Members are the supreme authority, Thats why we elect members to direct the international.
There you go lying again.
Show me where the membership is the supreme authority in the TWU.
They may be the "supreme authority" at local meetings, one day per month, but thats it. The Constitution grants the Local E-board authority in between. And that E-board is subordinate to the International, not the members.
The fact is that nowhere in the Constitutution does it say that the membership or the local has any authority over the International. In fact the Constitution repreatedly cites the authority of the International. Several court cases have proven this is the case and even the International has testified to that.
When you Bob and others fail to represent honestly and true to the oath, the system fails.
When the membership takes massive benifit and wage cuts the system has failed for them, however with the TWU the members do not really matter now do they, unless of course there is the possibility of a representational election. The International gave themselves raises while threatening us into taking paycuts. The threats from the TWU were even more outrageous than the threats from the company.(The company might liquidate-Jim Little). The TWU had us give "more than adequate" concessions, in other words we gave up more than we should have, so while we gave up more than we should have the TWU didnt even give up their $3.1 million kickback from the company.
And as for the oath, who is the oath, that an elected officer takes, made to? Are the members even mentioned in the oath? The International is. In their verdict from the kangaroo court the TWU International said that if a local officer puts his members interests ahead of the six figure earning International that he is violating his oath.
The amfa wannabes have been preaching the darkside for so long they fail to see the damage you have caused. If anything Bob, you should be able to have enough intelligence to see the damage you and the likes are causing in the industry! The track record is their, open your eyes and you will see it!
The damage I caused to this industry? Please, be specific.
Anyone advocating going to an organization that outsources from the top is nothing to be proud of. I would not be surprised to see MAG farming bookkeeping work to India soon!
Instead what they should do is have incompetant political appointees in all those administrative positions like the TWU? Positions used to buy loyalty to the administration instead of having people accountable to the members?
Members are the supreme authority! They elect members to represent their interests with the International, in turn elect members to the international during the convention!
There you go again. Look at the oath again.
If you look at the oath, and the Internationals interpretation of that oath as described in their verdict it is clear that Local officers, even though they are elected by the members, are in fact bound to the International.
According to the oath, they dont represent the members interests to the International, they represent the Internationals interests to the members. If you look at the Schalk case, he was removed from office because he would not sign and distribute a letter written by the International to the members. The members made no call for such a letter, the International did. So its clear that Chuck was removed for refusing to represent the International interests when he was in fact representing his members interests.
If I understand, you do not even trust your own vote! Thats pathetic!!!!
Once again, you fail to understand.
Bob during the last convention, did you have a vote at the local to see who you were to vote for during the convention?
No
Or did the membership elect someone to represent them and make a conscious decision in their best interest? It almost sounds like you are afraid to make a stance for the members best interest!
Obviously I'm not afraid to take such a stance. Unlike you I come out clearly with who I am and where I stand. How can you say that the Convention process that the TWU has is effective? Your patronizing attitude towards the membership about deterimining what is "in their best interests" is despicable. The fact is that even though the members choose thier local leaders it does not mean that those leaders should enjoy the power to make such determinations and not reveal how or why they voted one way or the other. Especially when those Local leaders have taken an oath to the International and not to them as a condition of going into office. Especially when the International is known to reward obeidient local leaders with six figure earning International spots.
There is no process in place for members to determine how delegates vote. They have no means to prove one way or the other how they vote. In fact there is no means in place for anyone to determine exactly how most votes went and what the actual results were since the determining factor for most of the votes is the opinion of who the chair felt yelled the loudest. In fact at one point during the Convention when some delegates questioned Halls determination Hall stated that He determined the vote and that if they ever got to his position that they could determine the vote.
"The system fails?" No ####! This system, that we call the TWU is designed to fail the members. Its nothing but a business meant to supply cheap labor to companies while eliminating the threat of a more militant, real union, from the AFL-CIO from coming in.
Damage to the Industry? Are you inplying that AMFAs success at raising the prevailing wage has "damaged" the industry? Has screwed up the TWUs plans to lower wages in exchange for more dues payers? I'll agree that the TWU has given "the Industry" tremendous help by lowering labor costs, but the TWU is not supposed to be an advocate for the Industry, they already have the ATA and other organizations for that, the TWU is supposed to represent the interests of those who pay dues. I doubt that the vast majority of dues payers to the TWU think that they should pay dues to an organization that is more concerned about growing and helping the "industry" instead of getting them better pay and benifits.