UAW kicks Cleveland Five out of union
Submitted on Wed, 02/20/2008 - 5:41pm
Disclaimer - The opinions of the author do not necessarily match those of the IWW. The image pictured to the right did not appear in the original article, we have added it here to provide a visual perspective. This campaign is not an IWW campaign, but it is being reported here, because it is an example of rank & file struggles within the pro-capitalist mainstream business unions. This article is reposted in accordance to Fair Use guidelines.
In the early days of labor unions, it was not uncommon for the law to step
in to help settle disputes. History is filled with stories of everyone from the
private Pinkerton officers, to the local police to the National Guard getting
involved.
Over the weekend, some area residents joined those dubious ranks when the
Iredell County Sheriff's Office was called to remove a group of five apparent
members of a United Auto Workers local who union leaders said were
trespassing.
The incident occurred Saturday afternoon during the regular monthly meeting
of the UAW Local 3520. The meeting was held at the former Wayside Elementary
School building on U.S. High-way 70, just outside of Statesville.
The five who were accused of trespassing are former employees of the
Freightliner Plant in nearby Cleveland.
One of the five, Allen Bradley, was actually arrested during the
incident.
"He twisted my arm behind my back and I almost dropped my camera," Bradley
said.
"They kept me in the police car for 40 minutes while they tried to figure
out what to do."
Bradley was eventually charged with trespassing and later released on his
own promise to appear in court.
The other four left without incident after sheriff's deputies said they too
could face trespassing charges.
But Bradley said it is impossible for them to have been accused of such an
offense since they were - and are, to their knowledge - members of the local in
good standing. He believes they had as much right to be at the meeting as any of
the other members.
"The membership is highest authority in the local," Bradley said. "We are
all members with the same rights so I don't know how we could have been
trespassing any more than anyone else."
But the names of the five - which have become known in union circles around
the country as the Cleveland Five - were apparently erased from the membership
prior to Saturday's meeting.
"But our membership dues were paid, and we were in good standing," said
Robert Whiteside.
Whiteside said he is still the shop chair of the local. He said four of the
five fired members have attended every meeting since they lost their jobs in
April.
"We've never had any problems before," he said. "But we feel pretty certain
that this was all planned ahead of time by the president."
The four men and one woman - which, in addition to Bradley and Whiteside,
includes David Crisco, Franklin Torrence and Glenna Swinford - lost their jobs
last year when, as members of the Local 3520 bargaining committee, they called
for a strike after contract talks collapsed.
Top UAW officials said the April 2, 2007, strike was not endorsed by the
union's international office and more than a dozen people lost their jobs as a
result of it.
All but the five got their jobs back within a month of the one-day
walkout.
Whiteside said the strike was the next logical step in the
negotiations.
"We didn't have a contract," he said. "And our job at that time was to
negotiate one."
As president of the Statesville Branch NAACP, Woody Woodard said workers'
right to unionize has long been tied to civil rights.
He said what has happened at Freightliner is a sign that something went
wrong within the local.
"This is not how unions are supposed to operate," said Woodard, who helped
in getting Bradley released without a bond.
But now that the matter has reached the level of their not being welcome at
monthly meetings what will the members do?
"We've gone too far to turn back now," Whiteside said.
For more information, please visit this page - http://www.justice4five.com/