A Victory for Union Democracy in Oregon

http://smirkingchimp.com/thread/shamus-cooke/54204/a-victory-for-union-democracy-in-oregon

A Victory for Union Democracy in Oregon
Worker's Rights
by Shamus Cooke | February 14, 2014 - 8:33am

Union democracy triumphed in Oregon February 1 when rank-and-file members of Service Employees Local 503 organized to reject a top-down merger with SEIU Local 49. The merger would have created a two-state, 65,000-member mega-local in the Pacific Northwest.

Union leaders—the upper echelon of elected leaders taking their marching orders from the staff—had strongly pushed a “yes” vote for nearly a year. They used union resources and staff organizers to promote a pro-merger vote to the union’s General Council, a governing body that consisted of 198 elected delegates.

But several “sub-local” presidents and other officers organized to educate delegates and advocate a “no” vote. We used Facebook, emails, leafleting, and phonebanking to get our message out.

At the vote meeting, “no” speakers outnumbered “yes” speakers three to one. And opposition organizers were ecstatic when the tally was announced: 120 no, 75 yes, and three abstentions.