PRB’s Ignorance
On 08.29.08, the UAW’s Public Review Board sent me a 15 page letter that concluded with the statement that, “The decision of the International Executive Board is affirmed.” To put it plainly, my appeal was denied. According to the PRB’s decision letter, the Sitting Panel deciding my case was made up of six Professors and a Dean, all appointed by members of the IEB, and said appointments were then rubber stamped by obedient loyal Delegates to the 34th UAW Constitutional Convention. Like the Army of appointees in our plants, members of the PRB will not bite the hand that feeds them, as their decision of my appeal verifies. Unfortunately for the membership, the decisions of the PRB are final and binding.
While I must resign myself to the fact that I can not appeal the PRB’s decision, I refuse to give them the satisfaction of having the last word. I will use this newsletter, which I know they’ll read, to expose their ignorance of conditions in our plants, and the irony and hypocrisy on page 13 of their letter.
In ‘The Finger from Gettelfinger,’ an article in the allegedly offensive newsletter, Disgruntled Autoworker #35, I wrote that UAW President Gettelfinger gave my Baltimore coworkers the finger when he assigned an investigation to a Good Ole Boy friend of fellow Gobs we accused of violating Ethical Practice Codes, which of course the Gob found no wrong doing, duh! In another article in that same newsletter, ‘Gobs and Yum Yums,’ I wrote that Gobs are lire’s, thieves, thugs and punks, and that people are appointed to jointness positions because they’re relatives of the Gobs or someone in Mgt, or they have connections to same, or they kiss up, suck up, stroke, sleep with, or do whatever to the Gobs and/or Mgt to get one of those coveted positions, hence, Yum Yums.
By denying my appeals, the IEB and PRB agree with the Third Step Rep’s position that “He cannot prove that our President gives anybody the finger. He cannot prove that people in our Local Union had to sleep with people to get a leadership position. He cannot prove that our President has his head up corporate America’s tail ends.” Actually I said ass. Anyway, there are 400 former members of Local 2036 in Kentucky who will verify that Gettelfinger authorized their strike and then gave them the finger when he revoked the Local’s Charter because they repeatedly refused to accept the same yellow dog contract.
There are 753 Local 239 members in Baltimore who believe they were given the finger when a nepotism and favoritism petition sent to the International was ignored and our president was promoted instead of reprimanded. Incidentally, the president’s daughter and friend, whom we complained about in our petition, and the Gob in DA #35, are still working while members with higher seniority are laid off. And I’m sure there are thousands of former and current union members of Delphi, Magna, AAM, Caterpillar and countless other companies who would love to question Gettelfinger about them getting the finger.
As to whether people had to sleep with anyone to get an appointed position, that was speculation on my part; however, I don’t believe that, in some incidences, they can prove otherwise. I’m sure many members nationwide can identify individuals in their plants whom they believe were appointed because of their abbs or waistlines, ha ha, and not their brains. The reality is the majority agree with my criteria for achieving an appointed position. Whether any improprieties can be proven or not isn’t the point, it’s that the appointment process is inherently flawed because it discriminates against the average native and gypsy member who may be more qualified. Does “Brownie you’re doing a heck of a job,” ring any bells?
Also, based on my keen observations at the 33rd and 34th UAW Constitutional Conventions, see DA’s #8 & #31 on my disgruntledautoworker.com website, Gettelfinger and the IEB gave the entire membership of the UAW the finger when they failed to chair a one man/one vote resolution that would have allowed the membership the right to vote for International Executive Board members. And they refused to chair a resolution that would have mandated that all UAW and Corporate jointly appointed positions be made elected positions. The finger again.
