Sunday, September 19, 2004
Date:
Sun, 19 Sep 2004 20:28:34 -0700 (PDT)
From:
"Whelan Michael" Add to Address Book
Subject:
Ironworkers and The Future.
To:
tmarble@hotmail.com
From the very real perspective that I have now, I sadly would feel a failure as a parent if I had not been able to amply demonstrate to my son that this organization called "Brotherhood of Ironworkers" has largely outlived its relevance as an institution. The Organized Labor and resultant rights of collective bargaining came into being at a time when the working man and woman was clearly and viscerally aware of the pains and sacrifices that had been endured to make the concept of Union representation and membership a reality. It was born of hunger and strikes and Pinkerton Guards with rifles who fired into crowds indiscriminately. It was born of children who were forced underground to dig out coal from the earth at twelve and thirteen years old, and so this organization was a first second and third loyalty to its members. What is the point of belonging to a Union when the management of the company , in our case Field Superintendents, General Forman, Forman, etc. are all steady company hands. They drive expensive cars and trucks, they live in overly leveraged homes, and if they miss one day of work or are threatened with a layoff there is virtually no way they can do anything except what the given outfit tells them to do. No Tom, I would want my son to be able to belong to an organization , whatever that grouping or association may endeavor to achieve, that has the mission statement and fundamental values in the forefront of their decision making apparatus. If he joins a "Brotherhood" it would kill me to watch him slowly turn cynical as he came to understand that there was only one thing to know in order to succeed and that was to perfectly subscribe to the lie at every given point in the equation. The moment you would deviate from the "path of least resistance" you will inevitably set in motion a suspicion that can help you only to be inevitably marginalized and portrayed as a "trouble maker", or worse. There was a time when our Brotherhood knew what it meant and what it stood for. In 2004, in Las Vegas, Nevada, there is a picture that you have witnessed with your own eyes. I pray that there is the will to fight for a more clearly defined vision of what the future should become, but I cannot begin to throw away the remaining years of a life that has been already circumscribed by years of very serious personal stress and family responsibility, so as to discover that things here in Las Vegas are exactly the way the membership want them to be. Case Closed. Your Friend for Life, Michael
Sun, 19 Sep 2004 20:28:34 -0700 (PDT)
From:
"Whelan Michael"
Subject:
Ironworkers and The Future.
To:
tmarble@hotmail.com
From the very real perspective that I have now, I sadly would feel a failure as a parent if I had not been able to amply demonstrate to my son that this organization called "Brotherhood of Ironworkers" has largely outlived its relevance as an institution. The Organized Labor and resultant rights of collective bargaining came into being at a time when the working man and woman was clearly and viscerally aware of the pains and sacrifices that had been endured to make the concept of Union representation and membership a reality. It was born of hunger and strikes and Pinkerton Guards with rifles who fired into crowds indiscriminately. It was born of children who were forced underground to dig out coal from the earth at twelve and thirteen years old, and so this organization was a first second and third loyalty to its members. What is the point of belonging to a Union when the management of the company , in our case Field Superintendents, General Forman, Forman, etc. are all steady company hands. They drive expensive cars and trucks, they live in overly leveraged homes, and if they miss one day of work or are threatened with a layoff there is virtually no way they can do anything except what the given outfit tells them to do. No Tom, I would want my son to be able to belong to an organization , whatever that grouping or association may endeavor to achieve, that has the mission statement and fundamental values in the forefront of their decision making apparatus. If he joins a "Brotherhood" it would kill me to watch him slowly turn cynical as he came to understand that there was only one thing to know in order to succeed and that was to perfectly subscribe to the lie at every given point in the equation. The moment you would deviate from the "path of least resistance" you will inevitably set in motion a suspicion that can help you only to be inevitably marginalized and portrayed as a "trouble maker", or worse. There was a time when our Brotherhood knew what it meant and what it stood for. In 2004, in Las Vegas, Nevada, there is a picture that you have witnessed with your own eyes. I pray that there is the will to fight for a more clearly defined vision of what the future should become, but I cannot begin to throw away the remaining years of a life that has been already circumscribed by years of very serious personal stress and family responsibility, so as to discover that things here in Las Vegas are exactly the way the membership want them to be. Case Closed. Your Friend for Life, Michael
