AUD and our message of union democracy are more relevant today than ever. Within the last year, a broad discussion on the future of the labor movement and the role of union democracy (there has been nothing like it for decades) has erupted out of the labor movement itself. With more than 40 years of campaigning for democratic rights, with our board members who are experts in union democracy, with our Union Democracy Review, with our website, with guidance we provide for hundreds of unionists each year, AUD can contribute to that discussion as no others can. But we need your help.

From the May-June Union Democracy Review. Thomas Buffenbarger, Machinists international president, dispatched his deputy to Bath, Maine on March 17 to change the locks on the hall of Local S6, then put the local under trusteeship, ousted the local officers, and took over negotiating a new contract. It was the culminating act in a long campaign to try to get this independent local under control. Routine. At worst, Buffenbarger might have anticipated the usual ineffective protest; but he could not have expected what followed: continued mass protest picket lines, an unfavorable local press, and powerful resistance in federal court...

From the May-June Union Democracy Review. The convention is old news, but this detailed analysis of the issues and players should continue to be useful as the struggles within SEIU evolve.

• Was the threat of a trusteeship of UHW-West real? What impact did open letters from labor intellectuals and student labor support groups have?
• Facing the imminent threat of a trusteeship, the UHW-W deposited $3,000,000 into a separate non-profit, tax-exempt fund [IRS code 501(c)(3)] independent of the regular local treasury but administered by local officers. What was that fund about? Why is the SEIU International pursuing legal claims against it?
• What were the rival platforms at the convention?
• What are the implications of the passage of the International's program?
• What are the implications for union democracy in SEIU?

From the May-June Union Democracy Review.More than ten years ago, Cathy Hackett and Jim Hard were elected the top leaders of SEIU Local 1000. One of the early supporters of their democratic reform movement was Alex Hernandez. Since then, relations have changed drastically. In elections for the local's 61 delegates to the SEIU convention, an opposition group, led by Hernandez, contested 49 slots and won 33, a clear majority....Hackett and Hard are strong supporters of Andy Stern, SEIU president; Hernandez backs the opposition platform of Sal Rosselli's United Healthcare Workers-West...

From the May-June Union Democracy Review. In each issue of Union Democracy Review we publish "shorts" -- stories that are too short for a feature, but too important to leave out. We put this issue's shorts online to give you a sample: Photocopying hiring hall records; "Harbor Herald" reformers win in ILA 333; Peace pipe for Nurses and SEIU?; Trouble in Philadelphia IBEW Local 98; and in Operating Engineers Local 825, Newark; Administration spies on challengers in Machinists District Lodge 751.

By Herman Benson An angry battle in Ohio between the Service Employees [SEIU] and the California Nurses Association [CNA] calls attention to a proposed new regulation by the National Labor Relations Board that would make it easy for consenting employers to accept, or even welcome, unionization without disturbing their workers with a hostile, confrontational campaign....No drawn-out battle, no hard feelings provoked, no enthusiasms inspired. ...In these parlous times, when unions fight to hold their own, when the need to organize the unorganized is so urgent, the new NLRB system seems like a union leader’s dream. Could anything be wrong?

Registered nurses at Norton Audubon Hospital in Louisville, Ky., may be a step closer to a long awaited fair election for a voice at work after the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a 13-point complaint against the hospital. The nurses are fighting to win a union voice with the Nurses Professional Organization, California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee (NPO, CNA/NNOC).

Smithfield workers at the company's shareholder meeting last year march for better working conditions. We've noted here how sleaze propagandist Richard Berman has set up deep-pocket front groups to assail candidates for their support of the Employee Free Choice Act, which would ensure the freedom of workers to form unions without employer harassment. But now a series of new documents describing his business dealings and motives have been obtained from the federal court system's public docket by the workers’ advocacy group American Rights at Work. These documents, submitted by Smithfield Foods in two recent court filings, depict Berman as an integral part of that company’s anti-union efforts. The discovery of the link to Smithfield is important because Berman often has been able to conceal the identity of his clients while he conducts anti-worker campaigns on their behalf. The documents released by American Rights at Work expose one of those clients as Smithfield, a pork processor with a well-documented history of subverting its workers’ freedom to form unions.

Last week, a confluence of events reminded the U.S. public that it's not just the food we eat that's increasingly dangerous in our daily lives—inadequate safety on the job still is killing America's working people. The week ended with two more deaths from construction cranes, this time in Illinois. These fatalities came within days of four deaths due to a crane collapse in Houston—and raises to 18 the number of workers who died from crane-related deaths so far this year, according to an estimate by The Wall Street Journal, which doesn't include bystander deaths.

On an AFL-CIO Solidarity Center-sponsored exchange visit, Florida AFL-CIO Vice President Mike Williams learned about Colombian workers’ constant struggle for social and economic justice—and why U.S workers need to hear their story. In July 2008, as part of a Solidarity Center exchange program, a six-member labor delegation made a weeklong visit to workers and labor leaders in Colombia. The purpose of the trip was to build a greater understanding of the struggles and challenges that Colombian workers face in their daily lives. The nation has a history of human rights violations, violence and intimidation against worker activists.

