Campaign Overview | MailChimp€¦ · Title: Campaign Overview | MailChimp Created Date: 2/14/2018...

From: Melissa Bennett, Executive Vice President and Chief Steward, and Lauren Reinhold, Secretary

After much thought, it is with great reluctance we are writing to let you know that weare resigning as officers of the NTEU Chapter 224 Executive Board, effectiveimmediately.

It has been a great privilege to serve this bargaining unit as board members ofChapter 224 these past 16 months. During our time as chapter leaders, we jumped inwith two feet and in a short time achieved many accomplishments, including:

Creating an organized structure for mentoring and training stewards andrepresentatives so they are best equipped to represent youBuilding on and sharing our representational experienceCoordinating and tracking grievancesProviding guidance to you for self-empowerment and attaining informalresolutionsCreating a streamlined process for covering office meetings and maintainingrecords to track and identify issues occurring locally and nationallyFighting for your rights and interests before managementEstablishing a legislative committeeIdentifying problematic and insufficient contract terms that need to bechangedIdentifying flaws in the chapter Bylaws to amend for better chapter

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Identifying flaws in the chapter Bylaws to amend for better chapterorganization, operation, and transparencyNegotiating agreements to protect your rightsConsolidating representational expertiseImproving and increasing chapter communicationsKeeping minutes of the Chapter and Executive Board meetingsMaintaining Chapter records (including records of Executive Board actions)Providing you better access to resources and information on our website

We want to take this time to express our thanks to the efforts of many of ourcolleagues because of whom much progress and positive outcomes have been madein protection of your rights and interests. Working alongside these talented andselfless men and women has been an extraordinarily rewarding experience.

We are grateful to you, the members who voted in the 2016 election, for having givenus the opportunity to be involved with these remarkable people and with this specialbargaining unit.

When we ran for our respective offices in 2016, we did so with plans to change ourunion. We had a vision for bottom-up decision-making (actively involving you indecisions), open communication, transparency, ethical leadership, accountability,and proactive action on issues (rather than merely reacting to management actions).This is consistent with the established model of democracy intended for federalunions by Congress. Additionally, when we agreed to run as a team on a platformalongside President Christie Saunders, it was implicit that our Board would operateas a democracy. It is the only model in which we have a future because the old modelis subject to corruption and fails to serve the needs of employees adequately. Wewere sincere in those promises, but we soon discovered that Christie was not.

At first, we attained consensus on some matters, but over time, Christie retractedagreement on various issues, and stopped engaging with us.

For example, Christie has:

Increasingly refused to share important information with the entire Executive


Increasingly refused to share important information with the entire ExecutiveBoard, including information about critical meetings and calls with the Agency.Made critical Chapter decisions without first seeking majority approval by theExecutive Board, such as binding the Chapter to formal agreements with theAgency.Formulated statements to Congress on behalf of our Chapter withoutdiscussing the matter, information, or strategy with the Executive Board.Repeatedly made false and unfounded statements about Board members whovoiced concerns about her actions and decisions.Strong-armed the Executive Board to approve spending thousands of dollars torecruit new members at new hire training orientations and disregarded theconcerns raised by dissenting board members, only to later acknowledge thatthe Chapter could have achieved the same result with much lower costs. Wehad to push a vote on the bulk of this spending, as she made it clear she wasintent to spend the Chapter’s money on her own, without any approval oraccountability.Insisted she travel to Washington D.C., but refuses to share what positions shetakes on behalf of the Chapter, refuses to share the identity of those with whomshe meets, and will not provide any response on why these meetings cannot beachieved by telephone.Failed to work with the Executive Board to establish a Chapter budget. Inresponse, we voted against all her proposed spending after August 2017.Failed to work with the Executive Board to establish Chapter goals (whatobjectives we will pursue for you).Refused to amend the Chapter Bylaws, and has attempted to thwart the veryprocess of amending the Bylaws, which requires your agreement. Instead, shehas proposed unilateral amendments to the Bylaws by presenting them for avote by the Board only.Refused to maintain a routine schedule of board meetings sufficient to attendto your needs while things are continuing to fall by the wayside.Refused to consider holding a member vote to reallocate dues from alongstanding, stagnant Chapter portion ($3.59 flat rate) to a percentageamount that would result in increasing dues receipts over time (which wouldnot increase your dues, but would increase the amount of your dues that goes


