Should I, or should I not vote?
January 20th, 2010
Another message from my beloved union (private address redacted):
From: UAW 2865 Berkeley <berk...@uaw2865.org> To: xxxx...@xxxxx.xxx Subject: Healthcare Negotiations Beginning; Vote on Initial Demands Feb. 3rd or 4th Date: Wed, 20 Jan 2010 18:45:37 +0000 (UTC) January 20, 2010 Dear UAW 2865 members, UAW 2865 is preparing to open our current contract with University of California in order to negotiate improvements to the Graduate Student Health Insurance Program. We consider UC’s agreement to enter negotiations on GSHIP as a victory in our years-long struggle to improve the quality of healthcare that academic student employees receive. In recent years this struggle has included UC providing vision and dental coverage as part of all GSHIP plans and the establishment of a UAW-UC committee which has explored how best to make healthcare improvements. All members are encouraged to attend a meeting with bargaining committee members and to vote on our initial healthcare bargaining demands on February 3rd or 4th. Campus-specific dates, times, and locations will be sent out next week. We are opening healthcare now so we can negotiate changes that would take effect in August for the 2010-2011 academic year. This would not be possible under the already scheduled negotiations, because our current contract expires September 30, 2010 and no changes take effect until the entire contract is settled and ratified. We still plan to begin our full set of negotiations in the spring, and there will be a separate process where members will have a chance to vote on those initial demands as well. If you have any questions or would like to get involved, please contact us (info below). In solidarity, Bargaining Committee, UAW Local 2865 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- UAW 2865 Berkeley 2070 Allston Way, Suite 205 Berkeley, CA 94704 phone: (510) 849-1628 / fax: (510) 549-2514 berk...@uaw2865.org / www.uaw2865.org mail-list.com 1302 Waugh Dr. #438 Houston, Texas 77019 USA This message was launched into cyberspace to xxxx...@xxxxx.xxx
So far, I haven’t participated in any union votes, mainly because I didn’t want to be part of (and hence, at least at my personal level, legitimize) the farcical imitation of democracy, but maybe I should vote.
Why? Well, let’s just say … I’m heartened by the ballot heard around around the world yesterday. If Massachusetts voters can vote for a small-government Republican, perhaps UAW 2865 members can finally say enough is enough—or at least, one day we will get to the bottom of what dirty tactics my beloved union uses to get 99% approvals on its measures.