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Margarita Maldonado's motion to change recall policy
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Hard and Hackett protect cronies
Originally Published
December 7, 2006
It was another sad day for
members’ rights and union democracy when the Local 1000 Council, urged on by
President Jim Hard and Secretary-Treasurer Cathy Hackett, voted December 3
to change union rules, which allowed members to recall elected
officers. President Jim Hard repeatedly ignored a request by a CSEUnited
member of the Council to have a roll call vote and instead took the vote by
hand – making it difficult to record how Council members voted. A partial
list of the vote is available by
clicking here.
The change in policy was
prompted by the fact that recall efforts are underway in seven District
Labor Councils. All the persons who were subjects of the recalls voted to
approve the dues increase and are all known supporters of Hard and Hackett.
“It should be obvious to everyone that this change was designed to protect
Hard and Hackett’s cronies. I guess you can call this the Incumbent
Protection Act.” said Laurie Lyon-Diaz from DLC 723.
The change, authored by Unit 1
and IT Committee Chair Margarita Maldonado and Unit 15 Chair Robyn Sherles,
would prohibit any portion of the recall process (which usually takes place
around a six month period), from occurring during any regularly scheduled
union election. This change significantly narrows the window period for
recalling officers and some have argued would effectively make the union’s
recall procedures irrelevant.
To add insult to injury, the
Local 1000 Agenda Committee, chaired by none other than Ms. Hackett, added
the proposal as an “emergency item” to the Council’s meeting agenda on the
same day as the Council meeting. This maneuver allowed the item to bypass
the usual advance notice required of most items that require a vote of the
Council.
“It’s ironic that Hard and
Hackett, founders of the so-called Caucus for a Democratic Union (CDU)
within Local 1000, lobbied so hard to pass something that clearly tramples
on the members’ democratic right to recall their elected officers.
Hypocrisy is not a strong enough a word to describe what they have done.”
fumed Barbara Powers, a Chief Steward in DLC 769 and a CSEUNited activists
in the Central Valley.
The amendment to the recall
policy takes effect immediately and effectively kills any pending recall
attempts. In one DLC, the proponent of the recall secured twice as many
signatures as was required to recall the Chair of Bargaining Unit 14. “This
just goes to show the extreme measures our officers will take to keep
themselves and their cronies in power” stated Arnold Zuniga of DLC 785.”
Hard, Hackett, and their
cronies must be stopped!
NOTE:
Portions of this article were
edited because they involved request for members to participate in actions
or campaigns that have already concluded.
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