not increase your dues, but would increase the amount of your dues that goesto our Chapter, rather than NTEU National). (This proposal was presented toher in August 2017, but needed to be acted on by mid-September).Refused to publish a report of the Decision Writing Crisis Survey administeredin early 2017, alleging it was too late, though many of you took the time to offerlengthy narrative replies with good ideas to make the decision drafting processmore efficient.Rejected the Resolution of Democracy presented in December 2017 as a meansto resolve disagreements and stalemates on the Executive Board. She thenrefused to even include the resolution on the agenda for our Board meetingsheld on December 19 and 20.Excluded the Chief Steward from critical discussions with the Agencyregarding pending grievances, and failed to communicate such discussions,which is potentially harmful to the bargaining unit.Excluded us (Lauren and Melissa) from contract negotiation plans.Used official time (16 hours over two workdays) to travel to Washington D.C. tospeak with unidentified legislative staffer for one hour, and with the NTEUlegislative coordinator for 30 minutes, without sharing with the Board whatwas discussed, and with plans to continue this practice on a monthly basis.Refused to publish the FY 2017 Board actions to the members, as required bythe Bylaws, claiming she could not confirm the definition of “actions.”Wanted to bypass the Bylaws entirely to replace the Treasurer (Board position)– we fought hard to have this opening announced to the Chapterrepresentatives at least, with a solicitation of interest, and a Board vote.

Unfortunately, our Chapter President has taken on a polarizing, divisive form of‘leadership.’ She has stirred up disagreements and been insulting to those whodisagree with her position, even to the degree of making unfounded (serious)accusations. She has demonstrated stinging disrespect to those who disagree withher, driving away Chapter leaders who have demonstrated exceptionalrepresentational skills. For example, Tony Gawienowski’s resignation from the Boardin October is reflective of a lack of confidence in the Chapter President, who engagesin muzzling and marginalizing representational experts like us. With each passingday, the task of representing your interests grows more futile in this environment.


day, the task of representing your interests grows more futile in this environment.The last straw for us was the forced passing of her proposed budget last week.

With regard to how we use your dues, she (with Treasurer Viki Lovelace and VicePresident at Large Karel Ardrey) voted to approve a FY 2018 Chapter budget that:

Allows spending nearly $20,000 in excess of our annual dues receipts (our soleincome). That income represents the dues paid by those of you who are NTEUmembers. In our Board meeting of January 29, we (Lauren and Melissa) madea motion to pass a balanced budget, planning for spending within theparameters of our income. The rest of the Board refused to support settingparameters for spending, and refused to consider our proposed budget.Allocates $10,000 spending by the Chapter for legislative matters (in additionto costs associated with attending the legislative conference). She will notdisclose the anticipated reasons for spending such a large amount, but herprevious spending was largely for travel to Washington D.C. to meet withunidentified congressional staffers. We believe there is no need for monthlytrips to D.C. and that our Chapter should have a clear legislative agenda thatinvolves having discussions by telephone or technology wherever possible andsaving travel for meetings or invited testimony that must be done in person.We support legislative involvement by our Chapter, but given our limitedfunds, we must insist on careful spending.Encourages being more selective when choosing grievances that we appealthrough arbitration as a way to reduce spending – these are the cases we fightfor you.Allocates $4,000 spending by the Chapter to recruit new members at new hiretraining orientations, despite her earlier acknowledgement this can beachieved with much lower spending.Fails to provide clear and set rules in the budget under the ill-conceived notionthat there is no need to allocate funds to one spending category versus anotherbecause these amounts can merely be reallocated and moved aroundthroughout the year, which defeats the entire purpose of a budget.

Having given careful consideration to the series of events since October 2016, anddespite our many attempts to resolve issues with Christie and restore democracy to


despite our many attempts to resolve issues with Christie and restore democracy toour Chapter administration, we have reached a point where our abilities to serve thebargaining unit interests are effectively futile.

This has been a difficult and testing 16 months. As your Chapter Executive VicePresident and Chief Steward, and as your Chapter Secretary, we have sought with allour energy and determination to serve all the people in our bargaining unit to thebest of our abilities. We have always sought to exercise our responsibilities in goodfaith and to seek resolutions rather than recrimination. We have worked tirelessly todefend your rights, advance your interests, and rebuild a strong union foundation foryour future. We have always placed the interests of the Chapter above our own.

