Sunday, July 29, 2018

The upside down pyramid

We are all familiar with the story of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes.
5,000 people, a few loaves of bread, 2 fish, yet everyone ate and there was plenty left over.
I read that it’s the only story that is in all 4 gospels.
I heard it again last night and this time, I heard something I had missed before.

John writes, “After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.” Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.”

I’m told that a leader a person who has followers.
By this definition, Jesus certainly was a leader.
Granted, many have twisted his message to serve their own agenda, but that does not diminish his leadership. Or his message.

Most leaders of Jesus’ time (as well as our time) operated from a position on power.  They were the kings, the emperors, the chief priests.
Jesus led in a new way.
He never sought personal power of a high position.
As John writes, he “withdrew again to a mountain” to avoid it.

In most organizational structures, power is vested with the leader, usually the president or CEO.
Below them are Vice Presidents, then department heads, and so on, with the workers at the bottom.
This holds not only for businesses, it holds for religious organizations, non-profits, and others.

But a Union is different.
A union should be different.
A union needs to be different.

Members are at the top, below them, elected leadership of locals, and below them, elected state and national leaders.
Jesus taught us this.
In withdrawing to the mountains, and later in washing the feet of his disciples, he showed us how to lead.

Jan refers to this structure as the “upside down pyramid.”
The president is not at the top, the members are.
Leaders serve the members.
It is how it should be.
It is what makes us strong.

Sunday, July 22, 2018

National Convention

I returned from the AFT Convention tired but pleased and spent this past week trying to catch up with my work in the office.
The convention went very well.
Jan was re-elected National VP, a testimony to her commitment to member engagement and the growing recognition throughout the AFT that this is our future. In reality, it is also our past, as member engagement is not only what built the movement, it IS the movement.
Our 110 AFT CT members were engaged at the convention, participating in committees, caucus, and general sessions. Thank you to all of them for representing the members of both their own Locals and the State Federation.
Social gatherings are also a part of the convention, and our members enjoyed the Convention reception, our own reception, and the sights of the city of Pittsburgh in what little free time we had.

Much of the focus in the convention was centered around the Janus decision.
Anti union groups think this decision will cripple unions, and thus silence the voice of workers. Then, they believe, they can finish their quest toward compete the control of this country by the elites.
What they don’t understand is that our strength comes not from our pocketbooks, our strength comes from our solidarity.
The theme of the convention was, “We Care, We show up, We fight, We vote!”
That theme has been demonstrated in the remarkable success of the large number of members recommitting to their unions, in the courageous teacher and healthcare strikes taking place across this country, in the humanitarian work being performed by our members and in recent successes in new organizing drives.
It was a busy, tiring week.
But this is busy, tiring work.
Besides their own “day jobs,” our members knock doors, rally, testify, volunteer, and work to advance the voice of all workers, union and nonunion, all the time.
They do it because they believe in the movement.
That, sisters and brothers, is our strength.

Wednesday, July 11, 2018

All roads lead to Pittsburg?

On a plane as I write this (yes, again)
Off to Pittsburg for the AFT national convention.
Over 100 Connecticut Delegates will represent our 30,000 members.
First, as Vice President, I need to pause and consider what an honor it is to be in this position.
30,0000 of the best Connecticut workers; teachers, paraprofessionals and school support staff, nurses, Techs, healthcare workers, probation officers, social workers, and so, so many other public servants, have selected us to be the delegates that represent them.
It is an honor, a privilege, and a great responsibility.
Our members share the fact that they have all dedicated their work lives to helping others, and they share the knowledge and belief that standing in unity gives them the power to do so.
That’s what a union is all about.
That’s why those of us privileged enough to be representing our sisters and brothers in Pittsburgh are taking these planes, trains and autos. We carry the voice of our members to chart the course of our union for the next 2 years.

Yesterday I had the privilege to represent Jan at a press conference with Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, AFT President Randi Weingarten, CT AFL-CIO President Lori Pelletier, and New Haven Federation of Teaches President David Cicarella.
The message was that the Janus decision will not cripple unions as the Koch Brothers, the DeVos family and other right wing groups hope.
It will not silence the voice of workers.
Workers understand that to be able to advocate for ourselves, our families, our students, our patients, and the public we serve, we must have a voice. And to have a voice we must stand together in unity.

This is the message the 100 plus AFT Connecticut delegates carry to our national convention on behalf of our members.
Our members will not be silenced.
We are strong, we are united, we are the union.

Sunday, July 1, 2018

Be like Paul

Give me a break!

I pick up the paper and the headline reads:
Meals for seniors caught in latest state budget feud

Don’t tell me we are in a fiscal crisis when yachts line the Connecticut shore!

Let me tell you a story……

In achieve Rome lived a man names Saul.
He became famous for his persecution of the early Christians.
Then he had his “Come to Jesus moment.”
From that time on he was known as Paul, one of the great apostles of the Church.

In his letter to the Corinthians (II Corinthians 8:13-15), he said,
13 Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. 14 At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. The goal is equality, 15 as it is written: “The one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little.”

Sisters and brothers,
We live in the richest state in the richest country that has ever existed on this earth.
There is no shortage of treasure.

There is no fiscal crisis.
But there is a moral crisis.

We are Saul.
We need to be Paul.