Opinion ID: 3020027
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: m. in Salon C.

Text: Saturday, April 8, the General Session will commence at 10 a.m. in Salon C. Saturday evening, a reception will be held from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in Salon D. A continental breakfast will be available on Friday and Saturday mornings. A block of fifty (50) rooms has been reserved for Thursday, April 6 through Saturday, April 8, 2000. To make reservations, please call the hotel at (302) 655-0400 and reference the Workers’ Coalition. The room rate is $85 per night single or double occupancy, plus tax. Cutoff date for reservations is March 13, 2000. After March 13, all rooms will be at the prevailing rate. Please note that check-in is 3 p.m. and check-out is 12 noon. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact Eddie McBride or Kenneth Riley. 12 We look forward to seeing you in Delaware. JA at 229. Based on this letter, Bowers wrote to plaintiffs informing them that “neither the ‘Workers’ Coalition’ nor the ‘Longshore Workers’ Coalition’ has been authorized to use the ILA logo . . . in connection with the activities of any such organizations.” JA at 246. Thus, Article XXVII appears to have served as the basis for curtailing union members speech at least twice. The District Court offered no discussion of these facts, and its conclusion that Article XXVII has not been invoked before is clearly erroneous. The chilling effect of Article XXVII was discussed in the affidavit and testimony of plaintiffs’ expert witness, Herman Benson, a long-time observer and commentator on the American labor scene.9 Benson stated that, in his experience, “few if any other major American unions have in their constitutions provisions like the ILA’s Article XXVII.” JA at 208. He stated that candidates for union office routinely mention the union in which they are running and say something about the union and that union officials or activists who participate in public affairs or on charity boards commonly identify the union bodies to which they belong. Id. Benson also testified that it was unreasonable to require those who may be critical of the union to seek advance permission for use of the union’s name in their activity, “especially in the union where as I believe there’s been a climate of fear.” JA at 227-227A. In asking for such permission, independents would mark themselves as troublemakers and subject themselves to possible retaliation. Id. 9 Herman Benson has been an observer of the internal affairs of many labor unions for over 40 years. He is the author of two books, Democratic Rights for Union Members: A Guide to Internal Union Democracy (1979); Rebels, Reformers and Racketeers: How Insurgents Transformed the Labor Movement (2004), and three chapters in studies of the American labor movement edited by respected academicians. He is the author of hundreds of news articles and editorials on union democracy and internal affairs and has testified at least twice before Congress. 13 at 227A. Moreover, we note also that plaintiff McBride submitted an affidavit stating that the union’s charges against Knight and Miller pursuant to Article XXVII have “had a significant chilling effect on the willingness of ILA members to join or openly support the Workers’ Coalition.” McBride Aff. at 7. As noted earlier, this court has “reiterated in broad and expansive terms the need for the courts to entertain, and enjoin, union exercise of power that chills speech protected by the LMRDA.” Ruocchio, 181 F.3d at 387. The ILA argues that it seeks to prevent use of its name to endorse products or causes that it does not support. That is, of course, permissible. However, our examination of the letter that incurred the wrath of the ILA officials (set forth in full supra) discloses that the ILA names and abbreviation were used in the letter merely as identification. Because Article XXVII can be construed and used to prohibit such innocuous references to the ILA, it is unreasonable on its face. Thus, we conclude that the District Court should not have abstained on this issue, and remand for further proceedings. On remand, the District Court can direct a narrowing of Article XXVII so that it applies only to prevent misuse of the ILA name.