Now Is The Time For All Good Members To Come To The Aid Of Their Union.

With the recent events involving the decision by Secretary(?) Ray Marshall involving the trusteeship hearing, I feel that it is time for me to start poppin' off about what I believe.
The opinions that I've formed are based on what I saw at the hearings in San Mateo and San Jose, as well as information fed to me from both SEIU and UHW.

As I see it, both sides feel strongly about what is the right thing to do for us as members. That being said, if we are truly a democratic union, no part of the union (local or international level) should be beyond criticism. Never should we as members feel as if we have no real say in what happens with our union. It's way past time for all of us as dues-paying members to start holding our leaders accountable to US. We do not work for Andy Stern (or The IEB, for that matter), they work for us.

Every time you receive a flyer, phone call, or anything saying "SEIU" or "UHW" on it, it was probably paid for with money that originated from the dues of members. We, as those dues-payers, put up the money used for investments, salaries, events, operating union offices and halls - just about anything "union".

We all deserve to be lead at the local level by those who are voted in by us, known by us, and accountable to us. Someone who is appointed by the International union in Washington D.C. is only accountable to the person who appoints him/her, and clearly does not have our best interest at heart. I do not have any confidence in this or any "trusteeship" that ignores the wishes of of those most affected. Removing over 65,000 of our brother and sister members from UHW and placing them in a union already in trusteeship is absolutely wrong.

I am going to ask my fellow members to help me send the folks at our international a petition to formally declare a statement of "no confidence" to those leading at the international level. More about this later.

For some, this would seem to be just a waste of time. I do not believe so. We must never stop raising our voices and putting pen to paper to protest, question, or even support whatever we feel needs to be brought to light. It's time for we, the members of UHW, to really get mad..

More from me later.

In Solidarity,
The Coffee Guy