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The Association for Union Democracy: union democracy for a strong labor movement
104 Montgomery Street, Brooklyn, New York, 11225; USA; 718-564-1114; info@uniondemocracy.org

Contribute to AUD

Welcome to AUD. There is a lot of material here, please explore it. If you need help or advice with a union democracy problem please start here.

It's not too late to contribute to AUD this year. Please give online to help keep AUD on the job -- you may need our help, we certainly need your financial support.

CFC: We hope that Federal Employees will choose the Association for Union Democracy (AUD) as one of the organizations to receive your donations under the payroll deduction plan. Please note our CFC Code Number: 11741. If you have chosen AUD before, accept our thanks for your continued support. We need you. We would be grateful if you would spread the word to your colleagues at work. CFC for the AUD. (10/17/08)  Please give generously.

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Legal Rights and Organizing
Questions and answers:
practical advice about legal rights and organizing.
Union members' bill of rights:
learn about free speech, elections, financial reports and more.
Democracy on the waterfront: AUD resources for ILA members.
Democracy in the construction trades: hiring hall rules, consolidation, and more.
AUD's Manual for Survival for Women in Nontraditional Work, and other resources.
How do I file a grievance? read our guide online.
See your union's LM-2 financial report online.
Sample letters: get a copy of your union contract or bylaws, file a grievance, run for union office and more.
Handouts to promote union democracy: legal rights (English and Spanish); cyberrights; checklist for democratic organizing; and more.

Complete text of the LMRDA the law that covers union members' rights and officers' responsibilities.
Get help:
advice, information from AUD.
Mentoring for Lawyers AUD offers mentoring from leading union democracy attorneys.

Union Democracy Review
Get a free sample copy
of our magazine.
Subscribe to UDR!
Get a bundle of 20 copies of UDR for $20.00 to hand out to coworkers.
Read selected articles online: Autoworkers, Teamsters, LMRDA Section 105, and more.
Consolidation in the Construction Trades, keeping the purse strings in the hands of the rank and file.
Educational Workshops
Set up an AUD workshop
for your group or local.
Upcoming workshops:
help us spread the word.
See sample activities we have used to teach about democracy.
Talleres en espa�ol/Spanish Language Workshops.

AUDLinks
AUDLinks:
Find rank-and-file groups, legal information, agencies and organizations, and other internet resources.
2005 Best Rank-and-File Website contest
Build an effective rank-and-file website, online guide with sample homepage.
AUD's 2004 Best Rank and File Website results.
AUD's RSS Feeds page, (offsite) send us your feeds.

Books, Pamphlets, AUD T-shirts
Rebels, Reformers, and Racketeers: how insurgents transformed the labor movement by AUD founder Herman Benson. Analyzes insurgent and reform activity in US unions from the 1950's to the present. Read the preface online. See the table of contents.
Other literature
from AUD: Democratic Rights for Union Members, How to Get an Honest Union Election, The Troublemaker's Handbook, and more. Buy books on our site and support AUD!

AUD T-shirts 100% cotton, union-made, "union democracy for a strong labor movement" flame logo.
AUD Decals and Stickers Union-made, "Clean up our union... with democracy!"


Workers Independent News (live radio feed--> See also WIN raw audio -- full length interviews you can use.

Get Firefox!

ListGarden
create RSS feeds, free/open source

Subscribe with Bloglines

AUD logo
The Association for Union Democracy (AUD)

is a pro-labor, non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the principles and practices of democratic trade unionism in the North American labor movement. It is the premise of AUD that internal democracy makes unions stronger and better able to fight for the rights and interests of working people. No other organization is dedicated solely to advancing the democratic rights of union members.

AUD is a non-partisan organization. We do not support or endorse candidates for union office or particular policies within unions. Rather, AUD supports actions which strengthen the democratic process, promoting membership participation, free speech and fair elections, so that union members can transform and lead their unions. AUD depends on contributions and has limited resources. We provide educational assistance and guidance as to legal rights and organizing to union members fighting for greater control of their unions...(more about AUD, a definition of union democracy, to contribute to AUD)


