Absolutely awesome RV! I'm thankful, as I'm sure all of us are, that you made it out of the backrooms to share with us the atrocities which are so commonplace in the labor relations circus.
If this doesn't open some eyes, I don't know what will. We need to pass this around to every contact we have!
Oh, and I can't wait for your book to come out! 
One of Us
One of Us
April 1985: I am in a suite at a posh hotel with Doug Dority. At that time Dority is the second in command at the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union. On this day in April, he is meeting with the Vice President of Labor Relations of a large service industry corporation. I am the Vice President's assistant and protégé. He takes me to his secret meetings so that I can witness the events, record them and learn dimensions of labor relations that are not taught in educational institutions.
The Corporate Vice President has come to Washington to persuade the UFCW to agree to a concessionary contract in negotiations that were to begin in a few weeks time. For a number of years the company had paid a large group of workers higher wages than were standard in its industry in an effort to keep unions out. But earlier that year, the company did a voluntary recognition deal with the UFCW and no longer needed to worry about being unionized. This being the case, the higher-than-market-pay-rates no longer made any business sense. That was the logic behind the demand for concessions that the Corporate Veep was about to make. So what happened and why is it relevant today? Read the rest.
Thanks L. I've been on quite a journey I have to say. In my mind though, there was never any doubt - ever - that I would leave the backrooms.
For the longest time after I left, I tried to understand the "system" that allowed these atrocities (as you very aptly call them) to go on. I wanted desparately to believe that what I had seen was some kind of bizarre aberration and that that mainstream unions were committed to advocating workers' interests and that the labor relations system was fair and just. I travelled long and far around the system, becoming more convinced that it just wasn't so. That the whole system supported these atrocities and encouraged them - to keep millions of people disempowered.
More bewildering to me than what I saw on my journey, however, is the how or why I was never able to learn to love and accept it all the way that so many of my colleagues have. I have some thoughts on this and would like to share them (one day when I'm a bit more wide awake 
) I think of myself as a sort of traveller who went into the subterranean world of worker disempowerment and came out to talk about it.
And yes, I am working on a book!
It is such a great piece of journalism and not a comment by the UFCW guru's. Perhaps it is just as well. It really is hard to argue with the truth when it slaps ya in the face and hurts like hell like ya just got hit in the private area. Best just to pretend the truth just does not exist for some I guess.
Once again RV a smashing tribute to the truth.
An incredible story, I just wish it was fiction but the sad truth is most of us who frequent this forum are living this nightmare on a daily basis!
I think you an Hugh Finamore should write a book together and we can use it to help beat those union officials back under the rock that spawned them!
Keep up the great work 
DeMoN
And there's more, so much more to share!
I'm sure the trolls will be along in a little while. They always come calling when something especially illusion-dispelling gets posted here. Don't forget it's the weekend and biz-u-trolls don't work weekends. On top of that, we didn't post til mid day yesterday and by then trolls are out engaged in various forms of consumption. Plus, I think there was some big hockey event last night, so this morning hangovers are being nursed and wagers are being settled and that sort of stuff.
Speaking of trolls though, I thought I would share with you something that is sort of ironic: Part of my motivation for "sharing" my story about Master Dority and the Corporate VP grew out of some reflecting I did after an exchange with a forum troll last month in this thread. (The other part was the sad and, as I've already said, entirely predictable end to the SoCal strike). At certain point in the exchange, my troll friend takes a crack at figuring out my background
and comes up with the following:
quote:
I'm beginning to see the problem here RV. In fact, I'm going to butcher some pop psychology here and see if I can get a sense of how you came to where you are today.
You grew up in an upper-middle class family. Your working life began with small jobs, much like most young people do, and you eventually ended up working in a union job making a decent wage. Nothing spectacular, but the benefits were ok. Then you began to notice things were amiss. The union wasn't exactly all peaches and cream. There was a lot of corruption, a lot of laziness. All the same things I see in a union. At one point or another, you were burnt by a higher-up and, failing to make any headway in solving this problem, left. At this point, you made a conscious decision that the aristocracy must pay. By taking several classes in journalism, you set out to prove that the pen is mightier then the sword. You favorite form of government is either referendum-based democracy or anarchy and your favorite chess piece is the pawn because he does all the work.
We're not so different, you and I.
