To All Bolingbrook Professionals
Let me start out by saying, I hope all of you and your families had a wonderful, safe and blessed holiday. It seems as if the New Year came and went so quickly. All I have to say is, “Where did the past 12 months go?” I am extremely confident in believing that the upcoming year of 2009, will bring us all the news we have all patiently been waiting to hear.
I’ll start out by informing all of our members about the meeting which took place last week between M.A.P., AFSCME, the Village of Bolingbrook and the Illinois Labor Relations Board. Sick and not feeling well after heading to the hospital’s ER on Tuesday morning could not even stop me and a couple of other members from attending this meeting.
AFSCME looking stupid attempted to convince the ILRB that they should be allowed to represent 14 out of our total of 42 members to belong to their union and from the interpretation I witnessed it was almost as if the Village was in agreement to their request. Strange, I know but I had to ask myself and our attorney, Joe Mazzone did ask the ILRB judge, Mrs. Sharon Wells why is it that they only seek 14 members and not the full 42 which MAP is fighting for? What about the other 28 members’ madam judge? It was blatantly apparent that AFSCME, in typical AFSCME representation said without saying to the judge, the Village and M.A.P., to hell with the rest. Anyone still interested in joining their union? The ILRB has scheduled meetings to take place on the following dates, July 14th, July 15th, July 16th and on July 21st, downtown to settle the following matters: Allow AFSCME, & M.A.P. their day in court to state their cases before the board to determine which union will represent our group. By all of the indications that I was able to observe and hear firsthand, AFSCME is up the creek without a paddle so to speak. Why you ask? Number #1 they really didn’t know who their group of 14 actually included or who the Village would like them to admit into their union. Number #2, they weren’t even actually sure of what job titles, responsibilities and duties each member actually performed. Bravo AFSCME! Bravo! Way to do your homework. I assure all of you that when all is said and done, AFSCME will be packing up their bags and heading home with exactly the appropriate number of new members they deserve……. ZERO!
Following that decision it will then be time for M.A.P. and the Village to discuss one another’s positions and possibly come to some form of resolution. Be aware that MAP is not in this for the money, glory or any other word that some may assume. They are in it for the proper reason and that is to make certain that all of us are provided and guaranteed fair compensation & representation afforded to all of the other union employees’ at the Village.
I realize it has taken us longer to unionize than any of us first imagined but we should all be made aware and realize that the delays have been caused by the village, who is attempting to prevent us from unionizing in addition to AFSCME and their meaningless ILRB postings. UPDATE: The first of AFSCME’s two petitions have been thrown out and disallowed by the ILRB. I assure you that none of the delays we have been forced to experience and deal with have been because of MAP. It is extremely important that we all understand that MAP has fought hard for all of us, up to this point, and they will continue to fight for us and not charge us anything to win this fight.
I ask each of you to continue to stay positive in what you believe in and understand that MAP, on their own dime, along with some of our key members are working diligently and unselfishly behind the scenes, with everyone of our members best intentions in mind, to make our union a soon to be reality.
(This is important)
It should be noted that MAP, in addition to representing a majority of sworn Police Officers, also represents hundreds of civilian members. They have organized civilians at Wescom, Quadcom, Oak Lawn, Darien, North Suburban 911 groups, Tollway employees, along with many others. They just certified about 70 members in the McHenry County Circuit Clerk's office and just signed up Northwest Central civilians and dispatch. They organize all civilian groups in the public sector and have Public Works groups in other cities equally interested.
Unions, especially the respectable unions, such as MAP, maintain their integrity and reputation by representing "a unique core of people" and as I stated before which warrants repeating, is exactly who WE all are as Bolingbrook Professionals Chapter #522.
