Brother Archey, First of all I want to commend you and all the others  on your courage under fire to express your right to free speech. It is a freedom and privilege that many of us forget about because we are happy in our own little world. They forget that is why they have a happy little world to enjoy. What we can not forget is that a lot of people gave their lives for that freedom. People lost their lives in wars as well as labor movements so that we may have this privilege, So as far as I am concerned it is a precious freedom we cannot lose no matter what the cost!

 

I have been in Local 37 since 1975 starting as a TA for a year, 3 years as an apprentice, and then graduating to journeyman. I have always been proud to be a union member and come from a union family, As well as being proud to be a member of Local 37. I have been active in this union and have been fortunate to have worked with a great group of men and women. For this I am thankful, But what happened at the December 2005 meeting made me think about some things. The main thing was about our freedom to express concerns  and ask questions on the floor of our monthly meetings within the guidelines of Roberts rules of order and also about the future of our Local and the members pension and health and welfare programs. I have never seen a meeting get that out of hand. It must have been a real treat for our brothers and sisters who brought guest to that meeting. What an embarrassment to the members and our officers.

 

I cannot speak for others, They have to look at the issues at hand and speak for themselves,( Members should look real hard and gather all of the facts of both sides and compare them and dig deep down in that gray matter in their skull and think about their FUTURE! ) From what I observed You were not out of order and had the floor, The questions and concerns were of importance to every member and officer in attendance and should have been addressed. NO interruptions should have been allowed by any member while you had the floor. I do not understand all of the rules but I wanted to hear your questions and also the answers from the person addressed. Well that did not happen. Unfortunately I cannot attend all of the meetings and find out about the issues at hand because I am a mechanic and the hours are long and I try to do the best job I can for the contractor to get their equipment up and running no matter how long it takes. This is what our Local expects out of us as good LOCAL 37 and UNION employees and that is what I and many other brothers and sisters do. I will end by saying, Let us all keep our freedom of speech alive and never give the privilege up no matter what the cost. Stay UNITED and STRONG! Fraternally Yours

                                                                                   William Bock   (Billy)