Monday, June 04, 2007

Letter from a Union Brother

This is a letter I received from Jim Yonkers, he is a pressman in a union newspaper in Florida own by the Tribune Co.:

Albaro,
What has gone on in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. pressroom before I arrived here, and hence, since I've been here should be living proof to your co-workers to insist on a fair, reasonable and equitable labor contract for all involved...
First of all, it is important to point out to your fellow press persons that nobody is coming in from out of town to run the "union". They are the UNION! They will be the members, they will be the elected leaders...and I do stress elected ...
Did you, did they ever wonder in their careers how the heck did a particular person or persons ever get appointed to a management position? Believe me its important to note that when somebody in the capacity of a Union Chairman or assistant chairman or for that matter, the whole Board of Union Officers goes into the supervisors office to file a grievance or try their best to settle a minor or major dispute, those officers were elected and trusted by the members to uphold justice and voice their (the members) concerns...
Almost everyone in their careers, at some point, gets a boss who delights in the torture, humiliation and harassment of underlings.
But few workers have the financial resources, money, necessary to go to court, lay bare the dirty laundry and demand payback for treatment they consider abusive.
Without a written Union Contract and grievance procedure and process, they are all alone. With a written employment contract granting them protection from random firings and layoffs, they are in a safer workplace environment.

Fraternally, I am,
Jim Yonkers
Stay Safe

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

BALTIMORE (AP) -- The union representing reporters at The (Baltimore) Sun blasted the newspaper's wage proposal in a letter to its members, saying Tribune Co. management offered insufficient pay raises and tied too many of those raises to job performance.

I wonder where the union thinks the money is going to come from and "raises tied to job performance" you mean I'm going to have to work for my money! WOW... go union.. this is all so unfare!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Jim, Well said and I believe I said the same things to them back in Jan when they elected to have a union.
Don't let what some of the idiotic detractors say get to you. There are definetly a few and most likely they are management guys.
They just have no clue as to how things work.
Peace.

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