Cog in the machine...

Dear Norm, et alia,

I thought y'all might want to know that someone's been spoofing your e-mail address, sending out an e-mail misrepresenting your online petition.

From: No WTPU [mailto:no-wtpu@sbcglobal.net]
Sent: Saturday, April 07, 2007 9:39 AM
To: no-wtpu@sbcglobal.net
Subject: Break/Lunch Time Reading

Fellow WTPU represented employees,

We would like to clarify what signing the petition does. The petition, if the required amount of signatures are met (30%), will give us the ability to all for a vote. The voting process will include all WTPU represented employees.

No problem thus far, but then it goes off into La-La Land...

The petition isn't really to de-cert the union, but a chance for employees to voice their opinion.

By signing the petition nothing is changing for the employees...they still have all their existing benefits

The petition is a way to measure the satisfaction of the employees represented by the WTPU.

If a vote takes place and 70% vote to keep the WTPU representation, then the union must be doing a good job, BUT if 50% vote against it that sends a message telling the union they need to work on things.

Now, we may differ on the need for union representation – I really couldn't say, as you've not yet stated a reason to vote against my union – but there's little question that your Vote No WTPU petition is certainly a request to decertify the union, innit?

Maybe I'm misreading it, but it seems to me that the petition quite plainly states "should the undersigned employees constitute 50% or more of the bargaining unit represented by the union, the undersigned employees hereby request that our employer immediately withdraw recognition from the union" [emphasis mine]. This is most certainly a request by y'all to decertify the union, by means of signature count, alone, right?

Sure, you could argue the merits of this "Card Check" process – Unions like it, Businesses hate it – but you certainly wouldn't try to claim your petition isn't out there to decertify my union, wouldja?


-- Bill, who thinks your pants may be on fire...