Local Politics We've got a ballot proposition coming up. It's a combo tax raise to fund mental health resources AND build a new jail. You'd think that those would be on separate propositions, but nope. Part of the county's argument has been that they'll be forced to expand the jail anyways if the prop fails. Surprise, surprise, turns out that was bullshit When pressed to cite why they'd have to expand, they came up blank. Lovely. Socialist Clubbe Also on local politics, I've offered twice now to help the local fledgling DSA chapter research upcoming local elections. They asked for help, I offered. Thus far, no reply. This could absolutely just be on a community wiki, but no, I've got to get ahold of chairpeoples X,Y, or Z so I can get access to the google docs. I'm really starting to dislike leadership structures. Boneheaded Shit My Union Local Has Done As a part of automating, a bunch of bid position workers got shifted around. Company plopped 'em down where ever management felt like, instead of going by seniority preference. One of the affected people put in a grievance about it. Union waited two months, and then dropped the grievance at panel. The person who put in the grievance was told the union thought they would lose, and didn't want to set a bad precedent. Practice is precedent, ya dumbfucks. I'm really starting to dislike leadership structures.
Eugene V Debs, Canton Ohio Another fun recent encounter with my union: I tried to update my address with the hall. Got voicemail, despite having tracked down the right office/extension (it isn't obvious), and despite having called during business hours. Decided to be the squeaky wheel, and suggested that maybe we should be able to update our address online. It's 2018. Said it might be nice for all the part-timers who don't make shit and have to move every year chasing low rents. Pointed out how shitty our participation rates were in the last election, might be nice to get more ballots into the correct mail boxes. Got told to call the union hall during business hours to update my address. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯Well, for myself, I never had much faith in leaders. I am willing to be charged with almost anything, rather than to be charged with being a leader. I am suspicious of leaders, and especially of the intellectual variety. Give me the rank and file every day in the week. If you go to the city of Washington, and you examine the pages of the Congressional Directory, you will find that almost all of those corporation lawyers and cowardly politicians, members of Congress, and misrepresentatives of the masses—you will find that almost all of them claim, in glowing terms, that they have risen from the ranks to places of eminence and distinction. I am very glad I cannot make that claim for myself. I would be ashamed to admit that I had risen from the ranks. When I rise it will be with the ranks, and not from the ranks.
My union uses unpaid interns to answer the phone, send out mail, and generally do stuff. The secretary makes a journeyman rate of $72 an hour. A friend was asked by my union to fly to Washington DC and do sound on a Union production about the greatness of unions. They asked her to pay for her own ticket, and told her that since it was a union production about unions, they couldn't afford to pay her a union rate. I got screwed out of about eight thousand dollars and approximately 600 hours because when I wrote "lynnwood, WA" on my change of address card their unpaid intern assumed that couldn't be right and changed it to "Lynwood, CA" because why would a Los Angeles union sound mixer move to Washington? So they didn't give me the secret handshake instructions to be a Los Angeles union member, even though I was effectively the union boss on the production. So instead I ended up being dragooned into the National IATSE organization, which is such a dumpster fire it makes my union look like Seal Team Six.