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How to Start a Revolution
Submitted by Joshua Gaston on Tue, 04/17/2012 - 19:51
This letter was sent to us from a reformer battling for democracy in IUOE Local 501 - currently reaching out to other IUOE locals across the country.
The Man In Black
501maninblack@gmail.com
Union men and women around the country, lend me your ears! There's something wrong with our Unions, you know it, and I know it! You see the newspapers where some Union Big Wig got arrested, or how some state is trying to get rid of Union Laws and somehow we miss the connection. Those Labor Bosses who get arrested give ALL of us a black eye! And so, the vast majority of folks out there have the concept that "UNIONS ARE CORRUPT"! 99% of Union Members who go to work every day, who pay our taxes, who are good, upstanding Citizens get painted with the same brush, "UNIONS ARE CORRUPT!" And when some corporate shlock buys off a politician to propose a "Right To Work" Amendment, the American Voter just sees a chance to get rid of corrupt Unions.
Well, shame on all of us.
You know what I'm talking about! We are afraid to stand up against the "Good Ol' Boys" that are running our Unions for fear of being "black-balled". We let them intimidate us, spend our dues money on "conferences" and "charity golf outings," and we sit silent. Shame Brothers and Sisters, shame.
Now, let me tell you a story... Out on the west coast is where my home local sits: The Operating Engineers Local 501 in Los Angeles. About two and half years ago, some shenanigans went on and the International decided it would step in, fire our elected leadership, put in a new puppet regime and force feed all of this to the Union Members who pay the bills! Well, a few of us old timers got together and decided ENOUGH! So, I was born: The Man In Black! I don't know if you all remember the old Johnny Cash song, but he said that as long as someone suffered he would be the Man in Black, and well, we stole the idea! And what were we going to do exactly? Well, we were going to do what the American people have done since coming to the continent, we were going to TALK! The problem is, that our International Union had filed a federal lawsuit against websites! Yes, it was the International Union of Operating Engineers who stripped away its own members First Amendment Rights to Free Speech and now, when you want to sign into an Operating Engineer website you have to have your Member ID and sign in! So we knew we didn't want a website! Then one day it dawned on me: I have a HUGE e-mail list! I'll send out an e-mail to my friends and we'll have a conversation!
So, some two and a half years ago the first 501maninblack@gmail.com e-mail was sent out to 53 recipients. We talked about Union issues, why what the International was doing was wrong...and we asked to have our friends send in their e-mail address list. So far, e-mails are still considered "personal communications" and although the International would LOVE to silence The Man In Black, they can't! Now it takes two or three days to send out an e-mail! All across the country Operating Engineers are signing up for the Man in Black e-mails and we continue to grow each day! We talk about what is wrong with our Union, and what we, THE MEMBERSHIP can do to fix it! Sadly, we have to remain anonymous because the retribution would be terrible, but having a conversation is important! In days gone by, the Union Meetings were the forum for these discussions, but as most Union Members will attest to, now we are afraid of being branded a "troublemaker" and we sit silent in the Halls we built! I don't know where it will lead. I am hopeful that eventually every Union Member in the country will join the list, and although that may be wishful thinking, I believe in the Union ideals I was raised under, I believe in the MEMBERS!
Union Members from coast to coast have grown lazy and complacent. We let our Halls fill up with cronies, and crooks. I know there are good leaders out there; we used to have one at our Union Hall, but for the most part what I see is Union "Leadership" who has led us to the smallest Union Membership in our nation's history. I have seen the members painted with the same "corrupt" brush that these "Leaders" get painted with, and I don't know about you, but most of the Union folks I know are hard working, dedicated people...who deserve better! Our American Forefathers started a revolution that gave us the United States of America, and they started that revolution by getting together and talking about what was wrong. Maybe it's time for the American Union Member to start talking too!
Who knows? In this crazy world we live in, where 99% of us feel detached, maybe a conversation with a Brother or Sister will be a welcomed addition to our hectic lives. I know this: If we, the UNION MEMBERS don't do something the "Leaders" of our Unions will have all of us working in "Right to Work" states, and the American Labor Movement will be a dead end chapter in the great American history books. Working men and women built this country, we can build a better labor movement, but we have to try. Let's start with a conversation! If you'd like to be added to the Man in Black e-mail list, drop me a line at: 501maninblack@gmail.com, I'll be talking until something starts to change. Until we make a move to make a few things right, you'll never see me wear a coat of white!
See you in the trenches,
I am the Man In Black,
Johnny
Union(s)
Rank-and-file group, reform group, slate or campaign
IAM and NUHW to Affiliate?
Submitted by Joshua Gaston on Tue, 04/17/2012 - 19:34
On February 21, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) and the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW) announced that they had signed a letter of intent to pursue a potential affiliation. The joint statement released by IAM and the NUHW cites the fact that both organizations' place a "high value on member democracy," protecting contract standards and organizing unorganized workers as reasons for forming a formal relationship.
