UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)
Well-Known Member
I'm surprised you didn't receive literature from each candidate in the mail. My local, 687, is in the midst of elections and I received "Please vote for me because..." letters from both slates.
Teamsters Local 767 Election: North Texan Teamsters, please read.
- Thread starter kristan
- Start date
UnionBrother
Member
You say you go to the meetings and yet you seem to not know much about our Brother Billy Smith. If you were at the debate YOU would know!!! That slate has reached out to all of us as far as I'm concerned. They have a web site you can go to and it tells you about each canidate and gives us their phone numbers so we can call them and talk to them personally. It is easy to remember too because it is the name of their slate (Members First 2009). They have a link that has a interview with Brother Billy Smith that someone did. It was very impressive! It looks like they have visited a lot of places too as they have pictures and flyers showing a history of their campaign trail. (I have also visited with other teamsters while attending union meetings. Everybody I have visited with seems to have seen them out there at their work place in the morning, evening, rain, and cold so where have you been besides the union hall?) They have visited our workplace so much we know them by name!!! They answer our questions and listen to our problems and tell us how to get it resolved right then and there. Our current BA's won't even visit us or return our phone calls. Lastly, your attempt at humor makes me sick. Fed Ex is non union. If you support your union like you say you do these two companies would not be illustrated together unless Fed Ex was unionized!!!!!
UnionBrother
Member
I don't mean any disrespect but I got my ballot in the mail yesterday and I don't think it is much of a 3 slate election. One slate isn't even full. If they are that disorganized I don't want them representing me. I voted Members First slate! I am ready for change.
UnionBrother
Member
Outa hours I think you are Outa Control! Do you honestly think being mad at our company is going to help us? We pay hard earned money for dues to a local union that is suppose to be there to help us and they aren't. Brothers and Sisters would not say they don't know their BA, President, etc. if they have seen them; I don't think that is something they would lie about as you allude to. The fact is some people have to work at the time of the meeting. Why was today's meeting 18 minutes long if they are so important to attend? If the local 767's current administrative team (that keeps changing) held the company accountable to the contract at hand we wouldn't have to be mad at anybody! You need to do some soul searching and talk to the other slate before you waste your vote.
UnionBrother
Member
Again, I will refer you to their website for a conversation with each slate member. You are an adult and you have to make a decision for yourself. Those guys have put themselves out there for us to talk to individually. We all have different needs. I could list all my reasons for why I voted for them and the many reasons I have heard others have voted for Members First but you seem dire straight to discredit people you claim to have never spoken to. I find that hard to believe if you go to the union meetings. They have been there because I have spoke to them.
bellesmom
Well-Known Member
Thank you Union Brother for bringing up the fact that alot of 767 members have to work on Saturdays and cannot attend the monthly meeting. Members have requested meetings be held on a different day, time or after their shifts or even at a local restaurant so they could be informed of what's going on. It's always fallen on deaf ears except once when the contract was being forced down our throats that I am aware of. We either have to be available on their schedule or be ignored which has been the case in recent years.
Billy Smith and MembersFirst2009 are doing something about it! They work themselves around the clock to meet with anyone that wants to talk and find out about their slate. They answer questions honestly and when they are elected we will know who they are, see them and UPS will definitely know who they are and who they work for... the members.
MembersFirst2009 slate will hold UPS accountable to the Contract that was supposedly signed "in good faith" on both sides. The Contract will once again be binding instead of the possible use of emergency toilet paper it is now.
The 118 Combo jobs that were "dissolved" at DFW in February of this year will no longer be a dirty secret no one wants to talk about. I know MembersFirst 2009 cannot work miracles and can't get everything done all at once, I also know they will work as hard as humanly possible to do as much as they can for the members that pay them. The members will also have to help them by enforcing the Contract and standing strong with them and that I'm ready to do! Please check their website if you want more information on them..it's worth your time, as it's your future.
www.MembersFirst2009.org
kristan
Member
Although, I completely agree with the above comment, I just want to let folks know this poster is not me; apparently there are two of us who are moms of bells! Someone called me late last night to say they liked my post here as "bellesmom." People familiar with me at the local know I've got a daughter whom I call "Bell."
So, big props to bellesmom, but I also want to let people know I am NOT a double poster (and neither is she!).
Members First all the way to the P.O. Box!
