[If only William Gammert had someone to stick up for his rights... Like a worker-formed collective organized for mutual interest that could stand up to the authorites and defend his right to be free from oppression! :) Anyway, the Subject: line is a little misleading. The lawsuit is not just about posting the union's constitution but also defamation and breach of contract. Also, it looks like the lawsuit was filed last year; it's unclear what has happened since. I invite UFCW to reply. --Declan] --- From: lapalmeat_private To: declanat_private Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2002 15:39:19 -0500 Subject: Fwd - spelling corrected (oops)- Union sues member for posting constitution on the web The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union has joined with UFCW Canada and 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 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if you include this notice. Declan McCullagh's photographs are at http://www.mccullagh.org/ To subscribe to Politech: http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------
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