What I would change
if I were Business Manager of Local 58:
First of all, I would definitely hire some new Agents who
would WORK 4 U. That’s not to say a few
of the existing Agents aren’t good men and have the best interest of the Local
at Heart. But our new selection of Agents would be handled a whole lot
differently than this past administration. Agents would be selected with the
help of the NEW Executive Board based on their desire to serve the membership
and their history of Union activity…NOT on political cronyism and pandering and
size of political contribution….in other words they won’t be “buying” their
position.
NEW Agents would be required to account for their time and
their mileage….just like in Chicago and other major Locals. They would be given an area and MUST visit
the jobs in that area every 2 weeks; report in to the Steward; and the Steward
would then send back a postcard to the Local giving the day, date, and time the
Agent actually was ON THE JOB! What a
Concept! ACCOUNTABILITY to the
Membership!
IT IS TIME FOR A CHANGE
Secondly, I would petition the NEW TRUSTEES to REPLACE the
Administrator with someone who, again, has the BEST INTEREST of the Membership
at heart. This NEW Administrator would immediately be accountable to the
Members and their Spouses. He or She would be required to provide Courteous Service
and not Lip-Service to any and all questions that may be asked. Our members
deserve better! I don’t ever want to hear an Administrator of MY Union Funds
telling me at a meeting “I don’t work for you”. That attitude will Cease and
Desist Immediately!
IT IS TIME FOR A CHANGE
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IT IS TIME FOR A CHANGE
Joe Abdoo stated in his 2003 campaign newsletter
:
"Our
Health and Welfare Funds have needed adjustments.
The FACTS are:
When
work was plentiful, we built reserves to unprecedented
levels."
THE TRUTH
IS: If that statement even vaguely resembled
the truth, why then are our Health & Welfare
Funds in the shape they are in? And why, then, did
we just use our last raise to again bolster this
fund? "Who's Zoomin' Who?"
This New Administrator would be instructed to acquire No Fee
ATM cards for every member who has an Annuity/401-whatever- account at 58! It’s ludicrous for you to have all your hard
earned money invested through their Bank and still have to pay for the use of
their lousy ATM machine. They make a helluva lot of profits from our
Fund. It’s time to give a little back to the members!
Also, to address the needs of laid off members: there will
be NO more of this policy of discrimination against those who are financially
nearing bankruptcy and are being told NO MORE LOANS from YOUR Account….EVER! That was never intended as the policy of the
IRS and should NOT be the policy of this
ANTI-Member Administrator who is making over 140,000 a year and has
perks for trips junkets/conventions/seminars and God -only -knows where else he
travels to get these Member Un-Friendly ideas of his.
Thirdly, we would take an aggressive approach to re-gaining
Market Share in our jurisdiction once again. Local 58 will no longer be taking its
lead from the ABC…Local 58 WILL ONCE AGAIN LEAD!
IT IS TIME FOR A CHANGE
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IT IS TIME FOR A CHANGE
The issue of transparency of our “Duct Tape Fund” will be
addressed. No longer will it be cloaked in secrecy and run from their
cigar-smoke filled back rooms or as one cigar-puffing crony likes to brag “From Behind The Glass” of their “Inner Sanctum”.
That Fund should and WILL be as open as any of the other
Funds of this Local to the Members. The lack of candor that has been the
benchmark of this administration -Team certainly raises the question of
impropriety among this membership. “If ya ain’t doin’ nuttin wrong..then why ya
hidin’ it”?
Members should be invited to attend open meetings of the
Executive Board….to see and hear how a Union
operates; to observe how the functions of these Officers impact the lives of
the members. Members concerned about
issues should and would be able to address the members of the Executive Board
and get a better understanding of the problems we face together. Trial Boards
would still be handled as private matters.
Advertising as you know it will cease immediately! No more
useless radio ads. We work hard to earn our money and we should expect that it
be spent wisely, with member input.
IT IS TIME FOR A CHANGE
As you may have noticed, I am proposing to introduce a level
of Democracy for this Local. And the Code of Ethics I proposed 2 years ago
would become Local 58’s “Code of Agents Excellence” in a matter of days! (see Code of Ethics)
As an added bonus, I would hope that this astute membership
will elect a new President who will NOT Embarrass us at every turn! Sort of brings us back to the old days in the
early 90’s when every meeting was an adventure in confusion.
AND
PLEASE Don't Forget to Vote a NEW Executive Board
into office!
IT IS TIME FOR A CHANGE
Democracy for 58! What
a concept!
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