I have say that I laughed for quite a while after reading this because the troll dude was dead wrong on absolutely every point. What he presented though, was the dictatorial-unionists' profile of dissenters: The ungrateful union member who, unable to climb high enough in the biz union heirarchy decides to get even with the leaders, possibly by starting a rival union (at least I think that's what the reference to the "pawn" is at that end). That's sort of the persona that the biz unionists try to paint on top of anyone who criticizes them in the hope that it will be sufficient to discredit them. In addition, I think that a lot of them just can't imagine why or how anyone who does not fit this profile would want to criticize them.
Regrettably for all the autocratic shits out there, this ain't me (I will elaborate on this in more detail - my other life is beckoning to me right now) - it's not really anyone else that I've ever encountered in the union reform community. So to that extent, I (and all the rest of us who don't fit the profile - and that's all of us) are the autocratic shits' worst nightmare. They don't understand us and they can't stop us.
DeMoN: Me write a book with Hugh Finnamore? That's one hell of an idea!
(You might find this funny: I'm convinced that there are certain machine heads within the UFCW who think Finnamore and I are the same person. Seriously, is that whacked out or what? Of course we're not the same person but it's been good for a few laughs.
RV: You are opening people's minds! Are you not concerned about your safety, or that of other family members? Have you ever experienced any backlash?
No I don't fear them and - so far - they've done nothing to threaten me. There are a couple of things that I think have contributed to this:
1. The more that you "go public", the less likely it is that you'll become the target of retaliation. It's just a lot more risky for them to try anything stupid.
2. I've shared what I know with a lot of people. We are perceived as a group rather than a bunch of isolated individuals. Strength in numbers works on a number of different levels. First, for bullies it's more tempting to pick on people who they perceive as being alone. It's less tempting to pick on members of groups - especially groups that flip them the bird any time they act up or are likely to publicize their actions. Secondly, it's more risky to come after any member of the group when you know that all the others know and will send the long arm of the law to your door if any shit happens.
Those are two important factors although there are others.
Something you may want to do if you're experiencing problems with jerks who want you to shut up (or expect to be), is to make some good contacts with law enforcement agencies. Tell the coppers what's going on and who's involved. If they seem disinterested, ask them why that is and what they'll do if something bad happens. Talk to various agencies: Your local cops, the RCMP, the SEU (Special Enforcement Unit) and any other enforcement agency that may be interested (CCRA, HRDC, etc.) depending on what kind of extracurricular activities the goofs who are bothering you might be into.
You may also want to consider packing a small recording device and/or a digital camera (you can even get these in cell phones now). If anything weird happens, record it and publicize it. That's certainly what I intend to do - with full descriptions.
Bulllies behave like cockroaches. They like to move around in the dark where nobody can see them. Shine the light on them and they scatter like the bugs that they are.
If this bothered you right from the beginning why not just walk out and restart at something that would not bother you?
I wanted to know more about it, to witness it, to record it and to understand it so that one day I could inform and educate others about what really goes on in the backrooms and how it disempowers them. Walking away changes nothing. It's the main reason why corruption continues to flourish within various institutions - including unions. Walking away perpetuates the problem.
There is actually one other reason for why I didn't walk away. I will speak about that down the road. If you want some clues as to what that is, read the Backroom Chronicles series.
Start something else? Why, I think I have.
I can't say your response is new in this face of this type of question but if you took a paycheck and stood by you were complicit, saying one stayed silent in order to dig up information and then present it to save to the uneducated masses has been the excuse of people who have done the same thing in the business, political and religeous world.
Usually in the end the motivates for such actions tend to be self motivated.
Oh yes I was complicit. There's not getting around that. Anyone who participates is complicit to a greater or lesser extent. However, if you think that there was something that I could have done about it - beyond what I actually did - you're quite wrong. There was no whistle that could have been blown, no regulatory agency that could have been alerted, no place to go to file a complaint. That doesn't exist in Canada.
So, given that set of circumstances, you do what you can. If exposing the crap or walking away from it and pretending that it didn't happen are the only two options - and they were - I picked the first option.
Tell me Fed Up, which option would you have chosen?
When I find myself in a situation where I see something that bothers me I speak out or I ask why was that done if I do not agree with the reasoning I walk from it and when asked as to why I give my reason for doing so.
In the end I am very careful though not to slag the interigrity of an organization because a few people are corrupt because I realize people change and die, but in the end I am responsible for my own interigrity.
What if those "few corrupt people" are in leadership positions? Does that magnify the seriousness of the problem? What should be done about corrupt leaders who cannot be displaced through democratic means, because there are no democratic means?
