I LIKED MY POSTS SO MUCH TODAY, I DECIDED TO TURN THEM INTO A BLOG!
I CRACK MYSELF UP!
TODAY I WENT ON ANOTHER TRUTH RANT. WHY DO I DO THAT? I AM NOT SURE WHY BUT IT SURE SEEMS LIKE THE RIGHT THING TO DO WHILE I AM DOING IT.LMAO!IN RESPONSE TO THIS BADASS COLLEAGUE'S LETTER FROM REBECCA RAYBORN, I WROTE A BIT, THEN A BIT MORE... THEN A BIT MORE... OOPS!I GUESS THE UNFAIR ELECTION OF 2014 WILL NEVER BE A SUBJECT I TIRE OF SPEAKING ON. AND I THINK I CAN NOT GET A CEASE AND DESIST LETTER FOR SPEAKING THE TRUTH. BUT WHO KNOWS! IF I GET ONE... YOU WILL BE THE FIRST TO KNOW!
AT ANY RATE, WHAT BTU LEADERS DID WAS VERY WRONG, IMHO. THEY SHOULD HAVE HAD TO PAY A PRICE FOR THEIR ACTIONS. THEY HAVE NOT BEEN HELD ACCOUNTABLE. THAT IS NOT OKAY WITH ME!!SOME MEMBERS IN FLORIDA GET GOOD SERVICE FROM FEA. SOME DO NOT.
WE CAN LEARN FROM BOTH, I AM SURE!
AT ANY RATE... I DO BELIEVE TRUTH RANTS DETOXIFY THE SOUL.
HAHAHA
John Lennon is famous for having said, "The truth may not get you many friends, but it will always get you the RIGHT ones."I simply had to share my response to a letter I received from FEA; I by-passed them and went over their heads to NEA because FEA historically ignores concerns of BPS union members.Teacher Peeps and friends of teachers, the battle has just begun! This is my response to an email I received from FEA regarding information I have been requesting since 02/20/15. My query regards election mandates, but their response was essentially to give me the runaround. (Apparently it took four FEA lawyers to develop their response to little old me! LOL!!!)Ms. ________ And Marty ______:Thank you for addressing this. I have been asking the local affiliate for this information for well over a month.I find it interesting that your office did not take the time to email me prior to removing your rather revealing comment; you failed to remove the exclamation, "I like it!", which speaks volumes about how long it must have taken you to develop a response that would "put me in my place", if you would. Well, I know my place, and it is not to sit back silently while our teachers' unions fail so miserably in their duties to their members, your employers, as a point of fact.Without our dues you all would certainly not be receiving the exorbitant salaries you get. (Notice I did not use the word "earn".) You receive inflated salaries paid for by me and hundreds of thousands of teachers across the state who have become grossly disenfranchised by the impotence of local and state teachers' unions. Salaries have certainly not been "earned" by officers on the local or state level; if that were the case, teachers would be earning sufficient living wages, have decent benefits (ours are virtually nonexistent in Brevard County), and have better work environments. Ergo, if you all had not so egregiously failed in advocating for your employers, the teachers of this state, educators would not be leaving in droves to seek employment elsewhere.If you have not figured it out by now, let me explain it to you like I would a five-year old. I will not quietly go away because I still believe in the fundamental premise of unions. There is strength in numbers, but you all have obviously forgotten your allegiance should be to the teachers you are SUPPOSED to be working for. Instead, it appears that your true allegiance is to yourselves; if it were not so, Florida teachers would not have been forced to endure such suffering for so many long, disappointing, and financially devastating years. You do not bite off the hand that feeds you; actually, there is little to nothing left for the state government, the school districts, the misinformed public, or the self-serving Union officials to scavenge from Florida's educators. At this rate, the next time the union "bites the hand" you will chomp on bone.Remember, you serve us, so do your job. If you don't, every teacher could drop out. I highly recommend you all start learning to live as frugally as Florida teachers have had to live, for if the course we are on continues, you won't have a union job because no teacher will be able to afford to pay the dues which pay your salaries.PLEASE, do share.Rebecca A. Rayborn, NBCT
"All it takes for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing,"You know lawyers; I deleted their names on purpose.
- Terry Preuss Super letter Rebecca Rayborn! I have written many like this. I think they must get an awful lot of them, cuz they didn't much care! LOL! Did you get a response? It's sad that those who work for us are so arrogant!