As the barriers mounted, we reached out to our fellow Chapter leaders(representatives, stewards, and officers) to open up the conversation, challenge thestatus quo, and encourage solutions. We remained determined to restore democraticprinciples and methods to our Chapter, in accordance with applicable laws, ourChapter Bylaws, and the NTEU National Constitution. It is a source of deep personalfrustration that those efforts have not received open support from many of our fellowNTEU 224 union leaders. We recognize there is a sense of fear in speaking up, whichis troubling to see in union leaders, but we also take heart that many of our leadersspoke out in support of democracy and open communication. Conversely, we areshocked that many of the leaders spoke out openly for the notion that the ChapterPresident alone calls the shots without needing to consider input from the entireBoard. Unfortunately, in this atmosphere under Christie’s direction, our efforts toinstill democracy in our Chapter have been met with apathy and acceptance of thisundemocratic situation, rejecting the legal requirements that federal unions operateas democratic organizations.

Even worse, and heavily disappointing, we learned that NTEU National openlyespouses autocratic rule in its union chapters (which it can then heavily influence).Our Field Representative, Eric Bruce, confirmed that it is the policy of NTEU tosupport dictatorial imposition by chapter presidents and that NTEU leadership andstaff will abide by a chapter president’s request not to respond to or communicatewith any other Board member, other than the president or individuals identified by


with any other Board member, other than the president or individuals identified bythe president. We have seen this very system imposed in our Chapter, to which Mr.Bruce stated, “You have to accept that it is a dictatorship.” Mr. Bruce has furtherencouraged our Executive Board to continue the past practices that served us poorlyand that our members had already rejected:

Acting in secrecy and holding “discussions” rather than formal, documentedBoard meetings, thereby resulting in: a) no record, b) no official vote, c) noneed for all Board members be present or aware of the ‘discussion’).Keeping important union information privileged within a small, selectivegroup rather than disseminating this information to the Chapter.Creating budgets that give the chapter president near complete discretion inher spending without meaningful oversight by other people.Maintaining the old, centralized union structure where all decisions are madeat the top, which reduces the power and voice of the members.Making Board and other appointments based on favoritism.Accepting that NTEU National legislative staff will ignore and fail to serve ourChapter’s legislative needs.

Furthermore, Mr. Bruce:

Supports Christie’s abusive behaviors toward Board members.Stated that the Chapter budget does not need to be balanced.Discouraged us from our quest to familiarize ourselves with actual or estimatedcosts when determining the budget.

When it came to inter-Board difficulties, we asked for mediation assistance in early2017. Mr. Bruce stated NTEU does not offer mediation services or otherwise provideany such dispute assistance. He facilitated a short face-to-face airing of our disputesduring a two-hour meeting in May 2017, but this was not a mediation. While wefocused on solution-based communications, what followed was that Christie furtherdistanced herself from the rest of the Board and promoted division amongst ourChapter leaders. Mr. Bruce then maintained he could not get involved with ExecutiveBoard issues, while he has nevertheless repeatedly interceded on Christie’s behalf.This is not the first time that an NTEU chapter has failed to get support for restoring


This is not the first time that an NTEU chapter has failed to get support for restoringdemocratic methods for their bargaining unit. In 2014, leaders of the CFPB chapterfought this same battle, as reported in a Politico article:https://www.politico.com/story/2014/09/cfpb-union-tensions-110784.

As strong union believers, we are sickened to know that NTEU National is not willingto step in and correct problems in its chapters. All federal employees have the rightto organize and bargain collectively within a union that maintains democraticmethods. Democratic leadership is what ensures that the union is dedicated tosharing vital information with the employees and getting their input on the issues ofimportance to them, while using union resources responsibly. This is the bottom-updecision-making we envisioned when we ran for our elected officer positions.

While many great strides have been made in our Chapter, the promises oftransparency, bottom-up decisions, teamwork, proactivity in seeking employeeinterests (rather than just reactiveness to management actions), and opencommunication have never been fully embraced by our Chapter President.Unfortunately, without the fulfillment of these promises, the gains made this lastyear are tenuous at best. Apart from the negative attitude to democracy and to theunion’s identity and soul, there has been a shameful disrespect towards fellow unionleaders.

