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The virtual meeting place of the left in the unions and in the workplace
The union meeting on February 27 was pretty lively.
One big issue was the election for Bargaining Committeeperson to replace Art Torres since he was elected Chairman last Nov. 18.
Our Local Bylaws say when an open position occurs, an election should be held "as soon as possible" but at least within 45 days.
We should have had an election back before the holidays. But here it is the end of February and we still have had no election! Art simply appointed Tamba Moiwa to fill the Committeeperson position, and Bill Dias to fill the Alternate position that Tamba held.
Then the majority of the Executive Board proposed to set aside the Bylaws and have no election until our June general election for all union offices. Three Executive Board members voted against this idea and supported an election. They are Victor Quesada, Leo G. Garcia, and Javier Contreras.
Waiting until June would mean that Tamba would serve as appointeed Committeeperson for 6 and a half months.
President Tito Sanchez and his friends tried to justify this anti-democratic proposal by saying it is a waste of the Localıs money to hold elections since we are so close to June.
The trouble is, there seems to be plenty of money for our union leaders to go to conferences and banquets around the country. But they say itıs a waste to spend money on an election, which is the main way that we rank-and-file members have to give our input into our union.
At Sundayıs meeting this proposal was put to a vote. It passed by about 62 to 44.
Not holding the election is still a violation of our Bylaws, however. Victor Quesada and Leo G. Garcia have filed a protest with the International, so weıll see if the International leadership goes along with this denial of the democratic rights of the membership.
Another issue that came up at the meeting concerned the Local financial reports.
Leo G. Garcia made a motion that these reports be published in our Local Union Newsletter. He said that if we are so short of money that we canıt have an election, then the membership needs to see where all our money is going.
Gus Billy jumped up and spoke against the motion, saying that we shouldnıt let the Company know all about our finances.
But, hey, the Company already knows about our finances. They are the ones who take it out of our paychecks and give it over to the Union.
I believe that Gus, Tito & Co. are afraid of the MEMBERS finding out about the finances, not the Company.
Leoıs motion PASSED, 44 to 39. It will be interesting to see if they carry it out.
Last week a flyer was passed around the plant in answer to #22 of "The Barking Dog." Unfortunately there was no signature on the flyer.
I assume the author was Art Torres. The flyer contained the exact same type face that Art used in his "Chairmanıs Report" that was passed out a few days earlier.
Art, I urge you to sign your name the next time you put out a flyer attacking me or anyone else. I hope you would be man enough to take responsibility for the opinions you put out in the plant.
But after all the words in your long leaflet, the facts remain: An opening on the Bargaining Committee occurred Nov. 19 of last year. Art, Tito, and their friends in office propose to hold no election to fill that position until June of this year. They want Tamba Moiwa and Bill Dias to serve as appointed committeeperson and alternate committeeperson for six and a half months, without being elected by the membership.
Only three members of the Executive Board opposed this and proposed last year to hold an election. They are Leo Garcia, Victor Quesada, and Javier Contreras.
The February Membership Meeting voted 62 to 44 to put off the election till June. I do not believe those 62 votes represent the feelings of the majority of the 4,000 workers in this plant.
Violation of the Bylaws
The fact also remains that our Bylaws say clearly and with no exceptions: "In the event of a vacancy of any Bargaining, District, Alternate Committeeperson or Union Coordinator position, such vacant position must be elected as soon as possible, and, in any event, within forty-five days."
Art, you are a member of the Executive Board. Why wasnıt the election held last December, or at least in January?
Even now, three months from the General Elections, why not hold a quick election to fill the position democratically?
Yes an election costs money. The makers of our Bylaws knew that. Our Bylaws correctly put the priority on democratic procedures.
Obviously our Local and other Locals have faced the situation many times when an open position occurs only months prior to a General Election. But the Bylaws do not say in that case hold off on holding the election. The Bylaws say an election must be held. Democracy is more important than saving money. We should cut back on other expenditures in order to safeguard our democracy.
An Independent Newsletter
Art claims "The Barking Dog" is "a puppet for the Peoples Caucus." This is false. Most of the readers and supporters of the "Barking Dog" are members of no caucus. Supporters of both the Peoples Caucus and the Administration Caucus have given me encouragement and contributions. I am a supporter of the Peoples Caucus, but Peoples Caucus leaders have no say over what goes into the "Barking Dog." It is an independent newsletter.
Bring Our Union Together
I would also like to urge Art and his friends to be careful with the tone of their flyers. Open, signed opinions exchanged between union brothers and sisters can help bring our union together by dealing with our real problems. Unsigned, vicious, insulting attacks will turn members away from wanting to participate in the union.
We see enough hateful mud-slinging in the national election campaigns; we donıt need that in our union.
For example, in your next leaflet, Art, you could call me "Caroline" instead of "Dog."
Refreshing
Our Group has recently had two young, new Group Leaders (one days, one nights). One was previously a union rep; the other was a Team Leader.
It has been so refreshing to have these two as our GLs. They work with people. They want to please us. Theyıll bend over backward to help you. Iım sure theyıve got into hot water with upper management for some good things theyıve done. They really brought our Group together.
Now theyıve both been transferred somewhere else. I just hope they donıt change their attitudes. Some people do get burned out trying to be part of management.
I say to those two: Keep being yourselves. Donıt lose your personalities. We appreciate and love you both
Anonymous
Kweisi Mfume is a former congressman and is now head of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People). He made an interesting point in an interview in the March-April issue of "Modern Maturity" magazine.
He was answering those politicians who are proposing raising the retirement age from 65 to 70.
Mfume: "Thatıs not in the best interests of people of color because life expectancy for black men in this country is 64. Many of them wonıt collect because theyıll never reach age 65.
"We live fewer years because of a number of reasons that have to do with disparities in health care: disparity in treatment; disparity in access to health care; and the fact that whether we look at cancer, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, kidney disease, stroke, diabetes, or AIDS, the rate of incident is much higher among black and brown people in this country.
"I would even say that if you took out the homicide rates among young black men, you would still have the disparities.
"If you bump the retirement age to 70, that will increase the number of people who will work all their lives, pay into the Social Security system, and never live long enough to collect on it."
What does Mfume propose?
"Reduce retirement age to 60. This is the first time weıve had consecutive budget surpluses since the Eisenhower era. That money ought to go to make sure that people whoıve worked all their lives get something back."
I took a survey of Final 3 night shift to hear peopleıs opinions on whether the Cuban boy, Elián Gonzalez should be left in Miami or returned to his father in Cuba.
Out of 21 members surveyed, 11 said he should go back to his father in Cuba. Eight said he should stay in Miami. And 2 said either they were neutral or didnıt have enough information to make up their mind.
K, who thought he should be sent back to his father, said he should not be deprived of the culture of his own homeland.
T, who is from Vietnam, said Elián should stay because Cuba is "communist."
One young father was emphatic that Elián should go back to his father. But another young father, when asked what if it was his son, said "My son would never end up on no raft."
Nationwide, polls show a big majority of people support Elián going back to his father in Cuba..
I wonder if the results from Final 3 would be different if I redid the survey today, following the shooting death of a six-year-old by another six-year old. At least Cuba does not have Columbine shoot-outs, children shooting children, drive-by shootings, or incidents like Abner Louima or Amadou Diallo.
Meanwhile, the New York Times reported on 12-26-99 that Cubaıs infant mortality rate, "already one of the lowest in the world," fell again to 6.5 deaths per thousand births. Cuba has free health care for all.
Caroline Lund
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