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  • authored by remote viewer
  • published Sat, Nov 5, 2005

120 Days to R-evolution

They Won the Battle - We Won The War

It's been a long time since the United Food and Commercial Workers International began its battle for the domain name www.ufcw.net. More than 5 years have passed since they first objected to the use of the domain by the small grass roots union reform group that called itself UFCW Local 1518 Members for Democracy and more than 3 years since it launched its lawsuit alleging that MFD's use of the acronym "ufcw" in its domain address and meta tags constituted "passing off on the goodwill of the UFCW".

On October 17, 2005, the matter known officially as United Food and Commercial Workers International Union and David Watts on his own behalf and on behalf of all members of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union v. Sharyn Sigurdur, Kelsey Sigurdur, John Doe and Jane Doe, carrying on business under the firm name and style of Members for Democracy and the said Members for Democracy finally saw the light of a courtroom, with the UFCW demanding:

1. A Declaration that the Defendants' website, www.ufcw.net (the "MFD Website") headed "THE UNITED FOOD & COMMERCIAL WORKERS UNION, MEMBERS FOR DEMOCRACY" constitutes passing off;

2. A Declaration that the Defendants' use of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union's (the "UFCW") name or acronym or any similar variations thereof in connection with the MFD Website constitutes passing off;

3. A permanent injunction restraining the Defendants, and each of them, by themselves, or by their servants, agents or otherwise, from using the UFCW's name or acronym in connection with the MFD Website or any website without the approval and consent of the UFCW, and in particular, from using the URL www.ufcw.net or any similar URL or the UFCW's name, or the name of any UFCW local in the meta tags for the MFD Website or any other website without the approval and consent of the UFCW.

It wasn't just about the domain address. This injunction, if granted, would have prohibited any reference to the UFCW on the MFD web site. It would prevent Sharyn and Kelsey Sigurdur from making reference to the UFCW on any web site - without the approval and consent of the UFCW. At the trial, the UFCW claimed that any use of the acronym in any way that would attract Internet search engines was objectionable.

Although no evidence of any confusion or damage was ever presented, the UFCW nevertheless asked for a remedy that included reimbursement of its legal costs as well as general, punitive and special damages. What went down.

  • posted by atuuschaaw
  • Sat, Nov 5, 2005 5:05am

quote:


We get a period of time in which to evolve and a legal decision that will help other protest web sites protect themselves from similar lawsuits and defend themselves if they end up on the receiving end of one.


Hell Yeah!

This is what is so, so, important! Precedence has been established, and in turn, the defence that will enable democracy to reign in the future. Thanks for all the trials, tribulations, and stress you have had to endure over the last five years! Great job guys!

  • posted by BillPearson
  • Sat, Nov 5, 2005 5:50am

Lots to say about this case and how and why it happened, but i want to let it sink in and then let those thoughts percolate a bit.

Some initial comments are warranted: This is a huge win for reformers and people who see the net as a tool to take on the establishment. The powers that be have long shown their fear of the internet; this overdrawn and terribly expensive exercise on their part is proof positive of just how little they understand it.

Another interesting aspect was the way in which your article was written. The outcome of the trial and the resulting award was straight forward...no bullshit, no spin. It would behoove those working for the International and local unions to use it as a primer for improving their communication skills. Members want and need objectivity and honesty. It is sad they have to turn to the internet to find the truth.

My compliments to each of you who faced this suit with the courage of your convictions. You were willing to put it all on the line and let justice decide your fate. There are those who downplay the importance of democracy, but without it, we have no freedom. Congrats for a fight well fought and the stomach to stand up to those who want to shut you/us up.

  • posted by wm pasz
  • Sat, Nov 5, 2005 7:27am

quote:


Lots to say about this case and how and why it happened, but i want to let it sink in and then let those thoughts percolate a bit.


Me too! And having actually been there as the courtroom drama unfolded last month, there's just that much more to percolate.

I have to say that I am absolutely thrilled with this outcome. Oh sure, on a certain level it would have been nice to win on the passing off issue and then we could say we smoked 'em totally but, on reflection, I think that kind of outcome would have distracted from the things that were most important about the fight and the win. The fight and the win were about Internet free speech.

From the very beginning, the powers-that-be (in their various manifestations) were intent on ridding the Internet of what I suppose they would call "subversive influences" - people and groups who were making use of this medium to communicate widely about injustices (obvious ones and insidious ones).

I doubt that many of them even really understood what they were afraid of but in the backs of their minds there was this instinctive fear that something ominous (for them) was looming and that somehow it would turn their world upside down. They used their full resources to stop it. In fact, they resorted to all manner of tactics - a lot of them intended to confuse, dispirit and intimidate. Many Internet activists have disappeared from the www since the late 1990's, so I can understand that the powers might have been encouraged.

