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News :: Miscellaneous |
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Union Democracy And The AFL-CIO On Trial -- 1-18-2001 |
Current rating: 0 |
by The War Zone -- Mike Griffin reporting
Email: MgriffWZEF (nospam) aol.com (unverified!) |
24 Jan 2001
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The following article is an update of the trial of David Johnson, Vice
President and Cope Director of the Champaign County Central Labor Council who
is a rank and file Carpenter. Brother Johnson was brought up on charges by a
local Business Agent for the Plumbers and Steamfitters union for making a
personal, public statement supporting Ralph Nader in the presidential
elections. |
More IMC coverage at:
http://urbana.indymedia.org/active/news/display.php3?article_id=80
The following article is an update of the trial of David Johnson, Vice
President and Cope Director of the Champaign County Central Labor Council who
is a rank and file Carpenter. Brother Johnson was brought up on charges by a
local Business Agent for the Plumbers and Steamfitters union for making a
personal, public statement supporting Ralph Nader in the presidential
elections. On January 17, Brother Johnson was found guilty and was censured
by the AFL-CIO, the least punishment afforded in the trial procedures, but a
grave injustice for an innocent member. Due to the dynamics of the trial and
the political ramifications, the article will be posted in segments to
provide the most accurate accounting of this both tragic and inspiring event.
It was my privilege and honor to co- represent Brother Johnson at his trial
as a fellow union member and Co-Director of the WarZone Education Foundation.
The issue began this past November before the presidential elections, when a
local reporter at the Green Party headquarters in Champaign IL, asked Brother
Dave Johnson why he would vote for Nader. After making it clear he was not
speaking on behalf of any AFL-CIO organization, he lauded Nader\'s positions
on labor. When the article appeared in the paper, the disclaimer was not
published and when Johnson complained to the reporter, the paper did not make
amends. A few days prior to the vote, at a fundraiser for the Independent
Media Center and the Greens Party, Dave was asked to speak and again made it
clear, it was only a personal opinion and he was not speaking on behalf of
any union organization. A portion of video was shown on a local television
station. A fellow delegate to the council, Steve Brewer, who is a business
agent for the pipefitters, filed charges against Brother Johnson.
In the weeks that followed, as the story broke via the Internet and labor
media, widespread support developed for Brother Johnson and letters of
support poured in. The publicity surrounding a normally secret, controlled,
and archaic AFL-CIO disciplinary mechanism, began to change the dynamics of
the typical \"Kangaroo Court\", known to many of us in labor. Brother Johnson
sought the assistance of the WarZone Foundation and the services of Jude and
Eric Redwood, a Champaign attorney and her Paralegal husband, who spend much
of their energies defending the poor.
After the charges were filed, information trickled in that convinced us
that the charges may have been conceived by more than one individual and
possibly by a group that led an effort to overturn the election of the
Central Labor Council Executive Board early last year. That election contest
resulted in the same officers being re-elected by a wider margin. As we
prepared for the trial, Brother Johnson made the decision that I would
represent him as a fellow member in the AFL-CIO portion, and the Redwoods
would represent his constitutional protections. We were concerned that his
attorney would not be permitted in the trial. We assembled a strategy, a
sizeable list of witnesses and discussed at length what we knew were givens,
mainly, that in spite of the fact that we could prove he gave the appropriate
disclaimers, and in spite of the support he had from some of the council
officers, he would be found guilty. A few days before the trial we learned
that the national AFL-CIO was sending in their State Director, Mike Klein.
Brother Johnson and I arrived at the Carpenter\'s hall early and set up tables
for the trial and a large number of chairs for the gallery; as we anticipated
supporters from the community and from his local. We were surprised by the
large turnout that filled the main hall by the 5PM trial time. We were
certain they would not allow spectators to view the proceedings and were not
surprised when no board members came into the hall but appeared to be
gathering in a room near the entrance. As our defense team gathered at a
front table, the Executive Board met for 45 minutes after the trial starting
time in what must have been a tense session on how to handle a situation they
were not prepared for; then Klein approached us. The trial would not be held
in public. We objected and questioned his authority to make that decision
and to be present at the trial. We thanked the gallery and asked the witness
to remain and told supporters they were welcome to stay in the main hall and
explained that the proceedings were being moved behind closed doors. That
announcement raised suspicions and objections and Klein spent the next 15
minutes in a fruitless explanation to an angry crowd of bright and
enthusiastic supporters. We were allowed to take the entire defense team
and delegates from the council who came to support Brother Johnson into the
trial. The crowd consisted of local activists from the community, labor
television from Champaign and St Louis, teachers from the University of
Illinois, union members, many young members of the Green Party, and even a
local business man who witnessed Dave\'s disclaimer. We have no doubt this
large support group was key in the effort being made to allow Dave full
representation and make the trial appear fair and ultimately, the light
sentence, no matter how unfair. The Dog and Pony Show had begun! What had
started as charges against an honest union member who mistakenly believed he
had freedom of speech, had now transformed into the trial of union democracy
and the House of Labor. With the outcome of the trial already known to us in
advance, including the likely punishment, it was as if the trial itself was
no more than another twisted road we were prepared to walk. The AFL-CIO had
to have their pound of flesh, or others might believe that union democracy
was real, that somehow, the US constitution and free speech was part of our
precious union.
To be continued: Part 2: The Classroom, subject: Unionism 101
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