The NUHW formed three years ago as an independent, break-away union from the SEIU. In late January 2009 the SEIU, then under the leadership of President Andy Stern, placed the 150,000-member local United Healthcare Workers-West (UHW-W) under trusteeship, ousting the elected officers and seizing control of the treasury. The take-over came in response to, among other things, the conflict between UHW-W's long-standing organizing model with the SEIU's planned reconfiguration of the local along a more geographically sprawling and top-down model, which Stern had been pursuing nation-wide. (For more on the SEIU UHW-W/NUHW conflict, see UDR issues #181, #187, #193)
Over the previous 10 to 15 years, the UHW-W had followed a strategy of actively organizing unorganized workers, and had shifted the local away from a structure of top-down service provided to members by union staff, to a structure which relied more heavily on the role of elected worksite stewards.
IAM was formed in 1888, by 19 machinists from Atlanta. Today the organization boasts a membership of around 720,000 members and is a member of the AFL-CIO. It is also one of the few unions which provides for the election of its international officers by direct membership vote.
Presently, the NUHW is engaged in an ongoing effort to represent workers at Kaiser Permanente run hospitals and other managed healthcare facilities, currently represented by SEIU UHW-W. While the NUHW was defeated there in 2010, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has thrown out the results of the election, as Judge Lana Parke found that the SEIU had "interfered with unit employee's free and uncoerced choice in the election."
With a new election at Kaiser due to take place this year, and the 9,000 member NUHW looking to represent these 43,000 workers at Kaiser, the resources which the 720,000 member IAM can lend to NUHW's campaign is an obvious short-term incentive for the partnership.
However, with the high value that both unions place on union democracy cited as a reason for their potential affiliation, the practice of union democracy shouldn't be overshadowed by how much it is said to be prized.
While IAM's constitution does indeed allow for the direct election of its international officers by the membership, as is mentioned in the IAM/NUHW joint statement, in practice any new candidate who might want to run must receive the nomination of not just there own, but at least 25 locals to appear on the ballot. In 2009, IAM's election committee declared all incumbent candidates automatically reelected without the members casting ballots at all, as all the incumbents were unchallenged.
More importantly perhaps, are the events that transpired between 2007 and 2008 concerning IAM local S6 in Bath, Maine.
Mike Keenan was first elected president of Local S6 in 2001, and reelected every three years through 2008. Under Keenan's leadership, Local S6 refused to contribute to the international's Machinists Non Partisan League Educational Fund, which covers the administrative costs of the union's political action committee. In accordance with Local S6 bylaws, the expense was each time put to a membership vote. Each time, the members choose not to authorize the use of their dues monies for this purpose, and Keenan diligently respected his members vote and did not contribute to the fund.
In 2007, IAM supported the opposing slate against Keenan's reelection. When Keenan won, the international ruled the election invalid, and conducted a new election in February 12, 2008. Keenan and his slate won this new election by an even wider margin. On March 17, 2008, IAM placed Local S6 under trusteeship, removing Keenan and his slate from office. (See UDR #173 & #176.)
Union(s)
NYC Carpenters Save Hiring Hall
Submitted by Joshua Gaston on Tue, 04/17/2012 - 18:47
On March 27, New York carpenters voted down several contracts with proposed work-rule changes that would have effectively eliminated the union hiring hall.
Frank Spencer, the trustee appointed by the International following the removal of former Executive Secretary-Treasurer Michael Forde for racketeering, negotiated a number of contracts for the New York City District Council of Carpenters' (NYCDC) with oddly named "full-mobility" provisions promoted by contractors. So-called "full-mobility" provisions grant contractors the ability to hand-pick individuals whom they favor, without relying on referrals from the hiring hall. This leaves workers more vulnerable to being frozen out of work if they report safety and labor law violations, or employer failure to comply with the contract.
Currently, contractors are already able to select two-thirds of the individuals on a job and are only required to use hiring hall referrals for the remainder.
Yet at the same time that contractors were going after the hiring hall, a brand-new union was attempting a raid on the NY/NJ docks.
Dockbuilders from local 1456 in New York, Long Island, and New Jersey have been voicing their dissatisfaction with the recent merger of their local with Timbermens local 1536, into the newly created local 1556. The Amalgamated Carpenters, a new affiliate of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, recently approached these dockworkers to change their affiliation.
The Amalgamated Carpenters, who were only established last summer, are currently headed by attorney Angelo R. Bisceglie Jr., who is listed as both the union's President and legal counsel. As reported by the NYTimes on March 7, Mr. Bisceglie once served as labor counsel for Thomas Petrizzo, a New Jersey businessman described by the Federal Bureau of Investigation as a member of the Colombo crime family.
More recently, as reported by Real Estate Weekly, Bisceglie represented John Holt when Federal Monitor Walsh removed him from his post in the NYCDC for allegedly violating job referral rules; Eric Gunderson, when, according to the NYCDC, he was arrested for an attack against a retired police officer; and John Harkin, after he was forced to resign following a Walsh investigation into unauthorized union expenditures.