Now let’s move on to actions which transpired this afternoon at Village Hall, again during business hours, by AFSCME representatives Robin “Edge” Turner and Jen Regalado. They walked around, organizing and soliciting our members attempting to encourage our people to attend an upcoming AFSCME union meeting at which point in time they would be able to……(um, cough, bullshit) be able to discuss the advantages of joining AFSCME and how sweet, they are now willing to answer your questions and “ease” any concerns you may have. Excuse me as I jump for joy and ah la Ron Santo click my heels. Yes, folks even though I only have one foot I can still jump up when the feeling s of joy and excitement overcome my body.
Let me point out the obvious reasons why none of us should attend their meeting.
Where were they the “Johnny come lately’s” before M.A.P. became involved? Also, the “Meeting Notice” that they put out had a typing error and rather than give us the proper respect we all deserve and correct the error and reprint the corrected version, no they scratched out the word “court in courtroom” and “hand wrote “Board” in its place. What does that tell you about what they truly think about our members? To me it is a blatant insult to all of us true professionals because I asked myself if that had been me or any other one of our members we would have without question taken the time out to correct this and any other mistake within the “Meeting Notice” we handed out. Maybe some would say, Carlos you’re being to critical and it’s only a minor mistake. I say horse shit! All of you are extremely important to M.A.P. and especially to me and because of the respect I have for all of you, let that be another sign of the respect or lack there of that they AFSCME have for all of our members.
Look at the following facts for yourself.
Fact # 1:
AFSCME’s futile attempts to delay the inevitable are simply that, “delays” and we all need to look beyond what’s being posted to recognize the truth.”
Fact # 2:
Signing union cards with AFSCME is simply another tactic implemented by their union to delay the inevitable, which is to unionize us all with MAP. I have been made aware that the members of AFSCME’s board are issued a certain dollar amount based on the total number of members they have within their union. Fair share memberships are worth “X” amount of dollars and Full Share Memberships are rewarded even more. All they care about are the additional dollars that their board members will receive if they can get some of us to join their union.
Fact # 3: (EXTREMELY IMPORTANT!)
If any of you, for whatever reason, signed a union card with AFSCME when they approached you, at work, but in retrospect you realize that you did so only because you may have been misinformed, lied to, or pressured into signing their union card, wish to have your signed card returned, it is important that you understand and are informed that it is your right to ask that your signed card be returned to you. You are not obligated or committed to their union and they must by law grant your request, no questions asked. It is imperative that you place your request to have your signed card returned to you, in writing, keeping a copy for your records, and expect to have your card returned within a reasonable time, two to three business days is satisfactory and a reasonable time frame.
Also equally important to note is don’t be fooled in allowing them to keep your signed card even if they tell you that they will destroy your signed card or place your trust in that your card will be properly disposed of, if such a statement is made. It is very important that you get the original signed card returned to you. If you come to experience that AFSCME is delaying or denying your request, inform me or one of our key members immediately and we will be sure to inform MAP who I promise you will put a quick end to such tactics.
If you have signed a card with AFSCME and requested it returned to you, I have been informed by M.A.P. and their attorney’s that we issue you a new M.A.P. union card and Union Dues Deduction Authorization form confirming that you are once again onboard with M.A.P. I strongly suggest that you e-mail me or call me after business hours to discuss this in greater detail.
That being said, I need to state the following bit of information to all of you, in order to be fair and stay true to my words. I sincerely hope that this is not the case but likewise, if any of you feel the same about having your signed M.A.P. union card returned to you, understand that the same rules apply to you, stated above. The only request I have ever asked of anyone I approached and dealt with is that you be fair, upfront and honest with me.
When I and the others approached you in the beginning, it is important that we all understand and remember the “great risks” that were being taken on our parts and the “extreme courage” involved to approach not only one individual but 42 separate individuals. Considering the initial risks that were taken and the unknown factor of not knowing in advance how each of you would react to the message we needed to relay. I think it would be “fair” and “within reason” to expect anyone with a change of heart to contact me prior to signing with the other union and at least offering us one last attempt to regain your trust in us and MAP.
