Corporate agenda

There is no question John Samuelsen with his TBOU team are unable to confront Jay H Walder’s ‘corporate agenda’ while the MTA is beating up workers. Samuelsen is preaching labor-management cooperation while the MTA is engaged in a no-holds-barred class war. It would be great if Samuelsen offers a vision of a better society for the membership or strengthen the membership power on the job.

We cannot have weaknesses often a knee-jerk reverence for Communist states, or corruption in the union. We cannot have conflict between members or even creating an illusion or impression of classes between members - bosses as one - rank and file as the other. We hope he adheres to the objective of ‘to protect, maintain and advance the interests of working people’.

We hope that the Samuelsen promise that the compensation of the staff and the officers that such compensation shall not exceed the maximum bi weekly wage paid to the membership. We hope he will fulfill that promise to make sure that the officers stay close to the members and identify with them. 

It is important that those officers do not forget their main function is to serve the membership not dictate. They have also to be reminded they are employed by the membership not the other way around. We cannot have officers and staff who were anointed who believe they are ruling as ‘one-party states’.

We cannot allow this ‘corporate agenda’ ‘corporate-political alliance’ in any way shape or form or any acronym to sweep away most of the safety nets that have been afforded to the membership in the previous contracts to protect us in the inevitable occurrences of failing health, old age, and workplace injuries, our defined traditional benefit pensions plans which guarantee a predictable monthly income upon retirement. The false notion that is forced on the membership to consider a house as an asset that always rises in value is another big joke, one made at the expense of the membership - we can say the membership have lost ground economically.