Dear Cantankerous Union Officials: I Am Not Paid to Do Your Jobs!

I wish some of you ATU Local 241/308 officers and stewards would treat the members better! 

Reach out to them. Inform them about what you do when on union time. Share information. Meet them where they work. Follow up with them on issues they bring to you—even if you think they were resolved. 

You are not their boss! You work for them. For God's sake, don't threaten them with violence, managers or cops. Some of you all want members to respect you, but you don't want to give respect to them. You discourage them alot. The worst act you do is to side with the manager or be silent as they punish the member in so-called "discipline" investigations. 

The next time I hear one of you let a manager give a member with a clean record a "Last Chance Agreement" I am going to grab my bullhorn and picket the union hall! At least raise your voice to the manager. You certainly have the right! You have lots of rights and you can read about them here in The Special Status of Union Stewards.

Lots of members are calling me with issues. I really don't mind the calls, but often, they are beyond my abilities. I certainly don't have enough time to give them the attention they need. I actually work a Full-Time job at the CTA, believe it or not!

When I recommend they call you, they are either scared you will sell them out to CTA mismanagement, lie to them or belittle them. Some of them catch you gossiping about them to other coworkers. Yeah, and it comes back to me! 

I am encouraging members to put charges on you and thrown out of the union office for this crap. 

To those of you that tell members to stay away from me, it ain't working.

Get your act together.

For you members that are tired of abuse and disrespect by union officials, it is actually your job to hold them accountable and punish them through the ATU Constitution. See the template below. Carefully read the instructions and use it often. Nothing will get better until we make it so.

Template - Charges Against ... by Chicago Transit Justice Coa...