So, big props to bellesmom, but I also want to let people know I am NOT a double poster (and neither is she!).
Members First all the way to the P.O. Box!
Red Dawn
Well-Known Member
bellesmom
Well-Known Member
Sorry Kristan, didn't realize there would be confusion and thanks for setting it straight.
Members First ALREADY on it's way to the P.O. Box!!!!
Brownie633
New Member
Hey guys, I called and talked to billy today, yea he answers his phone how refreshing is that? He told me the funniest thing. He's getting calls from locals all over the country wishing "Memers First" the best of luck. It's surreal how many Teamsters have their eye on this campaign. There's lots of support out there because exposed slate, woops......experienced slate has developed quite a reputation over the years and it aint one to be proud of! Everyone vote to get the exposed/experienced slate OUT!! For the first time in years -- Members First actually means MEMBERS FIRST! Vote for them and mail in your ballot today!!
kristan
Member
Last minute voters, here you go:
For info about Billy Smith and the Members First slate, visit here:
http://membersfirst2009.org/MembersFirst2009/Welcome.html
Find detailed ballot instructions there with a pictorial along with bios, Q&A, and other media.
If you need a ballot, call TRUE BALLOT right this second because time is running out: 1-866-556-5190. Be sure to ask your co-workers if they need the number for ballots as well. There have been some issues with ballots going to correct addresses, so let's make sure every 767 Teamster brother/sister is afforded his/her right to vote.
For campaign interviews and videos and testimonials supporting Members First, please visit the 767 Election Tracker:
http://teamsterslocal767electiontracker.com/
You can also follow along on Twitter and YouTube.
For info about Billy Smith and the Members First slate, visit here:
http://membersfirst2009.org/MembersFirst2009/Welcome.html
Find detailed ballot instructions there with a pictorial along with bios, Q&A, and other media.
If you need a ballot, call TRUE BALLOT right this second because time is running out: 1-866-556-5190. Be sure to ask your co-workers if they need the number for ballots as well. There have been some issues with ballots going to correct addresses, so let's make sure every 767 Teamster brother/sister is afforded his/her right to vote.
For campaign interviews and videos and testimonials supporting Members First, please visit the 767 Election Tracker:
http://teamsterslocal767electiontracker.com/
You can also follow along on Twitter and YouTube.
kristan
Member
I have been inundated at work, on the phone, and in emails by voters who wanted to voice apprehension about various aspects of the local's executive board election results in which Wesley Jenkins was announced the tentative winner pending the Department of Labor's review of labor protests filed during and after the campaign.
Anyone who has concerns relating to the election should notify: Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) at (972) 850-2500. This is an easy phone call that any member can place at this point.
Members who want to get in touch with the Dept. of Labor at the above number to express concern regarding this election are likely justified. In the last election, which was the 2006 delegate vote, a labor protest was won by member Eric King against the local and Wesley Jenkins’ executive official who supervised the election. Because of the difficulties this local has experienced in the past with True Ballot, members and candidates wanted a different third party involved this time to ensure a fair ballot count as many members were NOT even afforded the opportunity to vote in the 2006 instance. However, the rules governing our delegate elections (in which the executive board does NOT have complete control over the decision regarding who handles the election) and the rules governing our executive board elections differ. We were essentially forced into dealing with, as members, who Wesley Jenkins and the current executive board selected to handle the election. The company they chose, True Ballot, is over a thousand miles away, thus making it impossible for members to observe or monitor all aspects of the electoral process. Why would Jenkins want that when he could have hired a more neutral, reputable ballot-counting company in north Texas that has never been named in an upheld labor protest against the local?
I agree, the duplicate ballot situation is definitely weird. Who was stopping anyone from re-ordering MY ballot by calling True Ballot, requesting a new ballot for me because of whatever reason or another, and then changing my vote and returning the ballot, thus making my legitimate ballot completely invalid? For that oversight alone, we should be afforded a fair rerun.
The local ALSO was in possession of the P.O. Box key for FIVE days before it was presented to the other slates to be sealed in an envelope, signed by witnesses, and then locked in the safe. Why was the local’s secretary-treasurer, a candidate in this election, allowed to obtain this key alone? Why was he allowed to rent the P.O. Box using his name only and with no witnesses? Why would he not have asked the witnesses and candidates, who have always accompanied him in the past when the secretary-treasurer secures the official P.O. Box for the ballots, to observe this time? Because of this suspect behavior, the P.O. Box for this particular election had to be sealed in the presence of slates by the USPS. That is ridiculously sloppy.
