Den of irresponsibility

Samuelsen’s den is ethically, professionally, integrity and independence challenged. Safeguarding rank and file money and property should be the priority of any elected official. However that is not the case by Samuelsen and his TBOU pals.

Recently there is an unconfirmed flurry of union credit cards being used improperly. There were several questions that arose such as why there wasn’t any loyalty to the union? Also if Samuelsen was aware of these improper usage of union credit cards then what actions did he undertake to solve this? For example did he refer the matter to the Manhattan District Attorney?

Samuelsen owes a duty of loyalty to the union, rank and file. Samuelsen must be reminded of the rank and file interests, Local 100 funds are not his little piggy bank to play with as he feels like. Clearly this improper use of the credit cards indicates Samuelsen ‘s den is full of unsavory characters which causes substantial injury to the union. Did Samuelsen try to minimize this harm? Does the TBOU comrade interests supersede  those of the union, rank and file in Samuelsen’s eyes?

If Samuelsen’s den has been misappropriating or borrowing union funds in their improper use of union credit cards then they should go to Rikers Island. Samuelsen must inform his TBOU chums that these union credit cards are to be used for the union, rank and file interests only.

Samuelsen should be subject to discipline when his TBOU buddies use union credit cards improperly because that violates the loyalty to the union, rank and file. Whether Samuelsen ordered  these conducts or knew about it, there is no question he has supervisory responsibility over his TBOU cronies. 

Samuelsen should not accept gifts or favors from his TBOU associates. Samuelsen failed to conduct necessary factual investigation regarding this matter. Maybe he is knowingly not competent to handle this matter due to the friendship level that clouds his judgement. It is also disturbing that he has the power to tell his TBOU companions ‘NO’ when it comes to improper use of the union credit cards but he doesn’t since they are his buddies.

Rebirth of Toussaint

‘$5 per week temporary assessment to cover medical benefits for our laid-off brothers and sisters’.  We oppose this assessment, arguing that there was a lack of discussion with the general membership regarding this matter. Also why was the rank file not informed before hand? Samuelsen and his cronies TBOU (rubber stamp executive board) imposed this shameful extension of his hand into the memberships wallets with his fat sticky fingers in this dire economic state in guise of helping out laid off members. This is a repeat of Toussaint’s behavior where he refused to discuss his decisions and actions with the broader group and all decision making authority is laid into Toussaint - Samuelsen’s hands.

Laid off workers are entitled to medicare and medicaid which is provided by the government. It is also not clear how many of the laid off members have requested or demanded health care coverage from TWU Local 100. Also whether those members ever applied for medicare or medicaid and were denied thus the rationale to help them out by allowing Samuelsen’s sticky fat fingers into our wallets.

Solidarity means that the workers should join together to fight exploitation by the  management. It is shocking that the exploitation is being led by Samuelsen and his cronies TBOU (rubber stamp executive board) against the rank and file well being.

Jobless workers are entitled unemployment benefits in addition to welfare programs such as the cash assistance programs which are Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and in-kind benefit programs such as Food Stamps, Medicaid, and the low income energy assistance program.

The other side of the equation is our employer, what if the employer layoffs more members, does that give Samuelsen the right to stick his hand with its fat sticky fingers into our wallets to make them more thinner than they are? That is utter nonsense, medicare and medicaid are the proper solution. It is true we are part of the ‘working poor class’, rank and file who  have worked year round. However, we are still hovering in poverty because of the low rates of pay. Samuelsen should know better than to get his sticky fingers into our light paychecks. 

It is ridiculous that the current members have trouble in gaining full medical benefits. That does not interest Samuelsen and his cronies TBOU (rubber stamp executive board). ‘Ballots have gone out for a membership vote’, we are opposed to Samuelsen’s money grab scheme. If you don’t vote no the problem stays because the ballots will only show a yes vote. Thus Samuelsen will head to P.J. Clarke’s for prime steak and filet mignon while you will head to McDonalds.

Vote No and there will be no more of Samuelsen - Toussaint’s loyalist. Let Samuelsen and his cronies TBOU (rubber stamp executive board) know how you feel. It is time to make your voice heard! The only way is by voting NO to Samuelsen - Toussaint loyalist.

The cost of union membership

A workers who buys union membership by paying the initiation fee and monthly dues gains certain benefits but also incurs certain costs. Among these cost or drawbacks of union membership are the following .

Strike costs, one cost of union membership is the loss of wages during a strike. The threat of a strike gives a union its ability to raise wages and benefits, but this extra bargaining power is not without cost, for sometimes the strike must actually be used. A recent study a strike occurred on average, in 13 percent of major (1,000 workers or more) union contract negotiations. The loss in wages during a strike may be offset by strike benefits from the union, although not all unions pay them and those that do, usually pay only 20 to 30 percent of regular earnings. There is also a possibility that the worker may never get the job back at all if the employer can successfully hire nonunion workers and break the strike. Finally, strikes lead to psychic costs for workers due to the conflict and ill feelings that strikes engender between union members and nonstriking workers and management personnel.

