IMPORTANT WTU ELECTIONS COMMITTEE ELECTIONS TODAY!
4pm to 7:30pm @ Logan School 215 G Street, NE Washington, DC 20002
Full Dues Paying Members Urged To Come and Vote
We need your participation to elect this committee who will be responsible for properly conducting the upcoming WTU Officers Election!
We Need You To Vote!
Read below and learn why your participation in today's election is important!
Why AFT President Weingarten stole my elected union job!
By Claudette Carson, 2009 WTU Elections Committee Member
In April 2009, five Washington Teachers’ Union (WTU) members submitted petitions for elected office-The WTU Elections Committee. The unpaid job is small but important; the committee is responsible for verifying union meeting quorums, and conducting all general and special elections. Because fewer than the maximum number (15) members submitted certified nominating petitions, I was informed by the Elections Committee chairperson that I was duly elected immediately. The secret ballot requirement was trumped by a Department of Labor rule stating that uncontested elections requiring secret ballot are not necessary. I felt comfortable but little did I know things could turn crazy quickly.
The DCPS/WTU tentative agreement and its benefactors soon considered us liabilities. We were not good enough to conduct a contract ratification vote, a special election, or maybe we were too honest? The result is that ratification ballots have been sent out without a verified membership list and with a membership status, with the AFT/WTU’s endorsement, which can be changed so that new members can vote up until ballot submission. $164 million tentative agreement makes new friends easily with union members and integrity being meaningless collateral damage. All the stops have been pulled out to guarantee this contract ratification. I am appalled at the radio commercials encouraging teachers to vote “Yes” for the contract with funds union members did not approve, selected teachers have been gifted time from teaching in order to sell the contract to other teachers during the school day, and first time voting by telephone and the internet.
The final nail in our coffin came as a result of a discovery. Another elections committee member and I deduced WTU President George Parker did not file any nominating petitions to run for President. I informed all parties involved at which point the AFT increased its efforts to disband the elections committee. AFT President Weingarten desires an elections committee to give George Parker the opportunity to file nominating petitions, irrespective of the WTU Constitution. The answer is not a hard one for me because I have a renewed sense of fair play and rights of the common man and woman. How President Weingarten took away my right to hold elected union office is a crime. She did not even follow her own constitution and is now bulldogging her way thru our local. She stole from teachers for George Parker’s benefit furthermore her actions are related to the tentative agreement ratification. This denigrates our union, profession and intelligence. I only desired to provide mutual aid, support and collective action to my fellow teachers- maybe that is not unionism.
I am Claudette Carson, a union member who has tried to participate in my union’s democratic process. I never have been a WTU insider but I have always voted for candidates that would represent me. I am running again for the elections committee which I rightfully won previously but for the efforts of special interests. I understand the issues and the relevance of representing union members. I know firsthand the impact of dollars on relationships and will not allow you to be hurt as I have been. We can beat the culprits at their own game by getting this message out and voting May 27, 2010 at Logan School between 4pm and 7pm.
The DCPS/WTU tentative agreement and its benefactors soon considered us liabilities. We were not good enough to conduct a contract ratification vote, a special election, or maybe we were too honest? The result is that ratification ballots have been sent out without a verified membership list and with a membership status, with the AFT/WTU’s endorsement, which can be changed so that new members can vote up until ballot submission. $164 million tentative agreement makes new friends easily with union members and integrity being meaningless collateral damage. All the stops have been pulled out to guarantee this contract ratification. I am appalled at the radio commercials encouraging teachers to vote “Yes” for the contract with funds union members did not approve, selected teachers have been gifted time from teaching in order to sell the contract to other teachers during the school day, and first time voting by telephone and the internet.
The final nail in our coffin came as a result of a discovery. Another elections committee member and I deduced WTU President George Parker did not file any nominating petitions to run for President. I informed all parties involved at which point the AFT increased its efforts to disband the elections committee. AFT President Weingarten desires an elections committee to give George Parker the opportunity to file nominating petitions, irrespective of the WTU Constitution. The answer is not a hard one for me because I have a renewed sense of fair play and rights of the common man and woman. How President Weingarten took away my right to hold elected union office is a crime. She did not even follow her own constitution and is now bulldogging her way thru our local. She stole from teachers for George Parker’s benefit furthermore her actions are related to the tentative agreement ratification. This denigrates our union, profession and intelligence. I only desired to provide mutual aid, support and collective action to my fellow teachers- maybe that is not unionism.
I am Claudette Carson, a union member who has tried to participate in my union’s democratic process. I never have been a WTU insider but I have always voted for candidates that would represent me. I am running again for the elections committee which I rightfully won previously but for the efforts of special interests. I understand the issues and the relevance of representing union members. I know firsthand the impact of dollars on relationships and will not allow you to be hurt as I have been. We can beat the culprits at their own game by getting this message out and voting May 27, 2010 at Logan School between 4pm and 7pm.
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VOTE FOR OUR ENDORSED ELECTIONS COMMITTEE CANDIDATES
1. Claudette Carson
2. Chandrai Jackson-Saunders
3. Marva Boatman
4. David Derricotte
5. Cheryl Gillette
6. Audrey Hudson
7. Harriet L. Kuhn
8. Linda Burnett
9. Geraldine Harris
10. Janis Carrington
11. Genell Penn
12. Darlene Nelson
13. Rosa Lee
14. Thomas O'Rourke
15. Laureen Smith-Butler
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