Friends, please post and circulate. Thanks, Matt Noyes

1. New Articles from Union Democracy Review: Surrendering to the Internet: democrats in spite of themselves?; AUD advisor says AFL-CIO no beacon of Labor Press freedom; Democracy in AFSCME DC37 in NYC.

2. Articles on Canadian Labor: Does Canada need an LMRDA?; Steelworkers learning facts of democracy, but slowly

3. New on Benson's Blog: New House cuts back on union democracy; A la Nixon, Jimmy Hoffa et al. go to China

4. New Links: Actors, Flight Attendants, Truck Drivers,  Rail Workers, UNITE HERE, Autoworkers and more.
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1. New Articles:

Surrendering to the internet: Democrats in spite of themselves?
By Matt Noyes and Herman Benson

The independent internet, uncontrolled, poses an outside democratic challenge to any union establishment. If to mitigate that challenge, they establish their own forum where members can speak freely, they must accept the dangers of internal union democracy. We find them confronting that dilemma in the experiences of several of our most important unions...

AUD Advisor says AFL-CIO No Beacon of Labor Press Freedom.

"The AFL-CIO should get its own house in order before it bestows human rights awards for journalism ethics on others."


Democracy in AFSCME DC37 in NYC (two articles and a letter to the editor)

An opposition group has collected over 2,000 signatures on petitions calling for mail ballot elections in Local 372, an affiliate of AFSCME DC 37. Fewer than 600 local members voted in the last election of union officers, a trivial number even by the most lenient union standards -- the local has 27,000 members... Meanwhile, to encourage membership involvement in union affairs, the DC 37 Retirees Association changed its method of electing officers from in-person voting at the union hall to mail balloting. The response was more than spectacular; it was an encouraging lesson to those who want to cultivate democracy in the whole 120,000-member DC 37...

2. Articles on Canadian Labor: We've been making an effort to beef up our coverage of union democracy activism in Canada -- see the two articles below. Thanks to the Canadian unionists and scholars who have been helping us. So far, our coverage is only in English, but... Attention, les francophones! Voulez vous lire des articles de AUD en francais? Nous aimerions bien vous les presenter, mais il nous faudra des ressources humaines, ou financieres, ou les deux. Si vous pouvez nous aider en cet effort, contactez AUD a info@....


In Canada: Steelworkers learning facts of democracy....but slowly.

At the United Steelworkers, they now recognize that the law protects certain basic union democracy rights: You can't victimize outspoken members on charges of slander...but the news has not percolated down below, not even to a high-placed international appointee. In the locals, members are still suspended, even expelled, on trumped-up charges of slander. Take, for instance, the case of Mike Williams, a member of Canadian Local 16506 in Hamilton, Ontario...


Does Canadian labor need an LMRDA?

In IBEW Local 353 (Toronto, Ontario), members have been enmeshed in a string of disciplinary hearings and appeals arising from their opposition to the local's leadership...If they were members of a local in the United States, the LMRDA would protect their democratic rights. When they learned that the U.S. law did not apply to Canadian locals, some of them proposed that their local lobby for a similar Canadian law...Response came in a lengthy "discussion paper" with a lofty title --- "Soaring Backwards into the Future" --- which denounced their idea...

3. New on Benson's Union Democracy Blog:

New House cuts back on union democracy
A discussion piece by AUD Director Judith Schneider

"Now that Democrats are in control, civil libertarians and workers' rights advocates might expect Congress to strengthen union democracy, that is, the rights of members inside unions. It seems they are doomed to disappointment. Republicans and Democrats may alternate in control; the need to defend union democracy remains. The House recently voted to reduce the budget of only one division of the U.S. Department of Labor, its Office of Labor-Management Standards [OLMS,] by $2.1 million. Most Democrats voted for the reduction, and not because they are in an economy budget-cutting mood. Actually, they voted for an increase in the overall DOL budget by almost a billion dollars to $46.7 billion. Why single out the OLMS?"

A la Nixon: Jimmy Hoffa et al. go to China.
By Herman Benson

When The New York Times interviewed Jimmy Hoffa, Jr. in Shanghai, it reported that, along with other American union leaders, he had come to meet with Chinese union leaders and dine with Communist Party officials...It is curious. What were they doing in China, intermingling with figures and forces so powerful in our global economy?...

4. New Links: SAG Actor Bulletin Board; Flight Attendants.org; Coordinadora Sindical (Puerto Rico); Longwood Driver Website; RJ Defense Coalition; GM Gypsy; Chicago Postal Worker; UNITE HERE San Diego Members for Union Democracy; TruckNet Drivers Roundtable; Yard Limits; La Lubu; Brother Joe Hughes; Freedom Rail Forum; Dwayne's Unofficial Local 150 Page; Union Members Rights (UAW); Oracle Social Club (IBEW); Members for Change ATU 757. See our rank-and-file links.