Election Results

Results : President Carlos Contreras
Vice President Richard Motsenbocker
Recording Secretary Stephen Talbott
Treasurer Jesse McKaughan
Trustees Mindy Browne, Denise Ford, Jose Barajas.
Thanks to everybody who voted. I’d like to congratulate Joe Whitt and Gary Bogard on the campaign they ran, they are both great union representatives and it was an honor to run against them. Will have to celebrate later, I have to work in the morning.

Election Day

The campaigning is basically over for me at this point. I had planned to greet “A” shift as they left to vote this morning, but my wife is working today, so I made some eggs for my son’s breakfast and got him ready for school. I’ll go to the 2:30 pm union meeting and cast my ballot, then I’ll greet “C” shift as they head to the polls. The best part of the campaign for me was getting out into the different departments and talking union with my fellow union brothers and sisters. Some were enthusiastic about what I had to say, some were not, but everybody was polite, whether they intended to vote for me or not. The hot end guys were great, I was surprised how many knew who I was and to get support there was the highlight of the campaign. Special thanks to VP candidate Richard Motsenbocker for his council during this time. Standing out in the driving, windy cold air with Richard yesterday, handing out flyers and talking all things union with my co-workers is a memory I won’t soon forget. Regarding Richard, I feel like we have developed a true friendship and our union is lucky to have tenacious representatives like him fighting the good fight. As for myself, I have tried to conduct my campaign with dignity and respect. I didn’t badmouth my opponents or others running for office. I respect everybody who runs. To run for and win elected office entails a sacrifice and commitment of your free time, both at work and at home. Just because we have differences of opinions on how our union should be run, in the end we need to come together as a union to face the challenges ahead. I have heard there was some mudslinging going on at work over the campaign, but except for a few bizarre attempted posts on this blog I found most of my co-workers had positive attitudes about our union and the election (Note: This blog will not accept posts from “anonymous” anymore, if you are going to post, be man or women enough to put your name on your letter, otherwise don’t bother). So my message would be get out and vote, and regardless of who wins today support your elected officers, try to attend monthly union meetings, and support your union.

One More Day Till the Election

The best part of campaigning has been talking to fellow union members about our union. People are really looking for a positive change in how our union conducts its business. Many that I have talked to feel that they don’t have a voice in our union, and they were excited to have an opportunity to speak about issues such as lack of sick leave, and the lack of response from the local about issues that are important to them. I heard you and if I am elected you will have a voice in GMP Local #17. I spoke to fellow employees about my ideas for better communication with E-Mail Alerts, a GMP Local #17 Website, and the need for an Education Committee with an emphasis on better training for Shop Stewards. I realize that we lead busy lives, with work and family taking up so much of our time, leaving little time for relaxation. I realize you don’t always have the time to go to union meetings because maybe you have to take your kids to school after work, or pick them up from day care. This is why I want to bring the information to you. I believe I will be an effective Recording Secretary because Labor and Union issues are something I take a great interest in. I enjoy finding out information that affects my working life, like the recent changes in the tax law that is affecting our vacation checks. I would love to share this type of information with you either through e-mail or a website. I believe that access to information will make us a stronger union. We all know the company is unified in their objectives and what they want to achieve. After this election is over, regardless of the results, we need to become unified as a union to face the challenges ahead of us. To accomplish the goals that I have set for myself, I need your vote for Recording Secretary. I’ll see you soon, and don’t forget to vote Wed!

Three Days To Go

Three more days to go until the election on Wednesday October 28th at the Union Hall located at 205 S. Santa Cruz Ave in Modesto. Voting will take place between 6:00am and 6:45 pm. I am at a major disadvantage in this race because my shift will be finishing up our 7 days off on Election Day. We return to work on Thursday. So what I am asking you to do is first, vote on Wednesday. Second, call everybody you know and remind them to vote on Wednesday. Third, ask them to call everybody they know and remind them to vote on Wednesday. Turnout will be key in this race as it is in every election. I am ready to work hard for you the next three years. But I need your help. Take a few minutes, make the calls, knock on doors, and get people down to the Union Hall! Remember: Stephen Talbott for Recording Secretary.

Get Out the Vote Rally

I am holding a “Get Out the Vote Rally” on Friday October 23rd at 2:00 pm at Steve Sottile’s House at 1329 Serene Lane in Ceres. We will be serving food, playing music, and trying to create a little excitement before the vote on October 28th. Voting will take place at the union hall located at 205 S. Santa Cruz Ave between 6:00am and 6:45 pm. I am inviting any union member and their family who can make it to show up, enjoy some barbeque, and we will talk about labor and how we can strengthen our union for the tough fights ahead. Click on My Saved Places below and you can Google Map your way to the Rally. I look forward to seeing you and getting the conversation started.


View My Saved Places in a larger map

Unions Are Good for the American Economy

Next time somebody bad mouths unions, point him or her to the article I’ve linked to at the bottom. In California workers in unions on average make 12.7 percent more then non-union workers. One of the reasons the recession continues in California is because workers simply don’t have the purchasing power to keep the economy going. So the next time you run into a supervisor or manager mention to them that they need to give us a nice raise in the new contract so we will continue to have the purchasing power necessary to drive the economy. If consumer activity accounts for 70 percent of our nation’s economy, then it is in Gallo’s best interest to give us a raise. Mention that it is their patriotic duty to keep the economy rolling. Tell them that if all these various businesses continue to cut wages nobody can afford to buy their product. Read “Unions Are Good for the American Economy” and click on the State fact sheets for California to get a more personal view of California’s labor problems.

A case for a GMP Local #17 Website

A fellow union member named Jerry came up to me the other day and told me that he was trying to get the phone number of our local president, so he went to Google and typed in “GMP Local #17” and was surprised by the result. Take a moment and try it. The first two hits will take you back to my blog, including my blog on Why I am Running for Recording Secretary of GMP Local #17. At hit number 4 is the website for GMP Local #51 located in Defiance, Ohio. Directly below that is a link to financial information about our local at UnionFacts.com, one of the worst anti-union websites on the web. What this illustrates to me is the need for our local to have its own website. Whenever I bring up the idea of a website for our union I always receive a great response from my union brothers and sisters, and plenty of good ideas about what to include in such a site. A union website could include bylaws, grievance forms, newsletters, links to FMLA, Family-School Partnership Act, Disability Insurance, and Workers' Compensation information, Union Committee Reports, and labor news both local and national. Take a moment to check out this website: http://www.iue-cwa.org/
This website is packed full of useful information for its members. They use a log-on function for sensitive materials. There is no reason why we could not have something similar. Among the classes I have taken at MJC includes Introduction to Multimedia, Microcomputer Applications, Intro to Computer Graphics, and Web Graphics and Animation, where we built working websites. I feel quite confident I could build a secure website for our local, and I don’t doubt that I could find plenty of volunteers from our computer savvy membership who would be happy to help me out in such a project. I believe it is time for our local to stop communicating like it is the 1950’s and use the tools available in the computer age to increase communication and knowledge. As always I would love to get your input on this our any other ideas you might have about ways to increase communication in our local.

The Modesto Bee

After reading one anti-union letter after another in the Modesto Bee, I decided to respond to one titled, “Unions never helped the workers.” My response was printed in today’s issue. The Bee misprinted the name of my local. I actually wrote after my name “Proud member of GMP Local #17” they printed it as “member, Glass, Molders, Pottery and Allied Workers International Union, Local No. 17” The actual name of my union is Glass, Molders, Pottery, Plastics & Allied Workers International Union. The Modesto Bee also picked the title. Here is the text of my letter, or you can link to it here: Modesto Bee Letter.

How unions really operate.
The latest anti-union letter, "Unions never helped the workers" (Sept. 24), is so full of fallacies that I wonder if the writer ever worked in a union. I have worked in a union for 28 years and I would like to clear up a few misconceptions.
My union doesn't tell me how to vote. Unions don't want every small business to be unionized; we just want them to have a fair chance to join a union. Unions haven't caused manufacturers to leave the country; this has been the result of free trade, cheap labor and nonexistent environmental standards overseas.
Are there some bad apples in labor? Of course, but there are bad apples in every walk of life, including Wall Street and the government.
So what has my union done for me? Thanks to my union I have been able to receive a fair wage for my labor, health care for me and my family, and a pension so I can retire with dignity. In exchange, the union provides the company with a highly motivated work force, which increases productivity and profits.
STEPHEN TALBOTT
member, Glass, Molders, Pottery and Allied Workers International Union,
Local No. 17
Waterford

Communication

Lately I have been thinking a lot about communication. Specifically how our union communicates its message to its members. The number one way most of us get information is through the grapevine. Somebody hears something, maybe a Shop Steward or an affected employee, who passes information to another union member, and so on. Another way to get information is by attending a union meeting. Often I will get asked what happened at the meeting, and my account of the meeting will get added to the grapevine. Elected officers, shop stewards, and committee members can also be sources of information. Union bulletin boards often have information of interest. As good as these sources of information can be it seems to me that in today’s digital age we are not utilizing the many modes of communication available.
Lack of communication between the local and its members is not exclusive to our union; it is a problem through out the labor movement. As Philip M. Dine clearly points out in his must read book about the labor movement “State of the Unions” labor has done a poor job of communicating its views, aspirations, and accomplishments, which has given the opportunity for labor’s adversaries to define unions in a negative way. But I believe there are opportunities at the local level to use technology to unite our union in ways that weren’t possible in the past. For example, lately when I see our younger union members interacting socially, instead of sitting around talking, generally they have their phones out, sharing e-mail messages or videos. What if the union harnessed this mode of communication and sent out e-mail alerts of news that pertain to their jobs and what their union is doing for them? Imagine if you opened your e-mail and received “A Message from your Union” in your inbox. A perfect example of the need for this has occurred during the last couple of days. I was recently informed that Gallo Glass has initiated another round of layoffs. I found out about this through Facebook messages from co-workers who had heard the news. How much better would it have been to have received this information from our union leadership, where they could have explained exactly what has happened and what the union is doing about it? Through e-mails we could send out information to interested members with one click of a button. Accomplishing this would as simple as collecting e-mail addresses from interested members, and adding them to a distribution list. I see e-mail alerts as another piece of the puzzle to help unify our union further. This is obviously not a new idea, many organizations use mass e-mailings to get their message out. I would appreciate any feed back on this idea or any ideas you have about ways to better communicate in our union.