To the Membership of the new Local 591
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I ask you to consider.
There has been some discussion among other nominees for union offices and they are even using it as their platform. That somehow because some of the candidates on my team have had past associations with Don Videtich that we are nothing more than subordinate, or some kind of lackey. They have even labeled us to be on his team. To me this is offensive; they want to engage the negative campaign which our team will not engage in. What they fail to understand is that because my team will have been elected by the membership, we hold a position of strength that is subordinate only to the membership. These people think it is a weakness to have a working relationship with the International, however, in my judgment, it is strength.
I do not deny my past working relationships to Videtich and other people in the International.
Our working together in the past and in the future should I have the honor of serving as you President, helps me to avoid an adversarial relationship and preconceived notions others may have about the man and the organization. This knowledge helps me to have a better working relationship which will help me to be better able to obtain the goals of the membership. As a result, I will be able to avoid the conflict, paralysis and chaos that has occurred and has resulted in the parties’ inability to work together, the consequence of which has been, lost opportunities for the membership. The men on my team do not deny their relationships with Videtich for the same reasons.
For me, and members of my team, to deny this would be a lie to the membership and I refuse to be anything but honest.
We worked together on many projects including self determination which started with something as simple as printing Aircraft Maintenance T shirts out of Local 513. We worked that project all the way through to charters for new line maintenance locals. We built Local 565, everything from looking at buildings, buying chairs, pencils and desks all the way to grievance tracker programs, email communications, steward meetings and training. Not to mention a number of arbitration cases which we worked together on to put unjust actions by the company right. Another heavy project was the lawsuit American filed for the “work safe” program which resulted in the opening of Love Field and some class 2 stations which remain open to this day. We defended that lawsuit which resulted the TRO being dropped. Another large project was the 2001 CBA which resulted in big increases in all areas of compensation. Many want to say the reason we got these increases was due to NWA’s CBA with AMFA. While this is partially true, there is still all the preparation and then the actual forming of the CBA as it relates to our membership. All this took place in BNA which in itself was a monumental task of moving everyone and everything that had to do with negotiations to an area off site, all the while still taking care of the day to day running of the local. Granted, these projects all occurred in the past, but I have maintained a genial relationship even though there have been no projects. I do not list them as some kind of list of successes but more as proof of existence of a successful working relationship.
Members of my team have also worked closely with Videtich on several projects. Mike Garcia worked on 29d arbitration cases in the recent past that pertained to fleet service scope and work units. Mike successfully prepared and presented these cases and was required to have a working relationship with Videtich and others in the International. Kerry Curtis a leader in the field of EAP set up one of the best, most highly regarded EAP programs working closely with the International and Videtich while in Local office. Doug Cohen worked on a Safety program to protect the members while at work; this was a close working relationship with Videtich. His passion for Safety far exceeds any level the company could ever hope to achieve.
I believe that to continue the “slash and burn” approach that exists with today’s leadership and those also running for offices, means to continue with more of the mediocrity and failure we have come to know from our representation. These so called leaders openly criticize the organization and Videtich himself. As I have asked before, who does this serve?
Many people want to believe the failures of the TWU rests solely with Videtich or others within the International hierarchy, never with themselves. Every one of those that were involved is responsible for the reprehensible mess we have today, yet they are running for office asking you to vote for them. They even run on a platform of despising the very people and organization they have to work with and within. What is the motivation for this? How can there be a positive outcome? They want to place blame everywhere but where it belongs and claim zero accountability. We see this with our government, our corporations, but we don’t have to accept it from our elected union leadership and we shouldn’t.
You will have a ballot to vote with. I ask that you think about our futures, think hard about what has happened. Think about your own value system and how it relates to accountability. I ask you to choose wisely. Do you want more of the same? Is this getting you what you want? Or do you want to see changes occur that will set a course towards positive outcome. If you want a positive outcome, then I ask you to place your vote for my team.
My Team:
Nick Soldevere - President
Mike Garcia - Vice President
Mike Hatfield - Financial Secretary Treasurer
Kerry Curtis - Recording Secretary
Tony Bernal - Title II Executive Board
Noel Padilla - Vice President Southeastern Region
Doug Cohen - Vice President Southwestern Region
Andy Goldschmidt - Vice President Western Region
Fraternally Yours,
Nick Soldevere
“The leader of genius must have the ability to make different opponents appear as if they belonged to one category.” - Adolf Hitler
