The victimization theory is sounding old and worn out. It is a story to deflect attention away from a series of really bad decisions by the President that cost the membership hundreds of thousands of dollars in unproductive expenses. The facts speak for themselves. Over 4 years there were some very hard discussions behind closed doors, at meetings, where elected officers said what they had to in order to object to what was taking place. Is it such a bad thing to have disagreements behind closed doors, make a decision and then come out united and support the decisions made. We spoke of this at convention to all delegates. Once a democratic decision was made, everyone walked away and supported it. It was only later that we heard of paid special reps going around spreading stories about someone on the Board allegedly not supporting the President. Bargaining. The reality is there were about 12 or more people involved in negotiating what the President now claims to be his own work. I wasn’t there, but I know a lot who were and it is simply incorrect for him to claim he accomplished everything on his own. He was part of it, one person, the bargaining committee is more than one person. The reality is the retainer began in the summer of 2012 I think it was, and at the October meeting we discovered there was no basis for the funding. It was just a number. It was proposed we fund it on a per person per month basis, and include it into the January Annual Budget. In the next meeting, January, a motion was passed to adopt the 50K a month on the basis it would cover more than just arbitration. The discussions involved tracking the expenses so that we could measure what legal funds were being spent on, so that we could properly fund in the future and to insure it would remain sustainable. This was a group discussion, and decision at the executive board meeting. It was covered by a motion passed by the Board. Everyone on the executive board was elected under the bylaws, of course there is only one president. Not certain what is meant by claiming he is the only one elected? Getting sued? Don’t know where that one came from. The EB minutes, the issue was the President put out his own incorrect and misleading synopsis of one meeting, and I recall there was a discussion about misrepresenting what had been handled at the meeting. In any event, the Board passed a motion very early to allow the President to distribute the required Newsletter electronically. It was at his request. Of course we all know there has not been a TCRC newsletter in four years, despite the appointment of a special rep to be a communications person and a special newsletter writer. I think a letter was sent to every Division announcing that appointment, but I have never seen a newsletter produced by either of them. Training, since 2007 the training was well received, read the 2010 convention minutes. The training had been funded by two dollars per member per month out of the general fund 2007 to 2010. That is what level 1 training cost. The proposal and plan was to expand the training, based on our funding model of about $650.00 per day per participant. To implement a broad based and structured training program we proposed a $5.00 dues increase and designate that funding for training and education. It passed based on the plan. Since 2011 the cost of training has more than doubled and we still have level 1 local chair training. It is great, we have been doing it for 7 years. Expansion of the training program is way overdue, the members have been paying for something they have not received. It is only now the Presidents and ST’s are beginning to get trained. That training was originally planned for 2012, the reason I know that is because I made the proposal and plan and gave it to the President. Two years later, during this election, the President and ST course begins. The money spent on special reps, at least $390,000.00 and growing, can be better spent on modernizing the Union, and the training proposal we have committed to involves training the rank and file membership in subjects of interest to them. Issues they should be aware of. An informed membership is a stronger membership, and that builds a solid foundation. We are committed to motivating the membership, involving the younger members and inspiring their participation. We are motivated to rekindle the interest in the Union again, capture the interest of the membership, and not repeat the mistakes of the past. Retired officers? It is just not right having elected officers on pension and double dipping. Does everyone realize the President has no seniority in any bargaining unit represented by the TCRC? This means he cannot vote on a strike ballot, he cannot vote on a collective agreement, and the Union cannot insure his health benefits with the carrier like all other officers. In fact that is how we found out he was retired. CN refused to insure his benefits because he was retired. We didn’t even know, and when confronted at the next meeting he said it was none of our business. Really? It seems that he retired within weeks after the election results in January 2011. I prefer to post information about how we can build the Union together, make it stronger through Communication, Modernization, Education, and involving the younger members. That is what I will continue to do on Facebook, and any meetings i can squeeze in. However, given the falseness of the comments I read today, this reply had to take place, To ignore that misleading story would be wrong.
Posted on: Sat, 06 Dec 2014 09:43:59 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015