We are not a monolithic organization however that is what John Samuelsen with the grand vizier Steve Downs aspire for all of us to adhere to. Now you have been publicly removed from appointed steward of TWU Local 100 by the grand vizier Steve Downs and Kevin Harrington. You have not lost anything however consider it as your Emancipation Proclamation.
As you are aware the so called steward position does not confer onto you any dividends so consider yourself lucky. Since you have been portrayed negatively by the grand vizier Steve Downs we welcome you to join many others who have been kicked out by Samuelsen and his leadership team. We also extend the hand to you to offer your point of view in rebuttal to the one sided story.
You have to keep in mind that you have a vote that they cannot take away. The elections are coming - remember this public exclusion you should use it as a motivation factor to vote against Samuelsen and the current leadership. You have to be motivated by starting to inform your fellow co workers to vote Samuelsen and his leadership out. You have to expect a reaction from Samuelsen’s spin machine which will claim that Samuelsen has a long time to go till election time. That you want to tear this union apart however you have to adhere to the old idiom that every book has its last page.
Now John Landers be courageous about toppling John Samuelsen with the intention of sending him back to work repairing those tracks for 8 hours.
I have to be careful here because I am part of the Local 100 education committee and a instuctor of shop stewards.
ReplyDeleteWithout commenting on the John Landers cse and whether I think his removal was warrented or not, I think some explaination is required.
A shop steward works at the behest of TWU inside their given division and in a perfect world with their divisional officers.
In other words: a shop steward represents the Local and if they give out erroneous or misleading information it is not a good thing.
As in everything else, there is a right way and a wrong way.
I think Manhattanville, you would agree that being a shop steward is a serious undertaking and if it is abused it can only hurt the membership.
When people use their shop steward status as a political tool they are making a serious error in judgement.
For example, you Manhattanville write a blog that expresses your personal veiws. O.K. but if you wrote a blog expressing your personal veiws and tagging it by saying you are a shop steward, thereby insinuating that this is official information, that would be misleading and wrong.
Just check the TWU bylaws: article 15 I believe.
The removal of a shop steward is a divisional process I think.
If the officers of a given division have cause for removal, they must prove it.
Cause could include a variety of things.
What is needed in my opinion in Local 100 is official language that defines the shop steward position and keeps everyone on the same page.
But Manhattanville to make this a political issue is just plain wrong and beneath your previous work.