February 20, 2015
Amalgamated Transit Union Local 757
1801 NE Couch
Street
Portland,
Oregon 97232
re: Article titled "NOMINATIONS AND
VOTE FOR ATU LOCAL757 ELECTION
COMMITTEE"
Dear President Bruce Hansen:
I have
attached a copy of an article printed in our local union paper "The
Bulletin" Volume 116, Number 3. The article is titled "NOMINATIONS AND VOTE FOR ATU
LOCAL 757 ELECTION COMMITTEE" and is posted to satisfy §452.56 of
Department of Labor, 14.7 of ATU
International Constitution and General Laws and Section 13 of our local bylaws
requirements. I have also attached copies of two emails I sent on February 10th, 2015 with
concerns about the article. This establishes the start date of which I had
expressed my concerns and requested an investigation from local, International
and the Department of Labor.
Upon
reviewing this notice I have found that the Nominations of candidates date of
May 11th and the Ballot count on June 23rd is in violation of section 13 of our
local bylaws. The amount of time between May 11th and June 23rd exceeds 30 days
(the maximum time allowed). On February
10th, 2015 I attended our continuation meeting. At the start of the
meeting you made reference about the email I sent in regards towards the dates
not being correct. There was at least 10 members present at the time of the
meeting. You advised us that you had legal view this information and that the
dates appear the need to be corrected. This confirms that the information
provided with in the notice to satisfy §452.56 of Department of Labor, 14.7 of ATU International Constitution and General Laws and
Section 13 of our local bylaws requirements is no longer a valid notice.
After you
talked about that I then expressed my concerns about the statement "It may
happen that committee members will be required to perform limited committee
work as unpaid volunteers." You explained that Election Committee members
are paid their "Run Pay Time" and if the members work over or under
that time they are still just paid their "Run Pay Time". A simpler
example you gave was if a Election Committee member had a normal "Run Pay
Time" of 9 hours then that person will be paid 9 hours no matter if that
person works 8 hours or 10 hours. You stated that "it works out in the wash".
You then continued with the meeting making no more reference towards the
article.
Stating
that members will be required to work unpaid can also be viewed as a way to
discourage members from participating in such a vital role in our election
process. It creates too many possibilities that attacks the security of our
union. What if a current officer in office wanted to make sure select members
are a part of the Election Committee. The first step would be to discourage
members not to take part and then tell the ones wanted that they would be paid
fully. With this being said then electing an Election Committee without
correcting the notice brings doubt that the Election Committee is a valid
committee to oversee our election.
Because of
the importance of our Election Committee and to assure that all members have
the opportunity to participate without being discouraged, proper notice must be
given to all members. Currently there has been no corrected notices sent to all
the members. Failure to provide an accurate notice to all members before an
Election Committee is elected is justification to challenge this election and
request to have the International investigate and correct the challenge. If
this can not be corrected by May
10th, 2015 then the Department of Labor will need to assist.
Sincerely,
Christopher R. Day
ATU757 Member
cc: Amalgamated Transit Union, AFL-CIO/CLC
United
States Department Of Labor
1 comment:
Good job Chris!!!
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