Dear Brothers and Sisters of District Lodge 751, My name is Jon Holden and I am running for President and Directing Business Representative of District 751. The divisive and destructive events of the last few months demand a need for our union to come together in unity and collective purpose like never before. No matter how any member voted on the contract ultimatum, nobody can be happy about losing the pension, the healthcare takeaways or the sub-par wage growth forced on us by the recent contract ultimatum. While everyone agrees it is important that the 777X will be built here, as a unionized workforce, we must ask ourselves how we make the most of our representation. I have some ideas and that is why I am running to be your next District President. A primary role for our union is representing members in contract enforcement. In this area, I believe we can do more. We already file grievances enforcing seniority rights, overtime, and shift preference language as well as other provisions of the contract. But I believe our union should aggressively challenge other issues related to working conditions as well. Examples of this include ensuring our members gain maximum benefit when the company creates new job titles or makes changes in existing job titles or instances when the company moves work or workers only to have lower labor grade members perform the work. There are many other instances when we can and should be pushing the contract enforcement envelope. I also believe we can do more in the area of requiring a consistent application of company policies. I believe our union can do a much better job of listening and reflecting the will of the membership. That is why if elected district president, we will be surveying our membership at least once a year. We will hold town hall style meetings at each of our union halls so members can express their opinions and bring issues directly to their union leadership. I will be visible on the shop floor and set aside time each month to talk to our members face to face. We have a dedicated group of union stewards, but we must do more to equip these volunteer shop-floor leaders with the tools needed to deliver the highest level of representation. Our stewards will be provided with ongoing training. We will assign each new steward with a mentor. I think there should be regular evaluation of the new stewards during their 1 year probationary period to help each new steward learn their job and to ensure a good fit for them and the members they represent. Our stewards and members must be able to provide feedback on the quality of training and representation. We will strive to deliver on the promise of high quality service to this membership. However, the strength of our union cannot simply be defined by stewards and business representatives, that is why as president I will propose conferences for our members to provide them with information related to their rights under the contract and the law. The real strength of any union is in its knowledgeable and unified membership. It is also important to mention that District 751 has more than 40 other non-Boeing collective bargaining agreements in Washington that we negotiate and enforce on a daily basis. Our District must do a better job of assigning the workload to maximize efficiency of service to ALL members. I have worked hard over that last 7 years as a Business Rep to build strong relationships with my stewards. Together we aggressively defend our members against suspensions, terminations, and wage issues. Additionally I have negotiated contracts, enforced contract language and represented members in grievance arbitrations, organized, served our union through community service and held other leadership positions. Now I offer my candidacy to you as District President. If you agree with some of my ideas for our union and want to help me make this the best damn union in America, I ask you for your support as the next District President. Always in solidarity, Jon Holden
Posted on: Mon, 27 Jan 2014 04:36:54 +0000
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