IMPORTANT WTU ELECTIONS COMMITTEE ELECTIONS TODAY!
4pm to 7:30pm @ Logan School 215 G Street, NE Washington, DC 20002
Full Dues Paying Members Urged To Come and Vote
We need your participation to elect this committee who will be responsible for properly conducting the upcoming WTU Officers Election!
We Need You To Vote!
Read below and learn why your participation in today's election is important!
Why AFT President Weingarten stole my elected union job!
By Claudette Carson, 2009 WTU Elections Committee Member
In April 2009, five Washington Teachers’ Union (WTU) members submitted petitions for elected office-The WTU Elections Committee. The unpaid job is small but important; the committee is responsible for verifying union meeting quorums, and conducting all general and special elections. Because fewer than the maximum number (15) members submitted certified nominating petitions, I was informed by the Elections Committee chairperson that I was duly elected immediately. The secret ballot requirement was trumped by a Department of Labor rule stating that uncontested elections requiring secret ballot are not necessary. I felt comfortable but little did I know things could turn crazy quickly.
The DCPS/WTU tentative agreement and its benefactors soon considered us liabilities. We were not good enough to conduct a contract ratification vote, a special election, or maybe we were too honest? The result is that ratification ballots have been sent out without a verified membership list and with a membership status, with the AFT/WTU’s endorsement, which can be changed so that new members can vote up until ballot submission. $164 million tentative agreement makes new friends easily with union members and integrity being meaningless collateral damage. All the stops have been pulled out to guarantee this contract ratification. I am appalled at the radio commercials encouraging teachers to vote “Yes” for the contract with funds union members did not approve, selected teachers have been gifted time from teaching in order to sell the contract to other teachers during the school day, and first time voting by telephone and the internet.
The final nail in our coffin came as a result of a discovery. Another elections committee member and I deduced WTU President George Parker did not file any nominating petitions to run for President. I informed all parties involved at which point the AFT increased its efforts to disband the elections committee. AFT President Weingarten desires an elections committee to give George Parker the opportunity to file nominating petitions, irrespective of the WTU Constitution. The answer is not a hard one for me because I have a renewed sense of fair play and rights of the common man and woman. How President Weingarten took away my right to hold elected union office is a crime. She did not even follow her own constitution and is now bulldogging her way thru our local. She stole from teachers for George Parker’s benefit furthermore her actions are related to the tentative agreement ratification. This denigrates our union, profession and intelligence. I only desired to provide mutual aid, support and collective action to my fellow teachers- maybe that is not unionism.
I am Claudette Carson, a union member who has tried to participate in my union’s democratic process. I never have been a WTU insider but I have always voted for candidates that would represent me. I am running again for the elections committee which I rightfully won previously but for the efforts of special interests. I understand the issues and the relevance of representing union members. I know firsthand the impact of dollars on relationships and will not allow you to be hurt as I have been. We can beat the culprits at their own game by getting this message out and voting May 27, 2010 at Logan School between 4pm and 7pm.
The DCPS/WTU tentative agreement and its benefactors soon considered us liabilities. We were not good enough to conduct a contract ratification vote, a special election, or maybe we were too honest? The result is that ratification ballots have been sent out without a verified membership list and with a membership status, with the AFT/WTU’s endorsement, which can be changed so that new members can vote up until ballot submission. $164 million tentative agreement makes new friends easily with union members and integrity being meaningless collateral damage. All the stops have been pulled out to guarantee this contract ratification. I am appalled at the radio commercials encouraging teachers to vote “Yes” for the contract with funds union members did not approve, selected teachers have been gifted time from teaching in order to sell the contract to other teachers during the school day, and first time voting by telephone and the internet.
The final nail in our coffin came as a result of a discovery. Another elections committee member and I deduced WTU President George Parker did not file any nominating petitions to run for President. I informed all parties involved at which point the AFT increased its efforts to disband the elections committee. AFT President Weingarten desires an elections committee to give George Parker the opportunity to file nominating petitions, irrespective of the WTU Constitution. The answer is not a hard one for me because I have a renewed sense of fair play and rights of the common man and woman. How President Weingarten took away my right to hold elected union office is a crime. She did not even follow her own constitution and is now bulldogging her way thru our local. She stole from teachers for George Parker’s benefit furthermore her actions are related to the tentative agreement ratification. This denigrates our union, profession and intelligence. I only desired to provide mutual aid, support and collective action to my fellow teachers- maybe that is not unionism.
