[Imc] AFL-CIO censures political director for personally supporting Ralph Nader

[Sascha Meinrath]

A House Divided?  AFL-CIO censures political director for personally
supporting
Ralph Nader
by Sascha D. Meinrath -- Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center (IMC)
January 18, 2001 (Champaign, Illinois)

At 10:00 p.m. Wednesday evening, after five hours of deliberations, the
Executive Board of the Champaign County AFL-CIO, in response to a complaint
lodged by a fellow AFL-CIO member, decided to censure Dave Johnson, Political
Director and Vice President of the Champaign County AFL-CIO, for publicly
supporting the Green Party during the 2000 presidential election.  
"The Executive Board of the Champaign County AFL-CIO, by unanimous action has
found Brother Dave Johnson in violation of its constitution and bylaws.  It is
the decision of the Executive Board to censure Brother Johnson for engaging in
activities contrary to the best interest of the Central Labor Council."

Mr. Johnson, a member of Champaign Carpenters Local 44, reached at his home
for
comment, said that the 'activities contrary to the best interest of the
Central
Labor Council' he was found guilty of were "open to interpretation" and
that no
explicit guidelines existed to the best of his knowledge.

Over 50 concerned union and community members showed up to observe the trial
before the Executive Board.  However, the Board decided, in a meeting held
while people were waiting for the trial to start, to move the proceeding to a
closed-door session and not allow the general public or press to observe the
proceedings.  

Mike Klein, Illinois State Director of the AFL-CIO, made the announcement to
those gathered to observe the trial, "It's an internal matter; a private
matter.  Corporate America doesn't open its doors to anyone who wants to walk
in
The [AFL-CIO] Board is not compelled to open it up to everyone and they
chose not to."  Two AFL-CIO Illinois Central Labor Council Delegates were
allowed in as observers, Doug Baker, of the Carpenters Local 44, and a
Stagehand Union member, Jeff Reeder.  However, other delegates stated they
were
turned away because they "could not prove they were official delegates" and
because the room where the trial was held was already "over-full."  One
Carpenters Local 44 member described the entire process as a "kangaroo court."

Labor organizer Peter Miller summed up the trial as a question of "whether or
not [Mr. Johnson] was justified in making his statements in support of Ralph
Nader even though he's an elected representative of the Central Labor Body of
Champaign County."  

The overwhelming majority of public observers thought this was a clear case of
an individual's First Amendment right to political free speech.  Eric
Seizmore,
a witness called before the tribunal stated, "I felt I needed to support free
speech and let people know that [Mr. Johnson] made it abundantly clear that
the
AFL-CIO was not backing Nader and was not endorsing Nader, but that he
personally, as an individual choice, was deciding to support [Nader]."  The
Executive Board disagreed, concluding that Mr. Johnson had violated his
oath of
office as Vice President and Political Director of the Champaign AFL-CIO.  

Mike Griffin, a labor activist and Co-Director of the Warzone Education
Foundation, an organization whose mission is to fight for union democracy,
defended Mr. Johnson, stating, "Dave did absolutely nothing wrong.  These
charges have malicious intent.  And smacks of the old AFL-CIO business
unionism
to control the voice of its members."
 
The Champaign County Executive Board of the AFL-CIO and the charging party,
Mr.
Steve Brewer, the Business Agent for Plumbers Union 149 in Savoy, Illinois,
refused to comment on the proceedings.  Mr. Klein, however, agreed to be
interviewed.  Witnesses called before the tribunal described Mr. Klein as
"aggressive," "biased," and "bulldog-like."  Mr. Klein responded equivocally,
"Well, that's their opinion, they have a right to it, that's what democracy is
all about."  He stated that it was his official role and responsibility "to
see
that the hearing procedures were consistent with the [AFL-CIO] rules and the
constitution, keep decorum and fair play, [and] see that the hearing was
fairly
conducted, honestly conducted and that all sides were free to make a full and
aggressive defense of their positions."

Mr. Klein emphasized that the participants were not divided over free speech
rights, "There's no question here, everyone in the room agrees with the
individual's right to free speech, and to publicly dissent as an individual. 
The question becomes how much leeway do they give someone to carry out his or
her duties [as an AFL-CIO official]." 

Jude Redwood, Mr. Johnson's council during the trial, interpreted the
proceedings somewhat differently, "All of the witnesses and even the charging
party felt very strongly that they did have a right to personal opinions under
the First Amendment, yet these charges are exactly in opposition to the First
Amendment."  Mr. Johnson added that "the government does not have the right to
go into your bedroom and neither does the union."

