| Signs of Strength | Danger Signs | |
|---|---|---|
| Democratic Procedures | Members vote on contract proposals, settlements, arbitration, strikes, and dues. Frequent election of local and national officers; ability to recall both. | Staff or national union make decisions on local contracts, grievances, strikes, and dues. Infrequent union elections. |
| Financial Integrity | Members always have access to local and national financial records. Officer salaries equivalent to workers’ pay. No financial rewards for being a union officer. | Finances kept secret from members. Officers and staff receive pay much higher than members’ wages, plus fat expense accounts. |
| Aggressive Struggle | Recognizes that it takes a fight with employers to make gains for members. | Officers believe that they must “co-operate” with employers to get anything for members. |
| Education | Members, stewards and officers receive training from national union to help them run their own effective locals. | Staff withhold from local leaders knowledge of how to do things for themselves, keeping them dependent on staff for basic operation of the union. |
| Organizing | Believes that organizing benefits all workers. Spends a significant portion of its funds on organizing. Involves members. | Views unorganized workers as rivals. Doesn’t try to organize workers or spends very little on this endeavor. |
| Worker Solidarity | Believes in solidarity of workers, here and abroad. | Treats non-union and foreign workers as the enemy. |
| Political Action | Fights on issues that benefit all workers, and is not tied to any one political party. | Continues to support the Democratic Party, even when workers get hurt. |
| Role of Staff | Assist locals in struggle and in building democratic, rank-and-file unionism. | Staff attempt to run, or actually run, the union. Sees democracy as a hindrance to getting things done. |