Letter to the Editor
Go Figure
Editor,
I am a retiree of Caterpillar and a 31-year member of UAW [United Auto Workers] Local 751. My family knew some hard times during numerous strikes, and my children learned not only how to do without certain things but also how to stand up for what they believe to be true.
A basic tenet of every true union member is simply that you do not cross a picket line; nor do you give support, aid or trust to any person who would ever choose to take such a drastic step.
As elementary as this tenet may sound, it appears that there are those who are willing to abandon it.
Not only to abandon the philosophy or the method of unionism, but in many cases being willing to abolish the methodology that has sustained organized labor since its infancy.
The tragedy is when a misguided executive board member of our local adopts this willingness to not only embrace, but to boldly put forth and endorse a line-crosser as an acceptable candidate fit to stand and win election to the post of union steward.
The irony in this is that the particular executive board member willing to embrace and endorse a line-crosser holds his office not as an ‘elected’ official himself, but rather as one who gained it through acclamation, due in large part to the apathy felt among the rank and file.
Where does this apathy come from and who benefits when it is allowed to fester?
A young man offers to serve his union as a steward. This young man has no experience but was willing to learn. This young man started as a supplemental and endured the hell that comes with that position. He endured it longer than most, when he was bypassed by the company as a candidate for hire as full time. No valid reason was given and he persevered until he gained full time status. Life at the Cat house wasn’t new to him. His dad is a UAW member and his family has known lay-offs and strikes.
The other candidate is a 1994 hire. A line-crosser who crossed the UAW picket line. A picket line that stood for 18 months. All he knows about unionism is that you can pay a few hundred bucks in back union dues after the strikers come back and you move yourself up the food chain from the bottom feeders who choose not to pay back dues. Quantum leap in evolution. Real definition of character.
Apathy enters when the executive board member endorses and supports the line-crosser. Apathy visits the young man. Apathy visits whatever solid union members are left to witness the betrayal. While other line-crossers and their supporters relish apathy, for the rest of us it is a sickening stench.
So sickening is the stench that in future elections the solid union members sit it out. The only ones running will be those most interested in self-promotion and self-preservation. Not unlike the traits of a scab.
So who benefits if apathy festers? It has been proven you can hold office by acclamation.
|
