Let us never forget

I was at home when the first plan hit.
I watched in horror as the second plan hit.
Nearly 3000 people died that day, mothers, fathers, husbands, wives, aunts, uncles.
Most of them were at work at the time.
415 firefighters, ems, and police died that day in service to others.
When they left for work, their families had every reason to believe all these people would return home.
Except, they didn't.

The protocol in our Trauma 2 level ER had recently changed.
No longer in a mass casualty were we to rush to the hospital.
Studies had shown that when that was done, all the staff was exhausted in less than a day.
Our new instructions were to stay home, stay by the phone, and try to rest.
Rest would not come easy.
Through TV, we were experiencing something most of us had never lived through.
Not since Pearl Harbor, had our country come under attack.

Our hospital is 115 miles from New York City.
I was sure we would get some of the casualties, or at least some of the diversions that would be needed as the big hospitals in southwest and central Connecticut became overwhelmed.
But the call never came.
The casualties never came.

Because very few survived.

Please don't ever complain to me about the state of your workplace, your community, your state or your nation, without also being willing to work to improve things.
People have given their lives, sometimes unexpected as on 9/11, sometimes knowing they were facing danger as in all our wars.  They gave their lives so that we could have the right to improve our work sites, our communities, our states, our nations, and our world.
I know it can seem overwhelming, I know it can be frustratingly slow, I know it can seem hopeless.
I also know that I must try.
I implore you to do the same, if not for yourself, then for those who have given their lives.

Let us never forget.

Door Knocking with Jamie

It was hot and humid this morning as we walked around that Norwich neighborhood, but it didn't bother me. You see, I had met a new union brother.
It was a Labor to Labor walk, visiting union households to get out the vote in November.
I was teamed up with Jamie Lamitie, a fellow AFT member.  He's an electrical teacher from Norwich Tech, and a member of SVFT.
Between houses, we shared stories about teaching and nursing, about kids and life.  I told him how we organized Backus and how I have been lucky enough to travel the country on union committees and conventions and such.  He's a building rep at Norwich Tech and I said I had recently become friends with his president and she offered to take me on tours of the schools some day.  He said I must come to Norwich Tech, to see "his" school and because they serve the best lunch, courtesy of the culinary class.

AFT represents Healthcare, Education, and public employees, a fact that Internet radio talk host Niicole Sandler found fascinating when she interviewed me this summer in Los Angeles.  http://youtu.be/L_wlF4tDwzQ

I told her that AFT is healthcare, it's education, it's public service.
But it's all the same, we're all taking care of people in one way or the other. and for all of us, it's not so much a job, me taking care of a patient, or a teacher taking care of a student, it's a vocation.
And our issues, though different, are at the same time, similar.
Staffing levels and HCAHPS scores, class size and common core.

Jamie and I must have knocked on 50 doors.  Some were not home, some didn't want to talk, two took voter registration cards, and a couple wanted to make us coffee, Did we influence any votes?  Maybe a couple.  Were people appreciative that we took the time to visit?  I think so.  Did I get to meet and know another union brother? Definitely!
And when that happens, it's a good day.

Labor Day Message

All work has dignity and meaning.
All workers deserve respect.

Labor Day is set aside to honor these two beliefs.

I salute all workers,  and in particular, I salute organized Labor.
The workplace protections we now enjoy are the result of many men and women standing together in unity and standing up for themselves.

Labor Day is also a time to look at were we have come from and where we hope to go.

This past year we won a major victory at L+M Hospital.  Locals 5049, 5051, and 5123 showed us what solidarity means. They also showed us how to work with other locals, other unions, and the community to build on that solidarity.
In the end, "right" won, "justice" won, and "greed" lost.
I am particularly proud that young Local 5149, the nurses of Backus Hospital, still in our first contract, played a supporting role.  Through it, we matured as unionists.

I see great hope for the Labor movement.  I see my members finding and using their voice in growing numbers. I see non union workers standing up for their rights in Walmarts and fast food.  I see Healthcare unions willing to do what ever it takes to put patients first. I see workers in Wisconsin and elsewhere, mobilizing to fight back against the Scott Walkers of the world who wish to strip them of a voice. I see unions in Florida, and other right to work for less states enrolling members because workers see the benefit of standing together. I see Locals such as the teachers in New Haven and Meriden and the public employees of Connecticut, with the self confidence to work with employers when possible for the common good.

