The year 2022 ends with a flurry of activity in the labor movement, from organizing campaigns to possible strikes, and with a heightened interest overall in unions. The Gallup organization recently reported the results of its annual Work and Education Survey (August 2022): “Seventy-one percent of Americans now approve of labor unions. Although statistically similar to last year’s 68%, it is up from 64% before the pandemic and is the highest Gallup has recorded on this measure since 1965.” AUD is often the recipient of such renewed interest. For example, one of the organizers of Railroad Workers United, a group of rank and file craft unions in the railroad industry, tells us that many younger members are looking into running for union office, and he has sent them our way. But union members looking to be active continue to run into obstacles set up by their own union officials. On the west coast, a group of rank and file members are pushing back (with the help of a letter from AUD) on a proposed rule that requires them to sign a restrictive “confidentiality agreement” that would apply when discussing union matters, which could violate their free speech rights and their right to raise important issues in a union election campaign.
There are other obstacles. AUD found that, so far in 2022, once an election complaint is filed with the US Dept. of Labor (DoL) it takes an average of 347 days to get complainants a “statement of reasons” explaining why their election complaints were not acted upon. By then, the candidate may be considering whether to run in the next election. Yet they have no idea of why the violations they itemized were apparently ignored by DoL. This does not give confidence to potential candidates that there is a real recourse to challenge election results outside the union. Just as disturbing, AUD finds that in 2022, a when a court orders a union to agree to a DoL supervised rerun election, the order is granted on average 477 days after the initial election, thus, the perhaps wrongly declared “winners”are able to stay in office for that much longer. AUD is bringing these procedural delays to the attention of the DoL, and continue to push for faster resolution of such issues. DoL should be facilitating a fair and timely union election process, as envisioned by Congress in 1959 when it passed the LMRDA providing for the rights of union members to run for office.
AUD continues to defend the rights of union dissidents in court, and before the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). In April 2022 a Teamster dissident won an important victory when his attorney (an AUD Board member) successfully argued before the Third Circuit Court of Appeals that the NLRB erred in upholding his termination, remanding the case back to them. AUD authored several amicus briefs for the case, all of which supported and advocated for the rights of union dissidents in similar cases that come before the NLRB.
AUD is providing guidance to many unionists about the very opaque process of running for office, from the nominations, to the elections, and to the election protest. In the retail and department store union, we helped a candidate remove a roadblock barring him from seeking nomination to run for local President. In another case, a we advised two candidates on how to file a protest of a DoL rerun election. Another candidate informs us that he is relying on our publication How to Get an Honest Union Election while launching his first election campaign in the Machinists union.
So we ask you, the supporters of AUD, to come through again. The markets have battered our reserves, and we continue to operate on a shoestring budget. AUD accepts no donations from corporate sponsors, has few foundation grants; thus, virtually depends on the good will of our supporters to fund the staff, office, phones, and our publications (which are unique in the labor movement in their focus on union democracy-related stories and information). We ask you to generously contribute to AUD to make certain that it remains both an innovator and defender of what makes a union work for its members.
