1550 Lapso v. UAW Ford Dept.

Appellants argued that there was not adequate time to inform the membership of Local 1250 about the amendments and the procedures for ratification and that some members may not have voted because the ratification vote coincided with a scheduled layoff in the plants represented by Local Union 1250. The ratification of the tentative agreement nationally by a very narrow margin was well-publicized. The fact that Local 1250’s approval of the amendment by a margin of 63 percent tipped the balance in favor of approval nationally would have been apparent to the members of Local 1250. If a substantial number of active members opposed to ratification of the amendment believed that their voices had been silenced by the circumstances at Local 1250, some of them would have objected. Yet, no active member of Local 1250 joined in this appeal. This record supports the conclusion that the membership accepted the process and the result.