Friends, please post and circulate. Thanks, Matt Noyes

1. Articles from Union Democracy Review: Internet, Carpenters,
Musicians and more.
2. New Audio: Herman Benson interview on corruption in the NYC Central
Labor Council.
3. New Links: UFCW, IATSE, AFT, UAW.
4. Federal Employee Union Members – enforce your rights and help AUD.

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1. Articles from Union Democracy Review:

Round 2 in the internet battle in AFSCME DC37
On September 12th, the AFSCME Judicial Panel issued its decision in a
case involving rank-and-file use of the internet. Cody Childs,
secretary of AFSCME Local 2627, was the only member of his opposition
slate to win … several months later, the local executive board
demanded that he reimburse the local for $2,400 in lawyer's fees that
it claimed were incurred because of his website use around the time of
the election…

On the eve of elections in Musicians Local 802
AUD has been running comments on some of the events in Musicians Local
802 to illustrate how sharp differences of views are sometimes
expressed in a democratic union. The letter, printed below, is the
latest and last before members vote on December 5 for local officers…

Blocking Carpenters move for more bureaucratic power
…After a complaint by Jeff Fearon of Chicago Local 58 and other
members, the U.S. Department of Labor rejected an effort by the union
to make its council structure even more rigid and even less subject to
challenge from the membership. …The key issue in dispute is a
provision in the council's bylaws which requires all aspiring
candidates to have previously served as council delegates for three
successive years to be eligible to run for regional office…

In Detroit: Carpenters corruption is centralized and efficient
International President Douglas McCarron has argued that a
super-centralized system is imperative to end petty corruption in the
union and to make the union more effective in meeting the great
challenges of our epoch…In one odd, limited but not unanticipated way,
McCarron was right...

Hiring Hall Procedures in the Construction Trades
Because so many AUDers confront the hiring hall problem, we are
calling to your attention a Chicago case in which a federal court
Special Master imposed hiring hall requirements on a Pipefitters local
and employers…

Railroad workers on the right track for unity
"We need a union that is built upon democratic control by its members,
not simply one built by amalgamating the respective top-heavy
leadership and bureaucracies of the existing organizations. We need
constitutional provisions that include…direct election of officers at
all levels…the right to recall officers; salary and expenditure
limits; and guarantees of protection for minority and dissenting views."

Federal employees can help enforce members' right to know.
In response to a petition submitted by Arthur Fox for the Association
for Union Democracy, the U. S. Labor Department issued a new
regulation requiring unions to notify members of their rights inside
their unions… A fine regulation, but will it be enforced? Your
initiative as a federal unionist can be decisive in inducing prompt
enforcement. Here's how…

Read more at http://www.uniondemocracy.org/UDR/UDRhome.htm

2. NEW AUDIO -- Interview with AUD's Herman Benson on corruption in
the NYC Central Labor Council.
In an interview broadcast on Building Bridges, Herman Benson discusses
the charges against CLC President Brian McLaughlin, and issues a
challenge to the Council's leaders: if you are serious about fighting
union corruption, why not conduct hearings into two prominent cases of
union corruption? http://www.radio4all.net/proginfo.php?id=20496

3. New links: UFCW Reform (see the "UFCW Open Source Manifesto");
Broadway Local 1 (IATSE); Teachers Unite; UAW Rank-N-File E-mail &
Discussion Lists. Find these and other links at
http://www.uniondemocracy.org/AUDLinks/RNFLinks.htm

4. Federal Employee Union members: It's now time for federal unionists
to select the organization(s) that they would like to donate a portion
of their paycheck to in the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC). If this
includes you, of course, you should absolutely check off the
Association for Union Democracy, CFC Code 2205. Why AUD? We just won a
major victory for federal employees, as the Dept of Labor has
published a new rule requiring federal to inform their members of
their democratic rights. Continue to support us and we'll be able to
continue our battle to make all unions more democratic and therefore,
stronger.
http://www.uniondemocracy.org/Home/cfc.htm

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