Union Sues Member for Posting Constitution on Web

Retail Worker retail_worker at yahoo.com
Tue Feb 26 13:41:29 PST 2002


The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union has joined with UFCW Canada and UFCW Local 777 in a lawsuit charging a grocery clerk with copyright infringement for posting the union's constitution on the Web.

In a move reminiscent of the Church of Scientology's prosecution of critics who published internal church documents on the internet, the UFCW is also seeking a gag order against the clerk, William Gammert. The gag order seeks to censor or shut down his site while the lawsuit is pending.

The UFCW is also suing over alleged defamatory comments about Local 777 and its president, Gib Whitlock, on Gammert's Web site. On the site, Gammert referred to the UFCW as "the United Fraud and Corruption Workers" and questioned whether Whitlock's compensation arrangement amounted to bribery. The suit also tries to hold Gammert responsible for comments posted to his site's guest book.

Gammert, a part-time clerk who earns $7/hr, is seeking pro bono legal assistance.

Text of the lawsuit: http://www.ufcw.net/files/pdf/williams_writ.pdf

Gammert's Web site: http://www.geocities.com/ufcw777

Source of this article: http://www.retailworker.com

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