JESSE AVERHART FOR PRESIDENT CWA LOCAL 1033 TEAM MEMBERS FOR CHANGE WWW.CWALOCAL1033MEMBERSFORCHANGE.ORG/ PLATFORM Please spare us a few precious moments of your time to read our platform statement. We are a rag tag group of militant dissidents striving to get out our message to you as best we can on a limited budget. We implore you not to be mislead by the expensive campaign promises of change by the Roeder Team. The facts speak for themselves, look at where we are now: members are disheartened and in despair; retiring early, and; dropping out of the union. For good reasons we might add. We are asking for a leap of faith on your part. To believe in the concept of a union, participation by members in the democratic rule of their local union. This Local needs the guidance of a TEAM of dedicated leaders to lead this local union through the many challenges workers in America face in the war of Capital/Big Money vs Labor. A team too empower the membership to identify the problems and propose solutions to problems. A smart leadership and membership, to build on our mistakes and move forward. As a leadership in waiting, we layout a number of things we need to do to start rebuilding the foundation of our local: 1. RESTORE DEMOCRACY TO THIS LOCAL: A. Exercise your right to vote. Change comes not from elected leadership, but from members voting them in or out. If you are a full-dues paying members, vote. If not, complete a membership card so that you can vote. Remember, we didn’t come out for Corzine and now we all must suffer the consequences of our failure to vote. Vote. B. A Federal Law, the Labor Management Disclosure Act (LMRDA) was enacted by Congress in 1959 to address corruption in private sector labor organizations. The Act consists of five titles: Title I – Provides for a Bill of Rights for Union Members. This is the only provision applicable to our Local as a public worker only local. Title II – Requires annual reporting and disclosure of all expenditures of members dues to the Federal Department of Labor for posting and public access. This reporting is beyond the general annual audit reports. For violations of this section, this agency may pursue civil or criminal actions. Union leadership are held accountable when members know how their hard earned dues are being spent. Title III – Provides for a parent union, the National CWA in this case, to report taking over a local through a Trusteeship and provides a local a venue to contest the trusteeship. Title IV – Sets forth guidelines to provides for a fair and democratic election of officers. A member may protest an election by filing a complaint with the Secretary of Labor. If there is probable cause that a violation affected the outcome of an election, the Secretary files a complaint in federal court to overturn the election. Title V – Provides for the enforcement of union officers performing their duties as prescribed by that union’s constitution. A member may file an action in federal district court. Unfortunately, this local does not fall under the protection of the Act because the present leadership has failed to organize private sector workers to evade oversight of the Act. MFC will organize to provide the additional protection of federal law to restore and ensure democratic rule of this local. The CWA Constitution contains the protection provided by federal law, however, the constitution is not enforced and the very reason why Congress enacted this federal law. MFC will perform fiduciary duties contained in the CWA Constitution by immediately providing for: disclosure of expenditures; a program to keep members abreast of current events; representation; a fair and democratic election of officers, and; installation of all required standing committees to restore this local to democratic rule. Nor will we wait or use this election as a condition to seek restoring this local to democratic rule. MFC has been dedicated to making this happen over the course of 6 years. At present there is a pending civil action in federal district court to force the CWA Union and Local 1033 to comply with the CWA Constitution and restore this local to democratic rule by the members. 2. HOW TO RESTORE MEMBER CONFIDENCE IN THEIR LOCAL UNION A. See 1 above, this local must be restored to democratic rule. B. Convincing members that the strength of any union is the participation level of its members. Without participation of the members in the democratic rule of a union, there is no union. C. Convincing members not to rely on paltry raises, which are taken back through taxation. Instead, we rely upon our power as public workers and consumers to stretch our hard earned dollars by lowering prices. D. Respecting the broad political party affiliations of our membership, whom we cannot continue to ignore. We must support candidates who can realistically support unions, no matter their political affiliation. E. We must start winning battles in the war with our state employer over the terms and conditions of our employment. A central part of the war of Capital vs. Labor. 