It has been brought to my attention that the true meaning behind this union has been lost in all of the bickering and infighting. For those of you who don’t know, Joe Nacarlo and I were the original plaintiffs in the lawsuit against MSA. We volunteered for this because we were no longer employees of MSA and they wouldn’t be able to come after us for our actions unlike the active employees who were afraid of retribution and retaliation. We were then asked to start a union movement and because of our non-employment status, MSA would be unable to enforce any kind of punishment or retaliation against us. Joe Nacarlo, myself, and three active MSA employees, John Hansen, Joe Tallini, and Tom Brown took on the effort. Our idea was simple: take care of the handler and his/her partner at all costs. We created the by-laws with an attorney so that once we were voted in, they could be amended so that our union would be by MSA employees and for MSA employees and all voices would be heard. Our main objective is to protect you and your canine partner from any mistreatment by MSA management. We sent out lists of what we would be fighting for including pay raises, benefits, and quality of life improvements for your canine. God forbid your canine gets sick or injured and is going to be out of work for an extended period of time, we want to ensure you're not without a paycheck while you’re home caring for your partner.
Recent posturing by MSA had forced us to seek affiliation with the TWU and their 140,000 members. Our meeting, which was scheduled for Wednesday, May 30th, had to be cancelled and rescheduled for Tuesday, June 5th. The President of the TWU had to attend an emergency meeting in Manhattan and couldn’t make our appointment. John Samuelson, TWU’s President, was going to check with his lawyers for the validity of a union like ours being affiliated with his and he will get back to us as soon as these questions are answered. Once voted in, along with the by-laws, we will also reach out to all members to see if affiliation with the TWU will benefit all of us in any way or if we would be better off on our own.
Our only concern throughout this whole ordeal has been the EDC handlers and their partners. We are not seeking any monetary compensation. We are only looking out for what’s best for everyone. Recent anonymous posts on the website forced us to suspend anonymous posting for a few days. If you have a legitimate complaint, sign your name and I will personally call you and answer your questions.
A re-post from the TWU letter:
ReplyDeleteAre the union organizers willing to give up their posts/other jobs to represent the handlers full time? That would show true dedication to cause and that they really give a shit. If not, they're just trying to get on another tit.
I can't speak for the rest of the guys but I'm not willing to do this for free and quit my job. That would make supporting my family pretty difficult. I'm not sure what you mean by "trying to get on another tit." If you're implying we're going to steal all the dues money, we'd be charged with embezzlement pretty quickly.
DeleteWe have shown nothing but dedication to you the handlers all along. I don’t know what you mean by being on the tit because none of us are. All of this is being accomplished with our free time. Will you volunteer some of your free time to help us move this forward?
ReplyDelete