I cherish each and every one of you and your friendships a great deal. I respect each of you, not only you as people and friends but as professionals, many of whom I have worked with for many years. I have mentioned on many occasions, that I vow to continue to provide each of you with the information required in this matter to allow for all involved to be able to make the correct, educated and most informed final decision, that will not only affect us in the “present” but a decision that will ultimately affect all of the others who will one day follow us in our professions in the “future” here at the Village of Bolingbrook.
What kind of courage and risks should we truly credit to the other union, in their attempts at unionizing us, when they approached us all at work, only after the “war”, so to speak, had been fought?
Consider this analogy, if you will for a moment, and hopefully the logic will apply to what is transpiring at Village Hall between MAP and AFSCME.
When an unknown and up and coming musician/band and his/their record producer sit down to create an original song, they all take great risks, invest a great deal of time, make multiple sacrifices and ultimately they invest their hard earned money in attempting to get their song played on radio stations across the land. They invest hours upon hours in recording studios attempting to perfect their song which requires a great deal of effort and energy on a daily basis. The initial risks and courage require that they invest hundreds of thousands of dollars, with no guarantees or promises that any of their hard work or efforts will ever pay off. They all continue to go forward because they truly in their hearts believe that all of their work and efforts will pay off.
In a perfect world let’s all for a moment assume that the song is a hit and that soon this artist or band is also a huge hit by fans all around.
Now, consider a few months or years down the road, another artist or band decides to record a remix of the other bands original song because it was such a huge hit. What types of risks, time and courage are truly required of them? The ground work has already been laid and at this point all they need is the money to get their song recorded. They don’t need to convince the radio stations that the song will be a hit. All of the effort, selling of the product and convincing was established by the original artists and record producer.
Basically, and to put this in simpler terms, this new band is similar to the now infamous singing duo once known as Milli Vanilli. All they are doing is lip-synching the original artist/bands words attempting to make the song their original version. Here’s a picture in
I use my silly attempt at humor here only to illustrate my point of MAP versus AFSCME but also to remind all of you that in life no matter how serious the situation may be that we may one day face, without humor in our lives, the life we live will ultimately consume us. Understand that I am extremely passionate about this cause and nothing can or will ever change the passion and commitment burning inside of me.
Questions #2 & #3
What initial efforts or ideas did the other union initiate prior to M.A.P.? How much time and personal attention did they pay to any of you and your concerns, before we approached you, either inside or outside of the workplace?
In closing, I would strongly suggest to all of you, to make it a point to speak with as many of the current clerical members of AFSCME, those who work in the following departments: Finance Department, (Front Counter/Cashiers, Secretary, Accounts Receivable, Mail Room Clerk – I intentionally did not mention the Accounts Payable Clerks only because they have only been AFSCME members for a short time)
Police Department, (Records Clerks, Dispatch Operators, Animal Control, Code Enforcement, Crime Prevention and Crimes Analyst),
Community Development Department, (Secretaries, Inspectors)
Fire Department – (They have two secretaries in the other union- 1 is onsite and the other at Fire Station #4).
Ask them if they are satisfied with their current representation? Ask them if given the opportunity to choose between MAP and AFSCME which would they choose and why? Ask them what progress if any have they seen over the years while a member of their current union? Ask them if they are aware of where and what their hard earned union contributions are spent on? Ask them if they are consulted in advance as to when and where their annual union Christmas party is held? Ask them if you wish to, what their honest opinion is of me if you want? Am I fair, honest and a straight shooter?
I did the above and have had the great pleasure in asking about 45 such employees the above questions and do you know how many of those employees’ are satisfied with their current representation? ZERO!!! Not one employee I spoke with had anything positive to report or say.
My point is and has always been to all of you to educate and become informed about the decision you have already made or about the decision you will one day soon make.
Also ask yourself if they have offered you the same advice I have offered to all of you? If they haven’t done so then I ask you to consider to yourself why do you think that is and what do they have to hide?
Sincerely,
Carlos D. Flores