I believe that "a few corrupt people in a organization" is a serious matter no matter who they are. If your employer caught you stealing or cheating or misrepresenting information, you would be fired. Why is that?
Wow corruption at the top of an orginization tell me something I do not know.Who is to say that the ufcw will not go democratic in the near future?
But again if it botheed you so why did you take a paycheck from them?
quote:
posted by Fed Up:
But again if it botheed you so why did you take a paycheck from them?[/QB]
I do not have the answers. Where is your pay check coming from? What is bothering you?
You may want to now look at an alternative, an education?
Why did I take a pay cheque from them? Because I did a job for them, that's why.
I don't think you will ever see the UFCW become democratic. What makes you think that something like this is going to happen any time soon?
BTW, you have a lot to say about me but how about the Doug Dority huh? What do you think about what he did? Do you think it was just a little bit of corruption and that it's OK?
Hey Fed UP, from what I can see that was some pretty dangerous shit that RV was doing and still is. Would you have the balls to expose corruption? Or is your idea of having balls sitting around and making up excuses for a bunch or corrupt assholes?
posted by yankeebythewater
quote:
I do not have the answers. Where is your pay check coming from? What is bothering you?
I think the following quote from another thread has the answer, a ufcw porkbarrel wanna be who sees the chance may be slipping away.
posted by Fed Up:Bold added:
quote:
As far as being a steward on my shift we have 2 already but if there is ever anyway I can help you I will.
If someone lost out on full time due family emergencies and used emergency leave and that is the reason for his not getting full time I can ask for someone to check into that
Sounds like Fed Up may have connections to me.
Oh I would say that Fed Up is definitely a true believer in the UFCW - to the extent, in fact, that he's internalized the oppression to which his union is subjecting him. I think this is the case because he quite clearly seems to acknowledge that there is corruption in his union ("tell me something I don't know").
Notice how, although the article One of Us, is about Doug Dority and a very disturbing exchange between him and a corporate big shot, Fed Up doesn't once comment on that. Instead he attempts to minimize the corrupt behaviour by suggesting that, you know, there are always a few corrupt people hanging around and what's the big deal about that. Well, this isn't a couple of bad apples somewhere in the machinery - it's the #2 guy in the organization. That's not some small time bureaucrat somewhere in the machine, it's a big wheel and one who would go on to lead the organization into a decade of concessionary bargaining. The suggestion that the UFCW is about to become democratic is so ludicrous I can barely stomach responding to it. I'd like to know how this is going to happen, since this is an organization in which hundreds, probably thousands, of fat cats are depending upon a continuation of the existing order and they have the power to boot out any President or other leader who has any ideas about implementing reforms.
Fed Up doesn't want to discuss the issues raised in the article itself but rather wants to disparage me for talking about this experience. I don't know if he has thought this through or not but if everyone reacted to corruption the way that he suggests (walk away from it or register your objection and get booted out, probably with a gag agreement hanging around your neck, or maybe even end up dead somewhere) then corruption would never be exposed. I wonder if he would ask the people who blew the whistle on Enron why they didn't just quit or why they continued to take a pay check? I wonder if he would ask the thousands of workers in the Canadian government who are disgusted and ashamed of the corruption that has been rampant for years why they don't just up and quit if they're so disgusted?
Sorry Fed Up, if you want to wrestle with me, you're going to have to be prepared to explain these things. Frankly, what you're suggesting makes no sense. In the other thread (the one about the SEIU and Andy Stern) you made a comment last night that sounded like you're feeling sort of like you're just getting by in your job. Have you ever considered that the reason that you are just surviving and your employer is making billions of dollars in profits each year is because your union really doesn't give a shit about you?
(Yes, SA - it was dangerous. Really dangerous. When the whole story is out there, you'll have a better idea about this.)
I have no illusions about my place in this world, my union sells my a service as both an employment agency and bargining agent they are not my good friends ad they are not my family.My hopes for happiness in life are not dependent on any union as they will not ever solve the greater issues in life and I do think the government will either but the world would be alot better place if people refuse to be complicit in corruption.But hey when it all hits the fan or you don't get your way or whatever your it is that motivates you there still is the classic excuse I was just following orders.
My feeling is if you sat by and did nothing while things that are morally wrong went on, pointing your finger at another person to look better is no better that the accomplist in a murder saying the other guy is more guilty he shot them the I just stood there.
A question for you Fed Up:
Office staffers do not have the power to influence the decisions of corporate or union vice presidents. I'm curious as to what you think I could have done that would have changed what the company or the union did in this case?