When I think about the timing of this battle (starting in 2000 just as union reform groups were beginning to experiment with the Internet) and everything that has happened since, it's remarkable how far we've come.

What's even more remarkable is that all those things that 4 or 5 years ago we were just becoming sort of vaguely aware of - all that stuff about the potential of the www to enable community, to facilitate the dissemination of knowledge and to empower communities - played a big part in the outcome of UFCW v. MFD.

On my way home from Vancouver following the trial, I decided to make a list of all the things that happened, everything that we MFD'ers did, that helped us to keep it together and grow the web site while at the same time prepare to fight a legal battle with no resources at all. By the end of an hour, I had a list that went on for several pages and I'm still adding to it. Most of the items are in one way or another related to the Internet - whether as a means of looking for legal information or of keeping in touch with each other on an ongoing basis - none of this would have happened without.

There is something to be said about the power of community. If you are alone facing a SLAPPY lawyer's letter or a lawsuit, the odds are that you'll run away. It's just too overwhelming. If you are a community, everything is different. Instead of getting more freaked out, you get more knowledgable and confident.

One of the things that stands out most for me in all of this is the sense of empowerment that comes from contributing fully - using everything you've got to pursue an important goal. At times along the way, preparing for this trial really felt sort of like "work". What I noticed though was that it didn't feel like a "job" and it wasn't just because I wasn't getting paid for it.

This was a different kind of "work". Unlike the stuff I do at my job, there was a really big sense of accomplishment from doing this community-oriented "work". I'm hoping to expand on this in some future piece, but the message in this seems to be that we should redefine work: Using our full abilities to pursue important community goals v. playing narrowly defined "roles" in the workplace or performing mind-numbing "tasks".

Getting back to the outcome of UFCW v. MFD though, there is something in the way this whole thing went down - the decision and the 5 years that preceded it - that had a certain flow to it; a certain "new era" or maybe not-of-the-old-school feeling. From listening to the decision (which was delivered by teleconference from BC) on my cell phone in Toronto to the outcome itself which seemed to me to come with a message: Are you shitdisturbers smart enough to figure out what you've won or are you going to lament about a domain address?

The whole thing is way, way cool.

I am very grateful to siggy and slek for their determination in seeing this through to the end and keeping the faith and to everyone who helped out along the way. It's a great day for Internet free speech.

  • posted by siggy
  • Sat, Nov 5, 2005 8:17am

I have no idea where to begin thanking people for helping us get thru this; wm pasz is top of the list for her tireless and knowledgable contribution. HJ for his tireless and experienced contribution. sleK for his expertise and commitment. Everyone - everyone who believed in MfD. Oh and my mom too. Tho she still isn't sure what she did.

The support was phenom all around and none of this could have been possible without the help of some very savvy MfD'rs and MfD believers. There's no way sleK and I could have maneuvered the murky legal system alone. Big union machines have "people" - MfD has people too.

It's been a couple days since the awesome ruling but I'm still processing as well - or is that savouring - both. Thanks eh!

  • posted by Laboryes
  • Sat, Nov 5, 2005 9:52am

Congratulations!!! Siggy,Slek and the rest of the MFDers It was this site and your articles that fueled the fire for our reform movement with our local 588 http://groceryworkers.org/ It was your's and Pearson's articles that were printed up and handed out at our first rank n file meeting back in '03. It was those same articles that were printed by the thousands and got into grocery stores all over Northern Ca. by a determined few. It was also your words of encouragement when we hit road blocks or did not know how to move forward that kept(keeps) us going! Oh! and we can't forget that secret meeting in a corn field in small farm town USA and how similar our stories were reguarding our dealings with the UFCW.

Thank You! MFD for not running from a fight!(you could have taught Dority a few things,can you say So Cal '03) Your victory is a victory for us all! And by the way I would be happy to donate a $100 to help cover your cost. Let me know.
Oh ya! The kids say

  • posted by siggy
  • Sat, Nov 5, 2005 10:33am

quote:


Oh ya! The kids say


LY has the cutest kids.

As for the 100 bucks - worth every penny AFAIC.

If anyone is up to contributing or owning a share of this then I would prefer and think it would be awesome if it was like a hot potato kind of deal.

We could begin accumulating a purse and then pass it from one reform group to the next reform group to use as needed. Either to build websites or whtever was on the burner - largely on the honour system but petty details can be worked out.

It would be awesome if the token c-note became the catalyst and sponsor of a thousand more sites.

  • posted by atuuschaaw
  • Sat, Nov 5, 2005 10:42am

quote:


It would be awesome if the token c-note became the catalyst and sponsor of a thousand more sites.


