Do I Hate The Union?

A coworker who has some disagreements with how I operate as a union steward told me today: 

 

“You hate the union.”

He was half-correct. 

I hate the misleadership in the union.

I hate them so much, they make my stomach turn.

I hate how they spit on our rights to speak, motion for actions and look down on us in their fancy chairs and suits like CTA mismanagers. 

I hate how they suck our blood and serve the CTA mismanagement and the scumbag politicians. 

But the elected people are not the Union! The Union is US. We are the Union. Not the elected people. The boss-loving labor fakers have taken our organization hostage and called themselves “the union.”

If I get elected to Executive Board, I will not keep a damn thing secret from the members. I will fight like hell to be involved in any agreements affecting Vehicle Maintenance and general working conditions. I will fight like hell to ensure members' grievances are used for organizing collective action. EVERYTHING I read, hear and see—with the exception of members’ personal information and cases—will be exposed.

I intend on being a Member's Agent. A representative of your struggles. Not the fears of union officials that want to hide behind ambiguity and evildoing lawyers, arbitrators, politicians and mismanagers.

The misleaders are wringing their hands, trying to figure out how to prevent my being elected. The insecure and spitting mad Secretary-Treasurer, Deborah "Get Cosey With the Boss" Lane insisted that everyone I nominated accept their nomination in-person at the the union office.

That’s OK. I ain’t in this fight to be elected. I am in it to take our union back from the CTA and help the members take control of it—as it should be. 

So elected or not, I ain’t gonna quit. And neither should YOU!

 

Our jobs and lives are on the line. It's time to fight like a real union. I am here to help.