How Would They Know?

Well the Randy Brown hater club has come straight out the gate lying. Both of the monday morning quarterbacks have published lies and distortions on their websites as soon as they were online. The enormity of the dishonesty of the other two slates is too much b.s. to put in one blogpost. So I have decided to tackle two today. I will post additional responses to the misinformation campaign as quickly as possible.

Mike Drummond's slate has put these items in their platform:

INCREASE MEMBERSHIP: We live in the largest city in the south, a national hub for rail, air and trucking transportation. Over the last 25 years, metro Atlanta has more than doubled its population, while our membership has remained essentially flat. It is my intention to educate the population and recruit new members. There is tremendous opportunity to reach future members throughout Georgia. Building our numbers equals building our strength!

Houston we have a problem! This guy seems to have no clue that Local 728 has grown by more than 1,000 (that's one-thousand, count the zeros) members since Randy Brown has taken office. Much of this has been through aggressive organizing both as Local projects utilizing Local 728 staff and volunteers and in coordinated campaigns with the International union.Randy Brown has also dedicated resources to increasing our membership at existing bargaining units.HERE is an example. And HERE is another. And HERE is one more.If you any doubt's that Drummond's platform items are either willful ignorance or blatant dishonesty, check the Department of Labor website and look up Local 728's membership numbers for the last five years.

And then you have this:

IMPROVE RELATIONSHIP WITH INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS (IBT): Local 728 has disconnected itself from the IBT. We need to work closely with and in support of the IBT.

It's ironic that when I first read this garbage I was on my way to the union hall and the IBT Eastern Region Organizing Director was sitting in the conference room at the Local meeting with Ben Speight the Local 728 Organizing Director. But here are some more examples of how Local 728 has not only not "disconnected" ourselves from the international, but actually works in a productive and cooperative way with our International at every opportunity, like Here and HERE and Here and HERE and HERE and HERE. Also, the fact that General President Hoffa and Southern Region Vice President Ken Wood will be coming to our local THIS SUNDAY to participate in a rally to support Local 728's campaign at Coke might be another hint that Local has not "disconnected " itself from our International union.Maybe Mike Drummond would know about some of these joint efforts if he had come to a union meeting before he decided to run for office.

It's Election Time at Local 728!

So it's election time in our Local and the B.S. is already flying. Randy Brown and the Members First Slate don't have the time to chase down and respond to every lie and half truth that the desperate challengers put out to the membership. This blog will attempt to respond to the mudslinging as soon as we are aware of them. This election Local 728 members will have a one-stop location where they can get the truth. There is no greater disinfectant than the light of day,so stay tuned.