Damn, wonderful Idea! Gawd, what a devious and cunning mind! I love it!

  • posted by siggy
  • Sat, Nov 5, 2005 11:30am

Ok here's the wimp side, the emotions. It's very weird. I don't think I've ever been so scared in my entire life but I didn't know how scared or why until now - now that it's over.

At the onset I know that each one of us never once underestimated what it would mean to open this can of worms and then possibly lose it - what that would mean to the community as a whole. But once you've made the decision then that has to go to the back burner.

wm pasz could be my leader anytime (tho I know she'd refuse the position) - without her guidance and good sense, well none of this could have happened, let alone turned out as it did. I could never find the words to thank her for her wisdom and help.

For me a big thanks has to go to BP (Bill Pearson) and I'm not sure who else could understand why. Throughout this ordeal - despite huge rifts - in shall we say presentation - BP steadfastly supported not only the concept of what MfD is but us/me. Being that I'm still struggling under ufcw messages, myths and wrestling mainstream demons (much like his own) - his support made the journey that much easier.

It's just the strangest thing - it's days after the ruling and an entire 5 years and hundreds of names are passing before me. It's like a virtual intervention.

  • posted by Elise Grace
  • Sat, Nov 5, 2005 4:43pm

I am so pleased with all of you. MfD is coming together nicely.

  • posted by wm pasz
  • Sat, Nov 5, 2005 5:21pm

quote:


"When that boatload of wobblies come
Up to Everett, the sheriff says
Don't you come no further
Who the hell's yer leader anyhow?
Who's yer leader?
And them wobblies yelled right back --
We ain't got no leader
We're all leaders
and they kept right on coming'."

(From an interview with an unknown worker, Sutcliffe, Nevada, June, 1947
The New Men of Power, C. Wright Mills, University of Illinois Press, 1948)


We're all leaders.

  • posted by weiser
  • Sat, Nov 5, 2005 7:09pm

The MFD site is an ongoing experiment in communications – a very successful experiment. .

In the beginning, illiterate Activists learned and sung songs to carry the message. Then, "organized" labor came along to help communicate the message.

Organized labor became the voice of working people -- through that process people who work for a living eventually lost their voices. Fat cats who were far removed from the hand-to-mouth existence of people who work for a living started speaking for them. They'd say one thing to the faithful and right afterwards slip into an adjoining room to romance and be romanced by the corporate bosses.

Soon the union bosses struck a deal with the corporate kings and the government potentates that in return for easier dues-payer accumulation, the bosses would get a system to control unions and unions would get a system to control dues payers.

For the most part, the dudes who cut the deal were well-intentioned folk who wanted the best for working people. They really didn't understand what it was that they agreed to. They died off shortly thereafter and were replaced by one power-hungry, money grubber after another. These bastards worked hard to control all communication. The became so arrogant that they even called themselves The Voice of _______ (fill in the blank). I'm not talking just about the UFCW dorks. Every union had its stupid slogan that boasted about how much control it had over people.

The Internet is changing things. Individuals can now speak and be heard. People who work for a living can talk to each other and share ideas. They can write to each other instantly. They can see each other on their computer screens. They can speak to each other live or by leaving messages or posting sound files.

The UFCW dorks and all their stupid lawyer antics are driven by FEAR! They are afraid and rightly so.

Crap your pants you bastards. You don't control communication any more. People who work for a living are smart enough to speak for themselves. We don't need sappy songs, we don't need Bro_Ken to tell the world what we think. We can tell the world by ourselves and the UFCW or any other bunch of union dorks can't tell us what to say, when to say it or how to say it. The words that are heard will be our own words.

The MFD site is one of many that have shown the power of perseverance and guts.

On a lighter note: These UFCW dorks keep filing these stupid law suits and the Courts keep putting the results on the Internet. The world learns so much from the UFCW's stupidity. I love it! I wonder if Cliff's boy UFCW General Counsel John Evans is the one calling the shots on these fiascos?

  • posted by CUPE_Reformer
  • Sat, Nov 5, 2005 9:26pm

Sharyn and Kelsey Sigurdur:

Your persistence is an inspiration to the creators of union reform websites.

  • posted by LloydDobler
  • Sat, Nov 5, 2005 11:00pm

Sorry to see all the trials & tribulations you folks have been through these past years.

quote:


It's been a long time since the United Food and Commercial Workers International began its battle for the domain name [www.ufcw.net]


If they just wanted the domain name, would the UFCW not file a complaint with WIPO?

