An Appeaser Is...
"An appeaser is someone who feeds a crocodile, hoping he will be the last to be eaten."-Winston Churchill
Are you "hoping to be the last to be eaten?"
Winston Churchill said this in regards to the actions of his predecessor, Neville Chamberlain, whose official policy of Appeasement threw open the door to Hitler’s cruel aggression.
ap•pease –verb (used with object), -peased, -peas•ing.
1. to bring to a state of peace, quiet, ease, calm, or contentment; pacify; soothe: to appease an angry king.
2. to satisfy, allay, or relieve; assuage: The fruit appeased his hunger.
3. to yield or concede to the belligerent demands of (a nation, group, person, etc.) in a conciliatory ef fort, sometimes at the expense of justice or other principles.
Do you, Union Member, understand what I am trying to tell you?
By not being concerned about membership you are being an appeaser.
By not signing up new members you are being an appeaser.
Am I trying to say that if you don’t sign up new members, Hitler will invade?
Not exactly…what I am trying to say is that by doing nothing about getting new members, by "being in a state of contentment" with the membership we have…well, you are really just hoping to be the last one "eaten," aka out of a job.
Don’t you know that you are chained to non-members and that their non-membership is dragging all of us to lower wages, lower benefits, and less job security?
Newsflash: union officers are not solely responsible for signing up new members. WE ALL are the ones who see the non-members daily. WE ALL are the ones who need to kindly educate them to the many benefits of union membership. WE ALL are the ones who need to DO SOMETHING.
STOP "FEEDING THE CROCODILE!!!" SIGN UP YOUR FELLOW CO-WORKERS.
"Things do not get better by being left alone. Unless they are adjusted, they explode with a shattering detonation."–Winston Churchill …Adjust.
By: Mark Merlucci, Vice President, PBC
CWA Rolls Out Campaign for Real Health Care Reform...
An army of CWA health care activists is about to fan out across the country to build an even bigger movement of union members, local executive boards and congressional candidates in at least 121 targeted districts who will fight for guaranteed, affordable health care for all.
About 140 local activists and staff members took part in four days of training this week in Maryland to better understand the nation's health care crisis and learn how to motivate others to join the battle.
"It's not just about being right about health care," CWA President Larry Cohen told the gathering. "We have to build a political movement to bring about real health care reform in this country."
Cohen, speaking to the group at a conference center near Baltimore this week, stressed that the health care campaign and the fight for the Employee Free Choice Act go hand in hand and, "we're going to link these issues like never before." Declining collective bargaining density and union power in the United States is a primary reason for the growing number of employers who no longer provide health care and contribute to the mounting crisis.
Both the health care and Employee Free Choice Act campaigns are among the union's Strategic Industry Fund projects.
The CWA health care campaign is not focused on details of a specific plan, but rather it lays out a policy framework for universal coverage, with the goal of enacting health care legislation by 2010 and a new system to be in place by 2012.
CWA District 7 Vice President Annie Hill and Research Director Louise Novotny explained that the union hasn't adopted a single approach other than to aggressively champion those ideas that will lead to health care for all.
Part of the process, said Hill, will be to gather ideas and input from members and other unions and organizations as CWA develops a more specific recommendation for reform.
Hill headed an Executive Board committee that began work about a year ago to craft the campaign and determine which 100 congressional districts should be targeted, a list that grew to 121. They took into account the House committees each representative belongs to, how many CWA members and retirees were in their districts and whether their states would be political battlegrounds, then got feedback on the list from CWA district and sector leaders.
Participants in this week's training will be meeting with local executive boards and retired members' chapters to explain the campaign and help them enlist rank-and-file activists. Among other activities, CWA members will be asked to send postcards and signatures for the Employee Free Choice Act and health care reform to members of Congress.
The CWA campaign will also join with other unions and organizations and work with willing employers.
Hill stressed that the health care campaign will in no way affect the determination CWA brings to contract negotiations. "When we sit down at the bargaining table, we're going to do everything we can to maintain quality health care for our members," Hill said. "It's just getting harder and harder to do. We know ultimately that we need a national solution."
Know Your Rights...
*If you are a union member, you have a right to have a Union Representative with you if management calls you into the office and that meeting could lead to disciplinary action to you or to any other employee or co-worker. You should ask the following question when you are called into the office. “Could this meeting lead to disciplinary action towards me or any other employee?” If they say yes it could lead to discipline or even if you feel that somehow the meeting may lead to discipline you should then advise management of the following, “I want my Union Representative, I have nothing to say without my Union Representative”.
* You also have the right to wear Union Buttons on the job.
* You have the right to sign up your co-workers before work, after work, during lunch and breaks as long as both you and the employee you are asking to join are on lunch or break together. NOTE: You cannot ask a co-worker to join the Union during work hours.
*You have the right to join the Union from the first day you are hired. It is not necessary to complete your probation before you join.
*You have the right to talk about the Union on the job just as you talk about the Football game or anything else.
Another Great Reason To Be A Union Member!
The Union Plus Mortgage Program, provided exclusively by Chase Home Finance, is a members only program with benefits you can’t afford to be without!
Mortgage assistance benefits that can help you make your payments if you or your co-borrower becomes unemployed as a result of layoff, disability, strike or lockout.
A wide variety of mortgages including loans for those with less than perfect credit or other unique circumstances.
Save on closing costs.
Provided for Union Members, their parents and children.
If You Are A Union Member And Need Help Buying or Refinancing, call today for a free home finance consultation! Call Lisa Hemann, Senior Mortgage Consultant, Chase Home Finance. Cell Phone: 561-601-8342, Office: 561-514-7414. Email: lisa.hemann@chase.com.
In today's world, working families need to save as much money as they can. With the savings you would get with the Union Plus Mortgage Program you could use it for other important things in your life. So before you decide to buy or refinance a home, check with Lisa at Chase Home Finance first. You will be glad you did!