I Know Who Joe Hill Is

Dear Friends,

Quite a few of you have asked me who Joe Hill is.  I've told you quite honestly I didn't know.

It all started when I received an anonymous letter from someone with a crazy numbered Hotmail address who asked me if I would mind passing on some important information about LTD, and the upcoming negotiations.  I figured it wouldn't hurt anything, so I said I would. 

I sent the first couple of messages from him/her without adding of my own comments, just doing what I was asked to do.  But the messages kept coming.  And I had a dilemma.  Some of you thought right off the bat that I was the author of these messages.  Some of you thought that I, at least, knew who it was who was writing them.  Some of you began to suspect me of hiding something from you, for whatever reason.   

Then this mysterious writer decided to call himself "Joe Hill," and it put a masculine face on this person, at least.  After then, considering the possibilities that the writer could still be a man or a woman, or even several people combined for that matter, I just decided to call Joe Hill a "he" and let it go at that.  And Joe Hill took off, telling us insider facts, accompanied by graphs and drawings, and still more highly interesting information.  Whomever was doing this, he (they) was working very hard at doing it.

Which brings me to this.  This Joe Hill has done a hell of lot of work for us.  He's written, what, 23 messages up to now?  Joe's obviously done an enormous amount of research, and spent an equally enormous amount of time at the computer.  Now Joe's even set up a web site that we can access at our leisure.  And he's even allowed me access to write whatever I want on HIS website, perhaps in gratitude, but what have I got to say?  Nothing, except READ JOE HILL.

What Joe Hill has done is he's gotten us talking.  He's fired us up.  He's teaching us stuff we never would have found out without him.  Who among us knew anything about the LTD budget?  Who among us ever really tied together the very real strings of waste going on at LTD?  Joe Hill has been so effective that you and I are not the only ones reading him anymore.  Union officers up and down the coast are now reading Joe Hill.  And management, oh yes, management is reading Joe Hill too.

So, who is this Joe Hill?  Well, Joe Hill is one of us, we know that much.  He could be a man, a woman, or a small committee of people working together with one common goal.  Joe Hill cares about us, and our jobs at LTD.  Joe Hill cares about the course the good ship LTD is taking lately. 

Joe Hill is what we should all be.  Joe Hill is Everyman; Joe Hill is part Orwell's Winston Smith, fighting Big Brother, and part Luke Skywalker, fighting the Dark Side.  Joe Hill's true power comes from his own anonymity. 

You want to know who Joe Hill is?  Look in the mirror.  Look real close.

Please, all of you, take a moment when you can, and log on to Joe Hill's website, www.joehill_1915.blogspot.com/ , and at least THANK this guy.  Read the stuff that's there, leave a comment or two.  If one man, or several, can do all this for us, we can at least let 'em know we're reading his stuff.  And that's all Joe's ever asked from us.

God Bless you all

Stay Strong,
John Perry