11/03/2024
This is a response to the Branch 9 News column by the incumbent Recording Secretary. There were several false allegations made in this article that we would like to address.
The first allegation is that we aren't interested in a fair election when nothing could be further from the truth. He charges that we set up an in person candidate forum on a day that we knew that he would be out of state for leadership academy. So, the idea here is that Chris Pennock wrote out his motion for the forum with the schedules of all the candidates in mind and the specific knowledge of when the recording secretary would be at leadership academy and did so specifically to exclude him. This is a laughable notion.
This motion was put forward at the September GMM and there was a cordial discussion about when and how the forum would unfold with Samantha Hartwig providing input. The incumbent recording secretary was at this meeting and had every opportunity to propose an alternative date that he would be available for but he chose not to do that. In addition to this he could have participated in the forum by recording a video that could have been played, or by giving his written remarks to another to read, or by joining via ZOOM, as the forum was being broadcast over the internet.
Another charge is that the election committee beginning the candidate meeting at the end of the September GMM while he was performing his recording secretary duties and that he only made it to the meeting for the last question. It is true that at the end of that GMM people were turning in their paperwork for the state meeting and their certificates of intent to run for office and that he was working on those things.
There's a few things to keep in mind on this, one is that the September GMM ended fairly late. It was somewhere close to ten o'clock by the time we were getting started on going over the election rules with the committee. Two of the election committee members are in their 70s and 80s and the rest of us had to work the next morning.
Also, the business that the recording secretary had to attend to at the time did not all have to be dealt with right then. The certificates of intent had to be received within the next ten days. Chris Pennock even went over to the recording secretary and everyone gathered around him to urge them to wrap up their business as we were trying to start the election meeting. Shortly after that we did get started on the meeting without the recording secretary after waiting some time for all the candidates to arrive. A few minutes later he arrived and we stopped to give him a recap of everything that had already occurred. The recording secretary was there for the majority of the meeting and had a full opportunity to ask any questions that he had. All the candidates also had an opportunity to get the contact information of the election committee so any future questions could be addressed.
One last point we'd like to address is the idea that our slate is a "swamp of friends". We will not stoop to responding to this insult other than to point out that eight of the members of our slate ran unopposed and have already been awarded their positions. So, this is how this candidate for recording secretary feels about 75% (at a minimum) of an executive board that he apparently wishes to be a member of.
This slate is running to ensure that our union is an effective instrument of defense against Managment's attacks on our working conditions. We appreciate your support and don't forget to tell all your co-workers to get involved in the vote NO (on the TA) campaign!
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