I am Claudette Carson, a union member who has tried to participate in my union’s democratic process. I never have been a WTU insider but I have always voted for candidates that would represent me. I am running again for the elections committee which I rightfully won previously but for the efforts of special interests. I understand the issues and the relevance of representing union members. I know firsthand the impact of dollars on relationships and will not allow you to be hurt as I have been. We can beat the culprits at their own game by getting this message out and voting May 27, 2010 at Logan School between 4pm and 7pm.
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VOTE FOR OUR ENDORSED ELECTIONS COMMITTEE CANDIDATES
1. Claudette Carson
2. Chandrai Jackson-Saunders
3. Marva Boatman
4. David Derricotte
5. Cheryl Gillette
6. Audrey Hudson
7. Harriet L. Kuhn
8. Linda Burnett
9. Geraldine Harris
10. Janis Carrington
11. Genell Penn
12. Darlene Nelson
13. Rosa Lee
14. Thomas O'Rourke
15. Laureen Smith-Butler
I will be there. I am placing a check for these candidates only. I was wondering about why we have not voted in the President race. It is all about George Parker. I am full up with him. He has completely sold us out and I hope Randi Weingarten has a position for him in her adminstration or better yet Rhee's. If Parker gets on the ballot we must disassociate with the AFT immediately. That is real reform DC teachers can live with! Lets be independant or NEA but never AFT again. The disrespect for Claudette must not be tolerated. She is my candidate for sure. I want Randi Weingarten to deal with her face to face. Parker needs to be sent back to the classroom to endure what we are going thru. 4 friends will probably lose their jobs based on their cycle 3 impact scores alone. They are good teachers and I am unhappy about it.
ReplyDeleteWhen will the presidential election take place?
ReplyDeleteAlso, why would you want to inflict the much maligned Geo. Parker on a class of kids? Do you think that is responsible?
Do you really want to see him on the DCPS staff? Do you think that is constructive, i.e., helps to strengthen the school system?
Teachers must remain thoughtful through all of the chaos.
TA ratification deserves support.
It is a well-known fact that
ReplyDeletethe organization hired
to oversee the voting process
for the
WTU-DCPS Teachers Contract --
"The American Arbitration Association" --
is very heavily & closely connected with
FREEMASONRY and is run by &
controlled by long-time,
high-up (33rd degree, etc.) MASONS.
Hmmm... questionable voting process for WTU-DCPS contract: including Last-Minute sign-ups for union membership and then voting via phone or internet allows for NO SUBSTANTIAL PAPER TRAIL -- what me worry ??? !
ReplyDeleteThis honestly is the most unethical and corrupt union I have ever been a part of. When someone who is hoping to get elected went around collecting signatures, he told a group of us we had no choice but to sign their petition so get over it because that is how things are done in this system. If this is true, and it seems like it is very much true, I would rather resign from my job and go work somewhere else than deal with both a chancellor and union board members who are full of crap.
ReplyDeleteIt is really pathetic that all of this is going on at a time when we need strong leadership in the WTU.
ReplyDeleteThe WTU is slowly being gutted by the likes of Parker and Weingarten.
By the way, exactly how many different ways can the WTU tell me the ratify the contract:
via radio advertisements
via flyers delivered to my school
via allowing non-union members to
join on the last day in order to vote for the contract
this is sick!
Every day I get junk mail from G. Parker with the face of a clueless teacher (or maybe just a model) on the front with the words "Im Voting Yes" printed across the card!
ReplyDeleteI guess my dues money is going to waste! My vote was no! I sent my ballot in on the same day I received it!
Any more cards are going back "return to sender"!!!
I'm disturbed by teachers getting time off to promote the contract during the 30 minute block. Does this not seem strange? Who are these teachers and how were they chosen? Doesn't this conflict or violate some law?- city or labor. To whom may this complaint be directed.
ReplyDeleteI'm up to 5 postcards. Who is paying for this?