Bravo SEIU

We applaud Service Employees International Union (SEIU) for holding staff to the highest ethical standards. We are very happy that Bruce Raynor chairman of the board of labor-owned Amalgamated Bank resigned for failing to properly account for $2,300 in spending on meals. SEIU has a proper executive board who are protecting their membership interests however we in the TWU Local 100 have an executive board filled by president John Samuelsen’s buddies who see no wrong doing by him. Also defying the old idiom ‘nobody wins ‘em all’ by utilizing the membership dues as his personal piggy bank.

The other aspect of it is the members of the executive board moral compasses are defunct, instead of looking out for what is in the best interest of the membership they  look for what is in the best interest of John Samuelsen. At least we know SEIU as a labor organization is striving to be clean thus we here in why did you join the union believe TWU Local 100 should imitate SEIU in this matter with such a manner. However do not hold your breath fellow co workers every book has its last page - the membership  already have Samuelsen fatigue which is s good sign that we will alter course.

Now lets discuss fibbing in TWU Local 100. Our president John Samuelsen helped himself with $1,297 and he gave an unsatisfactory explanation by trying to minimize it as misuse of credit cards with claims of prior decade culture of illegal activities that his should be overlooked. We do not agree with him. Clearly in this instance he did not take into account what is in the best interest of the membership. If you believe he has no personal credit cards only the union credit card then we have a bridge for sale in crooklyn.

Benita Johnson our recording secretary helped herself with $669 and the same questions applies to her - does she have her own personal credit cards? If the answer is yes then why didn’t she use them? The most egregious offense is that she did not offer any explanation or contrition - you wonder when she lost her moral compass? Clearly remorse is not a word that has crosses her mind. She reminds us of scandal-scarred State Senator Pedro Espada Jr. 

This one takes the cake Roxanne Rotger a secretary took the most money $8,474. Now you wonder how come a secretary gets a union credit card? This is an unheard practice in any organization. First on what basis did she have access to the union credit card, second is how did she rake in such huge figures and third is how no one was able to detect that? Even though she has been suspended the question remains does this fibbing rise to criminal activity? We believe so - let the proper authority in the New York District Attorney office make their findings (we believe taking membership dues money is a crime when caught then convert it to a personal loan is also a crime at minimum it is fraud with the intent to conceal which is a liberal interpretation). However there is more to the story.

No one else except those above three have sullied our TWU Local 100. We also know they have no moral courage to step down as Bruce Raynor chairman of the board of labor-owned Amalgamated Bank did. Now we are in uncharted territory pending the final report from the TWU International - at least we know the TWU International is not packed with Samuelsen buddies as our executive board is. As a result we believe they will make a right call.