Transcript

Pre-game Show · United We Scan

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Welcome to the United We Scan Podcast, the podcast by rural
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carriers. For rural carriers, the views
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expressed in this podcast do not reflect the views or opinions of
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the United States Postal Service or the National Rural Letter
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Thank you. Now here are the hosts of the
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United We Scan podcast. This is the presenter's opinion
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and the presenter's opinion only.
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The views expressed on this podcast do not represent the
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views or opinions of the United States Postal Service to the
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National Rural Literary Association.
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And welcome. For entertaining folks.
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Is only Buddy episode 35 the pregame?
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I got Bill sitting next to me here.
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James is somewhere and. Unfortunately, Josh didn't make
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it to Grand Rapids, but how's it going, Josh?
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It's going well. I pouted and cried and pouted
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some more over the last couple days, but I guess I'll get over
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it. I already have myself a Dean
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plan for Reno, so that's a plus. We've got lots of class actions
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going on at my office with. Dollar signs behind them, So
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that's a beautiful thing. I don't have to go back to work
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until next Tuesday, the 22nd, so that's another beautiful thing.
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How are you guys doing out there and your travels to get there?
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I'm doing well. I was actually going to come
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down to my parents last night, but I was too tired, so I made
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the truck out this morning. Hit some couples Traffic snags.
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No big deal. But I got here.
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What? Just before 5:30, I think Bill
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and I rolled in roughly about the same time, James.
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Yeah, I I only had a 2 1/4 hour drive to get out here.
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Took time to stop at my parents place and visit them for a
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little bit before I came over here because it was right on the
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way. Hung out, found where tables are
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and all the other interesting things of the National
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Convention. Since this is my very first
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National Convention I've ever been to and I'm a delegate, so I
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was going to go to to Orlando. But I didn't have the funds to
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do that, being on table two and living paycheck to paycheck like
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a lot of people do. But All in all, it was a good
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week. Management has been working hard
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with me on making sure that our carriers are not getting
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harassed about the scams they're doing and things like that.
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She talks with me every day and lets me know what what district
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management's sending down to her because a lot of the stuff that
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they're harassing us about us coming straight from their
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district managers. So none of our carriers are
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being harassed in my office at least.
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So that that's a big plus on this.
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I love my postmaster, she's so great.
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But other than that, it was gearing up for this and coming
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down here for Nashville convention.
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Got a beautiful view of the river right now on talking to
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you guys and just sitting here enjoying the peace and quiet.
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Well, you know, I had a little bit of a a ride, a little more
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over 10 hours. I stopped to see James's
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parents, but they wouldn't let me in.
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So I think half of Ohio is under construction and I did spot one
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hill in Ohio, but you know, they called that an overpass.
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So it doesn't count. Other than that, I mean, you
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know, it was pleasant enough driving out here.
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I had good company with Liz Lightfoot and who's an old
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friend of mine and you know, facilities are.
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You know, as as per usual for this facility, they're very
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nice, nicely appointed and the people are very helpful and it's
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good to be off the road. I can care.
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I had to go put up with my mom for about an hour and a half.
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Two hours before I came up here. I couldn't get here fast enough.
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I love my mom, but yeah, I had to fix computer issues for her.
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Sue James, what did you hear Hot Topic tonight?
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I know we took some questions. We'll get to those.
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And I know James had something he wanted to start off with.
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So the biggest thing I wanted to start off with is this is our
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pregame show for the National Convention.
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So a lot of people wonder what actually happens at a National
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Convention. What is?
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What is the process? What is, how does it work and
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what's so important about it for the Union?
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So I'll I'll leave it to you guys to answer the What is the
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National Convention all about? Oh, no.
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No, no. No.
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No. No, No, No, No, No, no.
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All right, I'll give you my leg of the National Convention.
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Let's see, there's plenty of training seminars.
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For you to learn about you know OWCP, your retirement, the
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healthcare and everything else, the first actual business day
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would be Tuesday and it's not really a business day because
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we're glad handing the postmaster general, the local
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postmaster, a senator of mayor, the hotel director.
