See also: Internal War Flares
Nader Defense Case

The following article is an update of the trial of David Johnson, Vice President and Cope Director of the Champaign County Central Labor Council who is a rank and file Carpenter. Brother Johnson was brought up on charges by a local Business Agent for the Plumbers and Steamfitters union for making a personal, public statement supporting Ralph Nader in the presidential elections.

On January 17, Brother Johnson was found guilty and was censured by the AFL-CIO, the least punishment afforded in the trial procedures, but a grave injustice for an innocent member. Due to the dynamics of the trial and the political ramifications, the article will be posted in segments to provide the most accurate accounting of this both tragic and inspiring event. It was my privilege and honor to co-represent Brother Johnson at his trial as a fellow union member and Co-Director of the WarZone Education Foundation.

The issue began this past November before the presidential elections, when a local reporter at the Green Party headquarters in Champaign IL, asked Brother Dave Johnson why he would vote for Nader. After making it clear he was not speaking on behalf of any AFL-CIO organization, he lauded Nader’s positions on labor. When the article appeared in the paper, the disclaimer was not published and when Johnson complained to the reporter, the paper did not make amends.

A few days prior to the vote, at a fundraiser for the Independent Media Center and the Greens Party, Dave was asked to speak and again made it clear, it was only a personal opinion and he was not speaking on behalf of any union organization. A portion of video was shown on a local television station. A fellow delegate to the council, Steve Brewer, who is a business agent for the pipefitters, filed charges against Brother Johnson.

In the weeks that followed, as the story broke via the Internet and labor media, widespread support developed for Brother Johnson and letters of support poured in. The publicity surrounding a normally secret, controlled, and archaic AFL-CIO disciplinary mechanism, began to change the dynamics of the typical “Kangaroo Court”, known to many of us in labor.

Brother Johnson sought the assistance of the WarZone Foundation and the services of Jude and Eric Redwood, a Champaign attorney and her Paralegal husband, who spend much of their energies defending the poor.

After the charges were filed, information trickled in that convinced us that the charges may have been conceived by more than one individual and possibly by a group that led an effort to overturn the election of the Central Labor Council Executive Board early last year. That election contest resulted in the same officers being re-elected by a wider margin.

As we prepared for the trial, Brother Johnson made the decision that I would represent him as a fellow member in the AFL-CIO portion, and the Redwoods would represent his constitutional protections. We were concerned that his attorney would not be permitted in the trial. We assembled a strategy, a sizeable list of witnesses and discussed at length what we knew were givens, mainly, that in spite of the fact that we could prove he gave the appropriate disclaimers, and in spite of the support he had from some of the council officers, he would be found guilty. A few days before the trial we learned that the national AFL-CIO was sending in their State Director, Mike Klein.

Brother Johnson and I arrived at the Carpenter’s hall early and set up tables for the trial and a large number of chairs for the gallery; as we anticipated supporters from the community and from his local. We were surprised by the large turnout that filled the main hall by the 5PM trial time. We were certain they would not allow spectators to view the proceedings and were not surprised when no board members came into the hall but appeared to be gathering in a room near the entrance.

As our defense team gathered at a front table, the Executive Board met for 45 minutes after the trial starting time in what must have been a tense session on how to handle a situation they were not prepared for; then Klein approached us. The trial would not be held in public. We objected and questioned his authority to make that decision and to be present at the trial.

We thanked the gallery and asked the witness to remain and told supporters they were welcome to stay in the main hall and explained that the proceedings were being moved behind closed doors.

That announcement raised suspicions and objections and Klein spent the next 15 minutes in a fruitless explanation to an angry crowd of bright and enthusiastic supporters. We were allowed to take the entire defense team and delegates from the council who came to support Brother Johnson into the trial.

The crowd consisted of local activists from the community, labor television from Champaign and St Louis, teachers from the University of Illinois, union members, many young members of the Green Party, and even a local businessman who witnessed Dave’s disclaimer. We have no doubt this large support group was key in the effort being made to allow Dave full representation and make the trial appear fair and ultimately, the light sentence, no matter how unfair.

The Dog and Pony Show had begun! What had started as charges against an honest union member who mistakenly believed he had freedom of speech, had now transformed into the trial of union democracy and the House of Labor.

With the outcome of the trial already known to us in advance, including the likely punishment, it was as if the trial itself was no more than another twisted road we were prepared to walk. The AFL-CIO had to have their pound of flesh, or others might believe that union democracy was real, that somehow, the US constitution and free speech was part of our precious union.

To be continued: Part 2: The Classroom, subject: Unionism 101