(The Kansas City Star published the following story by Randolph Heaster on its website on August 14.)
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Bridgette Williams has been re-elected president of the Greater Kansas City AFL-CIO, but her opponent said the results will be challenged.
In an election held Tuesday evening at the union hall of Firefighters Local 42, Williams edged Chere Chaney by slightly more than 1,000 votes — 9,290 to 8,248. Delegates representing members of various union locals affiliated with the labor council were eligible to vote.
Chaney’s candidacy gained momentum last month when several big union locals that previously had left the labor council rejoined to support her. But the national AFL-CIO ruled that those locals could only have one-twelfth the voting strength in the election, based on paid members.
Following the election, Williams said she would reach out to the leaders of the unions that recently rejoined the council. Those included Teamsters Locals 41 and 541, Service Employees International Union Local 96, Sheet Metal Workers Local 2, Roofers Local 20 and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 124.
“The goal now is to move forward and start contacting the locals that had left the council and try to unify this labor community,” said Williams, who was re-elected to a four-year term. “It’s really time to build on our principles and not on personalities.”
The election’s outcome may have hinged on a ruling that went against the United Auto Workers union, which supported Chaney and had rejoined the labor council with 12,500 members. Under the one-twelfth rule, that would have given the UAW 1,042 votes for Chaney.
However, it was ruled that the union’s regional umbrella organization, and not the various individual UAW locals, had rejoined the Greater Kansas City AFL-CIO. That gave the UAW just one vote, Williams said.
Chaney said that decision will be appealed to the national AFL-CIO.
“That UAW wasn’t allowed to vote its members,” said Chaney, past president of Communications Workers of America Local 6450. “The labor council violated its own constitution and by-laws. The whole process was chaotic, undemocratic and not worthy of the union movement.”
Williams said a representative from the national AFL-CIO monitored the election to ensure objectivity.
While Chaney and her supporters appeal the election outcome, Williams, who has headed the council since 1997, said she will try to help heal divisions.
“I like doing what I do; I think I’m good at what I do, and we’ve got a lot of work to do,” she said. “It’s time to put aside differences and develop an active working relationship to bridge the gap.”