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From the January-February 2006 issue of Union Democracy Review #160
In Chicago Local 2, Elevator Constructors,
A hard battle to retain union election gains
By Judith Schneider
(See letter to editor, and reply, below.)
In November last year, in Chicago Local 2 of the International Union of Elevator Constructors, an opposition slate was encouraged by winning three top positions in the election of officers: the 1st business representative, one executive board member, and a trustee. Its candidate for the top spot of business manager, Dan O'Malley, came within four votes (441 to 437) of defeating the incumbent, Frank Christensen (who is also an international VP.) The 1,500-member local is one of the union’s largest.
The opposition said it wants to restore democracy to the local. It charged that critics of the administration have faced retaliatory charges, heavy fines, expulsions, violation of voting rights, and denial of membership in the local.
Before the election the opposition had to fight hard to get one of its leading candidates on the ballot and protect its supporters from reprisals. After the election, the opposition still must resist efforts by the administration to undermine its position and vitiate its early success.
In the election for business manager, three votes were challenged; O'Malley charged that several of his supporters were denied the right to cast even a challenged ballot and that 20 more votes were tallied than voters registered. In view of the slim four-vote recorded margin of victory and strength of O'Malley's complaint, it seemed virtually certain that the Department of Labor would move to upset the election and probably demand a DOL supervised rerun. But it was not to be. In December, the international ordered a prompt rerun for the BM spot, which was supervised by the local itself. This time, the recorded vote showed O'Malley beaten by about 600 to 300. In his election complaint to the Labor Department, he charges that the rerun election date and time had been unfairly set to depress his vote, that voting time was limited, that voters had to wait on the street for over an hour and a half, that some of his supporters were denied ballots, and that union resources were used on behalf of the incumbent. His appeal is pending.
John Thompson was the successful insurgent candidate for a Board of Directors slot, winning by a comfortable margin of 507 votes out of 880 cast. The top five votegetters won and he came in the second highest. The administration had tried to keep him off the ballot, arguing that , because his close relatives ran a contracting firm, he himself was part of management. The ploy failed when a federal judge ordered the union to reinstate his candidacy. Nevertheless, the administration would not reconcile itself to his victory. In an appeal to the U.S. Labor Department. it seeks to void the election, still claiming that he is part of management.
Business Manager Christensen could have special reasons for hostility to Thompson. Christensen chairs a State of Illinois committee which, in January 2005, proposed new state elevator safety rules. Thompson expressed concern over some of the proposed rules and distributed his comments to various municipalities. (Several months later, a state agency rejected the rules on the ground that some were a "threat to the public interest, safety, and welfare.") Soon thereafter, the union had his father's pension and health benefits suspended, to be restored only many months later.
Business Manager Christensen and another union official filed defamation charges in court against Thompson and another member; but the case was dismissed. Still, there were legal costs; Thompson's insurance company is seeking restitution.
At the September nominations meeting, Chuck Hillstrom, who insisted on nominating Thompson, got into a shouting match with administration officials culminating in formal charges and counter charges. First Business Representative Terry Shanklin charged that Hillstrom had slandered him (Shanklin was later defeated in the November election.) Hillstrom charged Shanklin with misappropriation of funds and other offenses. So far, Hillstrom's charges against Shanklin have been ignored by the union. But, after the election, the local proceeded with the slander charges against Hillstrom, even though he pointed out that under the LMRDA union trials on slander charges are invalid; and, in any event, the local had already eliminated slander and libel as punishable offenses under its bylaws. No decision on the charges against Hillstrom has been announced.
Meanwhile, the battle continues. One court action charges that fines of thousands of dollars were wrongfully imposed on Thompson's two brothers-in-law. A second court action charges that two longtime union members had been unlawfully expelled and blacklisted. .
Back in 2003, the NLRB ordered the local to remove provisions from its bylaws that required members to pay in full all fines and assessments before receiving a working card. Two years later, in August 2005, after rejecting local efforts to evade the order, the NLRB forced it to comply.
Thompson, now a local executive board member, has submitted charges to the international accusing various local officers of financial wrongdoing. Refusing to hear the charges, the international has directed him back to the local executive board.
(Note: as we go to press, Thompson has been informed that he faces charges - so far with contents undisclosed.)
"Your article is very one-sided..." Letter to the editor of UDR and editor's reply (from UDR #161 March-April 2006)
An anonymous member of International Union of Elevator Constructors, Local 2, in Chicago, didn't like the story above on the local's recent elections. Here is the letter, somewhat abridged:
Your article is very, very one-sided. There are two sides to every story. Unfortunately we have a small but vigorous minority who will stop at nothing to wrest power for themselves. Mr. Thompson (the son of an elevator inspector and an inspector himself) has company owners gloating to me with excitement over our troubles. Our union is discredited in the public eye and stands to lose work to non-union companies. The vote was 2 to 1 against Mr. O'Malley in the rerun election, but he keeps up the pressure by raising straw issues: most of the "disputed" votes are from self-acknowledged management who did not receive a vote under DOL election rules. What happened between the general and rerun election? The membership had an opportunity to sift through the myriad of campaign rhetoric that was disseminated just hours before the election by O'Malley supporters. The membership has spoken in no uncertain terms that the man we want to lead us is Frank Christensen. That is union democracy. Long live unionism, long live the IUEC!
Signed: A proud but concerned Local 2 member.
Editor's note: It is true that Dan O'Malley, who lost the original election by only four votes, was defeated 2 to 1 in the rerun, which we did report. And it may be true that Local 2 members feel that Frank Christensen is a great guy. But concerned member misses the substance of our story, which is unrelated to the virtues of the candidates. The whole point is that the local officials tried hard to keep challengers off the ballot; and, after the election kept pursuing even those insurgents who were elected. In the course of all this, charges have been preferred in the local against Chuck Hillstrom, an opposition leader; John Thompson, elected to the executive board; and Steve O'Malley, Dan's son and an elected trustee. We surely congratulate concerned member as a proud union supporter. Perhaps s/he would be even prouder if s/he could boast that his local calmly pursued the traditions of American democracy in its own internal affairs.
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