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From the May-June 2008 issue of Union Democracy Review #173
SHORTS: photocopying hiring hall records, longshore reform victory, peace pipe for SEIU and CNA? and more.
Some stories we publish in Union
Democracy Review are too short for a feature, but too important to leave
out. Each issue we publish these "shorts." This issue's collection
give a sense of how valuable these pieces can be.
-- website coordinator
Photocopying hiring hall records: A subscriber reminds us that you have the right to a photocopy of your hiring hall referral records to determine whether the rules have been violated and you have been the victim of improper discrimination. In case 3-CB-6642 on July 31,1995, involving Boilermakers Local 197, the NLRB ruled that "a union's duty of fair representation includes an obligation to provide access to job referral lists to allow an individual to determine whether his referral rights are being protected…. When a member seeks photocopies of hiring hall information because he reasonably believes he has been treated unfairly by the hiring hall, the union acts arbitrarily by denying the requested photocopies…."
In Longshore Local 333, the 3,000-member East Coast inland ILA local of tugboat and ferry workers, Bill Harrigan was elected president in April along with his whole insurgent slate, including Mike Brandon for secretary treasurer. For years, both men had been union democracy advocates and served on and off on the local executive board as independents. Harrigan has been publisher of Harbor Herald, a rank and file reform newsletter. Even before Harrigan joined the local 14 years ago, it had been the scene of lively internal election rivalry. In all the years of his activity, he was able to get his message to the members and, finally, a fair and square election.
Peace pipe for Nurses and SEIU? As the battle between the SEIU and the California Nurses Association escalates, John Sweeney hopes to bring the two sides together for peace talks. He has invited representatives from each to sit down with him for a series of talks. The Nurses have already accepted. As of this writing, he awaits a reply from Andy Stern. A faint cloud of pessimism seeped into Sweeney's letter to Stern, whose SEIU is affiliated to Change to Win, the federation that rival's Sweeney's AFL-CIO. Sweeney notes that in Massachusetts an SEIU local rebuffed attempts at conciliation and persisted in efforts to raid an AFL-CIO union which represents court employees.
In IBEW Local 98, Philadelphia: In June 2007, the president of Dougherty Electric, a firm under contract with IBEW Local 98 was indicted on multiple counts of bribery, fraud, and tax evasion. Several of the counts involve his relations with the union local. Among other charges, he stands accused of underpaying the union's benefit plan and of making "unlawful payments" to two top local officers. AUD has known about this local since 1987, when David Hatchigian, in his battle for fair play, had to sue in Federal court to beat off fines and suspension.
In Operating Engineers Local 825, Newark: In March this year, the current business manager and the former president were both indicted and arrested on federal charges of taking bribes from construction contractors to ensure "labor peace" and to permit the use of non-union labor. Their combined take was reportedly more than $110,000. In May last year, state prosecutors charged that a member of the Gambino crime family got involved in local financial affairs and solicited a $20,000 bribe from a contractor who wanted to avoid hiring Local 825 members. Sordid stuff like this has been reported in Local 825 at least since 1968 when we were in touch with a courageous group of reformers in the local. The international has not been moved.
At Machinists District Lodge 751, June elections were contested. This is the 20,000-member district which represents workers in several Boeing locals in Seattle. Tom Wroblewski, the incumbent president, is opposed by Ronnie Behnke. She is a longtime Boeing worker who heads the opposition Unity Slate. There have been hotly contested district elections before, but this one may tell us something about the IAM. (However, we're not sure exactly what that is!) Things got sticky when incumbent Wroblewski charged that Linda Lanham, now a management lobbyist, was helping the opposition Unity Slate. For 26 years, Lanham had been a lobbyist for the Machinists union, but she switched sides to work for the employers' association. She did attend meetings of the Unity Slate, she said, but only because her own son is a Boeing steward running with the opposition. That news might seem startling enough, but its sensational quality is dwarfed by the question: How did the administration get this juicy piece of information? They had planted a mole in the Unity camp.
On April 22, at a meeting of the district council attended by 150 members, Matt Moeller, a union steward, announced that he had joined the Unity Slate to spy on its meetings. He displayed cellphone snapshots of Behnke, the opposition standard bearer, and Lanham, the corporate lobbyist, sitting together and addressing the meeting. If that was not enough, two administration staff members had snapped about 300 photos while keeping Unity Caucus activities under surveillance. The lesson? If you intend to buck the IAM establishment, be prepared for anything! (This account is based on stories by Dominic Gates in the Seattle Times.)
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