Reply to E-mail of 2-7-98 from Ronald Horner, Shop Steward at Yellow Freight
February 21, 1998
Dear Brother Horner:
Thank you for offering a dissenting opinion to the readers of the Steward Web Page. I don’t think I know you and you don’t appear to know me. I appreciate this opportunity to respond to your point of view. However, I’m having some difficulty in determining if you are speaking for yourself or someone else. Did Marty Frates and Chuck Mack ask you to present their position to the Steward Web Page? You are obviously aware of the details of the conversation that the investigative attorney for the election officer, Ms. Mrak, had with Chuck Mack. Did Chuck Mack discuss this topic at a membership meeting or was it a private conversation? Your remarks appear to be politically motivated.
I believe that our readers would prefer facts to rhetoric. The situation that democratic reform stewards have had to deal with, at United Parcel Service, is well documented on this web page. No one is arguing that Local 70 elects some stewards. A major problem exists when some stewards are appointed and others removed from office illegally, in violation of the Shop Steward Rules and Regulations and bylaws for Local 70. To quote the Rules: "These rules are to be posted on the Employee’s Bulletin Board. Any member marring or defacing these Rules and Regulations shall be subject to citation. It is the duty of all members to read these rules as they will be strictly enforced." Brother Horner, have you ever seen The Shop Steward Rules and Regulations posted on your bulletin board? I’ve never seen them posted at UPS.
Your criticisms, that are relevant, are thoroughly addressed in the aforementioned documentation. All the supporting documentation is available, as hyperlinks, from my letter to James Hoffa. Letters from a number of my coworkers are included. Please read this documentation so that you can be aware of the other side. I believe that your opinion will change when you do so.
Local 70 is not informing the majority of the rank and file of their rights and procedures to elect stewards nor are they willing to provide the membership with structured steward elections. How can there be a structured steward election when no one is made aware of the rules? An informed membership would be aware of abuses of the Shop Steward Rules and Regulations for Local 70.
Has your business agent made the Shop Steward Rules and Regulations available to the membership at Yellow Freight? Does your business agent encourage your coworkers to familiarize themselves with their rights under the bylaws? Have you been made aware of the rights you have under the National Labor Relations Act? Have you been informed of your rights to gather information about your local under the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act? If you have not, then someone is not doing their job. This information is essential to an "empowered shop steward". Right-minded business agents, that represent the membership, would support the unbiased dissemination of information.
The Local 70 Union Bosses keep the membership ignorant to empower Themselves. We are then at their mercy. A subject of their whims. Is this what so many Union members have fought and died for over the last two centuries?
The objective solicitation of constructive criticism is fundamental in a healthy, evolving labor organization. Local 70 is stagnant.
The Internet is a powerful tool. It is my sincere wish that we set our petty differences aside and use it to work toward a stronger, healthier union. A superlative union accommodates an empowered membership.
Does what I have stated here sound like irrational babbling? Do you disagree with what I have said? Please respond.
Craig Gonsalves
