Charges on a Perverted President

There is no argument to the fact that I embrace the philosophy of Revolutionary Unionism and President Pennie embraces Business Unionism. She, her loyalists—and nearly every other union official—make it their job to stifle democracy and militant ideals.

Business unionists are inherently pro-employer and will stop at nothing to erase any vestiges of what real unions are about. That includes humiliation, punishment, alienation, denial, delays and violence.

Examine this evidence of this vile ATU Local 308 president make a sexual joke about my wife after I spoke up for CTA workers in Part-Time jobs (the exchange was recorded without permission of myself nor other officers by the Assistant Secretary-Treasurer Cassie Collins):

Eric Basir: So you are saying that you helped a Second Chancer write a grievance on something they would lose?

Pennie McCoach: No.

Eric Basir: Did you inform him that he might not win this grievance?

Pennie McCoach: No.

Eric Basir: When I help them, it’s a big deal.

Pennie McCoach: When he submitted it, I told him the truth.

Eric Basir: Wow.

Cassie Collins: Motion not to arbitrate.

Mark Weems: Second.

Eric Basir: Can we question him first?

Pennie McCoach calls a vote and the majority of union officials votes not to arbitrate the grievance. Three voted to arbitrate.

Pennie McCoach interjects: And also, before [name redacted] comes in, he wrote the grievance after he was no longer a member of Local 308. 

Eric Basir: He might as well have never been a member—the way we treat these poor people. 

Pennie McCoach: Brother Basir, keep your comments to yourself. Thank you.

Eric Basir: You’re not welcome.

Pennie McCoach: You’re not either.

Eric Basir: I know. I know. That’s why I keep coming.

Pennie McCoach: That’s for your wife. LAUGHTER

Eric Basir: Oh now you’re going to talk about my wife? Wow! Interesting!

Some believe that I have no right to protest this offense.

Their justification is that I have been disrespectful to her. Therefore, as dictated by the Law of Retaliation, she is justified in making sexual jokes about my wife.

Fine, let's presume I have been disrespectful of President Pennie and Mark. 

Exactly, how have I been disrespectful? 

Is it disrespectful to openly condemn her pro-CTA mismanagement business unionist policies and philosophy? 

Is it disrespectful to protest against her siding with CTA terrorists that punish me with multiple safety violations for investigating reports of abuse while on my lunch break?

Is it disrespectful to openly mock her, Vice President Mark and President Keith's insistence on shoving an insulting 1.5% raise with zero state- and city-mandated paid sick leave down our throats?

Actually, that is something called freedom of expression—something to which Amalgamated Transit Union members are obligated to honor!

Yet nowhere will anyone find me stating anything about President Pennie's spouse, her family nor anything personal. Moreover, I have never resorted to any kind of sexual mockery or slang regarding her—nor would I ever do such a thing.

Holding President Pennie Accountable for Insulting My Wife

The charges are simple. She violated the aforementioned Obligation by demonstrating conduct "unbecoming of a member" by making a sexual joke about another union official's wife. 

My recommendation is for her to removed from office, expelled as a member and a new election for Local 308 president be held. 

In order to accomplish this, he following steps from the ATU Constitution must be followed:

1. I will need to get at least 10 signatures of members who pay dues and a notice must be posted at all work locations (Section 22.3).
2. The members must approve the charges for a trial. A vote of 75% in favor will make it so (Section 22.4). Then a trial board of three members
3. The trial date must be set and procedures for the trial will be followed (Section 22.5).
4. A meeting will be held to announce the decision the findings. The final decision will be made by members in attendance of the meeting (Section 22.6).
5.  While charges are in effect, she will need to be suspended with pay (Section 22.7). If she is not acquitted, then the penalty will carry on to the next ATU convention. It is there, where final say will be made if she is expelled or not (Section 12.4).
   

As you see, the process is arduous and complex. Unless we make our own union, this is what we have to go through to hold elected leaders accountable.

Interestingly, this is what she, Vice President Mark and their loyalists did when they put charges on me last year (they only got to step 2 because they could not get 75% of the room to support their false charges.

The odds of getting the votes necessary to hold her accountable are obviously not in my favor. She has the treasury of our union to buy loyalty for herself and to distribute pain to those who support my work.

Also, King Costa and his band of six-digit-salaried International Vice Presidents will back her up 100%.

Regardless, members who wish to see justice should participate in the process. As I will not give up defending my wife, I would never give up defending a member who wants to fight.

Why Call President Pennie a "Pervert"?

My choice of that word was not made lightly. The definition of pervert, as a noun and a verb, is profound—and accurate. According to the New Oxford American Dictionary the noun means:

a person whose sexual behavior is regarded as abnormal and unacceptable.

For a union president to make sexual jokes about an adversarial union official's spouse—who protests unequal treatment of union members that are in part-time jobs—is abnormal and unacceptable. For the sake of decency, I will not explain what she is referring to by saying what she said.

Regardless, one must ask: What is going through her mind to concoct such a statement? 

How can she justify it making a sexual joke about a woman who has never spoken or written any objections to her business unionist policies, Local 308 or CTA workers?

Although it is not the subject of this article, it should make one wonder why no other union officials spoke up about the statement. In my opinion, it is a testimony that they are afraid of her.

Business unionism is a perversion of what a real union should represent. The definition of pervert as a verb is: 

alter (something) from its original course, meaning, or state to a distortion or corruption of what was first intended: he was charged with conspiring to pervert the course of justice.

President Pennie—along with nearly all of the officials—have carried on a perversion of what our union represents. Her consistent objection to my insistence on equality for all members is in contradiction to the Obligation. They never include all of us in their decisions. In fact, they don't want to include members in their decisions!

In order to stop the perversion of Local 308, the members must take control of it. Holding insecure and cruel elected leaders accountable is an important prerequisite to make that happen.

Conclusion

I am doing this out of duty to my wife. If I was in her shoes—and it was her being forced to endure such slander—I would want her to do this for me. 

She is grateful and supportive of my efforts to hold President Pennie accountable. For that, I thank her. 

I give alot of personal time to help coworkers. That means I sacrifice alot of time with my family.

Still, I don't think I sacrifice enough. However, I am not quite willing to go that far at this time. So for now, I will keep up my current pace.

Service to others—and protection of self—is the price to pay for life on this planet.