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From the November-December 2008 issue of Union Democracy Review #176
Free Speech in the SEIU and MEBA?
Anything you say will be used against you
Be careful if you want to run for office in SEIU Local 521. Be sure to apologize for putting the local to the expense of conducting an election, and say only nice things about your incumbent rivals. You say we are exaggerating? Maybe so. But it's best to be on the safe side. (Think of what they did to Sal Rosselli. After saying some unpleasant things about International President Andy Stern, he faced a multitude of charges before trial committees appointed by Stern, and the 150,000-member local he heads faces the double threat of trusteeship or dissolution.) Yes, it is better to be safe. Here is what candidates for chapter office in Local 521 are under pressure to sign:
"I believe that negative campaigns contribute no positive value to a democratic political process. Personal attacks and misrepresentation of facts only fuel cynicism and apathy within our union membership. I believe I can win this election by running a positive campaign and focusing on the merits of my candidacy. This is the way my campaign will be run throughout the election…. I will run a campaign that reflects positively on our union and our members. I will not defame or personally attack my fellow union members. In short, I will conduct my campaign in a respectful and responsible manner."
What penalty will the local inflict on candidates whom it decides irresponsibly lacked respect? Not clear? But the threat of punishment is there, vague but ominous.
This "pledge" has everything upside down. The problem in the SEIU is not that members lack respect for officers but that SEIU top leaders have displayed too much respect for local officers whom they appointed and who went on to misappropriate hundreds of thousands of dollars from the union treasury, creating a scandal so embarrassing that the union has appointed a high-level commission to figure out ways to avoid a repetition. If anything, Local 521 might demand that candidates show respect for the union treasury and pledge to avoid a financial conflict of interest by stealing union money.
Using the internet?
Beware, you could be a criminal!
To be fair, we can understand why SEIU Local 521 incumbents might need reassurance and gentle treatment. They all originally got their posts by appointment when the local was created by merger, and so they are not accustomed to vigorous election challenge. But the officers of a seafarers' union, the Marine Engineers Beneficial Association, have no such excuse. They emerged out of a robust union democracy. Their union was shaped by a strong successful insurgent movement for democracy against a corrupt administration. As Matt Noyes reported in our previous issue, for twelve years under a reformed administration, the union maintained a website and online bulletin board service freely open to all members. For twelve years, subject to minimal censorship, it was an arena for lively discussion. Officers sometimes faced harsh criticism and replied in the same free-wheeling spirit. The discussion got along fine, even without the posting of formal guidelines. All that has changed. Now, under its incumbent administration, the MEBA came up with guidelines galore, carefully formulated for their obvious menacing, intimidating qualities. It's hard to believe, but critics are warned that if they violate these guidelines, they might face criminal charges! The ominous spirit of the whole thing leaps out of these typical comments:
"It is unlawful to include content considered objectionable…. Objectionable content is content which MEBA believes could legally leave the union open to liability or litigation…. MEBA will hold you solely responsible for any damages or expenses to/or incurred by MEBA, its affiliates, employees, members, businesses, or anyone else the violation is against…. MEBA reserves the right to remove such material from its servers, immediately terminate your account, and you may be subject to civil or criminal liability."
These warnings of looming disaster seem to have achieved their purpose. Marine Engineer Paul Norman reports, "The level of free and meaningful discourse has dropped to near zero."
Articles
on the internet and union democracy:
Appeals
court backs union curbs on the internet
Free Speech in the
SEIU and MEBA?
Union officers
uncomfortable with online free speech
Surrendering to the internet: Democrats in spite of themselves?
IBEW
president Hill upholds Canadian member's rights
Union
officials "condone and endorse" attack on member's internet free speech
rights
Round
2 in the internet battle in AFSCME DC37
In AFSCME
DC37 - A round in the internet battle
Danger of democracy on the Internet? Kill it!
Whose
"IBEW" is it? An Electrician on the Internet.
Results
of the 2005 AUD Best Rank-and-File Website Contest
Union
democracy online survives two lawsuits
Online
Guide: build an effective rank-and-file website
SEIU
Pulls plug on "Labor's Future" discussion
52
Playing cards = fearsome "Local 52"
Using the Internet for Union Democracy
AUD's Best Rank-and-File Websites of 2004
Matt
Noyes on AUD and the Internet
2KB
of free speech? ACLU & Public Citizen sue in IBEW Local 46 election
Making a splash:
SEIU's Unite to Win and the "free and open debate" on Labor's future
SAG officers unnerved by actors' internet free speech
Free speech irritates UFCW
Free speech in NWU
IATSE 600: Internet
democracy triumphs over super centralization
Cyber-democracy:
your legal rights online.(handout)
See
also:
AUD's 50 Guidelines for
building an effective rank-and-file website, and the sample
homepage.
The labortech tag
on del.icio.us.
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