Terry Preuss They seem not to know how bad the situation is! They seem not to know their days are numbered if they do not change their ways! I have been on this for 2 years since an unethical and unfair election at my local, BTU. They don't care. They let a BTU employee interfere in an election, and take the position of an officer, which is illegal according to labor laws.! She is presently pretending to be my vice president! LMAO!
- Rebecca Rayborn Sandy, it pertains to election rules, regs, and membership information. My frustration with their lack of response began in August, 2014. When I received this email, it was a huge disappointment on numerous levels. Those who actually work for an affiliate or FEA itself have a completely different perspective than that of a teacher. There are 1,000s of teachers who are simply exhausted and grossly underpaid because of what transpires during bargaining. I have no personal animas.
- Terry Preuss Rebecca Rayborn I can relate to both sides of this issue because I have felt so "unheard" that I decided, like you, to tell my tales on FB. On the other hand, I recognize that our president appears to be a forthright guy. One wants to like him, believe him, forgive him, root for him. I really respect who he appears to be. But the actions of FEA regarding fairness have not been consistent with my high opinion of the FEA president. AFT also disappointed.
- Terry Preuss They went through all the steps to appear to "hear" us... but really... the evidence is to the contrary in my opinion. I think the only fair thing was too hard a thing for them to do... which was to state the fact that BTU employees can not be running for office, and yank the employee off the president's ticket, which would have caused... I am sure... for the president to have lost. Considering the fact that all the planning was done while this employee was employed by a contract stating she would not "interfere" in elections... MYSELF AND 8 OTHER CANDIDATES EXPECTED SWIFT ACTION... WHAT WE GOT WAS OVER A YEAR OF DELAYS AND HALF ANSWERS-- Smoke and mirrors games that may work on less savvy individuals than the complainants from Fort Lauderdale.
- Terry Preuss Andy Ford was kind enough to ask for an investigation... a big expense to members... but the simple fact that labor law prevents what happened was skirted... yet again. If I could afford an attorney... this would have been simple. We should not need attorneys to fight our own unions. Unions need to be righteous and for the members and NOT protect the elites in power... but that is what they do. In my case... I can tell you.... that is what they seemed to do. I',m a smart gal. I was taken on the run around of my life and I do not appreciate it one bit, and I will never stop speaking about it, because it was WRONG...and everybody including them knows it. Very sad. And... not over yet!
- Terry Preuss I'm happy for everyone who gets good service. They deserve no less. I wish for a strong and righteous union. STRONG AND RIGHTEOUS!
- Terry Preuss If there is a specific point that needs addressing and it is NOT a point they care to address... the dance they do around the point to never get to the point is quite something.
- Terry Preuss Flamenco... cha cha cha... salsa.... merengue.... fox trot....
- Terry Preuss They are great dancers.... and I say "they" because it is obviously a group effort. No one person alone can do it. There is a team at work skirting the issues they want skirted, quite effectively, if I say so myself! It is as if they count on the retreat of the person asking the question. I'm still stunned over some of what I have witnessed. Fortunately, I cannot be shamed into silence or retreat. That will NEVER happen. So, I hope eventually, better results are had after the bad behaviors at my local are publicly witnessed by FEA!
- Terry Preuss Andy Ford is a man I have respected. I have asked everyone at FEA and AFT to call me... I have yet to receive that call!
- Terry Preuss But Andy Ford did come to meet with me and my president to have her give me a contract she had been unwilling to give to me and to AFT. In a room with Andy Ford... she told me "it was lost... had disappeared!" What a crock! And the other papers I had waited over a year for.... "they" had decided I'd have to come back to "view" them ... make another appointment.... yada yada! I don't know what kinds of people put up with this kind of run around when legal matters are at stake... but I am NOT usually one of them! And yet... they have effectively blocked me more than a year... so I struggle to grasp what kind of treatment the average person gets. I've been a business woman. I've negotiated contracts... I've run my own businesses... and they still managed to effectively have me chase my own tale around the country for over a year. HAHA What might they do to others? That is what worries me. If they have done this to the 8 of us they did it to... what are they doing to others? I'm extremely curious on that topic and will continue to be as I age into my retirement years. I'll never stop wondering how poorly others have been treated if I was treated, along with other colleagues, as poorly as I was.
- Terry Preuss I'm known to go on and on from time to time, and Rebecca Rayborn, this may be one of those times... but speaking up is essential. Then others like Dave Galloway and Sandy Sandi Harvey can tell their experience, and perhaps FEA and all of us watching can learn from the differences in our outcomes. I'm now filing charges with the state, What fun! We must be truthful to build the best union. All our experiences good and bad can be learned from.