Members, some of whom voted for Members First and alerted the slate of the following issue, were called by 767 business agents and executive officers who currently work at the local. These workers were coerced to send in ballots marked for the Experienced Slate. Some were advised to re-order them through True Ballot’s recorded system as well. In fact, some stewards were acting on behalf of the union officials from the Experienced Slate by unethically requesting and harassing co-workers to resubmit and change their votes. This, in itself, is not illegal, but it IS a major labor department issue if the local generated any calling lists from its TITAN system that were not made available to the other candidates who were not given hard copies of this incredible advantage. As a former employee of the local, I can’t imagine how some of these agents would just happen to have the phone numbers of certain members who they don’t know from Adam, but I CAN imagine how it would take about five minutes for them to have a list printed in the hall — during office hours, even, and possibly by unsuspecting office staff, as the agents don’t generally know how to generate specific lists, while we were paying them to work and NOT campaign. I believe there is a way for such information to be retrieved from TITAN, as well, but would imagine it would have to be requested in writing from the IBT itself. This would all have to be verified, naturally, before one could make a valid assertion.
Any agent or executive officer, etc., who phone banked with a list of numbers gathered from the local in any way violated DOL election laws by utilizing an unfair advantage over other slates who were not given or allowed the same materials.
The only way to ensure fairness in our future elections is for members to band together and eliminate all possibilities of the voting process that are not completely reputable. We should not be expected to settle for anything that lends itself to potential fraud. All men and women who are members in good standing have the right to run for office and should be able to do so without reproach or neglect.
Even in light of this matter, I encourage every member, regardless of views on this topic, to continue to work together in a cohesive manner representative of our duties defined by the Brotherhood. We are Brothers and Sisters and, thus, obligated to put matters of labor advocacy first and foremost as that is the main objective as Teamsters.
Anyone who has concerns relating to the election should notify: Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) at (972) 850-2500. This is an easy phone call that any member can place at this point.
Members who want to get in touch with the Dept. of Labor at the above number to express concern regarding this election are likely justified. In the last election, which was the 2006 delegate vote, a labor protest was won by member Eric King against the local and Wesley Jenkins’ executive official who supervised the election. Because of the difficulties this local has experienced in the past with True Ballot, members and candidates wanted a different third party involved this time to ensure a fair ballot count as many members were NOT even afforded the opportunity to vote in the 2006 instance. However, the rules governing our delegate elections (in which the executive board does NOT have complete control over the decision regarding who handles the election) and the rules governing our executive board elections differ. We were essentially forced into dealing with, as members, who Wesley Jenkins and the current executive board selected to handle the election. The company they chose, True Ballot, is over a thousand miles away, thus making it impossible for members to observe or monitor all aspects of the electoral process. Why would Jenkins want that when he could have hired a more neutral, reputable ballot-counting company in north Texas that has never been named in an upheld labor protest against the local?
I agree, the duplicate ballot situation is definitely weird. Who was stopping anyone from re-ordering MY ballot by calling True Ballot, requesting a new ballot for me because of whatever reason or another, and then changing my vote and returning the ballot, thus making my legitimate ballot completely invalid? For that oversight alone, we should be afforded a fair rerun.
The local ALSO was in possession of the P.O. Box key for FIVE days before it was presented to the other slates to be sealed in an envelope, signed by witnesses, and then locked in the safe. Why was the local’s secretary-treasurer, a candidate in this election, allowed to obtain this key alone? Why was he allowed to rent the P.O. Box using his name only and with no witnesses? Why would he not have asked the witnesses and candidates, who have always accompanied him in the past when the secretary-treasurer secures the official P.O. Box for the ballots, to observe this time? Because of this suspect behavior, the P.O. Box for this particular election had to be sealed in the presence of slates by the USPS. That is ridiculously sloppy.
