http://www.uniondemocracy.org News & updates from AUD: new articles, links, resources and events. Mon, 09 Nov 2009 15:18:22 GMT ListGarden Program 1.3.1 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://bensonsudblog.blogspot.com/2009/09/new-constitutions-for-unite-and-for.html By now there is something to be learned from the bitter internecine battles that embroil Andy Stern of the SEIU, Sal Rosselli of the new National Union of Healthcare Workers, John Wilhelm of UNITE HERE, and Bruce Raynor of Workers United. It is becoming clearer that this is no mere struggle for power among ambitious union leaders. It involves a sharp challenge to Stern's favored conception of a labor movement highly centralized at the top and regimented below. http://www.uniondemocracy.org#nu By Herman Benson -- A Federal judge peremptorily dismissed the complaint filed by members of Machinists Local S6 and upheld the trusteeship imposed by the IAM international on this 3,400-member local of shipyard workers at the Bath Iron Works in Maine. The decision is a blunt reminder of how difficult it is to resist an arbitrary trusteeship imposed by an authoritarian international upon a dissident local union; and it reveals a serious flaw in the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act. http://www.uniondemocracy.org/UDR/203-IAM_election_needless.htm The constitution of the International Association of Machinists provides for the election of international officers by direct membership vote. But machinists are not actually burdened with the chore of casting ballots because it's so difficult for any dissident to get nominated that no one runs against the administration. http://www.uniondemocracy.org/UDR/204-In_steel_local_12-369.htm Stephanie Green is a woman and one of the few African-Americans in the 1,200-member Steelworkers Local 12-369, mostly white, in the state of Washington. As soon as she was elected local president in November 2005, the executive board began to give her a hard time. http://www.uniondemocracy.org/UDR/205-A_formidable_force_for_reform_in_the_ILA.htm The International Longshoremen's Association is definitely evolving, but into what? This is one of the four unions that, over the years, had been cited in government investigatory reports as most heavily infiltrated by organized crime: the scene of payoffs and murder so graphically portrayed in On the Waterfront. It is still the object of a stalled federal RICO suit. But things are happening that could never have happened before. http://bensonsudblog.blogspot.com/2009/09/when-hailing-trumka-remember-yablonski.html Rich Trumka, now AFL-CIO president, had a fine reputation when he was president of the United Mine Workers; and he has been a good militant voice for the AFL-CIO as secretary treasurer; and he will surely be a good workers' representative as AFL-CIO president. In any event, it is hard to think of a better choice. But as Rich ascends, it is a proper time to remember where he came from and how he got there. If not for Jock Yablonski, Trumka would probably be forgotten, if ever even noticed. http://www.uniondemocracy.org/UDR/206-In_memoriam_Ruth_%20Spitz.htm We are deeply saddened to announced the passing of long-time AUD Board member and supporter Ruth Sachere Spitz. She was 90 years old, and lived near her grandson Leo Macdonald in Allentown, Pennsylvania. http://www.uniondemocracy.org/UDR/197-Steelworker_battles_for_democracy_in_ILA_Local_2038.htm By Matt Noyes "At 25, Kensey Alsman was a millwright at Bethlehem Steel serving as an observer to get a fair election for Ed Sadlowski in his 1976 insurgent run for international president of the Steelworkers union. Now at 59, having retired, only to see his health care and pension go down with the bankrupted company, Alsman is back in a mill, this time at Beta Steel in Indiana where he is a member of the International Longshoremen's Association, battling for fair elections and democracy in ILA Local 2038..." http://www.uniondemocracy.org/UDR/198-Appeals_court_backs_union_curbs_on_the_internet.htm "The U.S. Appeals Court for the District of Columbia has upheld a union rule that places new burdens on candidates who want to use their own independent web sites to campaign for union office. The court's decision gives the green light to those nervous union officials who hope to develop new ways to limit the potential of the internet as an instrument for union democracy..." http://www.uniondemocracy.org/UDR/199-What_is_the_dollar_cost_of_cruel_beatings.htm "The Teamsters Independent Review Board has been doing a scrupulous job of policing the union for corruption and expelling characters with organized crime connections. But some Teamster reformers feel that the Board has been slow in dealing with the kind of offenses against union democracy that resist evaluation in dollars, like intimidation, election fraud, and blacklisting. Which makes reports of the Board's investigation into events in Local 82 (in TDU's Convoy-Dispatch) of special interest. Local 82 union representatives, according to C-D, stand accused of vicious beatings of members who protested against the destruction of the local's contract defenses of job seniority." http://www.uniondemocracy.org/UDR/200-Steve_Early_reviews_views_of_the_labor_movement.htm By Herman Benson "When Steve Early applied at the 2008 SEIU convention in Puerto Rico for press credentials as a reporter for Union Democracy Review and AUD, he was abruptly turned away as persona non grata. Not you, Steve Early! The guardians at the gate were not bothered by the UDR/AUD label. In fact, we got a nice note later explaining that we were quite welcome to send some other reporter. But definitely, NOT STEVE EARLY! And so we learned, to our surprise, that of all the people in, around, and for the labor movement, Steve is perhaps the only pro-labor activist capable of getting under the skin of some labor leaders more deeply than AUD..."