Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina of 2005 was the deadliest hurricane in the history of the United States which revealed how incompetent the leadership was since the poor citizens had to suffer up to this day. It demonstrated the lack of preparation on all levels specifically on the impact area, the aftermath economic effect, environmental effect, looting and violence and so forth. The public criticized the government response and the country moved in a different direction which was good.

TWU Local 100 is facing its own form of hurricane Katrina due to John Samuelsen and his leadership team. They continue to perpetuate the blame game for every issue whether minor or herculean by ‘passing the buck’ instead of assuming responsibility. For example, in an address at the National War College on December 19, 1952 Mr. Truman said, "You know, it's easy for the Monday morning quarterback to say what the coach should have done, after the game is over. But when the decision is up before you -- and on my desk I have a motto which says The Buck Stops Here' -- the decision has to be made."

Now lets look at Samuelsen and his team, no one has assumed any responsibility for the current blunders whether minor or gigantic or any failures in any proportion. The signing of the lease of 1700 Broadway (which is unfriendly towards the membership) clearly shows that  no one was reprimanded for this error. However Samuelsen’s spin machine with passing the buck has claimed that it is the TWU International that harmed the local membership.

If the phones and faxes were not working then Samuelsen’s spin machine blames the phone company. No one assumed the responsibility or maybe they have been rebuked. Either way this leads to one conclusion, Samuelsen is unable to execute the responsibilities and supervise which raises a huge flag of cronyism.

Local website vanished during Martin Luther King Jr day and this website is supported by the membership dues. Samuelsen’s inability to respect the membership to provide them with a coherent explanation on why the website vanished or who were the culprit for this conduct shows lack of leadership. You guessed it right Samuelsen passed the buck by blaming the website host.

Members case folders went missing, were misplaced or simply lost due to the relocation from 80 West End Avenue during the early spring 2010 when Samuelsen claimed that the administrative vice president will handle the relocation process flawlessly. Time has proven Samuelsen wrong because the relocation is not smooth at all. However it has put the membership at harms way because passing the buck is the hall mark of Samuelsen and the current leadership. However the good signs are emerging that the membership are fed up with Samuelsen’s failures and his current leadership. We believe we are seeing the signs of new leadership emerging in response and we believe TWU Local 100 will head in a different direction which is good.