Last month, a newspaper in Baltimore published an article by one Van Smith noting the historically checkered record of International Longshoremen's Association Local 333. In addition to having one heck of a lot of felons in their ranks, they hold incredible "fundraisers".
As you can imagine, the publication of lines such as "Tillman and Jackson are arguably two of the most enduring names in the modern annals of Baltimore crime. And both are members of Local 333." hasn't especially endeared the author nor the publisher to the brothers of 333.
And so it was that a couple of days ago, the brothers turned out in force; staging a picketing demonstration on the sidewalk in front of the newspaper offices, they demanded, among other things, the "resonation" of the reporter, Van Smith. For such reasons was the concept of using "card check", rather than the secret ballot, to "organize brothers and sisters" born.