Over this period, Christie has undermined the process of change by refusing to honorour promises and refusing to resolve the issues of the past, all the while imposingdictatorial rule against the wishes and the best interests of the people in ourbargaining unit and against the laws that govern federal unions.

Against this backdrop of the current struggle for democracy, Christie’s irresponsiblespending proposals have been pushed and passed by the rest of the Board over ourprotest. It is our firm view that the Chapter President’s handling of spending issueshas been completely out of step with your interests and priorities. The bargainingunit deserves accountability and transparency, not a budget that provides her withthe ability to (a) take expensive, monthly member-funded trips to Washington D.C.,(b) disregard cost effective means of communication; and (c) duplicate legislative


(b) disregard cost effective means of communication; and (c) duplicate legislativeefforts by NTEU National, for which we pay through our dues.

NTEU National collects over $300,000 of your dues annually (compared with about$67,000 to the Chapter, or about 82 percent). In light of this very disproportionatedues allocation ratio, we are disappointed that NTEU National does not providemore legislative services, particularly in light of the ongoing Congressional pressurethat the Agency continues impose on its own employees to resolve the ‘backlog of theday.’ As Christie has acknowledged, our Chapter is at a disadvantage to other largechapters in NTEU, and NTEU National does not intercede with our Agency’s specificissues. Rather than pushing NTEU National to pay more attention to the issuesfacing our employees and the Agency at large, Christie simply accepts it.

Additionally, spending $4,000 this fiscal year (on top of more than $5,000 last fiscalyear) of the Chapter’s funds on new employee orientations is supported by our NTEUField Representative, Eric Bruce, who told us to spend as much as it takes because“nothing is more important than membership.” Considering that our dues are heavilyallocated to NTEU National, he has a clear conflict of interest. He should not beinfluencing the Chapter budget (i.e., how your dues are spent). In following, however,our Chapter President proposed and passed a budget with inadequate cost controlsin place, ignoring our warnings.

As a result, we have decided the following:

We can no longer risk being responsible for the decisions Christie makesunilaterally.We can no longer work toward the goals and campaign promises we made toeach of you, as we have been made powerless to enact changes through aflawed system.We believe it is more important to speak out and let NTEU members knowwhat is happening in YOUR union, more than continuing in our positions.We will continue to fight for democracy in our bargaining unit’s representationbefore the Agency.

A Union’s only power and value lies in the confidence and support of the employees


A Union’s only power and value lies in the confidence and support of the employeesthe union was established to serve. Unions only have meaning and relevance if theyare advocating equally for all bargaining unit employees, based on the principles ofdemocracy upon which they are founded.

We have sought transparency and positive change for forward progress in a Chapteremerging from stagnancy, secrecy, and poor planning. But the refusal of Christie torecognize the strength of working democratically as a team or to exhibit any truecooperation with the full Executive Board in the context of the Agency’s persistentand imbalanced pressures on employees is inflicting damage on the Chapterleadership, representation of employees, and future bargaining power to demandchange.

The Chapter President has refused to embrace democracy as a tenet of this union.That position is not credible or tenable. The laws and regulations governing ourfederal union have binding obligations to uphold democratic organization andmethods – democracy means YOU and our stewards are the bosses – YOU shape andguide our objectives and goals. It means that open discussion and dissension areinvited, and regular challenges to and changes of leadership strengthen us as agroup. Think about what it is you need from your union, and please give seriousconsideration to getting more involved.

Therefore, it is with deep regret and reluctance that we are tendering ourresignations effective immediately. To our fellow Chapter leaders, we again urge youto stem the bleeding by showing leadership and a commitment to democracy for ourbargaining unit employees. If you are unable to do so effectively within thisadministration, we humbly recommend you follow us out the door.

We now need an election to allow the bargaining unit (you) to make your ownjudgment on these issues democratically. Yours sincerely,Melissa & Lauren


More information can found at: https://ssauniondemocracy.wordpress.com/ We want to thank our colleagues who sought open discussion:

Dennis ChaseSunshine EversullAnthony GawienowskiStacie Glaze-MowDaniel JungTammie McConnellLisa MirmanAllison MosherEva VlachynskyFrank Ward

SSA Union DemocracyP.O. Box 1035Corvallis, OR 97339

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Campaign Overview | MailChimp€¦ · Title: Campaign Overview | MailChimp Created Date: 2/14/2018...

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