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So it's a it's it's a wasted day to me.
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But you know, they they go through the.
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Glad hiding handing that you know that they think they are
6:10
required to do. I believe it's a total waste,
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but that's my. Dog and pony show, basically.
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Yes, it is. It is a dog and pony show.
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Then, you know, Wednesday you get down the actual business and
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you get the nominations. I believe we're coming up on
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Wednesday this year, right? And then you have business on
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Thursday when you have your caucuses.
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Thursday night where the you know the candidates for the
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different positions on the board you'll get to walk around and
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take questions from the different groups.
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You know, like Sack and well you know some of the states are
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grouped together. Some of the states are large
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enough they don't have to be. But you know and then Friday
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we're back to work in the morning and we do usually
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working on the resolutions and the and the appeals.
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At the end of the day, we have the voting during the course of
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the day and. That'll determine the direction
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of this union for the next year. And, ladies and gentlemen, I I
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can't express to you how critical this election is to get
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this union and the craft back on the right path.
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This, this election is going to be the board members that are
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involved in negotiations for our next contract that starts in
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February, so. Whoever we put in those
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positions is going to be responsible for presenting your
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resolutions to the management and also negotiating a way to
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better the craft overall. So you want to put in people who
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at this point are willing to fight for you and do what needs
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to be done, just like the UPS Teamsters did.
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You know, we have the ability to make those negotiations happen.
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If we just put the right people in that position, the process
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work. Does it have to go further up?
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Are these things already agreed on?
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We're talking about the resolutions that are being put
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forth at National Convention. Can you talk about the process
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of the resolution moving through the system and coming here to
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the National Convention and then what happens next?
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All right, briefly, the way a resolution marks is you, as the
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member come up with an idea that you think will better the craft
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as a whole. You write up a resolution saying
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that you want to make this change or add this or that, and
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you present it usually at your local meetings in the in the
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early mid spring. And they get voted on there.
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And we're going to pretend everything gets approved, gets
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voted yes from there. From your local meeting, it goes
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to the state convention. At the state convention, it gets
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discussed. There might be some tweaking to
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verbiage to improve it, and then it gets voted on.
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Well, I apologize. At state level and national
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level with a resolution, they read it out.
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If nobody objects to it, it automatically passes.
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If someone objects to it, it goes under debate and then gets
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voted on individually. And that debate could be someone
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just wants clarification of the wording of what the intent is.
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So you have to object to it to ask your clarifying question.
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And once it gets voted on, if it's voted on yes and passes at
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the state level, it goes to the National Convention.
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At the National Convention, the same process.
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They just start reading them all off and as soon as the president
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hits the gavel. It's automatically passed.
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You have from the time they read it to the gabble hits to object.
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If no one objects, it automatically gets passed.
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And then if someone objects, again, there's debate back and
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forth, possibly clarification of verbiage, and then if it passes,
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this is what most people call our wish list, our wish, and
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this is what we want. The union to negotiate into our
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contract in the next contract come December, January, the
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union's going to take all of the past resolutions from the past
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five. You know I don't know how many
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years back they go and the that's what they you typically.
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Supposedly take into negotiations and saying to the
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post office this is what we want, and then they negotiate it
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and if the post office agrees, it'll show up in some manner in
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the new the new tentative agreement.
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To elaborate on that, at National Convention, you're
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going to, you're going to, if you object to the resolution,
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you're going to be able to have two minutes per person.
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To discuss this resolution up to 10 minutes in total time.
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Now some people will try to cut that time down because they want
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to make this go faster than usual.
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Some will say they want to cut it down to a minute per person
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to discuss it, and some will say cut it down to 5 minutes
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overall. Something like that if it's an
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important issue. And you're coming up on that 10
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minute time. If people still want to talk,
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somebody can actually request to extend time and the audience in
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the delegates that are in session and vote whether to
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extend the time or not. If they do not extend the time
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and time expires. That's it.
