MORE STORIES
OF ABUSE
DISCUSSION
CLASS ACTION
LAWSUIT INFO
HELP STOP
THE ABUSE
UNION MEMBER RESOURCES
LINKS
CONTACT ME
DONATE
HUMOR
HOME
BACKGROUND THE REMOVAL MY APPEAL THE ELECTION THE AFTERMATH
Although the Executive Board, to a member, refused to do their jobs, they demanded to be involved in the decision-making process. We agreed that we would discuss open issues at the weekly Executive Board meeting, and vote on how to proceed. It never happened, because the Executive Board members used the weekly meetings to attack me instead of discussing business. In an effort to divide up the work of doing the research, which I had done almost exclusively for the past three years, I assigned the Vice-president and Chief Steward some management proposals to research. Behind my back, and without consulting me (although they apparently discussed it among themselves), they both entered into agreements with management.
*The Vice-president agreed to forcibly retraining fuel cell employees who could not fit into the fuel cells of every assigned aircraft.
*The Chief Steward agreed to allow management to collect sensitive medical information on employees who drive vehicles as a minor duty. Although it is true that employees whose jobs it is to drive government vehicles must have government drivers’ licenses, and management must collect medical information on them, the affected employees were flight line employees who drive maintenance vehicles on an intermittent basis. Such employees do not have to possess government drivers’ licenses as long as they have a valid state drivers’ license - thus, it is not necessary for management to collect medical information on them. If the Chief Steward had simply turned a few pages in the regulation that management cited as the reason for their need to collect the medical data, she would have discovered that there was no need for the change in policy.
*When the Treasurer was negotiating the ADR program, she signed away the union’s right to be present in mediation talks - despite her instruction to consult with the Executive Board on all proposals before entering into an agreement - as they all agreed would be the practice.
These examples of incompetence were, unfortunately, common among the members of the Executive Board. I was constantly having to undo the damage inflicted by the Executive Board members, which only added to the stresses I was already under.
The medication that I had been prescribed was having a devastating effect on my health, and I was too ill to realize it. I was an emotional wreck, but instead of helping me through the crisis, the Executive Board began pressuring me to resign, complaining to NVP Kelly that my depression, a handicapping condition, was “harming the union.” In or about July 2003, the Vice-president, Treasurer, Secretary and Sergeant-at-Arms confronted me and asked me to resign because of my handicapping condition - and the former Chief Steward had also made the same 'suggestion'. But in my opinion, what was harming the union was the fact that I was carrying it on my back almost single-handedly. When I assigned work, it didn’t get done, and the Vice-president refused to come into the office to take over my work load so I could take leave - not once, but three times. And, just to make things interesting, the former Chief Steward was doing her best “Chicken Little” routine, telling the employees that I would close the Base, and inciting them to call for my resignation. The anti-union behavior that the members of the Executive Board were engaged in is what was “harming the Union.” But for their defiance, insubordination, incompetence, misfeasance, malfeasance, and traitorous behavior and contemptible actions, I would not have been subjected to the amount of stress under which I suffered for three years. The Executive Board created a hostile environment for me which aggravated my handicapping condition, and then they demanded that I resign because of the handicapping condition which they themselves aggravated.
In an October 2003 Executive Board meeting, the Vice-president, Treasurer and Chief Steward criticized me for taking as much official time as I possibly could. They sided with my supervisor when he refused me official time to do a mindless task that anyone could have done, and was not mission-essential. They berated me for not going to dayshift, something that management had nagged me about for three years. They said I was too “combative”, one of management’s favorite mantras. The next day, I notified the Executive Board that I would be attending a luncheon with the Senator whom I had picketed, and that he had announced plans to retire. The Treasurer, who was also the PAC/LAF coordinator, responded with some inane comment, which e-mail she sent to me alone. Then, before I knew what was happening, she sent another reply to me, with courtesy copy to the other memebrs of the Executive Board asking why she, as PAC/LAF coordinator, had not been notified. The other members of the Executive Baord jumped on the bandwagon and chastised me for not keeping her "informed." My response was that, if the Executive Bord members had used the previous days' meeting to discuss business instead of flay the flesh from my bones, I would have been able to tell her about it, as it was on my agenda. I sent a reply to the Treasurer/PAC/LAF Coordinator pointing out that her last e-mail appeared to be designed to "stir the pot" and inflame the Executive Board members, who then ganged up on me. With so many huge issues that we needed to attend to, I felt it was insane to make such a huge issue of such an insignificant oversight, especially when the Treasurer huffed that the Local didn't even need to attend. That was the last straw. I sent an e-mail stating that I was taking leave, and hoped I would not have to come back, referring to my job application, which I hoped would result in a reassignment. I stated that I was very disappointed that none of them would agree to mediation to resolve our differences, and said that I thought their intention in creating a hostile environment for me was to force me to resign - and I said they were very close to getting their wish. But “close” only counts in hand grenades and horseshoes, and my e-mail never stated that I had resigned. In fact, I purposely DID NOT resign because I did not want to make that decision while I was in such an emotional state. My doctor recommended that I take time off to distance myself from the people that had been causing me such tremendous stress, so I applied for LWOP. My supervisor denied my request, so I took 8 weeks of FMLA leave instead, my entire balance. I thought I would take some time off, rest, recuperate, and return refreshed, with tempers cooled, and start over with a new slate. But I never got the chance.
Next... The Removal Previous... Promise for a Bright Future