But speaking of what people could have done: What about Mr. Dority's involvement in this? He had a clear choice in the matter and there was something very tangible that he could have done: He could have said "no". In the least, he could have taken some steps to determine whether what the corporate vice president was telling him was even true. He didn't do that. He just rolled over and agreed to concessions. In my view, he did this for no other reason than expediency: As soon as the contract was signed, the dues would start flowing. What was in the contract was of no real interest to him.
You've had a lot to say about me, what do you say about his complicity in this?
BTW, you sound like a guy who has accepted oppression. If you have, that's fine. It's your life and your choice. Why do you feel the need to impose your choice on others? That's what you're doing when you encourage others to accept corruption or to walk away and ignore corruption. Come to think of it, if you say that by "doing nothing" about what I was seeing, I was complicit in the corruption, how would my walking away from it have been any different? That would have done nothing to stop it. Why do you disparage others who do not choose to be oppressed or taken advantage of by organizations - whether corporations or unions?) Is it your way of persuading yourself that you've made the right choice? My sense is that you are one of those people who would criticizes people who expose corruption because you'd rather not know what is being done behind your back that's hurting you. Am I right?
quote:
My sense is that you are one of those people who would criticizes people who expose corruption because you'd rather not know what is being done behind your back that's hurting you. Am I right?
It doesn't matter if you are right, RV. These guys aren't interested in dealing with the source of the problem. Their goal is to rationalize and attack those who step forward...it attempts to take the heat off of where it belongs.
Here's the real bitch FU (i like that, was it on purpose?), in the 80's the UFCW was taking a pounding. Dority was the head of organizing and Wynn wanted numbers. Everybody was more concerned about turning more members and the hand delivered package that Dority delivered looked good on a stat sheet.
The devil is always in the detail, and remotes details are the classic example of why the biz union model is such a travesty. The workers have to come first, the organization second. In the UFCW, it seldom has been that way. If Dority had cared one iota, he could have found the companies crap to be just that and forced them to negotiate a real contract.
Sorry FU, but this is one of those times where you can't shoot the messenger...this is Dority's baby, and he's gotta live with it.
Fed Up, I find your search for an ulterior motive offensive and reflective of you.
Remember when you point your finger that there are three fingers pointed back at you.
Hey if anyone acts in bad faith he should be held accountable, do not confuse my stance here I do not blindly follow the ufcw and it's leadership, my decision to support the ufcw at maple grove is a business decision.
In the end I see what was done in an effort to gain more members no different than what we are going through right now at maple grove, in both cases members are being sacrificed so that unions can gain more members all in the name worker solidarity.
Both Buzz and Doug could probable give me very compelling reasons for doing what they do and did and both would probably give me the same one about all workers under one tent, where as if these men were really interested in this they would teach their respective members self respect and respect for others and show intergrity.
I am not surprised by the corruption of people and therefore do not feel the need to harp on anyone espicially when they retire, but I will always defend myself when I feel it is necessary.
I follow the advice that if I see someone making a serious mistake I confront them myself and if they still fail to see the folly of their ways to try and get someone else to reason with them but failing this I cut off my ties with them so as not to be party to their actions.I do not sit there and store up information so that one day I can strike back at them that breeds mistrust among people, an no I am not saying worngs should kept secret but if people who witness dirty deeds spoke up right away and were to walk away and cut off these ones do you not think maybe they may see the error in their ways or maybe at the least stop and rethink their actions?
If you do something that is wrong or bothers your conscience confess your own wrong doings and make yourself right but leave your fellow man to his own conscience after you tell him the error of his ways, pointing fingers and saying what i did is bad but he was worse does not excuse your actions, each one is accountable in the end for him or herself.
If your calling me a bitch BP, stick and stones brother.
quote:
do not confuse my stance here I do not blindly follow the ufcw and it's leadership, my decision to support the ufcw at maple grove is a business decision.
Who's business are you referring to Fed Up 
Surely not yours, that is unless your last name is Weston.
No my business, I look which union has the most to offer me and the guys that will come up behind me as far as chances for better jobs the chance to relocate should the need arise and the chance for more young men and women to get full times jobs with decent wages.Also which union puts me in larger bargining pool.I have also looked at which union has been able to keeps it's members working, even with the loss of GM at pinebush there are no job losses.But it seems almost everytime the caw has their fingers in something the results are not very good for those low in senority or the members in general.How many members has the caw gained through working with employers for job creation?
