Say it ain’t so, Benita!

Back in March, Ms. Benita Johnson, the ‘recording secretary’ for the politically motivated John Samuelsen TBOU clique which has hijacked TWU Local 100, wrote a particularly nasty letter to a steward. It is morally reprehensible to address a fellow co worker in that manner - we believe she owes an apology to the co worker. It is awful behavior how she has utilized the union credit card for personal nature. It is obvious membership dues are not for her pleasure maybe she should be reminded of that daily. We here in why did you join the union upon reviewing her behavior found that it reminds us of the ex state senator Pedro Espada Jr. the poster boy for Albany corruption.

When she is not bashing fellow co workers she is missing in action from the main duties  - that is her bread and butter which is attending all executive board meetings. She has missed half a dozen of executive board meetings, she does not write or record by hand anything so what is her use for receiving $118,062 per annum? Maybe Ms. Benita Johnson is not aware that it is her job to live up to the standards of the TWU Local 100 members. Her coarse language projects a negative image of TWU Local 100 - sitting on the chair and breathing the air is not worth $118,062. You have to do the work of the recording secretary - meaning recording (hand writing all the discussions - so in the event when members or anyone wants to refer or check on the issues there is a paper trail which is missing as indicated in the auditors interim report). It is abominable that there is not documentation of the executive board meetings/executive committee meetings since handwritten documents are also part of the history of the TWU Local 100.

Maybe she will claim when she holds the pen on her hand to write she feels pain, numbness, or tingling in the hand or wrist. Or maybe the pen gives her increased pain with increased use of the hand. Those excuses are unacceptable maybe she will tell John Samuelsen writing is not part of her duties if TWU Local 100 needs a scribe then they should employ one - what a shame. We say Ms. Benita Johnson must be present and record all the meetings, with hand written notes to justify the $118,062 per annum. We demand from John Samuelsen that he should not allow her to skip her work and go on travel junkets because that does not benefit the membership but rather furthers neglecting her primary duties.

Now it is up to John Samuelsen to make it clear that she must live up to the standards of the recording secretary position in the TWU Local 100. After all as a recording secretary’s report card that looks at the opinion of the staff and the officers, she has already earned an ‘F’ grade from the majority of the staff and officers. They simply don't trust her. Her unrefined language could make things worse.

And it is true that Ms. Benita Johnson has been making efforts to patch up her rocky relationship with John Samuelsen but this effort is severely undermined due to the nature of her inability to do her primary duty. Specifically that which is to be present at all the meetings, and to write down all the discussions by hand. 

We criticize John Samuelsen with his TBOU leadership cronies not from malice or disloyalty, but because our love and support for our membership and the great institution that was once TWU Local 100 is total and unconditional. So Ms. Benita Johnson we support the membership and TWU Local 100 by demanding a union built on high standards with respect for their duties and the truth. Unlike the quisling TBOU that so blindly accepts the Vichy-style rule coming from the Tweed Courthouse.