Loss of job, a second possible cost of union membership is the loss of the job due to layoffs or the closing of the plant. When a union wins higher wages, greater benefits, or restrictive work rules, the general result is to increase the employers cost of labor per hour. An increase in labor cost leads to decline in employment as the company is forced to the point where the revenue of the company are less than its costs of production, the employer will close the plant and all union members will lose their jobs

Fear of management retribution a third cost of union membership to the worker is possible management retribution. This retribution may take several forms; the employer may fire the worker, reassign him to a less desirable job or give a smaller wage increase.Employees recognize however that the protection of the law is not ironclad. It is often difficult for worker to prove he or she was fired for union activities rather than a legitimate cause such as insubordination or being late to work. Court proceedings are also quite time consuming and expensive and in general the employer has the greater staying power in such matters

Loss of individualism and flexibility at work a fourth possible cost of union membership for a worker is a loos of individualism and flexibility in doing the job. In a unionized company personnel policies are generally more rigid, allowing workers less discretion in choosing work schedules or job assignments. Workers also have less room for personnel initiative in how the job is done. Another consideration is that lines of communication between workers and management in a unionized company are not open and informal as in nonunion company, cutting off the access of the worker to the employer. Finally individual union members may feel they have no influence on the decision making process in the union.

Loss of social status a fifth possible cost of union membership is loss in social status. Many white collar workers for example associate labor unions with lower status factory workers. A second consideration is that many workers regard joining a union as a tacit admission that they can’t get ahead on their own, an admission many of us find very difficult to make. You as member of TWU Local 100 do you embrace those costs? now think about Samuelsen shenanigans that goes on at the union hall do you approve? Do you believe Samuelsen is capable of moving you to the middle class?

Honda or Jeep?

The following excerpts from an article in Forbes discuss the labor relations climate at two different auto plants. One epitomes the high-conflict employer, the other provides an excellent example of the low-conflict employer. Note how both the union and management in the high-conflict firm view the employment relationship as a zero-sum game, and how in the end both sides lose.


For one factory, these are the best of times. The plant is happy, hiring and turning out a product of remarkable and consistent quality.

For the other factory, it is quite a different story. While the plant’s product, a natural in today segmented auto market, is selling briskly, its habits and hardware are old, morale is sagging and management threatens to close the place maybe by the end of this year if the union doesn’t make concessions.

This two different worlds are in fact a mere hundred miles apart. One, the Honda of America plant of Marysville, Ohio, stretches across a rural landscape of grass and wood lands 30 miles, north of Columbus. The other, the Jeep division of Chrysler., lies two hours by car farther north in Toledo, the very geographic center of the Great Lakes industrial belt. The factory outwards appearance has not changed much since it cranked out Jeeps during World War II, and it remains an enormous, inner-city like industrial warren of old buildings and parking lots. Honda and Jeep have one thing in common: output. Each working day Honda turns out 875 four wheel passenger vehicles powered by internal combustion engines, Jeep produces 750 of the machines. Beyond that similarities end. Honda produces its vehicles in 1.7 million square feet of tightly organized floor space, while Jeep fills more than three times that amount. Honda needs 2,434 autoworkers to produce its cars. Jeep requires slightly more than twice that number.

Some of the difference is attributable to American car manufacturer’s habit of offering so many options. Much of Hondas shop floor equipment is also newer and more sophisticated than Jeep’s. At both Honda and Jeep, relative levels of investment are not only a question of available capital however but perhaps even more important of the attitudes of the workers themselves.

At Jeep a management is frustrated by union intransigence regards such investment skeptically. After all, why continue to upgrade a plant if union work rules frustrate cost savings?

But past Chrysler managements have not covered themselves with glory. It was they, after all who permitted labor relations to get as bad as they did. A member of that management told us: ‘The union merely exists to protect guys who try to screw the company.’ Even if that is true the statement betrays an attitude that bodes ill for employee morale.

Last year tension built to the point where a group of shop floor workers abruptly began sabotaging the assembly line, bashing Jeeps with welding tools. The line was intermittently shut down during the week that followed, costing more than $1 million in lost wages.

By contrast, at Honda workers are persuaded that automation will not eliminate jobs but improve quality control, with the result that workers see it as an investment in their own job security. Thus many new automation ideas at Honda came right from factory floor.

With management and labor so tightly knit at Honda, the United Auto Workers hasn’t been able even to come close to getting its foot in the factory door, despite continued efforts. What bonds the company together and helps generate its growth is a kind of corporate chemistry - an environment that encourages both labor and management at the firm to regard themselves collectively as ‘us’ rather than as ‘us versus them.’

