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From the May-June 2007 issue of Union Democracy Review #168
Steelworkers Local 645 still charging libel
At a membership meeting of Steelworkers Local 645 in May, Gloria Shelton was hit with charges of "slandering or willfully wronging a member ... publishing or circulating false reports or misrepresentations" and an assortment of similar misdeeds. It was made clear at the meeting, she says, that it was retaliation for her challenging the local's December 2005 election.
The 110-member local in Hammond, Indiana, is one of the Paper Worker locals now affiliated with the Steelworkers. Shelton has previously served several terms as local president but was not in office at the time of the December election, when she ran against Sharon Roman. Shelton lost by a thin margin of only two votes --- 34 to 32. She challenged the election on various grounds and appealed to the international after the local turned her down. The international conceded that local bylaws had been violated but rejected her appeal on the ground that they had not been "flagrantly or arbitrarily" violated.
Not satisfied, she appealed to the U. S. Labor Department, which filed suit to overturn the election for president, whereupon the union promptly settled the case by agreeing that the next regularly scheduled election, in December 2007, would be under DOL supervision. So far, so good, everything seemed normal. But it was not to be.
That was April. The very next month, at the local's membership meeting in May 2007, President Roman announced the charges against Shelton, her election rival, accusing her of libel and assorted disloyalties. Shelton was warned that if found guilty on any of the charges she would have to repay the local for any costs and more ominously that she would "Never be able to run for any office in the local."
This time, Shelton appealed to the Association for Union Democracy where she was informed about her rights under the LMRDA and learned that the union was barred from trying her on libel charges. Armed with the new knowledge, she wrote to the international lawyer, the very same one who had represented the union at the DOL in the election case. She was later informed that the charges would be dropped.
All's well that more or less ended well? Not quite. For weeks, nothing in writing about dropping the charges. Curiously, the local ordered her to appear before the trial committee to answer them. Although the trial was not held, the order was not revoked. Finally, as we go to press, Shelton got written notice that the matter is closed. But the local ducked. The charges, it said, had been withdrawn by the complainant. No mention that they were illegal to begin with.
(An even more egregious USWA case, this time in Louisiana, has just come to our attention: Willie Pierre, president of former PACE local 272 (D.13), apparently tired of claimed "unfounded" charges by rival Doug Campbell that the bylaws had been violated in the last election. He "deemed" Campbell not in good standing, without any hearing at all, and told the company to discontinue the checkoff, in effect expelling him. No response yet to Campbell's February 2007 appeal to the International.)
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