How We Got Our Mailslots: Free Speech and Organizing at the Library of Congress

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)As unions battle with employers over communicating with members via email, Facebook and other instantaneous communications tools, a battle by union organizers at the Library of Congress over “desk drops” nearly 40 years ago is a fascinating lesson in how some things never change. In 1976, the newly-formed Library of Congress Professional Guild, AFSCME Local 2910, was negotiating its first contract and “urgently needed to communicate to employees who would be working under the terms of that contract,” writes Local 2910 Chief Steward Nan Thompson Ernst. The union decided to distribute newsletters and flyers at the desks of Library employees in the bargaining unit, a method of distribution known as the “desk drop” widely used by other employee organizations and clubs. When one of the early officers of the Guild, Cynthia (“Cinder”) Johanson was kicked out by Library security while doing a desk drop, the Guild launched a free speech campaign that included 300 turning out for a rally outside the Library of Congress where ACLU Associate Director J. Miller said “I am speechless that the greatest library in the world would restrict its employees’ freedom of speech!” The Guild also launched a legal campaign but when a ruling came down that the Library had to permit the Guild to distribute literature if it permitted other employee organizations to do so, the Library banned all organizations from doing desk drops. After several years, however, a compromise was reached that provided Library employees with individual mailslots where they could receive literature from the Guild and others. It was just the beginning, says  Thompson Ernst, of “the tremendous gains of the last thirty years” by Local 2910 that includes flexible schedules, merit employment, grievance procedures and alternative dispute resolution, professional development, transit fare subsidy, credit hours, telework, leave bank, and many other provisions. Despite nearly 40 years of progress, the Guild notes that it’s kept fighting for basic rights, such as recent battles defending its right to official time for union representational activity, advocating for health and safety, preserving the confidentiality of employees who seek assistance and information from the Guild, and the right of employees to assist the Guild without fear of penalty. The union is also closely following recent attempts to eliminate public-sector union rights as well as legislation introduced during the current Congress to eliminate official time for federal-sector unions. “And so the struggle continues,” says Thompson Ernst, “as each generation of Library employees is called upon to find its voice and make a difference.” -  excerpted from a longer version circulated via email on the Guild's 30th anniversary in 2006.