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Where is my union? We team members in Trucks are dying out there! They are working us to death and nobody notices. Six days a week, nine hours a day, and now they have reduced our takt time [the time you have to perform your job]. And they wonder why people have attitudes.
It must not be election time or I'm sure I would have found a union official by now.
Disgruntled
It is an irony of life that those whom we expect or trust to pursue and defend our cause are always the ones back-stabbing us. If not, why would some top union members want to try and shut down "The Barking Dog"?
This is a newsletter that we all should seek to embrace in solidarity, for it serves as an avenue for us to express our thoughts in a constructive, informative manner. An effective communication medium that allows union members to share and exchange views, ideas, and "happenings" within the plant.
Why then does Cleo Garrett, head of the Local Civil Rights Committee, see "The Barking Dog" as a problem? And why is Paul King planning to file charges under Article 31 of the UAW Constitution against Caroline Lund, editor of "The Barking Dog"? What are they worried about? The truth?
Caroline Lund is alleged to have used offensive literature in one of her articles, referring to African Americans as "black." If that is the case, then every African American should be highly offended about the "NUMMI Week" Black History Month Quiz #1,#2, and #3. In #2, for example, it says, "Name a famous black fur trader and hunter."
Let's face it, what is Cleo Garrett, in her capacity, doing with regards to the intimidation and harassment Team Members encounter every day on the job? I guess applying the same dehumanizing tactics on fellow union members, like Caroline Lund.
As head of the Civil Rights Committee, she should be feeding the "Barking Dog" with plenty of puppy chow, and not try to put a muzzle over its jaws. After all, we are all barking our thoughts, not trying to bite anyone. That's the union leadership's job to "bite" (fight) for us.
Finally, any impending charges against Caroline Lund and "Barking Dog" would be improper under the same Art. 31; Sec. 3(c),(d) &(e) of the UAW Constitution.
A.M. Young-Harry
On Feb. 8 the Executive Board met with Bill Capshaw, an aide to UAW President Yokich, regarding an appeal of the election for Executive Board member held last October on a Sunday at the union hall after Trucks had to work Saturday. Many of you remember signing petitions protesting this undemocratic election.
I had had some hope that the International would be more fair-minded, and would uphold our petition/appeal. But it doesn't look good.
The behavior of Bill Capshaw made chills run up and down my spine! He tried to humiliate everyone on the Executive Board, including his allies in the Administration Caucus, by telling us we didn't know our own Local Bylaws and didn't know what we were doing. He spoke to us like we were children.
He said that the 1,245 people who signed the protest petitions didn't know what they were signing and most likely didn't even read it. He said the election was legal because the Executive Board had decided by majority vote to hold it at the union hall on a Sunday. He said any member could have voted if they wanted to bad enough, even those who had to work Sunday!
He said to order an election to be redone was a "huge hurdle." Why? Because, he said, "many members think we're crooks already. If we rerun the election, the members will know we're crooks." He actually said this. Ask anyone on the Executive Board if I'm not telling the truth.
Then Brother Capshaw met with Victor Quesada, Leo Garcia, Sergio Santos, Javier Contreras, and myself separately and asked if we didn't want to just withdraw the appeal, since he was going to recommend to the International Executive Board (IEB) against us. We said NO. The IEB will have the final say on our appeal. We'll see what they say.
Thurs., Jan. 18: Today with my paycheck, I received a letter stating that the company started paying me Union Coordinator pay too soon, so they were taking the over-payment back. [Union Coordinators are the lowest-level shop stewards, who work a regular job and get two hours extra pay per month.] I wasn't sure when they felt they should have started paying me, but I knew that according to the contract, they had 45 days to correct mistakes of less than $1,000, or the money was mine.
So I headed over to Payroll with my contract to show them. A woman in Payroll told me it didn't matter what the contract said; the union had given them permission to go outside the contract.
