Local 23, Lead Grain Negotiator, Roger Boespflug, responded to my post. It is so enlightening that I felt everyone should read it verbatim.
“Jim,
Who the fuck are you? Where do you get off recommending a fucking thing to the membership of the ILWU? While I understand a need for all workers to seek justice when they feel/believe they are not being treated fairly by their employer or their Union thus a need for folks like you exist. What I do not understand is where you feel you have any say in an organization you do not belong to. Why don’t you just keep to the business you can muddle through and continue to offer your services to the disenfranchised members of any Union. Why don’t you continue to prey on the people who don’t feel they are being represented properly. That I can condone. Your voicing an opinion on matters that first off you know nothing about and secondly you have no stake in is utter bullshit. It’s typical and predictable from ilk such as yourself. You operate on hear say and second hand information with half a clue and barely half a wit.
Now you still live on Mercer Island and I still live in Tacoma that is close enough for us to get together and have a conversation. I offer to meet with you to help clear up any misunderstandings you may have. We can meet for coffee or hey the first beer is on me makes no difference.
I am replying to all on this mailing list so that everyone can see that you have been offered an opportunity to get answers straight from the person you quote in your bullshit second hand info. I will gladly bring the Tentative agreement and have a discussion about what is said and what it means. Hell I will even bring some crayons and a coloring book in an effort to simplify it enough for you to understand.
Looking forward to your response and a chance to meet and help you get a better understanding.
Roger Boespflug”
No need to bring your Tentative agreement I have one, and Local 23 is not named as a party to the agreement.
At the union meeting last Thursday when the members asked why Local 23 was voting to ratify a contract that they are not party to, Roger and Dean McGrath told the membership that they were voting because they have a grain silo in the Port, and all the Ports with grain silos are voting.
Local 23 is not a signatory to the Tentative Agreement because they already have one signed with TEMCO, the company that operates the Tacoma grain dock.
It is not clear to me why Local 23 is being asked to ratify this agreement. It seems to have something to do with the electioneering being conducted by Big Bob and Leal to help them get their Tentative Agreement ratified.
The entire West Coast of the United States is a single bargaining unit, and nearly all have signed supplemental agreements, which are identified on the PMA website. All except Local 13, which does not have a signed supplement.
No Locals sign the supplements of other Locals, and no Locals sign supplements where they are not a named party, so why exactly is Local 23 voting on a grain agreement where they are not a named party?
At the Union meeting last Thursday, when the members started to ask questions that Roger could not answer, Dean McGrath, Local 23 President, interrupted the questioning and told the members who had questions that they could come by the Union offices on Monday and they would be glad to answer the questions one on one.
Dean stopped the process because Roger could not answer the questions and he did not want the membership to see that Roger did not know what he was talking about. The offer to meet on Monday is so they can isolate the member, then berate him, verbally attack him, and tell him if he does not like what the Local is doing, he is anti-union and should get a job somewhere else.
The way Roger responded to me via email is exactly what he will do to any member who dares to question him.
The Tentative Grain Handlers Agreement is available by clicking on the hyperlink at the bottom of the page.
This nonsense is the direct result of secret negotiations. There are no secrets on the waterfront.
This agreement is a steady man’s dream, and marks a new era for ILWU Local 23 who’s motto should be changed to; It is better than nothing.
That is what Local 23 is telling their members who ask why they should vote for ratification. “It is better that nothing.”
No it is not. Nothing is better than giving up the Dispatch Hall and everything else the Tentative Grain Agreement gives up.
Vote NO on the Tentative Grain Agreement.
How about another email Roger?
Tentative Grain Handlers Agreement 8-11-14