Domain Name Dispute Resolution Service

An example from a search of this forum: Walgreen's drops lawsuit against 13 year old

  • posted by atuuschaaw
  • Sun, Nov 6, 2005 4:17am

Just curious..... Can we know what the domain name of the site is going to be? Is it already in the wings and awaiting transfer of data? Or has it been discussed at all? Or am I being too curious?

  • posted by sleK
  • Sun, Nov 6, 2005 4:26am

We'll let you know as we get closer to launch.

  • posted by BillPearson
  • Sun, Nov 6, 2005 5:36am

HOPE…

Silly perhaps to begin this analysis of the recently concluded suit brought by the UFCW against the owners of the MFD, but it is the one word that best defines how and why I am here. I would be overreaching my status as a mere member of the community by suggesting it was/is the same reason the folks who battled the giant UFCW and their battery of attorneys, but I'll go out on a limb and guess by the time they have read this piece they won't disagree.

The one thing we know for sure is if they do, they will be blunt enough to say so. As I read the results of the phone conference and the award, I couldn't help but think back to my earliest days on MFD. Seems like such a long time ago, but in actuality it was just over three years ago.

Kevin was still running Retailworker and had posted a nice story on UFCW 789's efforts to use the net to capture the hearts and minds of retail workers everywhere. The grocery members of our local were just beginning to negotiate its major grocery and meat agreements. Our goal was to give workers an inside look at negotiations up close and personal. It was to be totally transparent. It was intended as a source of hope .

Then a funny thing happened on the way to the forum. A character named siGGy started taking potshots at the local and me. I tried being nice, but to no avail. The exchange on the message board got heated and one of the voices of reason from MFD suggested they invite me to their site to try and sort out our differences. My first weekend online found me reading pages of archived material to try and understand what their problem was.

The fascinating thing about it was, in spite of our head banging, I could indeed see some semblance of hope embedded in what they were trying to say. The administrators/owners of the site saw me as a possible troll or machinehead who was just trying to get more dues paying members. I resented that; it was always the least of my concerns. We engaged in some wonderful drama and hysterics that often left me vowing to leave and never return. I always did come back.

While I was outspoken out about their childish attacks at the leadership, I saw their message and the information they were printing as critical to any hope for members to overcome the biz union model I knew was destroying us. Sadly, the folks running the UFCW, both Canada and the US were into the spin doctoring. They refused to deal with the ugly stuff that was happening and their entire mantra was about how good they were and how everything was just fine. Pure crap.

Adding to the dilemma were the SLAPP suits the UFCW had filed against MFD and a couple of others. The obvious question was asked of me; 'what do you think of those?' I spoke bluntly and while my responses are archived, in essence I said it was bullshit. I hated the lawsuit and had told the owner of the site I would fly in for the trial and testify if they felt there was any value.

The following story does beg the question: So why is a retired UFCW local union president whose livelihood is dependent on the survival of the organization posting anything on MFD? The answer should be obvious by know…it always was to me… HOPE .

On the inside, I watched in horror and frustration as the boys took care of themselves. Starting with REAP's exposure of Wynn's house deal and all the way to Dority's half a million dollar bonus at retirement, I grew more angry. I saw the massive salary increases, the lack of planning and remarkable silence and was sure a groundswell would start anytime. As I was invited to participate in their yearly gatherings I spoke out about the excesses and the failures, expecting others to join in and try and stop the troughing. I'm still waiting.

Sadly, many of the folks I respected the most were caught up in the rewards of silence. The leadership understood the price of loyalty and silence was expensive. In that it was just the member's money, what the hell…the pool appeared to be never ending. My hope to change it from within and from the top stopped the day I retired.

As I read around and saw the impact the internet had on workers and what they were saying and doing, I found new hope, much similar to what many of the folks on MFD had: A belief that workers could build an online community where honesty, integrity and truth were their cornerstones. In my role as president I found that by sharing information through increasing education and communication, there was a chance. That empowerment brought hope, which ultimately produced an energy that resulted in activism.

I also came to understand the fear the leadership at virtually every level of the bureaucracy had of the Internet. The biz union model was all about them and how much control they could exert. The things we were doing online were about and for the members/workers. While the boys at the top saw it differently you have to understand this suit was never about suing MFD for printing lies, it was all about shutting them up so members wouldn't read the truth about what the organization had become or what they had done.

There it is; my undying hope as a member, staffer, secretary treasurer and finally president of local 789 was to help members/workers understand it didn't have to be like it was. Today, that same hope exists only through a different vehicle. The online community of the Internet is one of the most empowering tools ever available for change by people of average or little means. Our voices can and will be heard, whether those in power like it or not.