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Then it gets voted on. So there's a whole process,
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there's a lot of rules and regulations involved in the in
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the processing of this, following Robert's Rules of
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Order. So if you're interested in
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understanding how this whole process works, it's very dry and
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boring. But Robert's Rules of Order is
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exactly how your union operates its meetings.
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So it'd be good if you want to be involved to familiarize
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yourself with those rules. But if discussion continues on
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it, it can go back and forth as long as needed, as long as
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people vote vote to extend the time.
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And sometimes it can be something that's very
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contentious. That people want to really
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discuss. So they'll turn around and
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they'll extend the time and extend the time and extend the
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time until they feel people are repeating themselves.
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And then somebody will will call it to vote and then go from.
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There you'll go through the mic. It's they call for the question,
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which is the question of voting gay or nay on it.
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Yep, they'll call the question Bill.
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Kristen, you guys want to? Well, also you're at your state
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and national levels, you have resolution committees who sort
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through the resolutions passed up to them and make sure there's
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no duplicates, the wordings correct.
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And in the our state that you know, they have ones that they
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recommend and don't recommend based on whatever reasons they
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come up with. But the resolution committee is
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the ones going to pass them up to the national level and again
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at the national level. Their committee does the same
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process. They they get rid of the
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duplicates, keep the ones with the better language.
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The verbiage is more correct in regards to the legal
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ramifications of the actual resolution versus somebody who
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just put on there or I want you know it.
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It spells out the specific articles to be corrected and you
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know, you start off with BE as it is.
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The contract reads this. You know, we want it to be be it
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resolved, that it's read this way instead.
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And that's how that process gets to the point where the delegates
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get the vote on those resolutions.
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If your resolution fails at any step in the process, it doesn't
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mean that it's a bad resolution. It just may mean that it's
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worded in a way that people don't understand, so you can
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always resubmit your resolution for next year's dimension.
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Don't think that your idea is a bad one.
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Just think that it needs some tweaking because I put one up
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for National last year that was 3 pages long and it got voted
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down because it was quote UN quote, too wordy.
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I could have put it back up this year, but I was too focused on
15:25
more important resolutions. That actually really meant a lot
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to carriers themselves. So I I put that one on the back
15:32
burner. I'll probably submit it next
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year for National. So has there been any plans to
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raise the wage up in the new contract?
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Some states are having a hard time hiring with the rate per
15:44
hour, same as McDonald's. Contract negotiations won't
15:48
start until February, so we won't know until after that what
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they actually put in. And as it stands right now, the
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resolutions committee is still going over all the resolutions
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that have been sent in by all the States and territories.
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So unfortunately, we won't know what's in the resolutions until
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probably Tuesday or at the latest Wednesday.
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So until that time, we don't know what other states have put
16:20
up. But I do know that there are
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some states that have probably put up wage increases.
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I know there's some states that put up getting rid of the cable
16:28
system. So that way everybody's on the
16:31
same table. Some states put up for RCA's to
16:37
go career like the CCA's and the City side.
16:41
At least that's from the information I've gleaned from
16:44
several individuals and other states as well, you guys.
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I have one that'll be up on the nation nationwide bidding that
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passed at state so I will have a resolution up this this week.
16:59
I think there's one out of Wisconsin also for the same
17:04
thing. I believe I also heard someone
17:08
put up for J routes be included in formula calculations.
17:14
HM Yeah, then there is. Wait.
17:20
Until we get those packets, and that's what after everybody gets
17:24
the packets, then you know that's.
17:26
Reading material at night and you make your notes and if you
17:29
want to object and you'll actually see people lined up at
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the microphone when it's time to do resolutions, getting ready to
17:35
do to object to him ahead of time.
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Object Duchul, Pennsylvania. And then what's that other one
17:45
from? Was it New Mexico, that young
17:48
woman that objected to everything?
