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AUD Bill of Rights for the Building Trades Sample letter requesting direct elections AUD brief opposing stay of Judge Stearns' order

Carpenters, get all the news: SUBSCRIBE to Union Democracy Review!

Dear Carpenters and Friends of Union Democracy:

A few months ago we reported to you on progress in the lawsuit brought by members of the Carpenters union against the Department of Labor for failing to treat their New England Regional Council of Carpenters as a local labor union that is required to elect its officers by direct vote. A federal district judge had directed the DOL to order an election in the NERC.

Now the latest: In January, the Department of Labor appealed the order and asked the district judge for a stay pending the appeal. Alan Hyde, an attorney on the AUD executive board who has submitted several amicus briefs in support of the case, believes our chances of prevailing are very strong at the First Circuit Appeals Court. Both the appeals court and the district court, he points out, have already rejected the DOL's argument as being "arbitrary and capricious."

AUD continues to provide legal support in this case. Alan has already submitted a response to the DOL's motion for a stay. In it, he argues that the DOL should be required to go forward in directing an election in New England because the likelihood of it prevailing in the appeal is very low. The brief begins with a good summary of the litigation.

How much longer will Carpenters be denied their right to directly elect the officers who run their union? It's hard to say. The DOL's appeal may not drag on very long since the appeals court has decided on the issues once before. If we prevail there, then the DOL will have to order an election in New England (it may have to do so right away if its motion for a stay is rejected). But at that point, the UBC itself will have a chance to appeal.

This is where we believe you can have an impact. Based on the response to this case, reflected in daily phone calls and email inquiries, as well as your reports from the field, it is very clear that rank-and-file Carpenters overwhelmingly support direct elections of regional council officers. (In fact, it is difficult to find anyone, other than UBC attorneys, who has gone on record defending the current setup). But is this deep support for direct elections being organized to put pressure on top UBC officials as effectively as it could be?

We think there is room for improvement. Some of you have proposed a national committee/network for direct elections. We think this is a great idea and we are pleased to play an assisting role in the formation of such a committee. So we are asking for at least one contact from each region to come forward and take on the responsibility of coordinating outreach to members in that region, informing them of progress in the case and organizing them to put pressure on local and regional officials to support direct elections. The regional contacts could then confer with each other, forming a national network. In our next mailing and here on the website we will post the contact information. Ken Little of Local 1144 in Seattle, has already volunteered to be the contact for the Pacific Northwest Regional Council of Carpenters, and Phil Lavallee has volunteered for the Southeastern Region.

Over several decades, AUD has learned that it is not enough to rely on a lawsuit to win back your rights. Members must mobilize at the grassroots to turn up the heat on the International. That's what Carpenters for a Democratic Union did in New England, winning enough council delegate positions to elect the lead plaintiff in the case, Thomas Harrington, to the Executive Secretary Treasurer postwhile the case wends its way through the courts. That said, there is also more to do on the legal front.

The Petition

Many of you have been asking us how to go about appealing for direct elections in your regions. The first step is to submit a request to your regional council. Alan Hyde has drafted a sample letter for this purpose. However, it will be much more effective if the letter is submitted as a petition, with many signatures. Coordinating such a petition effort could be the work of the regional contacts. Feel free to contact AUD for more advice on using the petition.

What else can you do?

Continue to support the Association for Union Democracy. In our last snail mailing we noted that only a few dozen of the 200 Carpenters on our list were up-to-date contributors to AUD. We suggested a target contribution of $100 (recognizing that work may be slow and not everyone can afford that amount) to help us continue the defense of Carpenters' rights. Our deepest thanks to the many of you responded to that appeal with contributions as high as $250. To those of you who did not, we ask that you consider a tax-deductible contribution. We won't be able to continue to do this work without your support.

Get involved. Volunteer to be a regional contact or help organize your coworkers to collect signatures on the petition letter. When the UBC decides whether or not to appeal a Department of Labor order they will surely take into account how many Carpenters have declared themselves in favor of direct elections. Help establish a national network of Carpenters. (AUD's policy is to treat all contacts as confidential unless we receive explicit authorization to the contrary. We recognize, however, that many of you are already openly organizing for democracy in your union so if you would like us to give your name to the other Carpenter reformers who are interested in building the network, please contact us.)

If you have any questions or suggestions, please don't hesitate to contact us. And if you have any reports from the field, we are collecting them for publication in our next issue of Union Democracy Review.

Sincerely,

Carl Biers
Executive Director

Articles on the Harrington case and the Carpenters reform movement:
Carpenters win right to elect regional council officers
Consolidation in the Construction Trades
Carpenters form National Reform Group
Reformers Jolt Carpenters Convention
Carpenters Reformers Win in New England
Court challenges DOL on Carpenters Regional Council
Harrington v Chao: Judge Stearns's "memorandum and order" (pdf)
AUD Bill of Rights for the Building Trades
AUD brief opposing stay of order
Sample letter requesting direct elections
Letter to Carpenters from Carl Biers
Court deals setback for democracy in Carpenters union
Links to Carpenters rank-and-file websites

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