Those at MFD are in part responsible for insuring that voice remains free and clear and to them we owe a debt of gratitude for their courage. My hope is the good folks on the inside finally get it and come to understand this palace they have built for themselves cannot and will not stand forever. With each passing day, that belief wanes and shifts to the same hope the vast majority the MFD community has…that a rebirth will come from a grassroots member/worker driven movement where social and economic justice for all are its core.

  • posted by wm pasz
  • Sun, Nov 6, 2005 7:35am

quote:


My hope is the good folks on the inside finally get it and come to understand this palace they have built for themselves cannot and will not stand forever. With each passing day, that belief wanes and shifts to the same hope the vast majority the MFD community has…that a rebirth will come from a grassroots member/worker driven movement where social and economic justice for all are its core.


It is certainly all about hope. That's what has been at the root of pretty much anything that has created a better, more humane world for people. Hope for something better. Without hope there is only alienation and despair. Communities can cultivate hope by providing an environment where people no longer feel alienated. They discover that they are not alone in their views and are not "nuts" to think that something better is possible and, in fact, should be.

Over the past while, I've noticed a growing interest on this site in the boarder issues of social and economic justice which, I agree, will be at the core of the reborn movement. I think that this is an indication that more of us are recognizing that workers' oppression is the product of an entire system of social control that has, at its core, the interests of the corporatists. I'm hoping to see more of that and to encourage it. No movement that advances the interests of working people will ever achieve any lasting success if it does not advocate for a change to the economic order.

As for the UFCW, I doubt that its current crop of leaders will be persuaded by anything that members or union reformers in general have to say. What I do see coming down the road which may help reformers within UFCW locals is a great bringing down of the current crop. I think that the Washington crowd will have its Canadian brothers to thank for it. Their self-serving antics of the past two decades are going to bite everyone on the ass as more and more about them becomes known. (I know this is getting way off topic and may be a subject for another thread but I think that the US grocery industry bargaining disasters of the past couple of years have their roots in the concessionary deals that were inked in Canada starting in the early 1990's and those deals are linked to .... the famous CCWIPP.)

Possibly when the large ones run away with their tails between their legs, the ground will become sufficiently unsettled for reformers to make some major advances.

I'm hoping that maybe, just maybe, the outcome of these recent courtroom battles (the MFD case and the Finnamore case, as well as the pension plan fiasco and other great "achievements" will compel the boys in Washington to contemplate whether, between the whole lot of them, the Canadian leaders have the equivalent of a half a working brain.

A read through the pissy letter written by Canadian UFCW Director Mikey Fraser that sent the Finnamore case down the toilet, provides a lot of insight into the mindset of the Canadian leadership. Petty, self-absorbed, pompous, stupid.

The recent statement by Cliff Evans (Fraser's uncle and the guy who many believe still runs the Canadian UFCW) in the
Toronto Star that "union critics" are "using a Toronto Star reporter [who wrote a number of stories about the CCWIPP's bizarre investments] as a pawn to hurt the UFCW" is not only ridiculous (the Star is Canada's largest daily newspaper and the reporter is a seasoned journalist) but is emblematic of the extent to which the Canadian leaders attribute all their union's problems to strange conspiracy theories and enemies lurking in the bushes.

Not only do they refuse to acknowledge that their problems are largely the result of their bad decisions and poor choices but the conspiracy theories inform further bad decisions and poor choices.

In response to LD's post about the fact that the UFCW could have simply used a simple procedure for the resolution of domain disputes rather than dragging the Sigurdurs to court, that's very true. They could have. But this was never about a domain name.

The silly asses at UFCW Canada headquarters engaged in their 5 year campaign against MFD because they believed that the MFD web site was operated by Hugh Finnamore. Sometime in late 2000/early 2001, they got this stupid idea in their heads and they've never let it go. I think they started believing this because around that time MFD posted a couple of articles that he wrote as well as an audio recording of radio interview that he gave early in 2001.

They've actually said that Finnamore runs this web site and despite both Finnamore and MFD stating over and over again that it's not so, they continue to cling to this ridiculous belief. (Remember the fun we had with an affidavit filed by Fraser's Executive Ass, David Watts ? That's the one where Watts swears that dozens of MFD articles and a bunch of forum posts were written by Finnamore when they very obviously were not.)

This misguided belief would explain why they abandoned the negotiations that would have seen the domain address transferred to them 5 years ago and set off on a much nastier campaign which (given the injunction that they asked for) would have prevented any mention of the UFCW on this web site.

I believe that both the Finnamore and MFD lawsuits took as long as they did to get to court because the idiots at International Blvd. (UFCW Canada HQ)hoped to make a deal with Finnamore 9whereby he would agree never to speak of them again) or, failing that, to get a court-imposed gag order that would prevent him from ever "interfering in the business of the UFCW" again. Believing as they did (and still do, IMO) that he runs MFD, this kind of injunction would mean that he'd have to take MFD offline. See? Shut Finnamore down and the MFD site goes down. Great plan - but for one thing: Finnamore wasn't involved in operating this web site, ever.