Mr. Griffin was more questioning of the proceedings, "I think that union
democracy was on trial.  I think the First Amendment was on trial."

Ms. Redwood stated, "The charges against Mr. Johnson were that he spoke and
was
quoted in the newspaper as a union official, and that the things that he said
were against the official stance of the union politically."  She further
stated
that the oath of office Mr. Johnson was found guilty of violating is "to
support the views of his union in union business" and that Mr. Johnson "has
taken the oath and has upheld his oath."

Several witnesses stated that the proceedings often seemed to put Ralph Nader
on trial.  They complained that Mr. Klein spent time discussing Mr. Nader's
shortcomings and asking witnesses to defend him.  Mr. Johnson concurred and
questioned the relevance of the issue.

Mr. Griffin felt the purpose of the trial was to silence dissenting political
voice among rank and file union members.  "I think this trial was an exercise
in authority [the AFL-CIO doesn't] really have.  They feel like they've got to
have a pound of flesh is they're going to keep control of the political arena
and what their officers and members do and say.  This probably does not
represent the only case in America where someone is being hammered by top-down
control of the AFL-CIO for speaking out politically."

Mr. Griffin went on to say that Mr. Johnson has "received support from all
over
the world" and that thousands of people across this country have voiced their
support for his rights.  Mr. Griffin summed up his fear about the trial of Mr.
Johnson, "If they continue this course they will turn [the union] into nothing
more than a fascist organization that most of us would hate anyway."

However, Mr. Klein stated that censure was the least harmful decision the
Executive Board could have reached, "There was a strong will initially for
much
more severe actions
There was a strong will of the majority to remove him from
his office, period; to expel him from the Central Labor Council -- from the
Executive Board and as an officer."

Mr. Klein summed up the debate, "You get in conflicts at times about this
principle of free speech which you can argue is a constitutional thing on the
one hand [or] an oath of office that requires one to carry out [ones
duties] in
accordance with established rules and guidelines."

In discussing why Mr. Johnson was brought up on charges, Mr. Klein blamed the
media, "The news media is culpable here.  They refused to cooperate and write
[Mr. Johnson's] disclaimers.  They refused to come here tonight, although they
were asked to be a witness."  When asked why Mr. Johnson was brought before
the
tribunal, Mr. Klein reiterated that it was "not his speaking that got him in
trouble but the newspaper reporter who failed to think it was important enough
to protect the integrity of Dave Johnson as an individual
And whether it's the
reporter or his administrative superiors at the newspaper -- they refused
to do
anything to corroborate his position.  Because if they had, even the charging
party made it clear there wouldn't have been any charges."  

Ms. Redwood echoed Mr. Klein's sentiments, "I feel that it was really the duty
of the reporter to print the disclaimer" that Mr. Johnson made at the
beginning
of the interview.  Ms. Redwood was dismayed that the reporter "failed or
refused" to take part in the proceedings.

When questioned about why the public disclaimers Mr. Johnson made were not
adequate to shield him from censure Mr. Klein stated that Mr. Johnson's public
statements confused union members.  "Well, what do members know?  Members see
their Vice President and their COPE [Committee on Political Education]
Director
speaking vigorously
and creating the illusion that we have this split decision
on Vice President Gore and 'what was his name'?  Nader?  When there was indeed
none.  So that's probably what he got caught in more than anything, and the
reaction to that."  Mr. Griffin summed up many participants' perspective when
he said that the proceedings were "to protect the AFL-CIO, and it doesn't
matter who pays the price."

Mr. Johnson stated that he would spend some time "reflecting on what to do
next."  He stated that he felt he had three options:  to appeal the Executive
Board's decision within the AFL-CIO structure, to sue in a court of law, or to
accept the censure.  He stated that while the consensus of those who have
contacted him has been that he should sue, he was conflicted about which
course
of action would be best to take.  "It's an issue of freedom of speech and
union
democracy [versus] accepting the censure and moving on."  Mr. Johnson
expressed
concern that this issue not cause undue disagreement within the union but
concluded that he felt "the leadership of the house of labor is dividing
labor."

Sascha D. Meinrath is a free-lance reporter and a director of the
Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center (U-C IMC).  He can be reached at: 
meinrath at urbana.indymedia.org.  For further information about this and other
stories visit the U-C IMC website:  http://urbana.indymedia.org.

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