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Bobby O Jr. and Mark Williams are going all out to make sure that Eric does not win the Vice-President election re-run.

They are reinventing the procedure and allowing new candidates to run, candidates who did not run in the Spring 2014 Vice-President race.

The last time Big Bob ordered an election re-run in Local 13, the procedure was to allow only the candidates who ran in the original race to participate in the re-run.

This time Bobby O and Mark Williams are using the “what ever I feel like” procedure to open the re-run up to new candidates, and Bobby actually asked some members to run against Eric in an all out effort to see he does not win.

Bobby O went so far as to recruit the other twin to run in place of his brother, who sadly and unexpectedly passed away right after the Spring election.

Bobby O and Mark Williams are allowing Mondo Porras to participate even though it was his violation of the rules that caused Big Bob to order the re-run. I am pretty sure if it was Eric that broke the rules, the decision to allow him to participate would have been different.

Be that as it may, Local 13 will get the kind of Union Official they deserve.

If the Local wants to continue to crumble under the weight of corrupt officials who lie to members, that is their choice.

If the Local wants to continue down the path to defeat as outlined in the article by the UCLA Center for Social Theory and Comparative History, that is their choice.

If the Local wants to stand tall and feel proud, they should empower new leadership and start by electing Eric as Vice-President in the re-run.

At the end of the day, the Local 13 rank-and-file will get the kind of leadership they deserve.

UCLA article on Grain Agreement

AP article – Deal on Health Care Aids Port Contract Talks

 

According to the article written by Robert Brenner, Director of the UCLA Center for Social Theory and Comparative History, Big Bob’s Pacific Northwest Grain Agreements marks the beginning of the end for the once powerful ILWU.

Click of the hyperlink and read for yourself how academics look at Big Bob’s Grain deal.

UCLA article on Grain Agreement

Looks like we are not the only ones that think, NO deal is better than Big Bob’s deal.

Better to walk away from the grain business all together, than to lose the dispatch hall.

 

At last weeks Union meeting at Local 23, Tacoma, it seems that Roger Boespflug’s inability to answer the question of why Local 23 was being asked to vote on Local 4, Local 8 & Local 19’s tentative Grain Agreement caused a change of plan for Dean McGrath and Local 23’s corrupt leadership.

When Roger stumbled with his answers it became obvious to Dean that they were not going to be able to pass a motion to vote on Local 4, Local 8 & Local 19’s Grain deal, so he jumped in and suggested that a special meeting be held last Monday for any members who had questions.

It turns out that the meeting on Monday was more than just about questions and answers, it was about deception and lies. Dean and Roger rounded up about 50 members and decided they could pass a motion to hold the vote on Seattle’s tentative Grain agreement, which they did.

50 members at a basically secret meeting passed a motion to hold the ratification vote today, August 22nd, and Monday August 25th.

Look out Tacoma, your ILA history is starting to show.

Since when does the supposedly democratic ILWU allow 50 members to hold secret meetings that decide the fate of the other 850 members?

Since Dean McGrath and Roger Boespflug decided that they need to have Local 23 ratify Local 4, Local 8 & Local 19’s Grain Agreement, so everybody gets the same TEMCO agreement they already signed in secret, and Big Bob’s secret Grain deal gets forced down everyone’s throat.

Secrets and lies, mixed with deception and bluff, the new ILWU negotiating strategy.

Vote NO, if you don’t like being lied to.

 

Check out Danny Imbagliazzo’s latest flier dated 8-7-14. (click the hyperlink below)

Danny has not figured out that he is part of the problem, which is probably one of the reasons he is no longer a caucus delegate.

If only they had listened to you Danny, everything would be different. It’s PMA’s and Coast Arbitrator John Kagel’s fault that Health Benefits Officer Jerry Avila and the rest of the ILWU Officials at Local 13 and the International watched your members, and some corrupt medical providers, defraud the ILWU Benefits Plan of over 50 million dollars and did nothing, or participated.

Hard to say what they are talking about at the “secret” negotiations, but it is probably not benefits fraud because of the recent indictment and ongoing  DOL and FBI investigations. PMA has the union right where it wants them as it relates to benefits.

Danny the steady man has not figured out, there is no free lunch.

Danny is trying to sell his “free insurance”, which is so much on the up and up, that the only bank willing to due business with the insurance company is located in the Cayman Islands.  What does that tell you?

All this nonsense is directly related to the secret negotiations being conducted by Big Bob and his side kicks, Leal and Ray.

Danny Imbagliazzo’s 8-7-14 flier

 

 

Yup, thats right, Bobby O. and Mark Williams have done it again.  This time they used their “what ever I feel like” policy to corrupt the Local 13 Trial Committee Procedures in order to screw “The Greek”.

Yesterday, Bobby and Mark’s hand picked (dog and pony show) Trial Committee, which includes several current Local 13 officers, met for the first time. We are not sure what they did other than run around the office asking for the Trial Committee rules.

Yesterday, Mark Williams and the entire Executive Board also received a letter from a Local 13 member (in good standing, with fines and assessments paid) protesting the way the Trial Committee was hand picked by Mark Williams, in complete violation of the rules.

The procedure requires that the Trial Committee be selected at a membership meeting, by members, in front of the membership, not by a couple of secretaries and Mark Williams in secret.