Anyway, in April of this year the Finnamore case finally got to trial. It didn't go well for the UFCW (I was there). The pissy letter from Mikey Fraser as well as the various smear tactics employed by the UFCW since 2001, seemed to catch the Judge's attention in ways that didn't bode well for the UFCW. When a couple of months went by and there was still no decision, they figured the news wasn't going to be good (if an injunction was warranted, the court would have moved more quickly to issue on). In July they moved for a trial in the MFD case. They hoped that the huge imbalance in resources between them and tMFD would work in their favour. (Their initial time estimate for the trial was 2 hours. MFD's was 2 days - and it took 2 days.) All they got out of it was an order that will not push MFD offline and $100.

These are the guys who are running a union with a quarter million members (in Canada) and making decisions that affect those members' lives in all kinds of ways.

But they are nothing but a bunch of petty lordlings. Fraser himself is the epitome of the snivelling nephew who ends up running the family business into the ground. And that, I suppose, is what is at the root of the Canadian UFCW's problems: The conception of the union as the Evans' family business.

It's been that way now for about 20 years. The truth about what that led to may set a lot of workers free. Again, more cause for hope.

  • posted by siggy
  • Sun, Nov 6, 2005 7:48am

I'm sure others have already thought about this but there's an aspect to this ruling which I think needs to be highlighted - wm pasz eluded to it here ->"Are you shitdisturbers smart enough to figure out what you've won or are you going to lament about a domain address?".

There was every indication and plenty of reason for this entire slapp to be dismissed - that didn't happen. Instead I believe the judge had an opportunity to make a silk purse and did.

Had the SLAPP been dismissed or any other slight of judgement in that direction, it could have and certainly would have given these bullies - and bullies which come after - free range to continue to do what they do.

That gives me "hope" - justice can prevail and that there are believers and social justice seekers in every walk of life.

  • posted by Hugh Finnamore
  • Sun, Nov 6, 2005 10:44am

I attended a meeting in early 2000 with Nick Clark, Assistant General Counsel UFCW International Union, at what was then the Delta Rivers Inn. I was invited by MFD members as an observer. Clark was dispatched to BC to deal with the pesky domain issue. I introduced myself simply as "Hugh".

Clark told the group that any amount of money for transferring the domain was not a problem. The problem lay with the Canadian Locals being upset at the International for paying the MFD even one cent. "You see", he told us, 'the Canadian Locals would view any payment as the International supporting the operation of a dissident group of members." That was the rub, and he didn't know how to get around it.

Anyway, he left the issue with the MFD'ers and he said that he had other business to attend to locally. When the MFD'ers phoned his cell the next day, they found him holidaying on the slopes of Whistler/Blackcombe. It seems money is never an object with the International.

You're all right. It was never about the domain. It was about crushing dissent.

By the looks of it, the UFCW is left standing on the porch staring at its shoe after stamping out the flaming bag of shit that was lit on its doorstep by a bunch of dissidents.

For the MFD it was never about the domain--it was about standing up to a bunch of corrupt shit heads. It was about being able to speak freely about those shit-heads who parade around claiming to be the voice of people who work for a living.

  • posted by press
  • Sun, Nov 6, 2005 11:47am

quote:


posted by weiser:
The Internet is changing things. Individuals can now speak and be heard. People who work for a living can talk to each other and share ideas. They can write to each other instantly. They can see each other on their computer screens. They can speak to each other live or by leaving messages or posting sound files.

The UFCW dorks and all their stupid lawyer antics are driven by FEAR! They are afraid and rightly so.

Crap your pants you bastards. You don't control communication any more. People who work for a living are smart enough to speak for themselves. We don't need sappy songs, we don't need Bro_Ken to tell the world what we think. We can tell the world by ourselves and the UFCW or any other bunch of union dorks can't tell us what to say, when to say it or how to say it. The words that are heard will be our own words.

The MFD site is one of many that have shown the power of perseverance and guts.


I really liked your post weiser, but the issue of 'fear' topped it for me. It's about time that there was a reversal. Many MFDers have had their own personal experiences with isolation and fear when confronting powerful, connected people with deep pockets. There are many people out there still in that situation, but thankfully it seems as if it's starting to get easier. I just got through the script of "The Insider" (a recently recommended movie and I'll second it). It's amazing that this whistleblower story only took place a few years back.