Joint Appointments is a sweetheart policy between the IEB and the Corporations that assists the 73 year one party slate of the IEB in perpetuating its existence to infinity, visa vie local incumbents, who use their loyal and obedient Army of appointees to slander, harass, out campaign and thereby undermine the efforts of challengers and/or reformers running for Local Executive Board and Convention Delegate positions, and their supporters. As a precaution, International Gobs monitor our local elections to prevent reformers from sneaking up through the ranks. And the IEB does not want to give the membership the right to vote because they fear being thrown out by the scruff of their necks and the seats of their pants for entering into Joint Partnerships with the Corporations, as they should be. Gettelfinger and his GOBs are using both hands to give the membership the finger.
A growing number of members believe the treasonous IEB/Corporate Joint Partnerships and policies are responsible for the loss of a million members, the lack of democracy in most of our locals, incessant concessionary agreements and deteriorating working conditions in our plants and therefore they believe the partnerships should be dissolved, but with the IEB’s unchecked power to pick and choose resolutions, the status quo prevails. So does Gettelfinger have his head up Corporate America’s tail ends? Considering the above, I think it’s obvious, big time.
If the PRB was the least bit independent in rendering a decision in this case, they would’ve sent emissaries into our plants to talk to fellow native and gypsy members, not union reps, then they’d get an honest assessment of how many members feel they got the finger from Gettelfinger, and they’d see the devastating effect that the UAW/Corporate policies are having, but considering their biased ruling, it’s obvious they too have their heads up corporate America’s tail ends, visa vie the IEB’s.
Hypocrites
On 08.17.07 an International Rep withdrew my grievance at the third step for the following reasons; “After reading your letter, (DA #35) I am totally convinced that your letter was not a proper letter that any union brother or sister should be reading.” And, “Your letter has false or malicious statements about our members and also contains profanity which I find offensive.” Therefore, “Your grievance is withdrawn.”
Contrary to the IEB and PRB’s position that the International Rep’s reasons to withdraw my grievance are not personal, it is clearly obvious that they are. As for addressing his opinion that my newsletter contained false or malicious statements, I suggest he and members of the IEB and PRB spend more time on the shop floor and less time on the top floor. Then they just might learn that all I’ve written about is neither false nor malicious, but everyday common knowledge to the average autoworker. And as for the language he alleges is profane, it’s just shop talk, nothing more. For truly hard core profanity, I suggest they talk to the average overworked and under represented autoworker who frequently uses far more colorful profanity to curse Union Reps for putting corporate interest, self preservation, and nepotism and favoritism first and foremost on their agendas, but I suspect that’s why they avoid the shop floor.
According to the International Rep’s personal opinion, and that of members of the IEB and PRB, since they denied my appeals, they want to dictate what is and is not proper for union members to read. Excuse me, but I don’t believe I woke up in a communist country this morning. Next they’ll want to join with the Governor of Alaska to ban books. If they want to live in a communist country and have their choices made for them, that’s their right, but they don’t have the right to tell members what they should or shouldn’t read.
Members of the IEB and PRB don’t want union members reading my newsletters, but yet, on Page 13 of the PRB’s letter they refer to info that they could only have gotten from my website when they cite that “Plant Rule #29 by itself violates Section 8(a)(1) of the NLRA.” The irony is that members of the IEB and PRB believe my newsletters are not proper reading material for our union brothers and sisters, but its okay for them to go to my website, read my newsletters and then use whatever info therein to render their decision. Gettelfinger and his IEB and PRB Traitors are up to their ears in hypocrisy.
It couldn’t be any clearer that the IEB and PRB’s arrogant selfishness is responsible for the deplorable state of our union. The only way to take our union back from these Traitors is a rank and file revolution. If we do nothing, they’ll continue to pick us off one local and one plant at a time while giving us the finger with both hands. Enough! Revolt! Revolt! Revolt! What are we waiting for?
PREVIOUS NEXT
In Solidarity, Doug Hanscom
DisgruntedMember@aol.com
“The hand of justice is longer than the legs of the traitor.” Gayle Lynds in ‘The Hunt for Demitri’
www.soldiersofsolidarity.com
www.factoryrat.com