The sign up sheet had 15 spots for volunteers to sign up for the Trial Committee. Eric was the 15^th person to sign the sheet, and when he got up to sign there was no one in line. As soon as Eric signed, 5 more members jumped up and signed up, even though they were told by Mike Hernandez that there were only spots for 15 volunteers.

The procedure for selecting Trial Committee members, when more volunteers sign up than there are spots for, is to conduct an election at the membership meeting where the Trial Committee is being selected, and current elected officials are not permitted to participate, per President Mike Mitre and Local 13’s lawyers.

Bobby O Jr. and Mark Williams are trying to manipulate the Trial Committee by holding a drawing, in secret, in Mark’s office using Local 13 OPEIU office employees Paula Pope and Taylor Agajanian, to select the Trial Committee members, and they are allowing currently elected officials to participate, which they know is not allowed. (Ask Mike Mitre)

The Executive Board needs to hear about this and take immediate action to re-do the Trial Committee selection at the next membership meeting, in front of the membership, in accordance with the agreed to procedures.

If you can’t attend the next Executive Board Meeting, call Mark Williams or Bobby O Jr. and tell them they need to re-do the Trial Committee selection, and this time follow the actual rules. 310 830-1130 ex-131 Tell him hi from me.

 

 

Jerry Avila, Local 13 Health Benefits Officer, is a liar, who watched crooked ILWU Officials and their Doctors defraud the ILWU medical plan of at least 50 million dollars, and needs to be replaced.

Jerry Avila, and his cronies have screwed up the ILWU medical benefits plan so badly, it may never recover, especially if it is up to Big Bob and his coconspirators, Leal Sundet and Ray Ortiz (Chris Viramiontes’ uncle) to fix it. If they can not figure out how to hire a neutral professional arbitrator to hear discrimination cases, what make anyone think they can fix the medical plan?

Read an unsolicited email I received from one of the Los Angeles medical practitioners.

“I have been providing quality chiropractic and physical therapy services to ILWU members for a decade now. I have watched as Local 13 has been hijacked by a bunch of corrupt thugs who have single handedly masterminded the heist of tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars from the trust fund with their fraudulent puppet clinics chiefly port medical. I have worked with hundreds of workers across multiple clinics and count several previous presidents of local 13 among past and current patients. I believe the scale of fraud perpetrated by this corrupt regime of individuals has destroyed the current benefit plan while endangering the benefits and finances of thousands of workers that play by the rules with their benefits not to mention how many legitimate offices have been railroaded out of business to make way for Ports cronies. I have heard story after story about Chris Viramontes, Chris Rice among several others. Patients that called to complain of bogus charges were told “don’t worry about it the bill was paid” Chris was blatantly offering members Rolex watches to bill their insurance. It’s disgusting to watch how much is swept under the rug or blame placed on others. I believe that the so called destruction of records by Cigna employees during the changeover to Zenith is nothing but a cover for the actual destruction of crooked employees working in the claims offices to cover the tracks of bogus claims payments. It is truly a wonderful thing that you are doing exposing the tactics of these criminals and hopefully they will meet their end. I could go on and on but again it’s refreshing to see someone actually report what’s going on behind the scenes as most are in the dark or too afraid to question or break rank. In my practice I have hired ERISA lawyers to fight for payments as we will not ruin our patients credit or stick them with bills that ought to be paid because Zenith and TC3 want to screw everyone to replenish the funds raided by these clowns.”

If the members of Local 13 re-elect Jerry Avila as Health Benefits Officer, they will get what they deserve.

 

 

It is sad to see that the once mighty ILWU has to stoop to lies, deception and bluff, in order to get their membership to ratify the latest Grain Handlers Agreement.

Roger Boespflug, Local 23 Lead Grain Negotiator & Labor Relations Representative, and Local 23 President, Dean McGrath, have chosen the low road and decided to lie, deceive and bluff their membership into ratifying a contract that they are not even signatory to.

It seems that the ILWU Officers in general have adopted the age old tactics of the employer, rather than embracing the ways of their founder and genius negotiator, Harry Bridges.

Harry Bridges stood for honesty, truthfulness, and transparency. He did everything in the open and believed that if the rank-and-file got all the information that they would nearly always do the right thing. It was not the easy way, but it was the right way, and the proof is in the success he had.

The current ILWU Officers, to a man, have decided the take the easy way out, and to lie, deceive and keep everything a secret. They refuse to provide members with minutes from their Executive Board meetings, their Membership meetings, and their Labor Relations Committee meetings.

Apparently the ILWU can do anything they want as it relates to the ratification vote. If they want to allow Local 23 to vote on Local 19’s contract in order to get the votes to ratify, it is ok. It is their club and they can do as they please.

Pity that they are such pathetic negotiators that they need to use electioneering and deception, rather that honesty and persuasion, to get their agreement approved by the rank-and-fie.

When I was first learning the art of negotiation I came across a book that changed my life.  A little book titled; Winning with Deception and Bluff by Sydney C. Schweitzer, opened my eyes to the cons, scams and lies that could and would be used against me during negotiations and taught me how to deal with them and the people that would use them.

Seems to me that the ILWU has adopted that book as their play book, rather than following the teachings of Harry Bridges.

Too bad, so sad.