- Terry Preuss The interesting thing... and yes.... I am fond of using FB to document my truths... for further reference, and for enlightenment... is that as far as my local and my issues went, and are still going... it was all a PUBLICLY seen thing. Why on earth let it happen? Just wierd!
- Terry Preuss Everyone knew without a doubt that Kalebra Williams was a BTU employee. I now know there are major labor laws preventing employees from running in elections. At the time I thought it was just unethical, but no... IT IS ILLEGAL!
- Terry Preuss So why not stop it? Instead, we were all taken on a voyage crafted to make the problem disappear without undoing the problem. ON WHAT UNIVERSE DOES THAT WORK? We now still have a one time BTU employee running around Florida calling herself a Vice President of BTU and everyone is acting like that is just fine. Guess what... that is NOT just fine. That is illegal, and if we hadn't been given the illusion that FEA and later AFT was dealing with it, we would have gone directly to the state, but we held out hope in justice. None came. We got legal opinions skirting the point and affidavits dancing around the point... but the point is VERY clear... If you work for a union... you can NOT interfere in an election because that would give you an unfair advantage. PERIOD. However, there she is... someone who I paid to campaign with my own dues was allowed to steal the election from the other candidates. It is so wrong, that it really merits restating... I , ME and the other candidates had PAID HER to go from school to school for three years campaigning for herself. Call me crazy.... but that there is some messed up stuff.... to add to the other messed up stuff going on with the assault on education... it just seemed like a slam we were not ever going to ignore... EVER. LOL! It's actually funny while disturbing!
- Terry Preuss I have been hearing from other locals that similar things occur, that the power elite is often unfair. If that is the case... WE can not allow it. I've heard from 5 different locals with odd election stories in Florida alone... if you go on National Bats... back to 2013... There is a lot of inaction and elections shenanigans that could be better addressed by the locals.
- Terry Preuss All I can say is... there is usually a RIGHT thing to do. Sometimes it is also the most DIFFICULT thing to do. THAT DETERMINES OUR HUMANITY AND THE WORTH OF OUR ORGANIZATIONS. Truth and justice an not be brushed under the rug. We need to stand for them and demand them. We need to keep speaking even when others want to silence us... because without our voices this will continue, but if we speak... perhaps others gain the strength to take a stand. Perhaps the organizations revisit their ways. Perhaps solutions can be found. And then... perhaps also... we will know that there are locals that are working and we need to model after those. We need to look at where the members are supported and the leaders are just, and we need to go after that model. To those ends I am committed.
- Terry Preuss UNION ELITES NEED TO REMEMBER ITS THE MEMBERS THAT FEED AND CLOTHE THEM AND THAT IS JUST THAT! WHEN EVER THAT IS FORGOTTEN, EVEN FOR A MOMENT, TROUBLE IS SURE TO STIR! NO ONE OF US CAN BE DISENFRANCHISED. THAT IS THE LAW! ELECTION OR NO ELECTION. THAT IS THE LAW!
Joan King When BTU was under Administrativeship, didn't I hear that John Tarkka told Kalebra that she could not run for an office because she was a BTU employee! But how does that change her MOU was renewed three years in a row!? Just seems like rules are changed dates are changed things are manipulated for the incumbents or favored!?
- Joan King I personally requested help from AFT, FEA, & NEA, in October and I was call the local union destroyer, but I'm not, I'm a 34-year-charter member of BTU, 2nd highest recruiter this year for BTU TOO! Now we 7 Action 4 Members are a GrassRoots GRP that will be the voice of members with VOTES NOW!!??
- Terry Preuss Joan King you were called that because most people who speak up are looked at that way. WE have to change that perception. You are not a union destroyer. YOU are a union defender and I don't think anyone can argue that now!
- Terry Preuss You, along with 7 others have won in our last election. That now makes 12 Badasses at BTU speaking TRUTH TO POWER! In the end... that is ALL we have!
Shelly Soffer I heard the walls are starting to crumble and weak spots have been found in the foundation. I'm just waiting to take my seat and July to really make sure that everything gets back on track...- Terry Preuss Shelly Soffer Yes! Once we get our caucus in place things are going to change. The past is the past. It must be learned from. We have to make a really great future after all of this... for BTU and for the members. Members deserve service and just leaders. Come July 1, 2015 when you take your seats... we will be closer to seeing this!
- Terry Preuss Joan King, you are right... Kenny Minchew told me he was called upon to run on Kalebra's slate after she was told by someone... the story is Tarka told her... she could not run. Now she denies it ever happened, but people were there.,., they saw her prepare the slate... how does one deny something so evident? It baffles the mind. Kenny ran instead of her, and apparently so did two others who are presently on the eboard, so they had to know too. That stings. They knew and allowed the charade to continue! Scary!