When you are looking for help, and actually find it (example... getting some info/support at MFD), the tables get turned. Your enemy's fear grows exponentially as you plug into the network. Who you know and what you all now know plays on their mind. They fear networked and informed people.

But the biggest difference is something Bill mentioned…

quote:


an online community where honesty, integrity and truth were their cornerstones


Internet communication has changed the game and the 'isolation' part is out of the equation for those joining the 'community'. You cannot compete with a foundation like that when you're part of a system built on greed and deceit. You have no one to trust… never really did… but only now do these people get to realize who true ‘isolation' and ‘fear' feel like.

It's about time.

  • posted by yankeebythewater
  • Sun, Nov 6, 2005 8:33pm

Congratulations to the Mother and Son!

A job well done!

You have had an uphilled battle, the roads that were once filled of rocks, have now been laced with gravel.

Pavement, is on the way.

  • posted by Labatt Buster
  • Mon, Nov 7, 2005 1:28am

MfD Rules!!! -

As one who has enjoyed unwavering support from the administrators/moderators of this web forum (as well as numerous other contributors), I too offer my hearty congratulations to siGGy and sleK for a job well-done.

I'll never forget how, earlier this year, MfD resolutely stood up on my behalf when my union's legal representatives sought to have me banished from the web forum with threats of legal action.

That kind of dedication to free speech is what sets MfD apart from other sites that likewise purport to foster open discussion of important subject matter (and you folks at rabble.ca know who you are).

God bless MfD and all its adherents. This train keeps arollin'.

  • posted by BillPearson
  • Mon, Nov 7, 2005 10:34am

quote:


The problem lay with the Canadian Locals being upset at the International for paying the MFD even one cent. "You see", he told us, 'the Canadian Locals would view any payment as the International supporting the operation of a dissident group of members." That was the rub, and he didn't know how to get around it.


Amazing commentary when you consider the UFCW may have hundreds of thousands of dollars tied up in the pursuit of this frivolous suit. I wonder what locals or international (Canadian or American) bore the costs? I guess it doesn't matter, ultimately it came from the members percapita. Just once it would be nice to see these fools make decisions with their own money on the line.

This thread and the one on Cliff are very telling. Whenever we gathered, the Canadians were like gods in the eyes of the Americans. Their stories were embellished to the point we drooled over how well they were doing. They hadn't suffered an iota of what we were going through in the US...or at least so it seemed.

As i began reading the stories on MFD i was stunned. Could it possibly be true elections being stolen? Workers being dealt off in trades that netted the UFCW more members at any price? Were leaders really doing pension and training fund deals that enhanced themselves? Was the International constitution a mere rag that was to be ignored as elections for officers and shady local union creations and mergers avoided the rules set forth in DC? Was it possible the leadership would authorise contracts without membership approval?

When i first saw the lawsuit i assumed they were suing MFD for the lies and the accusations. Ha, not even close. This was about the repression of truth, and is/was the same tact used against REAP. Shoot the messenger rather than deal with the abusers and the abuses. Shameful.

My hope is, the boys reading this from the international will one day look in the mirror and come to understand, the failures and the faults we have of our own making. Ignoring the problems within has caused us serious problems that we may never overcome. Allowing the greedy bastards who have sucked us dry to continue on has put us on the brink of extinction. You can blame me, you can blame REAP and you can blame MFD; sadly, until you correct the abuses within and put the blame where it belongs, it's just more of the same old shit.

Take a hard look at what you have become boys. This lawsuit is just one of a hundred examples of the stupidity that has brought us to the depths we are at.

  • posted by siggy
  • Mon, Nov 7, 2005 8:11pm

quote:


I wonder what locals or international (Canadian or American) bore the costs? I guess it doesn't matter, ultimately it came from the members percapita.


Some of which - me being a ufcw member in good standing - were mine. Some kind of funky eh - they sued me on behalf of - me. yeah, ya' just gotta' love ufcw.

  • posted by BillPearson
  • Tue, Nov 8, 2005 5:22pm

I don't know why, but this thread and the court case has left me itching to cross examine the boys. Wouldn't it be a hoot if they were forced to come to this site and answer questions about their greed, gluttony or stupid decisons.

Just for the hell of it (and because we can) lets call the court to order and start grilling them; wennies that they are.

I'll get the ball rolling with one of the million Q's i have for them: So, Mr. Doug Dority how in the world can you justify a $500,000.00 plus retirement bonus after leading one of the most inept strike support efforts ever in the history of organized labor ? BTW, please don't mumble, and by all means don't spew that crap how we won...not even your speech writers bought that load of happy horseshit.

To help make it easier for them, please bold your questions. Feel free to add as much rhetoric and hyperbole as you feel you need to make your point.