Bisceglie describes his relationship with Petrizzo as beginning and ending a decade ago, with arbitration in Federal Court over a couple million dollars; describes the charges against Holt and Gunderson as honest mix-ups, and the charges against Harkin as "total bull***." Furthermore, he states that, "Contrary to what the District Council is spinning out there, we are not a mobbed-up union at all. They have me labeled as this mob attorney, which is total crap, and I want to set the record straight."
The position of newly elected NYCDC Executive Secretary Treasurer Michael Bilello however, is clearly contrary to this. "Corruption and the mob won't be tolerated. You can't just change your name and set up shop across the street and get out from the federal oversight," Bilello said. "These are people who were players in this organization who were removed or vetoed from their positions or resigned based on findings of corruption on their part."
Presently, the Amalgamated Carpenters appear to have been defeated in a recent National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) vote. According to a preliminary vote count released by the NLRB on March 29, with 1061 dockworkers eligible to vote, 819 votes were cast, with 361 in favor of remaining with the NYCDC, 186 to affiliate with the Amalgamated Carpenters, 7 votes for no union at all, and 265 challenged ballots which have yet to be counted. (An additional 46 ballots were void.)
A statement released by EST Bilello praised the dockworkers for refusing "to be misled by false promises of those that have proven in the past that they cannot be trusted." He goes on to state that while the fight is not over, "with this vote our members have delivered a tremendous blow to the criminal elements that are seeking to obstruct our progress forward."
But of course the NLRB vote was not the only important issue being voted on by New York carpenters.
Votes on the proposed contracts which would eliminate the hiring hall were recently counted as well. They revealed that members rejected all but one of the negotiated contracts. Scaffold carpenters alone approved their contract with the Hoisting Trade Association. The contract passed by a margin of 74-29; however this contract only affects members of their specific craft.
The proposed contracts with the Building Contractors Association, the Cement League and the Wall, Ceiling and Carpet Industries were all defeated by approximately 1,600 to 800. The proposed contract with the Greater New York Floor Coverers Association was voted down 123-94.
EST Bilello, while not campaigning as actively against "full mobility" as he had during his bid for office, did declare in a March 13 membership meeting that, "I couldn't in good conscience do an about face and change my stance on that [full mobility] because … it's not something I was in favor of, and so I voted against it."
The expired contracts will continue to remain in effect until June 30, 2012. This leaves EST Bilello three months to negotiate new contracts, that won't leave Carpenters feeling like they've agreed to give away what some might consider the union's primary function: getting its members good work, for a fair wage.
Union(s)
NYC Carpenters rat ruling regime
Submitted by mnadmin on Sat, 10/22/2011 - 00:58
The giant, snarling, inflatable rat has been widely employed by unions in labor disputes with employers and non-union contractors in recent years, but on the lower west side of Manhattan this past August, the iconic species of rodent bared its teeth at an unusual target: The headquarters of the New York City District Council of Carpenters (NYCDC).
Rank-and-file group, reform group, slate or campaign
AUD theme(s)
RAILWAY LABOR ACT HISTORY LESSON: Why Can't The Wash. Post Get Its Labor History Right?
Submitted by mnadmin on Fri, 10/21/2011 - 19:54
Paul Alan Levy, esq. is an AUD Director and an attorney for Public Citizen. This article is reproduced with permission from Paul Levy's blog http://paulalanlevy.blogspot.com.
In a story published in the Washington Post last Friday [July 21st], three paragraphs about a side issue contain a remarkable number of errors that regrettably are all biased in one direction.
AUD theme(s)
Letter to the editor: You Have Given Me Strength And Courage
Submitted by mnadmin on Fri, 10/21/2011 - 19:43
The following is an excerpt from a letter by a longtime leader of union operating engineers in California. Printed with permission.
AUD theme(s)
Legal Decisions: ALPA v. TSA
Submitted by mnadmin on Fri, 10/21/2011 - 19:38
Section 503(a) of the LMRDA prohibits unions covered by its provisions from making loans to union officers in excess of $2,000. In Airline Pilots Association, International (ALPA) v. Trans States Airlines (TSA), a case decided by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in May of this year, the court ruled that the union's advance of lost pay to a pilot and union officer, fired by TSA for union activity, did not violate the LMRDA prohibition on loans to officers.
AUD theme(s)
AUD Testifies at House Hearing on Union Democracy -- House Committee reviewing DOL’s Decision to Abandon New T-1 form
Submitted by mnadmin on Fri, 10/21/2011 - 03:45
Court Blocks Department Of Labor From Invalidating Election
Submitted by mnadmin on Fri, 10/21/2011 - 03:30
In the recently decided case of Solis v. Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 1005, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit upheld the fairness of an election in which the union did not explicitly notify members of a change in the eligibility requirement for election to union office. This change consisted of the dropping of a previously held meeting attendance requirement.
AUD theme(s)
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