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He didn't? Well, I objected to a lot of
17:55
stuff in Michigan. I I I think my my president
17:59
every every time they were going under the next resolution, my
18:02
president would president. I twitched and looked at me just
18:05
to see if I was objecting. He just wasn't fast enough on
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the microphone. As he can get.
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I know on the one that was introduced as new business, the
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president, literally she already had the gamble moving.
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As they were finishing reading it, it was a good idea.
18:30
For example, you know what I'm saying now?
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Yeah, that's what you're saying. I have one going up the that
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that passed it state to national for all carriers regardless of
18:47
table one or Table 2. To get the full color Cola
18:53
payout because with this new Cola 40 hour route from table
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one, step A to Table 2 step one is 88126 dollars. $8826 a
19:16
discrepancy between. Table one Step 2 and table one
19:21
step their table. One table, one step A.
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Oh, wow. And that's four, that's sort of,
19:30
you know everything in the contract says 40 hours a week, a
19:34
40 hour evaluation. So I use the 40 hour evaluation.
19:39
I also included their table. We're showing the.
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Table one, Step A versus table one or I'm sorry Table 2, step
19:49
one. What the two salaries were from
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2013 which was only about little over $5000 difference at that
19:57
point to 2021. November 2022 I think was the
20:08
most recent that I have on there And then it also auto, you know
20:12
Google. Auto docs or automatically put a
20:15
chart showing the variance rising, so whether or not
20:21
they'll have that in the packet I don't know.
20:25
OK, moving on next. So after after resolutions, what
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is the the after the written resolutions that we have come
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out, what is the next? Saying next order of business
20:43
that the Union takes on at National Convention, somewhere
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there's constitution changes. Yeah, Constitution changes and
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resolutions are done. Kind of the Constitution.
20:57
Changes happen first. Those resolutions for
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constitution changes which are considered binding resolutions
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come first and then you have the non binding resolutions which
21:08
are your contract resolutions. That comes second.
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And then after those resolutions are up, the next next thing that
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the Union takes on at National Convention is new business.
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Isn't it the appeals first? Yeah, new business is the last
21:27
thing they do, which they usually you the time.
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Yeah, it's put in the middle of. Appeals the new new businesses
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at the end. Meanwhile, during this whole
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day, you have elections going on in between everything.
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This is kind of like the filler of what we do, why the tellers
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committees are counting ballots. Counting ballots and the
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difference between constitution changes and resolutions other
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than the binding of non binding is constitution changes actually
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get discussed, actually get presented with the constitution
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committee's recommendation or non recommendation and then it
22:15
gets it. It does get discussed and it
22:19
gets and then voted on where a resolution if once it's read, if
22:25
the gavel truck it's done, it's automatically gassed.
22:29
Now we did talk about appeals and the appeal process.
22:33
In another episode, but in. Our last episode and the appeals
22:40
process for National of course, is where the appeal actually
22:46
gets heard. You guys want to talk about that
22:51
a little bit and more since we talked about last episode, just
22:54
give a brief summary. I know we're not going to have
22:57
84 of them this year through that.
23:02
I couldn't help myself. But so the appeals process is
23:10
basically asking for a another look at something, whether it be
23:17
a decision made by the board or a decision made by a state,
23:22
because those can be appealed to the national as well.
23:26
So that would be heard here as well.
23:31
And then after appeals, we discussed that last episode.
23:35
We are not going to go deep into it.
23:36
You can listen to our previous podcast about that.
23:39
After appeals, we go to and what is new business, what is
23:44
discussed during new business. Well, new business can be
23:48
anything from a resolution that already been discussed and
23:53
removed for reconsideration to be rewritten better so that that
23:58
can fall under new business there.
24:01
You can also introduce a resolution.
24:04
It'll be more likely nonbinding because of the fact that has
24:08
been passed, you know, through this the the committee's in
24:12
regards to nonbinding resolutions for contractual
24:15
language, not for constitutional.
