Daniello Fears Democracy In Local 814

By gem527

Why does Daniello fear democracy?  Because then the membership would be involved in decision-making.  But shouldn’t we have some say in matters that affect us and our families?  If the members had to approve Daniello’s raise, do you think he would be making $115,000 dollars a year?  For some reason, I don't think so.

Daniello and his trustees came up with a Funding Improvement Plan for the pension fund last November, and to this day, no one knows what’s in it.  This is the plan to get us out of the yellow/red zone and into the green zone, and it could include serious cuts to our pension.  This is our retirement I'm talking about, so why is the information being suppressed?  Does George Daniello pride himself on keeping members in the dark?  Instead of informing us about the challenges facing our union, Daniello is out there trying to scare members about Teamsters for a Democratic Union. 

I don't know about you guys, but the thought of democracy never seemed scary to me.  I'm more worried about my dollar coming back into the annuity fund.  I encourage every member to go to the TDU website and make up  their own mind about whether or not democracy belongs in 814 (www.tdu.org ).  But see, bad-mouthing TDU is just a scare tactic.  In reality there are a lot more serious things you should be afraid of.  

Like early negotiations, for example.  The only reason Daniello wants to negotiate early is because DENNIS FARRELL, the owner of Central Moving and Storage, doesn't want us to get our dollar back into the annuity on March 1st. 

And did you know that the Beth Israel Teamsters have been without a contract for six months?  Did you know that the 814 members at Nassau Coliseum just got their version of the "worst contract ever?"  Here are a just two "highlights" from the recent Nassau contract: the dock checker job was given away and the annuity was butchered from $4.10 to $0.25.  Yeah, you read that right.  Their annuity was slashed to a quarter for every hour worked.

Involving the membership and rebuilding our union's power isn't scary.  Letting the members have a say in what happens to them doesn't scare me either.

But, I'll tell you what...seeing my medical fund go from a two-year surplus to nearly bankrupt then losing my dental coverage, that’s scary. Not getting my dollar back into the annuity because of a rigged early negotiations scheme, that's scary. Seeing the same old faces at the bargaining table, that's scary.  Making a complaint to the union and then having your boss call you ten minutes later to ask you "why are you calling the union?",  that's scary. Seeing your president jack up his salary $50,000 dollars without merit, that's scary.  Seeing non-union guys working over 1000 hours without joining the union, now that's scary.  Being on huge jobs and seeing the ratio abused is scary, especially for our funds.

What I'm saying is don’t believe George's hype.  The truth is the truth and his record speaks for itself.  So if you're scared of inclusion, transparency and accountability, then by all means vote for George.  As for me, like most intelligent members of 814, I'll go with change and for the 814 New Directions Slate .