As 2025 comes to a close (and the new year approaches), the Association for Union Democracy is looking to expand its horizons, investing its resources in new strategies to foster a democratic, member-responsive labor movement. All the while, AUD will perform the duties it has done heretofore but with a new vigor and sweeping vision for the future.
In the last year, AUD has made a real start on these ambitions, embarking on several new ventures focusing on outreach to rank-and-file unionists, building bridges with several union reform caucuses, reviving our education program by revamping older materials and publishing new ones, and expanding our attorney network through more outreach to attorneys and law students.
– On November 5th, AUD hosted a Free Speech Workshop via Zoom with workers from a plethora of different unions. AUD Board members Cathy Highet and Michael Goldberg presented essential information about the LMRDA’s free speech provisions and their practical applications on the shopfloor that every union member (reformist or not, officer or rank and file) should know. AUD will continue to host such workshops on a regular basis, each on a particular area of union democracy law.
– Apropos of these new workshops, AUD is doing further outreach with an expanding library of educational materials, including a new Title I Flyer and a handbook on Running for Union Delegate. More educational materials will follow!
– AUD has begun to develop a network of law student volunteers from around the country to participate in supervised research on the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA) and updates to the law. We are excited to announce some of our findings next year! With this work, we are continuing to grow our network of attorneys who are interested in supporting the fight for union democracy.
– While launching these new initiatives, AUD continues its mission of counseling union reformers across the country. AUD has advised rank and file members seeking to exercise their democratic rights as union members in the Communication Workers of America, the United Electrical Workers, the American Radio Association, the International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees, the American Federation of Government Employees, and many more.
We hope you will give to AUD as always, but perhaps increase your contribution to help us fund these exciting new projects. Your contributions can help offset expenses incurred as we vault into the future while maintaining the strategies that have served us so well in the past. We hope, as AUD supporters, you value this effort and will be even more generous. Your support keeps AUD going year after year. Without you, we wouldn’t still be here. So please, give what you can. The next generation of union reformers are counting on all of us.