Fri., Jan. 19: I came in early to speak to Art [Chairman of the Bargaining Committee]. We debated the issue for about 45 minutes. I felt he was evasive, but he took my home phone number and promised to look into the matter. I can't print our entire discussion here, but two of his statements were particularly noteworthy: "If you don't deserve it (your Coordinator pay), you shouldn't get it, right?" and "the Coordinators are nothing but a pain in the as. If it were up to me, I'd get rid of all of them."
It's nice to know that the Chairman of the Bargaining Committee has so much faith in the structure of our union. Maybe if he would organize and train the Coordinators, he would find them to be an asset to the union instead of a pain.
Sun., Jan. 28: I spoke with Art again at the membership meeting, along with a number of other Coordinators. Same story. If you didn't deserve it, they're going to take it back, and that was fine by him. We mentioned the related clause in the contract, page 156, A(1). He told us it didn't mean what we thought it meant, and that the company was in the right.
If you're a Coordinator who is having money taken back, see your Committeeperson. File a grievance. If your Committeeperson tells you it won't do any good, file one anyway. This creats a record of your complaint. If our Chairman refuses to act in the best interest of the membership, you have a right to pursue this to the next level.
Tom Burton, Coordinator, PAT 25
Ed Zamora, Union Coordinator in Truck Paint, asks,
"When is our union leadership going to notify us about the progress of negotiations, or are they just going to leave us out in limbo?
"A lot of members in my area have been asking me what's going on, but I have nothing to tell them. Please send something out to the members so we can be informed."
Luis Godinez from Body Shop Conveyance was pulled over by Fremont police in a NUMMI parking lot the day before the Christmas holidays, for supposedly not coming to a complete stop at a stop sign. He goes to court next month and if convicted faces a fine of $274! And he's not the only one.
Remember that blue and white booklet we got last May or June, titled "UAW Local 2244 Special Report," which contained 21 photos of Art and Tito shaking hands with company people and sitting at negotiating tables? That booklet said the Mayor of Fremont agreed to investigate the traffic problems on the NUMMI frontage road and meanwhile "traffic enforcement would be suspended."
In Luis's case, it seems the police were called in by NUMMI's head of security, who is himself a former Fremont cop. Can't he do his job without calling in his old buddies?
Luis feels this police presence constitutes intimidation and harassment of employees. He wonders why NUMMI donates vehicles to the Fremont police while there are so many other worthy causes that are in much more need of assistance.
Luis suggests, "Anyone else who has had the same problem, get in touch with me (at team room, column K-17) to get together to protest. In unity is strength!"
Trim 5 Union Coordinator, Tom Burton, has an interesting web site, oriented to NUMMI workers. The address is: http://www.autoworker.org
Check it out. It has a lot of resources. You can find benefits and union information, find out what happened at the last union membership meeting, learn updates on contract negotiations (when the Chairman decides to let us know something), contribute your own articles, find out about other union struggles going on, let coworkers know about your own business or link to your personal website, and other subjects as well. Good work, Tom.
I used to work at a Delphi Automotive plant in Adrian, MI, which is represented by the UAW. While I was there I became fed up with activity on both the company's part and my union's part. To make a long story short, I started an informational letter I called "The Rumor Mill."
Both management and the union were in an uproar over it even though everything I wrote in it became true. There was an attempt by management to stop me from printing any more issues, and my shop Chairman said due to language in the contract he was unable to help (a lot of the articles were about his behavior as my Chairman.)
I finally went to the National Labor Relations Board and talked to them. I took the information they gave me back to both the union and management. They left me alone after that. I eventually transferred to another GM plant. The work force was reduced to less than half because of outsourcing.
I have not written any letters at the new location YET!
Jim
Everyone who reads your "Barking Dog" likes it. I see copies in all three Saturn sites.
Some workers are starting to see the whole picture. If we can get the workers to see what GM/UAW Int'l union is doing to other locals, maybe they will start to care.
Richard
Thank you for your information. Don't give up; keep writing. They want to squash you. You are no tomato and have a right to freedom of speech. I would love to see a copy of the Barking Dog paper.
Brenda, a union activist who keeps on stomping, from Local 22 in Detroit
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