- Terry Preuss All I can say is... there is usually a RIGHT thing to do. Sometimes it is also the most DIFFICULT thing to do. THAT DETERMINES OUR HUMANITY AND THE WORTH OF OUR ORGANIZATIONS. Truth and justice an not be brushed under the rug. We need to stand for them and demand them. We need to keep speaking even when others want to silence us... because without our voices this will continue, but if we speak... perhaps others gain the strength to take a stand. Perhaps the organizations revisit their ways. Perhaps solutions can be found. And then... perhaps also... we will know that there are locals that are working and we need to model after those. We need to look at where the members are supported and the leaders are just, and we need to go after that model. To those ends I am committed.
- Terry Preuss UNION ELITES NEED TO REMEMBER ITS THE MEMBERS THAT FEED AND CLOTHE THEM AND THAT IS JUST THAT! WHEN EVER THAT IS FORGOTTEN, EVEN FOR A MOMENT, TROUBLE IS SURE TO STIR! NO ONE OF US CAN BE DISENFRANCHISED. THAT IS THE LAW! ELECTION OR NO ELECTION. THAT IS THE LAW!
- Joan King When BTU was under Administrativeship, didn't I hear that John Tarkka told Kalebra that she could not run for an office because she was a BTU employee! But how does that change her MOU was renewed three years in a row!? Just seems like rules are changed dates are changed things are manipulated for the incumbents or favored!?
- Joan King I personally requested help from AFT, FEA, & NEA, in October and I was call the local union destroyer, but I'm not, I'm a 34-year-charter member of BTU, 2nd highest recruiter this year for BTU TOO! Now we 7 Action 4 Members are a GrassRoots GRP that will be the voice of members with VOTES NOW!!??
- Terry Preuss Joan King you were called that because most people who speak up are looked at that way. WE have to change that perception. You are not a union destroyer. YOU are a union defender and I don't think anyone can argue that now!
- Terry Preuss You, along with 7 others have won in our last election. That now makes 12 Badasses at BTU speaking TRUTH TO POWER! In the end... that is ALL we have!
- Shelly Soffer I heard the walls are starting to crumble and weak spots have been found in the foundation. I'm just waiting to take my seat and July to really make sure that everything gets back on track...
- Terry Preuss Shelly Soffer Yes! Once we get our caucus in place things are going to change. The past is the past. It must be learned from. We have to make a really great future after all of this... for BTU and for the members. Members deserve service and just leaders. Come July 1, 2015 when you take your seats... we will be closer to seeing this!
- Terry Preuss Joan King, you are right... Kenny Minchew told me he was called upon to run on Kalebra's slate after she was told by someone... the story is Tarka told her... she could not run. Now she denies it ever happened, but people were there.,., they saw her prepare the slate... how does one deny something so evident? It baffles the mind. Kenny ran instead of her, and apparently so did two others who are presently on the eboard, so they had to know too. That stings. They knew and allowed the charade to continue! Scary!
- Shelly Soffer I'm going Wednesday and I've invited everyone on my Facebook page who is local as well as those of my school to attend.
- Terry Preuss I can't go because of the rally in Miami, plus it's my birthday! I wish I could go... I have also invited people. We need people to witness it with their own eyes. There is no other way to believe the goings on! Members eyes and voices are the best advocate for strong and righteous unions!
- Terry Preuss John Lennon is famous for having said, "The truth may not get you many friends, but it will always get you the RIGHT ones."
- Terry Preuss John Lennon is famous for having said, "The truth may not get you many friends, but it will always get you the RIGHT ones." That is how I feel after the most recent BTU election, where even unfair and unethical antics did not stop the "right ones" from winning. Those of us on the eboard who have fought together in truth, and you who were elected have become more than union colleagues. WE are now friends who trust one another. I feel that the victory of Green Action 4 Members slate, after all we have been through together fighting TRUTH to POWER, was a real victory!
- Shelly Soffer Even if we don't agree on everything, we are returning to have to have several discussions about it. Fortunately, we've been on the same page the whole entire time
- Terry Preuss Changes are going to come and members are going to feel it and we are going to do important things to make a real difference in the way things are done. Same old, same old isn;t good enough anymore.
- Terry Preuss Even though we are facing a difficult time ahead... I am excited for the challenge and to work to make our local innovative and righteous!
- Terry Preuss wee haa!
No comments:
Post a Comment