  • posted by siggy
  • Tue, Nov 8, 2005 6:14pm



Mr. Dority, are you aware that some UFCW affiliate Locals are undemocratic, that they practice nepotism and some have been seen absconding with the ballot box? Mr. Dority, can you tell us where you were and what you were doing at the time these crimes were being committed?

  • posted by BillPearson
  • Tue, Nov 8, 2005 8:26pm

quote:


Mr. Dority, can you tell us where you were and what you were doing at the time these crimes were being committed?


Shit Siggy, ya'r giving Doug way too mcuh credit, i doubt he even knew there was an election at 1518. However, there are folks roaming the halls of the courtroom waiting their turn, so lets ask them...hey yo, Brooke, ya you you president Sundin: Do you know what happened to those ballots and the box that went begging a couple of years back?

Might be nice if a couple of the folks who worked their ass off in that campaign stepped up and filled in the blanks on this one. See, the point is we can haul anyone we want up here for some straight forward no bullshit questions.

  • posted by press
  • Tue, Nov 8, 2005 9:01pm

Hey Bill can I play too??

Ok gentlemen... the category is Film.

From which film do these sound clips come from...

sound clip A

sound clip B

sound clip C

sound clip D

sound clip E

This is an 'open-book' style test. You can discuss the clips with each other.

  • posted by siggy
  • Tue, Nov 8, 2005 9:04pm

I object BP - Mr. Dirty was aware of an election and aware of allegations of missing ballots. I have here exhibit A, a shitload of letters from members addressed to president Dority.

  • posted by siggy
  • Wed, Nov 9, 2005 7:29am

I think Clip C is from the Ieradi Files.

Clip D is for sure Bedtime for Bonzos.

In this scene - after hearing his uncle gawdcliffe's bedtime stories - young Fraser experiences recurring nightmares and cries out but there's no-one there.

  • posted by Steel Trap
  • Thu, Nov 10, 2005 12:02am

Now that my vacation is over, I can post again.

Congrats! from all of us at USW 6520.

  • posted by remote viewer
  • Sun, Dec 18, 2005 6:20am

It's finally here and just in time for the holidays! The written reasons in the domain dispute case called United Food and Commercial Workers International Union v. Members for Democracy.

The judgment.

  • posted by siggy
  • Sun, Dec 18, 2005 1:33pm

quote:


It's finally here and just in time for the holidays!


A favourite quote included in the RfJ. pkg. deliver'd to my door from bob and co.;

"In accordance with Honourable Madam Justice Beames' Order we demand payment of the $100.00, awarded as damages, forthwith."

Do you want fries with that?

  • posted by sheila
  • Sun, Dec 18, 2005 2:31pm

I just read the judgment. Basically MFD was
successful. MFD can still use the 'ufcw' acronym
as part of its domain name. Congratulations!

Oh the union wants its $100.00? That's hilarious!!!

  • posted by weiser
  • Mon, Dec 19, 2005 8:09am

And Boutique Bob tries to 'spain to John Boy how this was a win for his cousin Stick Man and Daddy Brown Shoes, but the words just don't sound right.

Ah, but not to worry, the "Gang That Couldn't Sue Straight" will hatch another stupid plan and thereby have more work for Boutique Bob.

This should make Boutique Bob famous--but in ways that he may not be entirely comfortable with.

  • posted by remote viewer
  • Mon, Dec 19, 2005 8:47am

quote:


Oh the union wants its $100.00? That's hilarious!!!


Oh yeah! I was wondering if they were going to demand payment or just quietly go away with their tails between their legs about their not-so-impressive victory. These guys have no shame.

But hey, a C-note is a C-note. UFCW Canada can buy some important stuff with $100.00. A Canadian Director could buy...oh let's see now...two 40 ouncers!

Any other guesses as what uses siggy's C-note might be put to.

  • posted by atuuschaaw
  • Mon, Dec 19, 2005 9:10am

quote:


Any other guesses as what uses siggy's C-note might be put to.


Oh no they won't spend it! In their warped sense of importance, they'll frame it, place it on a pedestal in the middle of the floor, and then gather all their wannabes together, form them into a circle, and demand them to jerk or else become the pivot man in it's place! :

  • posted by weiser
  • Mon, Dec 19, 2005 9:19am

Hey, Stick Boy met his match. The closer he go to MFD, the more he looked like an ash.

The 40-pounders would only make Stick Boy more flamable. He might gain some weight if he ran around a bit less.

The MFD burns brighter and its beauty illuminates the dark corners of union officialdom.

  • posted by sheila
  • Mon, Dec 19, 2005 11:17am

RV -yah, I think that's about right. $100.00 could
buy two 40 ouncers (hahah!!).

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