Union Democracy

  • The Vision Thing: Keeping Union Reform on Track
    Jane Slaughter
    Apr 27 2012 - 4:17pm

    When reformers take over at the union hall, they can make remarkable changes, transforming dormant locals into ones with proud members who put management on notice. But some stumble. What happens?

  • After Winning Election, Hoffa Targets Teamsters’ Right to Vote
    Ken Paff
    Dec 28 2011 - 9:56am

    In the wake of the November Teamster election, top officials are calling for stripping members of their right to vote for president and international officers.

  • New York Nurse Reformers One Step Closer to Power
    Mark Brenner
    Oct 19 2011 - 5:33pm

    Reformers inside the New York State Nurses Association are one step closer to taking power in the 37,000-member union after a federal judge ordered the outgoing leaders to seat the winners of an August election.

  • Teamsters Election Supervisor Dings Hoffa for Attempted Bribes
    Jenny Brown
    Jan 26 2011 - 5:42pm

    Teamster officials in the James Hoffa, Jr. administration tried to bribe election opponents into supporting the Hoffa slate, according to the federally appointed supervisor of Teamster elections.

  • Interview: Reformer Challenges Hoffa for Teamster Presidency
    Jane Slaughter
    Oct 11 2010 - 11:39am

    Sandy Pope, a local president in New York, announced she will run against James Hoffa for the presidency of the Teamsters, in a three-way race. Pope criticized Hoffa for bargaining weak contracts, and said the union needs to re-organize trucking.

  • Fear Wins as Service Employees Fend off NUHW at Kaiser
    Mark Brenner
    Oct 8 2010 - 4:12pm

    Ballot counting wrapped up late Thursday in one of the most hotly contested union elections in years. Workers at Kaiser Permanente’s 331 California hospitals and clinics stuck with the Service Employees (SEIU) third-largest local, UHW.

  • Chicago's Rank and File Educators Well-Positioned Against “Play it Safe” Incumbents
    by Paul Abowd
    Jun 7 2010 - 12:16pm

    Following a huge march against Chicago's corporate restructuring of schools, teacher reformers are focused on a runoff vote to lead the union in a new direction.

  • Reform Caucus Jolts Chicago Teachers Union
    Kenzo Shibata
    Jan 29 2010 - 12:37pm

    Four hundred education activists joined the Caucus of Rank and File Educators in January to map strategy for battling the next round of school closures in Chicago. CORE's also vying for control of the Chicago Teachers Union this spring.

  • Sick of Scandals, Locomotive Engineers Fight for Right to Elect Officers
    Ed Michael
    Jan 22 2010 - 10:11am

    Rank-and-file members of the Locomotive Engineers are struggling to maintain their recently won and never exercised right to directly elect officers. The importance of one member, one vote elections, opposed by national union officers, is only too obvious after three top officers in four years have been removed for embezzlement or extortion. . . .

  • Finally, NUHW Squares Off Against SEIU in Two Hospital Elections
    Mark Brenner
    Dec 16 2009 - 3:01pm

    Nearly eleven months of courtroom stalling has slowed the upstart NUHW but a break in the legal logjam may be coming—finally giving California’s health care workers the ability to choose their union.