If you voted yes then you did it. You are just as guilty as any other yes voter.Checking it Out said:Bob, you make it sound as if I did it all? You have the same power as I, one vote. I made my decision based on the documentation that was supplied by all the resources available at the time. Specialist were retained and everyone said the same thing. The membership voted to except the agreement.
At what cost is Amfa increasing the power of your license? If they had any power they would be threatening to strike over the members on layoff at NW, instead they are putting the eggs in one basket and have shoved them under a rock.
It would be nice to collect 6 figures from AA but that is not the case, you make more for many years. Only difference is, I have paid out of my own pocket to purchase the computer and have written the majority of the time on these boards on my own time. I believe in what I am doing and know corporate Amfa is not the way to go, If nothing else the power you will be losing and the amount of layoffs at the airline Amfa is representing should make you think about the reasons you are supporting them. Jim did not choose me to do anything! I made the commitment to participate on my own. I think you are a little confused who I might be?
When a leader fails to represent the members as several have done in the past, they need to be man enough to step aside and allow someone else to continue. In your case you were so ate up in not believing you lost sight of why you took the oath to help the membership. You and others in an elected position at one time should have stepped up and supported the institution you took an oath to uphold. Instead you choose to degrade the institute and blame everyone else. It is the responsibility of a president or treasurer to portray an image. And do the right thing even though you did not agree with a decission.. It is easy to blame the International; you know many will still blame the amfa national if they were to win an election, when in reality the only person to blame is yourself.
Look at the difference in Tulsa vs. AFW or JFK? In Tulsa the TWU leadership takes the lead in the decision-making and takes the lead IN THE FAILURES. Unlike The other two stations, they take credit where credit is due and blame someone else when it fails. The card count shows this. And it is evident no matter where you go in the system, the Local is only as good as the leaders, and the members allow them to be. You know As well as I do if you have a weak President or even a shop steward for that fact, Amfa is successful at getting cards signed. I have seen this in areas thru-out the Tulsa base. It's interesting watching the movement of personal. It has always been a known fact in hanger 3 certain docks were hard Amfa supporters, now the members have moved around, the support has diminished in hanger 3 and increased in the Cam Building. Andthe membership signing cards has diminished greatly. Even though we have a weak President. The other officers and members have stepped up and taken up the slack. That is because the members believe in what they are doing. And not everyone is going to agree on everything all the time.
Amfa is not the way to go and I believe you understand this, amfa has to many what ifs and AA membership will suffer greatly in the short term.
All the resources available at the time? Do you mean Eclat, the same company that AA used to make the presentation to the unions highlighting the company's difficulties?
AMFA is pursueing their grievance. What ever happened to our Grievance? Little said at the Convention that "We will win the Grievance but bankrupt the company". Is that when all of this started?
Post on your own time on your own computer? Big deal so does everyone else.
Who are you then?
When elected leaders fail to represent their members the members can vote them out. Over 90% of our members voted no, I would say that I represented them.
So ate up in not believing? What do you think this is some type of cult? For over 20 years this union has led the industry in concessions. Maybe you dont feel it because you probably still live well. Tulsa is one of the cheapest places in the country to live. We have people with many years walking in and quitting because out here this is not a good wage for people of our skill level. What exactly is it that you think I should believe in? That we should all happily accept a continued decline in our standard of living because unelected unaccountable officials who are not sharing in the concessions tell us to?
You accuse me of blaming everyone else for our failures. So you admit that this agreement is a failure. A failure that was promoted by our International through a mailout, a one sided mailout that did not offer the members any alternate plan other than accepting the companys demands down to the last penny. Where was the leadership that told us how we could fight this? Why didnt these unaccountable, appointed leaders take the same paycuts?
I took this job to represent the people who elected me not to blindly follow cowardly idiots like Sonny Hall and Jim Little as they destroy our careers. As they lead us into the slaughterhouse telling us that it will go easier if we do not resist. If we are going to give the company what they want then why do we need a union? So guys like you can walk around feeling important? So you can get the minority of guys who get into trouble off the hook?
My responsibility as an elected official is to represent the people who put me there, not to be a front man for people that our members can not vote out. If I am there to serve the International then why dont we simply do away with all the elections and let the International appoint Local "leaders"?
The difference between Tulsa and JFK, go ahead and look. There is more division in Tulsa than JFK. As I said over 90% of us voted NO, thats a pretty united group. Even more have filled out cards for AMFA. What was the spread in TULSA? If only we had the money and the addresses then we could have sent our message to every members home in Tulsa to balance out what the company, I mean union, what the heck not much difference now is there, then maybe we would not have been stuck with this agreement.
Who should we blame for this agreement? The people who voted YES or the people who voted NO?
How do you charectize a strong steward? Someone who says "they can do that" and "We better vote yes and give away everything that was gained over the last 50 years because we dont want to fight" and then gets tough by threatening someone if they sign a card? The fact is that weak leaders at the top and at Locals like 514 set back the labor movement 50 years. In the past people struck to get 50cents but you guys voted to give away everything with out any fight whatsoever. You are not a "union man". No union man would ever agree to what we agreed to. From what you post,you apparently are simply a cult member who believes that we are here to serve Sonny Hall.
Sonny Hall is not a King. He is supposed to work for and be answerable to us, after all we pay him, not the other way around. I never lost sight of the fact that the Locals money came from the members. I believe that Sonny Hall, after 50 years of getting checks from AA has lost sight of who he is supposed to represent. Too much hobnobbing with the suits.
Tell me why Sonny Hall will not attend the NYC Labor Day parade but as a board member of the arthritus foundation he will present awards to a member of management at NYC Transit that has a reputation for being extremely hostile to the Union?
Why is it that Sonny feels very comfortable with management but avoids any chance to meet with his members?
Why were there more members of management at Koziateks party than members? Koziatek would not face the members either.
I dont hate the TWU, I hate what people like Sonny Hall, Jim Little and all the other self serving cowards that have conived and schemed their way off the shop floor and into positions of power within our union have done to it. I hate the fact that they expect us to just accept declining standards of living while they reap huge rewards for themselves.
I hate that any criticism of their policies that they form without the consent or approval of the membership is considered treason. They are the ones who have betrayed the Constitution. They are the ones who resist reasonable demands from the members for some measure of accountability.
Why wont they even put in an accountable voting method at the Convention?
Why does it take more than two years to release the minutes of the Convention?
Why does Sonny press charges and then refuse to testify as to how he determined that charges were in order?
You may accept Sonny as you "better". Someone to entrust your well being to but I dont. In fact I think he is a thug. If we cant get rid of Sonny, Little et al then we still have other options.
The certainties of the TWU, based upon its performance over the last twenty years make "what ifs" very attractive. "What ifs" at least offer hope. What does the TWU offer? More of what we have seen for the last 20 years?
Down there in Tulsa the bow is still high out of the water. Those of us down near the water line see things differently. You can take your chances by saying how much safer we are on this sinking ship, I'll take mine on the lifeboat.
The TWUs extreme reaction to criticism and refusal to change leaves us with few options. Accept a continuation where we constantly lose or just leave.
You are one of those who always said "Get involved" , well I did, the International's reaction shows me that they are completely out of touch with the members, the Emporer has no cloths, and those who tell him are traitors. Its time to leave.
Like I said before, the "what ifs" are better than what Sonny, Little and the other flunkies have to offer.