3. HOW TO START WINNING BATTLES IN THE WAR OF CAPITAL VS. LABOR A. See 1 and 2 above. B. Capital or Corporate Big Money has corrupted our political system in favor of capital over labor. A 2010 Supreme Court decision recognized corporations as individuals who can now make unlimited campaign contributions further strengthening the corporate stranglehold on our political system. C. We must understand the concept of “unionism” as a political power only by virtue of participation of its members. We outnumber the capitalist with our voting strength and control political appointees that head state departments through our knowledge as career state workers---this includes unclassified worker who will assist us because they have a vested interest as we do. Believe it or not, the truth of the matter is: In the final analysis it is not about dollars and cents, rather it is about our political strength in numbers on the job, at the polls and as consumers of corporate goods. We should win these battles hands down. We are the Government and Consumers, and control our fate, not the corporations. D. Joining with other Unions and Organizations as our National Union is presently doing and using the recon that can be provided by us as career public employees. E. A call to arms of our up and coming young leaders. Our future. The ember of past victories are fading and fading fast. It’s time to fan that ember. To standup. To understand the true meaning of the term “unionism” as a political power that can and will make a difference for the working class. F. Representation. All elected and appointed representatives of this local will represent their respective worksites. Shop stewards represent the first line of defense of this local. Shop stewards will be elected democratically by members of their worksites and not by appointment of the President of this local. Elected Representatives represent the second line of defense and will be expected to perform their duties to earn the respect of the members and employer. Staff Representatives, Local 1033 staff, will represent the third line of defense and who must also earn the respect of the members and employer. We will create a strong and effective union presence of collaboration at our worksites. G.The CWA Constitution mandate locals to organize. We must organize the unorganized private sector to strengthen our voices beyond the boundaries of state government into our corporate enemies backyards. H. The CWA Constitution mandates a political action committee. MFC proposes this committee be staffed by the untapped resources of members of this local with the knowledge and expertise to challenge partisan objectives of political appointees who head our state departments. This committee would coordinate efforts to create a network of public employee Wiki-Leaks, through members scanning the web for bits and pieces of information that can be used to negotiate with our politically appointed state department and elected leaders. See e.g., Trentonian State Watch ; Companies exempt through campaign contributions ; Sweeney withdrawns controversial legislation ; Single bid to retention center traced to Christie This is the type of recon we should be gathering through the power of this membership to negotiate with our employer. Members of this local represent Power. Information is Power. No longer should a fox guard the hen house. We become a fox to watch the other fox and the chickens. Identifying and closing loopholes in legislation and business practices of the other foxes, government and corporations, e.g., PSE&G, Comcast, Verizon, AT&T, Healthcare Industry, Wall Street, etc., that robs us of our workmen pay by charging us ridiculous prices to pay for their yachts. Lower prices by slashing profit and executive pay. This is how we stretch our hard earned dollars, instead of relying on paltry raises that are stolen back. I. The CWA Constitution mandates a community action committee. Because costs are so high, many in our communities have to sacrifice one necessity for another- rent vs. food, heat vs. needed medication, etc. State workers are not the reason for the state of the economy. The greed of Wall Street, the Healthcare Industry and Corporate America are the reasons for our present state of affairs. But, the community needed someone to blame. Political leaders served us up on a platter as scapegoats with an apple in our mouths. The community feasted upon us, rallied against us, because there was no community action on our part. In the meantime the biggest fox, corporations gets all the chickens and the worker gets feathers and bones. The gap widens between the haves and have nots. Our future as workers depend on what we do now. If we, the members, do our job as a union, our actions would be self-advertising and will draw in new members rather than repel them. We will grow and once again take our place as a recognized political power to be reckoned with. EXERCISE YOUR RIGHT TO VOTE FOR A TRUE DEMOCRATIC LEADERSHIP OR SIT BACK AND DO NOTHING AND LET MICKEY MOUSE AND CHUCKY CHEESE LEAD THE WAY |
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