Chilling Dissent
The right of free expression is a central tenet of a free society. It is this right that the existence of the labor movement itself stems from – through workers expressing themselves through collective action in order to advance a better future for themselves.
During the course of the SMWIA-UTU merger, a group of plaintiffs filed a lawsuit against the UTU seeking to impose a court-ordered injunction against the merger. During the course of these proceedings, no official from the UTU or SMWIA attempted to suppress these individuals’ rights to express themselves. To some there may have been a short term gain in doing so, but the affront to the fundamental right of every UTU and SMWIA member to free expression would be too great an affront to the rights of every UTU member and a detriment to the ability of each and every potential member of SMART to express themselves.
We learned later on, through court testimony, that these individuals were prodded to file their injunction UTU President Mike Futhey, then a UTU Vice President sitting on the union’s Executive Board. Futhey had many opportunities to voice opposition to the merger, from when he voted for it in June of 2007, to the UTU Convention where he campaigned a month later. During the six months leading up to the merger he never voiced any concerns he may have had about it but instead clandestinely worked with the individual plaintiffs (members of an outside union) seeking to put an end to a merger approved by an overwhelming majority of his members in August 2007.
Futhey’s aim, we later learned, was to prod the plaintiff’s into a lawsuit which he was planning to settle once he took office as UTU President on January 1, 2008. His plan would have worked flawlessly, if not for the fact that an overwhelmingly number of the members of the UTU Executive Board, 8 out of 10 members (not including Futhey) saw through this manipulation and challenged his grab at absolute power.
Rather than respect their rights as not only UTU members but also as elected representatives of his union’s membership, Futhey chose to have trumped up charges filed against each of these men. These charges were filed in an internal court comprised of appointees that were hand-picked by Futhey. Each of these men now facing trial shares an uncertain future with their personal and professional lives standing on the edge of ruin. All of this for speaking out against an attempt by a union President to overturn a the will of an overwhelming majority of his own membership. Rather than being portrayed as the heroes they are, Futhey has designed to sketch them as conniving villains, disloyal to his aims and a threat to his future ambitions.
Futhey’s actions are regrettable and have cast a pall over his union. He has sent a message that not only has the right to free expression within the UTU been erased, but he has chilled dissent unless it meets with his own aims.
Futhey’a attempt to defend his actions have resorted to scapegoating the SMWIA and the members of the UTU Executive Board. He now is trying to deflect attention from himself by assigning blame for the court costs his actions have cost his union to the people he has chosen as his adversaries. Futhey chose this route after having ignored an arbitration remedy already available to him through the SMART Merger Agreement – once designed to protect the treasuries of both the UTU and SMWIA by negating the need for costly litigation.
It is our hope that the UTU membership can salvage its great tradition and once again take its leadership role in the American labor movement by putting an end to this dangerous and costly dictatorship.
During the course of the SMWIA-UTU merger, a group of plaintiffs filed a lawsuit against the UTU seeking to impose a court-ordered injunction against the merger. During the course of these proceedings, no official from the UTU or SMWIA attempted to suppress these individuals’ rights to express themselves. To some there may have been a short term gain in doing so, but the affront to the fundamental right of every UTU and SMWIA member to free expression would be too great an affront to the rights of every UTU member and a detriment to the ability of each and every potential member of SMART to express themselves.
We learned later on, through court testimony, that these individuals were prodded to file their injunction UTU President Mike Futhey, then a UTU Vice President sitting on the union’s Executive Board. Futhey had many opportunities to voice opposition to the merger, from when he voted for it in June of 2007, to the UTU Convention where he campaigned a month later. During the six months leading up to the merger he never voiced any concerns he may have had about it but instead clandestinely worked with the individual plaintiffs (members of an outside union) seeking to put an end to a merger approved by an overwhelming majority of his members in August 2007.
Futhey’s aim, we later learned, was to prod the plaintiff’s into a lawsuit which he was planning to settle once he took office as UTU President on January 1, 2008. His plan would have worked flawlessly, if not for the fact that an overwhelmingly number of the members of the UTU Executive Board, 8 out of 10 members (not including Futhey) saw through this manipulation and challenged his grab at absolute power.
Rather than respect their rights as not only UTU members but also as elected representatives of his union’s membership, Futhey chose to have trumped up charges filed against each of these men. These charges were filed in an internal court comprised of appointees that were hand-picked by Futhey. Each of these men now facing trial shares an uncertain future with their personal and professional lives standing on the edge of ruin. All of this for speaking out against an attempt by a union President to overturn a the will of an overwhelming majority of his own membership. Rather than being portrayed as the heroes they are, Futhey has designed to sketch them as conniving villains, disloyal to his aims and a threat to his future ambitions.
Futhey’s actions are regrettable and have cast a pall over his union. He has sent a message that not only has the right to free expression within the UTU been erased, but he has chilled dissent unless it meets with his own aims.
Futhey’a attempt to defend his actions have resorted to scapegoating the SMWIA and the members of the UTU Executive Board. He now is trying to deflect attention from himself by assigning blame for the court costs his actions have cost his union to the people he has chosen as his adversaries. Futhey chose this route after having ignored an arbitration remedy already available to him through the SMART Merger Agreement – once designed to protect the treasuries of both the UTU and SMWIA by negating the need for costly litigation.
It is our hope that the UTU membership can salvage its great tradition and once again take its leadership role in the American labor movement by putting an end to this dangerous and costly dictatorship.
posted by The Real UTU at
6:34 PM
2 Comments:
The poison dwarf of the UTU press believes that if you tell a lie tell a big one. That last news release about Article XX and the SMWIA was a whopper.
Mike Futhey once again has thrown Frank Wilner under the Septa bus. Mike made it known that Frank Wilner is solely responsible for the latest BIG LIE. Frank continues to promote the philosophy that if you tell a lie, tell a big one. When will Frank realize his role as a responsible journalist is more important than a propagandist for Futhey?
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