Lawsuit Update: Despite Roadblocks, the Fight for Union Democracy Continues
In April 2024, rank and file UFCW members Iris Scott and Kyong Barry filed a lawsuit under the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act against the United Food & Commercial Workers International Union seeking to change the way the union apportions Delegates to the UFCW Constitutional Convention. The Convention is the highest governing body of the union.
The UFCW Convention is held every five years, the longest time allowed by law between Conventions. The Convention is the primary opportunity for rank and file UFCW members from all across North America to set the rules for their union. Everything from strike pay to coordinated bargaining to how much the union spends on organizing can be decided at the Convention.
Iris’ and Kyong’s lawsuit argues that the UFCW system for sending delegates to the Convention has been rigged. The Convention is currently dominated by paid staff and officers instead of delegates from the rank and file. As a result, the UFCW has been hoarding members' dues dollars rather than spending them on raising strike benefits and engaging in mass organizing. In order to take on the corporate giants of grocery, meatpacking, healthcare, and other employers to win back what members deserve, we first need to see change in our union.
If successful, Iris and Kyong's lawsuit would change the delegate apportionment to follow the legal requirement that each union member have an "equal right to vote". The current formula for allotting delegates to each local union disadvantages union members who belong to both the largest and the smallest local unions, giving them disproportionately fewer delegates than other locals.
When Iris and Kyong filed the lawsuit, it was clear this would be a long process fought by high-priced attorneys paid for by UFCW International Union leadership. In November 2024, their lawyers filed a Motion to Dismiss to the Federal District Court Judge in an attempt to get the lawsuit thrown out entirely. Iris and Kyong’s attorneys filed a Response to that Appeal, and the UFCW then replied to that Response. The Judge just ruled in the UFCW's favor—which was not unexpected—and the attorneys for Iris and Kyong are now considering the next step in the appeal. The attorneys will be recommending an appeal of one form or another, but the specifics have not yet been decided. In other words, the fight for union democracy is nowhere close to over.
It was very courageous for Iris and Kyong to fight for member democracy within their own union at the highest level, standing up for the rights of all UFCW rank and file members. Indeed, because the outcome of the lawsuit could also affect the way in which delegates are allotted in unions across America, the Essential Workers for Democracy (EWD), a nonprofit organization fighting for the democratic rights of all union members, is funding Iris' and Kyong's lawsuit.
EWD believes that unions are stronger when rank and file union members govern their own unions. EWD anticipated that the current leadership of the UFCW was going to fight Iris' and Kyong's lawsuit with everything they have. The law is clear that every union member is entitled to an equal right to vote, and EWD will back Iris and Kyong to make certain that rank and file members have every opportunity under the law to rebuild the labor movement and win back everything workers deserve, and the lawsuit is just one step.
Most importantly, while the lawsuit is an important part of the movement for member democracy within our unions, the true fight isn’t in the courts. It’s in the everyday organizing of rank and file members looking to revitalize and reform our unions into more transparent, democratic, and militant forces to protect and uplift workers everywhere.
