Los Angeles California, Riverside, San Bernardino counties, San Diego & Imperial counties, California, Kentucky, New York City, Upstate New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, & Washington DC Capitol Region just to mention a few.
If you wish to join or form a security union at your workplace them please join the United Federation LEOS-PBA Law Enforcement Officers Security & Police Benefit Association the true authority of Law Enforcement, Protective Service Officers, Special Police Officers, Security Police Officers, Nuclear Security Officers, K9 Handlers, Security Officers, Security Guards and Security Professionals nationwide. Contact us today @ 1-800-516-0094 or visit our website @ www.LEOSPBA.org
Organizing: 1-800-516-0094
United Federation LEOS-PBA (202) 595-3510