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by Matt Noyes

“Many unions have experienced the development of the web with the rank and file leading the pack, while the upper layers were dragged along kicking and screaming in denial and blindness behind them.” Linda Mathews, in CyberUnion Handbook

In the case of the UFCW, the “upper layers” are not just kicking and screaming, they are filing lawsuits. William Gammert, a member of UFCW Local 777 in Vancouver BC, is webmaster of what he calls the “home for the blue-collared workers ... of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 777 (aka The United Fraud and Corruption Workers Local 777) that are unhappy with the representation that we have been getting.” The website provides information, opinion, and a Guest Book where members debate. In August 2001, irritated by Gammert, the Local 777 officers sued him in British Columbia court for defamation. The UFCW international joined the suit, accusing him of infringing their copyright when he posted a copy of the UFCW constitution on his web site.

In a partial settlement, the judge ordered the UFCW international to post the constitution on the union’s own web site, at which point, Gammert will remove it from his. He still faces the defamation charge.

In February this year, the UFCW struck again, suing Kelsey and Sharyn Sigurdur, also of Vancouver, and two other members “John and Jane Doe,” for using the letters “UFCW” in the address (or “URL”) of their website, Members for Democracy (www.ufcw.net). The union also wants the Sigurdurs to remove “UFCW” from the site’s “metatags” (words that are visible only to internet search engines and help people find the website). Kelsey is a former UFCW member, Sharyn a current member. “Members for Democracy,” they explain, “started out as a reform movement within the Canadian UFCW but [we] have expanded our focus to the broader community of workers.” MFD is a fine example of an independent website.

UFCW claims that the "use of the UFCW's name and acronym in connection with the MFD website is calculated to cause confusion between the MFD website and the [official UFCW sites]" They charge that the Sigurdurs' conduct is "intended to cause injury and damage to the UFCW," and that some of the site's content is "defamatory." The suit is pending, no hearing date has been set.

(In the U.S., in a similar case, the International Longshoremens Association preferred union charges against members for “violating the union’s copyright” because in their literature they identified themselves as ILA members.)

In its drive to restrict use of "UFCW," the union has registered a series of domain names, even addresses like "www.UFCWsucks.com". (Many corporations do this. For example, bulk retailer Walmart registered "walmartsucks.com," but the UFCW owns the clever "walmartyrs.com."

It is not only internet speech that has the UFCW kicking and screaming. They have also sued REAP activist Steve Giuliano, for an article titled “Concessions bargaining, UFCW style,” and the editors of “Socialist Action” a small left-wing newspaper for printing Giuliano’s piece and for hosting a forum where he spoke. (UFCW representatives did not return our calls.)

All these battles are being fought in Canada where there is no equivalent of the LMRDA to protect union members’ rights. It would be interesting to see how the UFCW would react if U.S. members posted constitutions of the UFCW or its Canadian locals on rank and file websites in the United States where constitutions are public documents.

See our AUDlinks page for these sites. UFCW’s official homepage is www.ufcw.org.

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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