Well, it sure has been a long time. Been busy, very, very busy. Spring came and the bike came out, so I did a lot of riding. I rode 35,000 kms this year. The longest trip was 7600 kms, to Toronto an back. I learned that the Upper Peninsula route to Toronto is only 80 kms shorter than going through Chicago. The ride was great, the gas prices not so great. The gas prices were obscene, but the bike can adapt - read, go slower.
I decided to get political at work, I ran and was successfully elected to the President of my Local of the Union. I was surprised by winning, as I didn’t campaign. The defeated President was surprised as she was going onto her third term and had been Vice President three times before that. She didn’t even have a speech. The results weren’t even close.
That lead to her not helping me at all in the job. I asked if she would, she said no. I asked her if she wanted to be a shop steward, she said no. Little did I know that she was organizing to undo the members wishes. This started 11 months of spying, innuendo and a lot of questioning of every thing I did.
I had a different style and looking back there are some things that I could have done differently, if I was getting advice. But it would appear to the component (the Union outside the office), I was a black sheep, best ignored. Ignore they did.
In May, there was a secret petition organized to impeach me. The ‘coven, as some people called them, wrote their manifesto and selected members to sign it. They had a narrative in which they would say a pile of stuff that wasn’t in the petition to get it signed. They received signatures from 25% of the members and then sent it by a very expensive method to the head quarters of the component in Ottawa.
I of course hear about this through the grapevine. I wasn’t allowed to know what was in the petition and various members would say something that wasn’t true to me, they said it was true as it was in the petition. Anyway, the component did not do much with the petition. They waited till September to say it was invalid. But by then the damage was already done. My name outside the Local was mud, and they would not see the other side of the story. They didn’t even ask me.
The last couple of weeks I have been in consultation with the President of the component. The first call was pretty good, he was open to discuss the issues. I had written a long email detailing the issues, after I had a meeting with the Region’s President (there are lots of Presidents in the component). She had no notes and proceeded to tell me everything I was doing wrong. She also had a discussion about my Personnel File. Apparently all this stuff was the result of a discussion she had with the ‘coven’ the night before.
Anyway, that discussion did not go well. In the local I had support of one other person on the Executive. The person in the meeting spent the first half hour cutting that person down. It became apparent what they were trying to do. When i got back to work, I was all set to quit. But we decided to contact the President for advice. In the end that was a waste of time, he could only recommend mediation, which would cost the Local at least $10,000. As there is potential strike action coming, we decided that was not worth it. I had the feeling that the coven would go through the whole thing, talk the talk, but after it was over, they’d keep doing what they were doing. So last Friday I resigned as did the Treasurer. I am on a course for the next two days, so I will not see the fallout. Ii am sure that the adversaries will have a lot to say.
One thing I have learned is that power in the union comes from the bottom. So you don’t have to be a member of any executive to be active. I have planned some activities outside of the official ones. I have ten to twenty people that will be participating. I have no interest in usurping the power of the Local Executive, they can do whatever they want.
I felt a big weight come off me after I resigned. Knowing that I don’t have to react to a hidden agenda. I can see now why there is a 75% apathy rate in the local. In speaking with a labour organizer I learned that this is an old story, it has occurred many times before and will be replayed again and again.
The bike is parked in the garage, I didn’t get it ready for Winter yet. Have to fill up the tank and put some fuel conditioner in it. The car, which has not seen much use in six months has stepped up for some love. It has an over heating issue. I bought a new thermostat today, a friend is going to install it.
I have another 5 week vacation on the horizon, I was going to go to Mardi Gras again, but maybe not. I am thinking trip to Capital Reef National Park and then over to Palm Springs. The rest of the time will be shedding stuff from the house. Time to de-clutter. I actually started the day I decided to resign. I am picking one room at a time and working it out. It’s amazing how much better you feel when you get a room to some semblance of organization.
Completed all the 1001 course for the Fire Department, just waiting for the results of the written tests. Hopefully I will be a mostly qualified firefighter soon. There are other levels of qualification leading up to Officer. I have a great regular job which requires a lot of writing and reporting. I don’t think I need to take on more at the fire department.