Members, some of whom voted for Members First and alerted the slate of the following issue, were called by 767 business agents and executive officers who currently work at the local. These workers were coerced to send in ballots marked for the Experienced Slate. Some were advised to re-order them through True Ballot’s recorded system as well. In fact, some stewards were acting on behalf of the union officials from the Experienced Slate by unethically requesting and harassing co-workers to resubmit and change their votes. This, in itself, is not illegal, but it IS a major labor department issue if the local generated any calling lists from its TITAN system that were not made available to the other candidates who were not given hard copies of this incredible advantage. As a former employee of the local, I can’t imagine how some of these agents would just happen to have the phone numbers of certain members who they don’t know from Adam, but I CAN imagine how it would take about five minutes for them to have a list printed in the hall — during office hours, even, and possibly by unsuspecting office staff, as the agents don’t generally know how to generate specific lists, while we were paying them to work and NOT campaign. I believe there is a way for such information to be retrieved from TITAN, as well, but would imagine it would have to be requested in writing from the IBT itself. This would all have to be verified, naturally, before one could make a valid assertion.
Any agent or executive officer, etc., who phone banked with a list of numbers gathered from the local in any way violated DOL election laws by utilizing an unfair advantage over other slates who were not given or allowed the same materials.
The only way to ensure fairness in our future elections is for members to band together and eliminate all possibilities of the voting process that are not completely reputable. We should not be expected to settle for anything that lends itself to potential fraud. All men and women who are members in good standing have the right to run for office and should be able to do so without reproach or neglect.
Even in light of this matter, I encourage every member, regardless of views on this topic, to continue to work together in a cohesive manner representative of our duties defined by the Brotherhood. We are Brothers and Sisters and, thus, obligated to put matters of labor advocacy first and foremost as that is the main objective as Teamsters.
kristan
Member
There were 1609 ballots counted amongst the three slates, and the incumbent won by 128 votes, yes.
15% of ballots counted were requested and re-ordered from True Ballot directly because a member either "didn't get a ballot" or it was possibly sent to the wrong address (as in a couple of cases where campaign lit went to one address and ballots went to old addresses). I find the percentage to be very high in comparison to not only the obvious amount of voter apathy (judging from the 20% membership ballot return), but also because there were literally only a handful of ballots requested from True Ballot in the 2006 delegate election.
And tell Steve I STILL can't get his campaign rap song out of my head. You should put it on iTunes and collect download profit for the campaign, Red. And how do I know it's NOT on iTunes? BECAUSE I LOOKED OUT OF FEAR THE WEBSITE WOULD DISAPPEAR, and I'd have no Steve Pocztowski single ever again! Srsly. We loved that down here.
15% of ballots counted were requested and re-ordered from True Ballot directly because a member either "didn't get a ballot" or it was possibly sent to the wrong address (as in a couple of cases where campaign lit went to one address and ballots went to old addresses). I find the percentage to be very high in comparison to not only the obvious amount of voter apathy (judging from the 20% membership ballot return), but also because there were literally only a handful of ballots requested from True Ballot in the 2006 delegate election.
And tell Steve I STILL can't get his campaign rap song out of my head. You should put it on iTunes and collect download profit for the campaign, Red. And how do I know it's NOT on iTunes? BECAUSE I LOOKED OUT OF FEAR THE WEBSITE WOULD DISAPPEAR, and I'd have no Steve Pocztowski single ever again! Srsly. We loved that down here.
705red
Browncafe Steward
There were 1609 ballots counted amongst the three slates, and the incumbent won by 128 votes, yes.
15% of ballots counted were requested and re-ordered from True Ballot directly because a member either "didn't get a ballot" or it was possibly sent to the wrong address (as in a couple of cases where campaign lit went to one address and ballots went to old addresses). I find the percentage to be very high in comparison to not only the obvious amount of voter apathy (judging from the 20% membership ballot return), but also because there were literally only a handful of ballots requested from True Ballot in the 2006 delegate election.
And tell Steve I STILL can't get his campaign rap song out of my head. You should put it on iTunes and collect download profit for the campaign, Red. And how do I know it's NOT on iTunes? BECAUSE I LOOKED OUT OF FEAR THE WEBSITE WOULD DISAPPEAR, and I'd have no Steve Pocztowski single ever again! Srsly. We loved that down here.
I will have to send you a cd of it, This was performed at our picnic out of the blue. Im not much in to rap music, would rather prefer to hear maybe Ozzy do a song, but people like it. Is true ballot out of new york? It sounds familiar and I think thats who we are using this election here. Good luck on your appeals.
