About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

4 U. San Fernando Valley L. Rev. 1 (1975)

handle is hein.journals/sfernvlr4 and id is 1 raw text is: UNIVERSITY OF SAN FERNANDO VALLEY LAW REVIEW VOLUME 4, NUMBER 1 SPRING 1975 LABOR DEMOCRACY, FREE SPEECH AND THE RIGHT OF RANK AND FILE INSURGENCYt Kenneth Cloke* In recent years, workers have increasingly recognized that much of the present trade union leadership is paralyzed by bureaucracy, graft and corruption, and inadequate to the task of energetic representation of membership interests. A number of rank and file insurgents and trade union caucuses have tested themselves against the entrenched incum- bents of international unions, especially in contests for local offices.' In opposition to such efforts, existing leadership has responded with expul- sion, discipline and denial of democratic rights, thereby posing for judicial determination the issue of a right of rank and file insurgency. It is the purpose of this article to examine historically and functional- ly the attitudes and determinations of courts with respect to the rights of insurgents to oppose incumbent leadership without penalty. It is concluded that the free speech rights of rank and file members, as well as employee-members, include by definition a right of democratic *Professor of Law, University of San Fernando Valley College of Law and Visiting Assistant Professor of Urban Studies at Occidental College. Professor Cloke is a mem- ber of the Los Angeles Labor Law Panel. tMuch of the research on which this article is based was accomplished in preparing a brief amicus curiae for the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, in cooperation with Neil Herring and Fred Okrand. 1. This has occurred most recently in the election of insurgents, Miller in the United Mine Workers and Sadlowski in the Steel Workers. 2. While democracy is generally held to include the problems of equality, especially as concerns blacks, women, Latins, elderly, workers, and the problems of due process or procedural fairness, and while these are concededly relevant to the subject of this article, no effort will be made here to examine these aspects of democratic right.

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most