[Sdalliance] AFL-CIO fires Kasparian, Bankhead, Garcias; SD Labor Council receivers hip

[Monty Kroopkin]

Fellow Workers, Friends, The article (below) mentions the fired 'labor fakers' have formed a new San Diego labor grouping. http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/topics/politics/national-afl-cio-ousts-san-diego-labor-council-leaders-and-they-form-new-coalition/  I can tell you that members of my local, SEIU Local 221, were NOT informed, let alone asked to vote on leaving the SD Labor Council. (David Garcias is president of Local 221, and is the fired VP of the Labor Council). Can't speak for the other locals that are bolting from the Labor Council, but it would be no surprise if those memberships were also NOT democratically in charge of the decision to leave and form a new grouping. Union members in Local 221, and in many of today's anti-democratic 'business unions' are often treated like they are the 'cash cow' private property of corrupt, pro-capitalist union bosses. The union membership pays out millions of dollars of union dues all the time. The labor bosses stay in power by manipulating the union elections against all challengers. Some unions (and some locals within some unions) in the AFL-CIO are more democratic, and it would be wrong to assume the worst about all AFL-CIO affiliates without knowing the facts about each one. But overall, the painful fact of the labor movement in this country is that far too many of the organizations we call unions are not truly organizations formed and run by ordinary working people, for our own benefits. The labor movement has become corrupted by entrenched dynasties of self-serving labor bosses who have no belief in the ability of the working class to come together as a majority of society and to run society democratically, without the immoral madness we call the "profit motive" and the global poison we call transnational monopoly capitalism. More often than not, it is these fake labor leaders who funnel our union money into propping up the broken political system that holds us down and keeps the super rich rich. This is why I support the IWW and will work to grow it as long as I have the breath left in me to do it. The IWW has no paid bosses and is run totally by its membership meetings.   For real unions, run only by their members,Monty Reed Kroopkin p.s. - In my time as a union steward in Local 221, including a few times running for union office to try to "reform" the already rotting corpse we still called a union, I have seen one group of members after another vote to get out of 221 and to form their own, real unions. They all told the same story of incompetent, unresponsive, out-of-control local officials, rigged union elections, rigged selection of supposedly elected contract negotiation teams, back room meetings of union officials and management with no union membership in the room, union contracts that over and over again pushed our standard of living lower and that gave away power to management to abuse us every day on the job without effective recourse. Workers in all of these bargaining units have wisely gotten state labor board elections and voted to dump Local 221: San Diego Community College DistrictCounty of San Diego Probation OfficersCity of La MesaCity of San MarcosCounty of San Diego Crafts UnitCounty of San Diego Construction & Maintenance UnitPoway Schools District And, at this moment the hundreds of workers at the City of Chula Vista are sending in their mail ballots to vote on dumping Local 221. It is just a matter of time before the thousands of workers at the County of San Diego who are still in the "Incredible Shrinking Local 221" wake up and stand up for themselves, to dump SEIU and make a better life for themselves and their families. As of Cinco de Mayo, 5/5/17, I am retired from my employment at the County of San Diego. Although I could choose to continue to pay dues to my SEIU Local 221 (retirees can do that), that destructive, lying pack of thieves will never see one more penny of my money, and will never again be able to use that money to side with management against the interests of County employees.  
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