Union elections
Even though unions say you elect union officers, VERY FEW officers are actually elected through direct vote by members.
In the International Union, top offiicials are elected by delegates who attend a union convention, not by a direct vote of the members. The President appoints the other officers.
In Local unions, members do vote in elections of union officers. But the International President has the power to remove local union officers.
In District unions, officers sometimes are elected and sometimes are appointed by the International President.
How democratic are union elections?
Because of all the privileges they enjoy (and in many cases, the money they make), union officials often want to stay in power. So when elections are held, union officials sometimes try to be sure they win by doing things that aren't quite proper. Here are just a few examples reported by the Department of Labor (DOL) and the Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS):
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The Department of Labor (DOL) found that United Steelworkers Local 1104 in Lorain, Ohio had "applied an unreasonable meeting attendance requirement which disqualified more than 95 percent of the members from running for elected office and resulted in only one contested race." The DOL supervised new nominations and a new election.
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The DOL found that United Steelworkers Local 1190-S in Steubenville, Ohio also had "imposed an unreasonable meeting attendance requirement which disqualified more than 96 percent of members from running for office" and "improperly disqualified one candidate who met the requirement." The DOL supervised new nominations and a new election.
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The DOL found that the Business Manager of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 82 in Dayton, Ohio used union equipment to create campaign literature and used a union vehicle to transport campaign materials in his campaign for reelection. The DOL conducted a new election for the office of business manager.
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The Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) found that the International Association of Machinists District Lodge 142 in Kansas City, Mo. did not provide members proper notice of election when it mailed the election notice more than six months prior to the actual vote. The OLMS supervised a new election for eleven officer positions.
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The OLMS found that the International Association of Machinists District Lodge 141 in Elk Grove Village, Ill. mailed an election notice to members that contained incorrect information about the location, polling hours, and dates of local lodge elections. A new election was ordered.
In 2013, the Machinists Union was forced to hold a new election for International officers.
The Department of Labor found that the union violated the democratic rights of members by preventing a competitive election for President, Secretary-Treasurer and 8 Vice Presidents.
When the DOL ordered a new election, a popular International Union Representative who had worked at the union more than 20 years stepped forward to run against President Thomas Buffenbarger -- so President Buffenbarger fired him.
Naturally, all of the current officers were re-elected. To read how IAM officials kept control of the union, click here.
Unions have become so undemocratic that union members across the nation have formed "The Association for Union Democracy" to try and improve how unions operate.
To see their web site, click here.
You can see for yourself union elections that have been overturned.
Click here to go to the Office of Labor-Management Standards web site, and then look at the "Civil Enforcement Actions" and "Voluntary Compliance Agreements" listed for each year.
Keep in mind, these are just the elections that the government found out about. There's no way of knowing how many other elections were manipulated by unions without the government (or the members) finding out.
THE BOTTOM LINE:
Union elections are run by union officials.
Union officials often want to keep their jobs.
Sometimes, union officials do undemocratic things to make sure they win union elections.