I see these things and I am excited about the future, anxious to be a part of it, ready to redouble our efforts.

This is why I said yes to that first phone call four years ago when a fellow nurse asked would I be willing to talk to a guy from a union.
I was tired and I felt hopeless.

I may be tired now, but it is a good tired.
I have a voice and I use it.
I can advocate for my patients and increasingly, for students and the public my union serves.
I have friends who feel the same way.

My sisters and brothers, enjoy your holiday if you are off.
If, like me, you are working, know that the work you do has meaning and makes a difference.
Rest if you can.
Tuesday begins a new year in the workers calender and we have much to do.
We will do it, we will be successful, because we will do it in solidarity.

Round one to Malloy

It's on!
The first of the gubernatorial debates for the Connecticut governor race was held last night in Norwich. 
It might be impossiblele for me to give an accurate assessment of who was the winner and who was the loser because I clearly favor the Governor in this race, but I think the "experts" will agree, Malloy won by a mile.

Dan Malloy knows his facts and figures and can recall them in a moment's notice.  Tom Foley is reduced to speaking in generalities, and offers no definitive plan for the future.
The Governor can speak to specific investments in infrastructure or education and all Foley can say is we need reform, we need to invest more and cut taxes and balance the budget, but offers no specifics on how he would do so.
I could go on, but I'll let you read it all in the papers and on social media.
Bottom line, Dan Malloy is not perfect, he has made mistakes, but his heart is with the working class and disadvantaged of this state and he works hard for us each and every day.
Last night he clearly apologized to teachers for remarks he had made in the past about tenure. He said "I was wrong" and he praised teachers.
Somewhere, Dan Malloy's teachers, must have smiled.

Tom Foley has no specifics, even though he ran for governor 4 years ago.
He comes to small town Eastern Connecticut and tells the select woman/senator, whom he doesn't recognize, and the mill workers, that THEY FAILED and that is why their mill closed.

One final note.
You can tell a lot about a leader by who they chose as a running mate.
Is that running mate a strong person in their own right?
Are they a partner, or window dressing?
Are they capable of taking over in a moment's notice if needed?
Are they as hard a worker, as dedicated to the cause, as passionate about what they do, as the candidate?
Lt Governor Nancy Wyman is all this and more.
That says a lot about the governor.

Erin

The estimate of how much my hospital spent fighting it's own employees when we organized runs as high as $11million. The hospital admitted to almost $1million.
I know, crazy, right?

Contrast that to what Meriden Federation of Teachers president Erin Benham has been able to accomplish with a cooperative relationship with her superintendent, Mark Benigni . http://www.aft.org/pdfs/americaneducator/winter1314/Dubin.pdf

I got to know Erin and hear of the cooperative program last year when we served together on the AFT Small Union Task Force, along with AFT leaders from across the country.
She told me how she and Mark speak on the phone every morning as they head off to school, of how signage of the Meriden Federation of Teachers hangs in the entrance of the school, and how teachers and administration work as a partnership to the benefit of students.
She told me that it was not always this way, in fact, some previous administrations were quite hostile towards teachers.  Erin stood up to them, meeting force with force, but always offering an olive branch if they were interested in a better way.  Eventually, by a combination of standing her ground and offering cooperation, the relationship started to change and when Mark became superintendant, the cooperation bloomed.

Erin demonstrated what AFT President Randi Weingarten calls "a little bit bad ass, and solution driven unionism," and serves as an example of what is possible.
And the real winners?
The students.

I try to imitate Erin's approach and haven't given up hope that it is possible.  We recently reached a tentative agreement to have joint Labor/Management training on working together with the Federal Mediation services.

So, when Governor Malloy was looking for a new member of the Connecticut State Board of Ed, Erin was a natural choice. She was appointed this week.
http://www.myrecordjournal.com/meriden/meridennews/5375300-129/malloy-appoints-meriden-teacher-to-state-board-of-education.html
The students and in fact, all the people of Connecticut, are lucky to have Erin in this new role.

I am lucky to have her as a friend and mentor.