JH 45 - OUR FUTURE BOARD

If the workers took the notion
they could stop all speeding trains;
Every ship upon the ocean they can tie
with mighty chains;
Every wheel in creation, every mine
and every mill:
Fleets and armies of the nation,
will at their command stand still.
Joe Hill
1915

Joe Hill LTD Project
Soon, the Union and the Company will be sitting at the table again. After what seems like a long summer hiatus our union will see if the Board of Directors got any message on August 18, 2004. Thanks to the 25 or so of us that showed up and stared down the Magnificent Seven. If the negotiations go beyond January of this year, will the Board get better for us? It appears that the answer is NO!

FYI - the Joe Hill Investigative Team has discovered that at least two Board Vacancies for January 1, 2005 will be filled with the usual white Business people. Dean Kortge, an Insurance Broker, a former Board Member, and member of the Budget Committee, is apparently the heir apparent for Pat Hocken's seat. Dean Kortge is strongly in favor of, and the main driving force for, employees to pay a part of the cost of their insurance benefits. He is no friend to labor and has pushed, especially in the budget Committee, for the workers to pay for benefits, or to have employee only health coverage. He is a white business man, of course, and had already been on the Board.

Sounds like the Management has found a retread that will support their misguided capital agenda and union busting ways.

One of the two Springfield Board positions looks like it is being teed up for Debbie Davis, a Springfield USBank Banker. This white business woman also ran unsuccessfully for Springfield City Council. What did the citizens of Springfield know that our Management team didn't? Well, the way Joe heard it, Ms. Davis was recruited by Mark Pangborn. Can you think of anyone worse to recruit a board member? Oh my god, we may be going from bad to worse. Joe Hill's eyes and ears are out everywhere, looking, watching, talking, and trying to get you the best information possible. Our very future depends upon it.

Brothers and Sisters, this future Board is the Board for busting the Union. It is very bad news. We must get the Governor to not appoint these people. We must get our Senators to not confirm these appointments. The Appointments are definitely a danger for us and our bargaining. Everyone needs to call the union office at 503-232-9144 and tell them about this bad news, and urge them to use their maximum political influence to stop these awful appointments.

In Solidarity,
Joe Hill

JH 45