Unions Need Some Standards

The process by which Local 1181 of the Amalgamated Transit Union shoved its contract past its rank and file last week makes clear that there is a need for some larger body to establish minimum standards of labor democracy.

Local 1181 might be seen as an extreme example of a union showing little regard for members' rights, given that its leaders are scheduled to go on trial in September for allegedly handing the keys to the local to the Genovese crime family. But this disregard can also be seen in the way that District Council 37's largest local, Department of Education Local 372, conducts its officer elections.

Ordinarily, it would be the role of international unions to ensure that their affiliates are being run in the best interests of their members. But International ATU President Warren George, perhaps fearful that Federal prosecutors are right about who really runs Local 1181, has failed to take necessary action. DC 37's international union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, is headed by Gerald McEntee, who receives $585,000 in salary and stipends and is sufficiently concerned about not rocking the boat at his flagship union that the head of his Judicial Panel actually misquoted the international constitution last year to uphold a Local 372 election.

The roughly 400 members of ATU Local 1181 who came to vote on a new wage deal July 18 did so with no advance knowledge of its details, even though the accord was reached 13 days earlier.

The union's president, Sal Battaglia, told them he had headed off management's attempt to force them to pay 1.5 percent of their earnings towards their health insurance. What he didn't say was that to ensure some control over rising health costs, management won the right to set fixed contribution rates for health benefits; if costs rise above those rates, either benefits will be reduced or members will be hit with increased co-pays.

Despite his subterfuge, Mr. Battaglia was unwilling to permit any debate of the contract's terms, ignoring the attempts of some dissident members to discuss its merits and slamming the ratification vote through. The use of an un-airconditioned auditorium in John Adams High School seemed to be by design; the sweltering conditions on a day when the temperature outside reached the high 90s were a deterrent to extended discussion.

But then, it was clear that only those who were truly motivated among the 8,400 Local 1181 members affected were going to make the trip. It might seem strange that the rest of the rank and file would not want details of the deal that set their pay, benefits and working conditions for the next three years, but they may have long ago concluded that their local's leadership has no interest in real member participation.

This is also the case at Local 372, which has about 25,000 members, but has limited the number voting in its past two elections to about 500 by holding balloting at just a single site and for only a four-hour period. What should make this particularly infuriating to the rest of DC 37 is that the president of Local 372, Veronica Montgomery Costa, wields an iron grip over her delegates and can deliver them in a bloc, making her the person whose support counts most in choosing DC 37's executive director. In essence, a union with 121,000 members can be controlled by the votes of fewer than 500 of them.

Given the unwillingness of internationals to do right by the members of those locals, we believe it is up to someone like State AFL-CIO President Denis Hughes to bring some semblance of democracy to the way these rogue unions conduct contract and election business. As reluctant as labor leaders are to get involved in the internal business of other unions, there are times when they should.

Local 1181's alleged ties to the Mafia potentially tarnish the entire labor movement, making it easier for management to justify unreasonable, anti-union tactics because of a public perception of corruption. Local 372's sham elections, propped up by AFSCME, have allowed an authoritarian leader to continue to exert undue influence over DC 37, and not in a positive way. Given DC 37's traditional role as the pattern-setter in municipal bargaining, that is an unhealthy situation for other city unions as well.

Labor leaders can't merely wring their hands or privately lament the rot within and expect that anything will change for the better. Now is as good a time as any for them to stand up.