UPW might
have to change
how it conducts
its elections

Federal law requires that
union officers be elected by all
union members, not just
convention delegates

By Ian Lind
Star-Bulletin

Dissident members of the United Public Workers are poised to question the legality of the union's process for electing officers, including UPW state director Gary Rodrigues.

Their questions, which several members have informally discussed with staff of the U.S. Department of Labor, center on a federal requirement that local unions elect officers through a direct vote of their members.

Despite the federal law, UPW's statewide officers, including president, secretary-treasurer, and state director, are elected by delegates to the union's state convention, held once every three years.

Convention delegates, numbering under 200, make up less than 2 percent of UPW's total membership.

A successful challenge could force the union to rewrite its procedures before the next election scheduled late next year, but could not void Rodrigues' election or force him from office, according to federal law.

Direct election is required

Russell Rock, Pacific regional director of the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Labor-Management Standards, confirmed that a direct election is generally required.

Rock pointed to the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act: "Every local labor organization shall elect its officers not less often than once every three years by secret ballot among the members in good standing."

Rock said national or international unions have the option of a direct vote by members or at a convention of delegates, but local unions are not given that choice.

Rock said the requirement of a direct vote applies unless a union is made up exclusively of government employees. UPW has a private sector division that has members at several private hospitals and health facilities, and is already subject to other provisions of the law.

"As long as they have some private sector members, the law will generally apply," Rock said.

Rodrigues could not be reached for comment.

He has refused to answer questions from the Star-Bulletin about union matters since last year.

According to the law, the Labor Department has the power to go to court seeking to overturn a union election if it determines the law has been violated.

But the department can take official action only on behalf of a union member who has already exhausted internal union remedies without success.

"Before they come to us, they have to go through their internal union process," Rock said.

Rodrigues challenger lost

In 1997, Rodrigues faced his first opposition in 14 years when University of Hawaii painter Frank Hirazumi campaigned against him for the UPW's top post. Rodrigues won easily, outpolling Hirazumi by a vote of 160-28 among convention delegates.

Hirazumi and his supporters failed to challenge the election within the 10 day's provided by the union constitution, effectively preventing the Labor Department from stepping in.

A former Hirazumi campaign backer told the Star-Bulletin that no one in the union was aware of the federal requirement for a membership vote. Rock said his agency would take informal action now if UPW members complain.

"I'm very much in favor of taking steps to avoid and resolve problems," Rock said. "If somebody tells us, we'll evaluate it and perhaps make contact with the union, try to get them to self-correct."

The process of electing officers at statewide UPW conventions has been essentially unchanged for decades, and there is no indication of prior federal scrutiny.

Rock cautioned against drawing any quick conclusions concerning the legality of UPW's elections.

"It's a pretty simple law, and you can read what it says, but interpreting how it applies in a particular case is what keeps our lawyers busy," Rock said.

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State of the Unions