Although the the RCSS deal may stink on paper there are now going to be more people with their foot in the door at union shop and at a later date be able to bargin for more.
quote:
If you do something that is wrong or bothers your conscience confess your own
wrong doings and make yourself right but leave your fellow man to his own
conscience after you tell him the error of his ways, pointing fingers and saying what i
did is bad but he was worse does not excuse your actions, each one is accountable
in the end for him or herself.
Oh I don't think so. When you claim to represent the interests of 1.4 million people, you are not just accountable to yourself. Not for a minute. If Dority is not accountable to the members, why should the members be stuck in his union? Retirement doesn't get him off the hook either.
It isn't his union espicially now that he has retired, but now that he has retired he will have to reflect on what he has done with his working life.
And hey you do whatever it is that helps you sleep at night but remember as long as your going to point a finger avoid mirrors or you will be forced to account to yourself for what you did.
I observed and recorded corruption so that I could expose it one day when the opportunity presented itself. Nothing wrong with that in my estimation. I sleep well at night.
Would you have the balls to do what I and other people who have done similar things? I don't think you do. You're prepared to live with it because you don't have the balls to oppose it.
Hey RV do you know about the forums that the people from Labornotes are bringing to Ca.? You would be a GREAT person to speak at these forums.
I know Bill Pearson has agreed to speak at the forum in So Cal and hopefully he will be in Nor Cal
also. Would you ever consider speaking at a forum
like this?
I've heard that Labor Notes is planning some forums and I'd be happy to contribute in any way that might be useful. It's a bit of a long commute for me though. Drop me a line at remote@ufcw.net and we can talk about it some more. Thanks for asking.
quote:
If your calling me a bitch BP, stick and stones brother.
Nope, not even close. What i was referring to was the real bitch that Dority needed to produce numbers, and he did so at the expense of the new members. If i was going to call you a bitch, you would have known it.
quote:
posted by remote viewer:
Would you have the balls to do what I and other people who have done similar things? I don't think you do. You're prepared to live with it because you don't have the balls to oppose it.[/QB]
It takes more of a man to look someone in the eye and tell him what he thinks of him the to do from a distance behind his back after the fact.As far as my balls go, sorry big guy I don't swing that way, I like the ladies, better luck next time.
quote:
sorry big guy I don't swing that way, I like the ladies, better luck next time.
^^ Gotta love it! t W o funny!
v v
Aye 'n I love it too!
Hey Fed Up, you really gotta open your mind a bit man - or at least read more of my shit man. Because if you pay attention, you'll notice something really f***ing scary: I'm a chick!
Shit, for over two decades now I've been having a laugh whenever this happens.
So your a girl and your bragging about having balls?
Life and deciding where to shop must be confusing for you, I'm sorry.
Just for the record I like the ladies without male gear. 
"Remote Viewer is a regular contributor at Members for Democracy who has worked extensively in the field of labor relations. Over the years 'she' has worked as a representative of labor, management, and government".
The above was the last paragraph to the topic - One Of Us.
How could one miss or misinterpret...
It just gets better everyday. I'm certain the writers of Saturday Night Live will be visiting here soon.
Again sorry not use to any woman wanting to compare who has more balls with me, and to tell you the truth I would be disturbed if ever on a date that happened.
Well now, that would be The Crying Game. 
Personally I find all the
finger-pointing, leader-anointing,
mirror-looking, hall-booking,
balls-bearing, blinders-wearing,
bitch-slapping, unions-napping
goings on are gone out of control.
I think I will listen to some soothing music.
ybtw, I always have a laugh at the number of times that I am mistaken for a man, even though I have said many, many, many times over the past three years that I am not a man. What isn't really funny though is that this mistake is most frequently made by the biz unionists. I suspect that it is rooted in sexism (women can't - or shouldn't - speak intelligently about things, expecially things that relate to labour or the workplace, no can they?). In the case of at least some of the UFCW cheerleaders it is rooted in the belief that I am Hugh Finnamore, which of course I am not. (Yeah, here's something for the writers at Saturday Night Live: In the ranks of UFCW machine heads there are actually some who believe that Finnamore owns this site, runs this site and is responsible for most, possibly all of the material on this site! None of this is true and it boggles the mind to think that any one person could actually accomplish such a feat. )
Anyway, Fed Up, I am a woman. Just so that there is no misunderstanding, my reference to "balls" was figurative and not literal so don't go getting your shorts in a knot, huh? I have to say though that I am disappointed that you would engage me in discussion about an article that you did not read to the end.