|
Oh my it is FUBAR.
I live in a rightwing area (San Diego County) and our unit at work has a Chief Steward and many others who do not understand the the concept of a union. We have a small but growing unit of 51 members.
I recently became a Steward and we just had a meeting where this "Chief" handed down a "Chain of Command" boxed type flow chart. It had our employer on top followed by our Business Rep from the local, to him the Chief, then to an "alternate Chief and then to us Stewards. The members are not even on his stupid chart.
This is so f'ed up on so many levels. He, the Chief, is a nervous nilly and a control freak. He is a RW'er and only seems to understand how to try and control others through this ridiculous military "top-down", corporate like "chain-of-command" structure. He has pulled me aside twice and yelled at me for not "knowing the boundaries", whatever that means. He decides what gets shared with the unit. He decides his meetings with management regarding policy issues that arise. He alone is privy to these meetings WITHOUT even consulting the Stewards much less our brothers and sisters. If he does inform us it is not to ask first but to go ahead and tell us AFTER the fact.
I will be eligible for Chief in a few months when elections role around. I am building a grassroots movement in my wing and beyond. I am outspoken in my desire to open channels of communication and share with others the concept of a "bottom up" structure that truly is what a union is all about.
The structure (flow chart) I aspire to is one where the dues paying members are at the top followed all the way down to the bottom with the National Union President residing there. That bottom tier, under the members, I would label as "support structure". Our employer is not on my flow chart as his is.
I think you are getting what I am up against. It is a mindset that I am trying to dissolve through a grassroots, one-at-a-time, enlightenment. This is why the Chief freaks out at me. I am open and enlightening and he is secretive and controlling.
Also, the communication structure I envision is one where the Chief Steward, or any Steward, DOES NOT meet with the employer or even the BR without consulting the other Stewards and in turn those Stewards going to their wings and getting feedback from the members. Then we have a Steward meeting to look at member feedback. This is all done in a couple of days BEFORE meeting with the employer. No policy issue, that I have seen in my 15 years there, is so damn urgent that we couldn't spend a couple of days on it before meeting. I think this communication process (again, on policy and procedure issues that affect the unit) also has an added benefit in including the members. A big beef I hear is that the members are left out and they are rightly pissed. They think the union, "doesn't do a damn thing". This communication process would include them and go along way towards dispelling that sentiment. They pay their dues. Us Stewards work for them.
Anyway, it's going to be "hard work" but the encouraging thing is that I have talked with a few members and the light goes on big time when I share this. They get that "hell yeah!" feeling. It's like they have been waiting for someone to say this.
Any other tips or suggestions are welcomed.
In Solidarity, SHRED
|