Democracy in tdu?

[AlJackson1962!]

MY VIEW ON WHERE TDU STANDS FOLLOWING THE 2025 TDU CONVENTION

From today's TDU website"

"6. Democracy


TDU functions democratically—and our Convention is our highest decision-making body.

Members elect TDU’s Steering Committee and officers. Members set the organization’s priorities each year by vote.

TDU endorses candidates for International Union office by a vote of the members too.

Teamsters who oppose TDU are not allowed to participate. They can form their own caucus.

Within TDU, members have a wide range of opinions, and discussion and debate is encouraged.

Hearing each other out generates the best ideas and lays the foundation for taking united action."

WHAT PAFF AND LEVIN IGNORE IS THAT THEY HAVE NOT BEEN ALONE IN BUILDING TDU. I REMEMBER IN OUR TDU METRO BOSTON CHAPTER WHEN A RESPECTED MEMBER OF LOCAL 25 AND UNION STEWARD AT MAISLIN FREIGHT IN NORTH BILLERICA WAS FIRED, BECAUSE HE ALLEDGEDLY WITHHELD INFORMATION ON HIS EMPLOYMENT APPLICATION ABOUT AN ARREST HE HAD YEARS BEFORE HE WAS HIRED AT MAISLIN. MAISLIN MANAGEMENT FIRED HIM YEARS AFTER HE HAD BEEN WORKING AND ON THE MAISLIN SENIORITY LIST. HIS FELLOW UNIT MEMBERS AT MAISLIN, INCLUDING TDU MEMBER JOHNNY LOUGHMAN KNEW THE REAL REASON FOR HIS FIRING WAS BECAUSE THIS STEWARD ENFORCED THE CONTRACT AND A DESPISED MAISLIN SUPERVISOR WAS BEATEN UP - RUMOR WAS THAT THE SUPERVISOR WAS IN DEBT TO LOANSHARKS. THIS MAISLIN STEWARD REFERRED TO LOCAL 25 PRESIDENT (AND IBT VP AND JC10 PRESIDENT) BILLY MCCARTHY AS "THE OWNER OF OUR LOCAL UNION #25." OUR TDU CHAPTER PRINTED LEAFLETS DEMANDING THAT LOCAL 25 LEADERSHIP - "DEFEND OUR STEWARDS!"

THE GRIEVANCE WAS WON AT THE PANEL. AT THE LOCAL 25 MONTHLY MEETING FOLLOWING THE STEWARD'S VICTORY, MCCARTHY CRITICIZED OUR TDU CHAPTER FOR ACTING INDEPENDENTLY AND PUBLICIZING THE GRIEVANCE. HE THEN ASKED BROTHER LOUGHMAN, WHO WAS SITTING NEXT TO ME, IF LOUGHMN WAS HAPPY WITH THE OUTCOME OF HIS SEPARATE GRIEVANCE. JOHNNY LOUGHMAN WAS DENIED A ROAD BID WHILE ON LAYOFF AS A CITY P&D DRIVER AND JOHNNY WAS AWARDED THE ROAD BID AT THE SAME PANEL HEARING. JOHNNY LOUGHMAN, TRUE TO FORM, RESPONDED: "YEAH, BUT I DIDN'T GET THE BACK PAY!"

THE MAISLIN STEWARD'S APPROPRIATE DESCRIPTION OF MCCARTHY AS THE "OWNER OF OUR LOCAL UNION" IS A FITTING DESCRIPTION WITH WHAT TDU HAS BECOME UNDER PAFF AND LEVIN WHO ACT AS OWNERS OF TDU.

[Yard Dog]

Mr. Jackson I see your an old school Freight Teamster like myself.

[AlJackson1962!]

Yard Dog: I worked in freight from 78-84 and again, after getting "suspended indefinitely" by my then list job at Hospira in 2013, I made the list at New Penn. I was a fuel oil driver for ten years and worked as a freight casual during seasonal layoffs. Back in the day, before deregulation, just about every LTL freight carrier in the Northeast was under the NMFA. It was, as I expect you know, a different world. Freight was the most coveted job in the Teamsters. In Boston, a company called Reliance setup shop just down Washington Avenue in Somerville, near the Local 25 hall in Sullivan Square. That was right when deregulation started to heavily impact the industry. The son of a former Local 25 BA (and TDU member) told me: There was a time when a non-union company might drive through the rotary once, where Local 25 was located, but it would never be able to drive by a second time.

[Gus]

There used to be a time where those tactics worked, unfortunately that is not the case today. Our leadership hasn't figured that out yet, they talk as if they can do shit like that when everyone knows they can't. We need smarter strategies to deal with these times.
I'm very concerned about the Yellow lawsuit that just got revived. If the published reports are true it could bankrupt the union. This whole Yellow issue could have been handled differently and we could have saved 22,000 Teamster jobs. We're not hearing anything from the union about this or anything else in freight for that matter.

[Yard Dog]

I hope you get your money Gus

[OT+]

TDU Convention discussion begins at 2:18:18 mark