Results? Honda’s shareholders have seen their stock rise 220 percent in the last 3 years. In the same period starting wages on the factory floor have risen 78 percent, not counting bonuses. And Honda is still building, still hiring.

At Jeep, management has failed to improve a bad situation, which is growing worse with each passing month. As for the union, charged with protecting its members jobs, it is actually doing the opposite, leaving the management no choice but move production elsewhere. Now you as a member, if you were to chose between Honda and Jeep what would be your preference? TWU Local 100 which model does emulate Honda or Jeep?

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Transport Workers Union Local 100 by-laws in section XVI Finances part (b) states ‘The Local Secretary-Treasurer shall report at least once each two months the comparisons of estimated income to actual income with a report of expenses to the Executive Board.

To that same report we must add would be published to the rank and file in a manner of fair and open government. The local finances must be open to the rank and file for discussion to enable them to advance TWU Local 100 goals.  As long as finances are viewed to be the focal point and they are clouded with mystery it is a recipe for abuse.

It is also a known fact the executive board members have been ‘tailoring their votes to avoid offending the person who could fire them from the union staff’ the executive board has no credibility and they are a rubber stamp of Samuelsen’s shenanigans, which clearly does not benefit the membership, except the rank and file are put at harms way.

Begging the question, we all wish for easy answers to what should be a logical black and white agreement on what the finances should be. However, its not that easy in TWU Local 100. This week TWU Local 100 came out with a propaganda to get your vote, in the guise of helping out our laid off brethren with a temporary health insurance that will cost you $5 per week. However they neglected to mention that the government is providing medicaid and medicare which is paid for by the courtesy of tax payers which was not fully discussed.

Vote no, to double agent!

A rabid infected poodle likes to play it both ways, with both camps and is “wishy-washy”. TWU Local 100 is no place to have up-the-hill and down-the-hill tensions between rank and file. The claws come out with the divisive proposals ‘reform from above and those pushing for reform from below’ when it comes to rank and file it is clear that the membership did not benefit but paid a price. However the rabid infected poodle loves ‘being on the union payroll [which] had meant a large pay increase and the obvious benefit of not having to work a dirty job under sometimes petty and abusive supervisors’ .  The rabid infected poodle is scared of abusive supervisors so it hides at the union hall because it is a coward.

Clearly TWU Local 100 is a troubled union, it is no longer the union that it once was of the days bygone, and the layoff results are disastrous. We are concerned and point it as a tipping point for TWU Local 100 in the labor movement. And that reputation will never be restored as long as the current leadership under Samuelsen and the rabid infected poodle are failing the membership. There is no effort to pull up the rank and file to the middle class except the willingness to put the membership in harms way. However they hide at the union hall, with all their fringe benefits. They should volunteer their services.

Of course, just as there is Samuelsen’s propaganda machine, there are legions of us on the other side of the issues. What weighs heavily with us is how the laid off brethren are being used as bait. We are in the USA where medicare as well as medicaid are available to anyone who needs it can be provided by simply filing an application form without any cost. We oppose the assessment, arguing that there is lack of discussion on the overall temporary medical coverage. It is impossible to know whether the laid off brethren would not need medical coverage after six months?

Rat saw a cat

No teeth, no claws, poor vision, no stamina and over weight those are the signs of a loser in a fight and that is what happened to the rat at TWU Local 100 event of solidarity. He got deflated once the cat came and he turned to be a coward and a traitor who has no fight in him.

Our employer had its board meeting on Wednesday, July 28, 2010 at 9:30 a.m. As usual we assembled outside of our employer office without any clear intention, objective or goal. If our presence was to be a useful and meaningful tool for TWU Local 100 that was not at all portrayed by the current leadership. 

If we take a step back and assess how the membership fared the rat got deflated and then after less than twenty minutes the membership started to disperse. Everyone had an important appointment and that's the sign of a troubled union those are the phonies of the TBOU slate. Clearly they can not stand the heat, just like the coward rat who could not stand up to the cat.

John Samuelsen may look good on the outside but in reality he is a fatally flawed president. He is part of the problem - not the solution. He and his TBOU slate members who were not in good standing and who did not pay the dues in a timely manner all had important appointments so they had to leave. In their view ‘we are not going to stand out here’.

We are gentlemen, we pride ourselves on telling the truth and we’re mad. What we want to know is whether this deception was intentional or not? our suspicion is that it has to be, because they are adults and not children. Determining if this is true should be the subject of an investigation. The questions that need to be asked are how much financial resources were employed in this wasted effort which the membership has a right to know, and why those toothless rats are abandoning the ship? They should be held accountable because you will find them infront of the cameras and during the photo opportunities.

A rabid infected poodle chimed in that ‘lack of preparation’ ‘the lack follow up pressure’ ‘no information’ the poodle could not stand the heat. Also they have mastered the art of the disappearing act. Do you believe Samuelsen will explain the abysmal performance? What we have turned into is a sub par and a troubled union.