What's New 12/30/08
(What is XML?) AUD's RSS Feeds Page

  • Give to AUD it's not too late! Capitalism may be collapsing, but AUD goes on - and we need your financial support. See our fund appeal and please give online!
  • Union officers uncomfortable with online free speech. "The cases of retired Marine Engineer Paul Norman and EMS Helicopter Pilot Mike Cheek, who were banned from official union online forums, reflect the growing importance of the internet as a new space for member participation and the contrary efforts of union leaders to limit discussion to what they consider acceptable." Read more. (11/13/08)
  • Irony in the CWA. "The CWA supports freedom from fear in representation elections. But what's going on in its internal union elections?" Read more. (11/13/08)
  • More on labor’s lasting quest for ethical practices. Andy Stern has selected James R. Zazzali, a former New Jersey State judge, to preside over a new committee charged with the task of developing a code of ethics cogent enough to discourage SEIU representatives from misappropriating union money. Judge Zazzali is already occupied with his job as a staff member of the International Union of Operating Engineers... Read more. (11/13/08)
  • In search of legal defense against illegal trusteeships (on Benson's Union Democracy Blog). ...Is it permissible for a local union to set aside money, safe from seizure by the international, so that it can be guaranteed funds to mount a legal defense against trusteeship? That question has arisen before, not in the SEIU but in the Teamsters union. Read more. (11/13/08)
  • California labor intellectuals call on Andy Stern to respect constructuve dissent in SEIU. "We in California have, of course, a great deal at stake in the outcome of these disputes. The trusteeship fears of UHW seem to be very well-founded. While a clean-up of 6434 may require outside intervention, we believe that a simultaneous, unjustified take- over of 150,000 member UHW would be a disaster for the California labor movement (and SEIU nationally)." Read more. (11/11/08)
  • In the Cause of Union Democracy, by Michael Goldberg. "Many important causes cry out for the moral, material, and legal support of public intellectuals, but few of those causes find their natural constituencies as isolated and vulnerable as union reformers often are..." Read excerpts from this article by an AUD board member and leading union democracy legal scholar. (11/2/08)
  • AUD supporter and longtime union activist and scholar Jeff Perry has a new book out: Hubert Harrison: The Voice of Harlem Radicalism, 1883-1918. The biography of the "foremost Black organizer, agitator, and theoretician of the Socialist Party of New York, founder of the "New Negro" movement, editor of Negro World, and the principal radical influence on the Garvey movement." AUD advisor Bill Fletcher praises Perry's "thorough research and compelling analysis" and says the book "reads with a draw like that of a study of a long lost city, rediscovered and offering answers to an incomplete history." (11/13/08)
  • This year's Combined Federal Campaign is underway. We hope that Federal Employees will choose the Association for Union Democracy (AUD) as one of the organizations to receive your donations under the payroll deduction plan. Please note our CFC Code Number: 11741. If you have chosen AUD before, accept our thanks for your continued support. We need you. We would be grateful if you would spread the word to your colleagues at work. CFC for the AUD.
  • State employees in California and New York can give to AUD through the California State Employees Charitable Campaign (look for us in the "Non Affiliate Organizations" section in the brochure of eligible organizations) and the New York State Employees Federated Appeal (SEFA) -- find AUD and our SEFA code in the SEFA campaign's directory of authorized organizations, under "Association for Union Democracy," under the category, "Human and Civil Rights Organizations of America." AUD's SEFA code number will vary by region of the state.
  • New Links: Four for IAM members. Democracy for Bath Shipbuilders, FAQuorum, Minimum Crew, and The Whole Can. Rank-and-file links (9/18/08)
  • "Sisters in the Brotherhoods: Working Women Organizing for Equality in New York City." Jane LaTour, journalist, labor activist, and former director of AUD Women's Project, has a new book based on her long time support and study of women in so-called "non-traditional" jobs. For more information.
  • Office of Labor-Management Standards Makes Contracts Available Online. "The Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) announces the availability of the Department of Labor Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) File in the Online Public Disclosure Room. Collective bargaining agreements...are now available to be viewed and printed." With two exceptions: contracts covering fewer than 1,000 workers, and contracts covering railroad and airline workers. See the Online Public Disclosure Room. (11/12/07)
  • To end the employers' arbitrary "right to reject" -- Electricians press IBEW to defend union hiring halls. In response to calls from electricians frustrated by the international union's failure to act to end the "right to reject," AUD offers four proposals for action. See the proposals here. (1/19/07)
  • "Request Help" page. For unionists seeking information or advice with a union democracy problem. With a new "Request Help" form that will help AUD better assist you. An important resource for union members, please bookmark and link directly to this page. See the page here. We have also reworked the Contact AUD page.
  • Volunteer for AUD. Work with AUD staff on online projects: translation into Spanish, indexing and database entry, graphic/web design, web surfing and other skills needed. See our volunteer page.
  • Spread Union Democracy: get a bundle of 20 copies of Union Democracy Review for $20.00 to hand out to coworkers. Order here.
  • Got a problem with a grievance? Read our article on your rights in the grievance procedure and how to use them. See "Your Job, Your RIghts".

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Disclaimer: the information presented on this website is general and intended for educational purposes. It is not a substitute for practical legal advice on any specific situation.


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The Association for Union Democracy. www.uniondemocracy.org
104 Montgomery Street, Brooklyn, New York, 11225; USA; 718-564-1114; info@uniondemocracy.org

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