As many of you may know by now, the Association for Union Democracy has officially moved. We and our neighbors lost our lease on Montgomery Street and have decamped to 55 Washington Street in a vivacious neighborhood in Brooklyn by the East River. The act of moving offices has given our staff and many volunteer helpers the unique opportunity to take stock of AUD’s role in the cause of union democracy in the context of today’s (more active) labor movement. In the words of a longtime AUD ally, “AUD does not promote some sort of return to a utopian small scale version of unionisms and union democracy. Our point is that large centralized structures, although they may be necessary, are dangerous unless accompanied by measures that provide accountability to the members.”
In the course of our move, AUD staff (newcomers and old stalwarts, alike) have been parsing our old files, literature, artwork, etc. and have been reminded of the important work this organization has done for decades providing aid to the “lonely union reformer” (a favorite phrase of our founder Herman Benson). Since its founding in 1969 the Association has apprised tens of thousands of workers of their democratic rights as union members and reached many more through our publication of literature expounding the importance of the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act in enumerating those rights.
In spite of the enormous burdens placed upon AUD as an organization and our staff in the past year, we have continued this work as best we can. The move has also given AUD an opportunity to consider the future. Certainly the Association will continue to field inquiries from unionist petitioners, cover union democracy stories in our publication Union Democracy Review, and maintain our website plus our library/store of union democracy literature. But, with your help, we also plan to provide more and better services with a reinforced and expanded reference pool of attorneys and volunteers, and we do have a need for more office workstation equipment so that more of us can participate in the mission. The important work we have done and will continue to do in the face of such a disruptive change is due to the contributions of allies like you. At this time, while we are still paying the costs incurred in the move and preparing for enhancements to our response capabilities, we ask that you please make a generous contribution to AUD. Together, let’s make the Labor Movement more democratic, transparent, and responsive to the will of its rank and file membership. Thank you.
