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Union meetings

UDR Story

  • No New Business from the Floor

    As reported in UDR 192, Brandon Perrone irked officials in Local 3 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) by opposing their elimination of the items "New Business" and "Good of the Union" from local meeting agendas. Here he updates us on the latest events as he tries to pursue union democracy in his local.

  • In IBEW Local 3

    Brandon Perrone, journeyman electrician and union democracy advocate, ran for business manager of IBEW local 3 this past election cycle. With no slate, few campaign resources, and no organizational machinery to speak of, Perrone still managed to secure 556 votes, not too bad when only 3,800 of the 34,000 eligible members bothered to vote. Recently, Perrone raised the hackles of local officials by protesting the elimination of "New Business" and "Good of The Union" items from local meeting agendas. 

Book page

  • AUD's Union Democracy Benchmarks

    We do not maintain a list of "AUD-certified" democratic unions. We feel that judgment is best left in the hands of union members themselves, the people most familiar with the real workings of the institution. Visit the rank-and-file sites on our links page to see how various unions measure up in the eyes of some of their members.

    But, we like the idea of union democracy benchmarks, so we put together the following checklist. Warning! This list has many limitations; we welcome your feedback.

    AUD's Union Democracy Benchmarks (updated 8/12/02)

FAQ Legal Rights

  • Getting an audit of the union finances

    A: The LMRDA (Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act) does not specifically require audits, so you have to do more work.

  • Thrown out of the meeting and brought up on charges.

    A: If this is an attack on dissidents because of their internal political activities, you should definitely defend them. In doing so you are also standing up for the free speech rights of all your fellow members.

  • Voting rules: do I have to vote for all three?

    A: Incumbents have long used this trick to retain power. To take your example, say there is an election for three trustees. The ballot lists ten candidates. Say one of them is a reformer and the rest are buddies of the Business Manager. The top three vote-getters will be elected. The ballot requires you to vote for three positions, even if you only support one of the people running. If you don't vote for all three, your ballot is voided. If you vote for three, the votes you cast for the two people you don't want, may end up helping them beat your candidate.

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