By a nearly unanimous voice vote, the AFL-CIO Executive Council passed a resolution on February 16 adopting a policy that would stiffen sanctions against affiliates found guilty of violating the "no raiding" prohibition contained in Article XX of the Federation's Constitution.

The additional discretionary sanctions available against affiliates who are found guilty of raiding another affiliate include the following:

• denial to the non-complying affiliate of the right to participate in or receive services from any Executive Council committee, trade or industrial department, central labor body or AFL-CIO staff department;
• denial to the non-complying affiliate of the right to participate in or receive services from any other AFL-CIO program;
• denial to the non-complying affiliate of any protection under the provisions of the Federation's Constitution or the policy determinations of the Executive Council or the AFL-CIO President;
• denial to the non-complying affiliate of the use of any AFL-CIO facility;
• denial to the non-complying affiliate of any other benefit derived from AFL-CIO affiliation; and
• that the non-complying affiliate compensate any affiliate that is adversely affected by the violation for its expenses incurred in pursuing the Article XX process, its lost dues or other income foregone, or its costs incurred as a result of the violation. If the Non-Compliance Subcommittee is unable to determine such amount with precision it may estimate an amount in order to so compensate the adversely affected affiliate.

This new policy has caused the UTU to withdraw from the AFL-CIO (see page 1 article). The policy has been applied to all instances of ongoing non-compliance, so the UTU is subject to the imposition of these sanctions due to its refusal to comply with the June 21, 1999, order from AFL-CIO President John J. Sweeney to withdraw its application to the National Mediation Board in the Union Pacific case.

On a related note, the AFL-CIO once again lent its support to the BLE in its struggle to fend off UTU raiding attempts.

In a February 11 letter (reproduced via this link), President Sweeney blasted UTU's attempts to seek support from various AFL-CIO affiliates in its campaign against the BLE.

President Sweeney notified Louisiana AFL-CIO President John "Red" Bourg that "no affiliate shall support or render assistance to" the UTU because of its non-compliance with Article XX of the AFL-CIO constitution.

"The AFL-CIO remains committed to resolving this ongoing dispute in a manner that protects BLE's legitimate rights," Sweeney wrote. "Any action supportive of UTU's non-compliant behavior would undermine that goal. Rather than maintaining 'neutrality,' AFL-CIO affiliates should make it clear that they oppose UTU's raiding activities..." ·

© 2000 Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers