In the latest assault on members in my department, President Pennie McCoach has denied a member his Weingarten Rights to choose a representative—me. 

When I was a volunteer steward, former President Eric “Out of Order and Run Em Over” Dixon NEVER obeyed members’ wishes to have me as their representative. His excuses were never-ending. 

Now, as the elected Executive Board Member, she is doing the same thing. Moreover—without providing a reason—she told me that she is NOT going to comply with Section 15(c) of the Local 308 bylaws. This specifically gives me 6 days off a month—with compensation from our union treasury—to serve members at their work locations. 

She recently gave a member such a hard time for demanding I be present, that he ultimately gave up and said he would represent himself. Ironically, this was after she buckled in to release me with pay for three hours—not a full 8. With 23 years at the CTA, he has seen more than me and wrote:

”…Eric don't worry, I will be just fine. Don't want to cause more problems, I just look for new friends and a new union. That's the truth story of life…”

Needless to say, I condemned our new president with ALL CAPS and told her to put charges on me for it.

Although I get the blame for “dividing the union”, her irrational FEAR of Revolutionary Unionism, disrespect for Shop Workers and love for money is causing members to stop paying dues.

Like Dixon and the CTA mismanagers, she knows when I spend time with members, I enjoy it—and they are always inspired.

Blocking me from building relationships with them—instead of with slimy managers—is very important in Business Unionism  

I can only guess that her only valid excuse is financial. So if that is the case, why do they freely spend our money on sports, parties and bloated six-digit salaries?

Please share this petition so we can tell the ATU officials that focusing on banning me is a waste of time and resources.