Wal-Mart and all its $13 billion in 2007 profits are quaking. The retail monolith is scared that Democrats will be elected to office this fall—and might pass legislation that would level the playing field for workers seeking to join unions. The Wall Street Journal reports on Wal-Mart's corporate tremors today, noting that in recent weeks, thousands of Wal-Mart store managers and department heads have been summoned to mandatory meetings at which the retailer stresses the downside for workers if stores were to be unionized.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) decided state workers should bear the brunt of the pain caused by his inability to work with the state legislature to adopt a budget. He signed an executive order yesterday that cuts the pay of 200,000 state workers to the federal minimum wage of $6.65 an hour. On top of that, the order lays off 22,000 part-time and temporary workers.

More than 2,000 supporters sent photos of themselves to make up this mosaic of Lovemore Motombo and Wellington Chibebe. At the WeAreZCTU website, the photos of more than 2,000 union members are crying out for freedom for Zimbabwe and the people of that suffering nation. Workers around the world sent the photos to create a mosaic of Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) leaders Lovemore Motombo and Wellington Chibebe. In May, the Zimbabwean government arrested and released on bail Chibebe and Motombo, the secretary general and president, respectively, of the ZCTU. They are charged with “inciting the public to rise against the government and communicating falsehoods” in the midst of that country’s runoff presidential election.

Around the country, seniors are getting the message out about Sen. John McCain and his policies on retirement programs like Social Security and Medicare. Over the past week, as the nation marked Medicare’s 43rd anniversary, retirees have sent a strong message to McCain: Don’t destroy these vital programs. Led by the Alliance for Retired Americans, activists have rallied in key states around the country to make sure that protecting Social Security and Medicare is on the agenda for this fall’s election.  

The Paycheck Fairness Act (H.R. 1338) won House approval (247–178) last night. The bill to help close the wage gap between women's and men's pay was first introduced 11 years ago but was bottled up by the Republican majority for a decade. If the Paycheck Fairness Act makes it to President Bush's desk, he will continue Republican opposition to strong fair pay laws by vetoing the bill, according to a White House statement.

The unemployment rate is the worst in four years, according to today's jobs figures from the U.S. Department of Labor, which showed payrolls fell by 51,000 in July, the seventh straight month the nation's jobs have declined. The new figures mean the unemployment rate worsened from 5.5 percent to 5.7 percent. Bloomberg puts it this way: The last time the unemployment rate climbed so much in four months was in 2001, when the U.S. was last in a recession. Job losses have combined with decreasing property values, stricter lending rules and near-record energy prices to send consumer confidence levels close to the weakest in 16 years in July.

The deadly I-35W bridge collapse in Minnesota focused the nation’s attention on crumbling infrastructure. One year ago today, the I-35W bridge spanning the Mississippi River at Minneapolis collapsed, killing 13 people. The bridge's deadly failure brought calls for immediate inspection and repairs of bridges around the country and focused the public's attention on the nation's crumbling infrastructure. But a year later, hardly any of the talk has become action. In fact, President Bush says he will veto legislation (H.R. 3999) passed by the U.S. House in July that provides $1 billion to inspect and repair bridges.

With fewer than a hundred days to go before the election, union members are taking action around the country, including Ohio and New Hampshire, to demand those running for public office provide real solutions to address the economy, health care and more. Around Ohio, union members and members of Working America, the AFL-CIO community affiliate, focused on health care and taxes as they confronted Sen. John McCain and President Bush, who were both visiting the critical swing state in recent days. Working America and unions led protests around the crucial issue of health care across the state. McCain’s health care proposal could be catastrophic for our already-shaky health care system. His plan would raise taxes on workers and could lead millions to get pushed out of their existing plans. Union and Working America members let McCain and members of Congress know that they want a health care policy that provides affordable, high-quality health care to everyone.

Sen. Barack Obama took part in a nationwide conference call with union members this afternoon, and he’s ready to work with the union movement to win this fall and turn around America. More than 2,500 union leaders, activists and members across the country got a chance to hear Obama talk about the challenges facing the country, and the values and principles that inspire his campaign. Everywhere I go I hear the same story. Wages are falling, good jobs are disappearing, families are losing their homes and prices on everything from fuel to food are going up and up. Obama reflected on his experience as a church-based community organizer, working in neighborhoods crippled by closing steel mills. Working with unions, churches, and local government, he fought for job training programs to help turn those neighborhoods around. That’s the fight he wants to continue in the White House.  

Once again, Exxon Mobil made U.S. corporate profit history, pulling in $11.68 billion in second quarter income, the highest quarterly profit rate of any U.S. company in history. It must be gratifying for Sen. John McCain to know that his sudden flip-flop to support Big Oil's long-held dream of offshore drilling is tapping into some of the deepest pockets on the planet. Because right after he reversed his long-standing opposition to oil drilling, he hit a gusher of campaign funds from the oil and gas industry, according to The Washington Post: Oil and gas industry executives and employees donated $1.1 million to McCain last month—three-quarters of which came after his June 16 speech calling for an end to the ban—compared with $116,000 in March, $283,000 in April and $208,000 in May.