24:18
But you you basically are welcome to introduce it there
24:22
for consideration. Doesn't mean it has the same
24:25
weight or less weight. Has a resolution or resolution
24:30
committee passed resolution by your state and national but you
24:34
know it last minute Things usually don't get voted on very
24:38
favorably, but you do have the opportunity to rewrite one that
24:43
you've removed for rewriting from the binding or non binding
24:50
aspect of the resolutions. And and.
25:01
Yes, there has been things, there has been constitutional
25:03
things that have come up and have passed under new business.
25:07
I know in Grapevine one of our delegates out of Michigan passed
25:12
a constitutional change under new business and that's you know
25:17
to to help carriers, especially when I think it was under when
25:20
it came to transferring their local units if there was going
25:23
to be an issue. It was something about it was
25:27
put in the national constitution.
25:29
I don't have that in front of me, so I can't read it, but I do
25:31
remember that one getting passed.
25:32
I mean it things do pass if it's has merit to it.
25:37
But yeah, a lot of times it's just reintroducing something
25:40
that had to go back and be reworked during the resolution
25:45
and process. And during a total process,
25:53
they're also dealing with. The elections of your officers,
25:59
and this, this is the quintessential part of your
26:02
National Convention, is the election of the officers that
26:06
will lead you for the next year or four years, depending on the
26:10
position you're running for. And that starts with the most
26:14
important position in the Union, and that is.
26:19
President. President.
26:22
Yes, election. The head hunt you all.
26:24
President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Department
26:29
of Labor, Department of Steward OPS.
26:32
And then your four year term for executive committee, because
26:36
executive committee is a rotating 4 years, so you always
26:39
have one every year even though it's a different person unless
26:44
somebody's run, unless somebody steps up and runs for another
26:48
position. And they get elected to that
26:50
position, then they have to declare that they resign.
26:52
And that would be an instance to where you would have a second
26:55
election for executive committee, but that's.
27:00
And that's just to fill out the term of that individual who
27:04
promoted themselves. Yeah, it would be a whatever #1
27:10
two or three-year unexpired term is what they be running for.
27:16
And. There are for this, this
27:19
convention. So far, there are at least two
27:22
people per position running. There will be an election for
27:27
pretty much every single position that is up for election
27:31
right now. And if I've heard the rumors
27:34
right and this is just a rumor, do not take take it at all as as
27:39
fact. But I've heard that there may be
27:43
room in the executive committeemen this year.
27:47
So, but we don't know for sure. We'll find out when the
27:52
elections come out. Yep, and we'll find out who's
27:57
running for what for sure on Wednesday.
28:02
Yeah, when they actually have the.
28:06
Nominations. The nominations to go are open
28:09
right up until voting time. So Yep, they close.
28:13
They They asked three times just before the election starts for
28:17
each position if there are any other nominations.
28:22
Yeah. And this this year the only the
28:26
only real changes in the caucus night that so we don't have the
28:30
fiasco that we had last year because they they were
28:35
rescheduling caucus times right up to the start of caucus time.
28:44
Because of a late entry nomination.
28:49
Of course, according to the rules, the president presides
28:53
over everything except the presidential election.
29:01
When the when it's time for the presidential election, the Vice
29:04
President has to do the call outs or the rules of order.
29:08
Yes, even even though the. Mr. Stutz has said that he is no
29:15
longer running for president. It still has to be done by the
29:17
vice president for that to be considered unbiased.
29:23
So being unbiased, I think that we ought to make sure that
29:27
somebody is there to verify the counting of the ballots for the
29:32
presidential vice Presidential secretary, Treasurer for
29:38
opposition. We we are entitled to that right
29:42
to have somebody present to verify the county and.
29:47
Then after all the ballots are counted and verified, the
29:50
elections committee comes back and they actually announced the
29:54
numbers to the audience as to who won the position and.
29:59
Moving on. Moving on question here for the
30:05
presidential election, the Vice President proceeds over that.
30:11
However, the tentatively Vice President is a candidate for
30:18
that position who then resides. Then it would fall to the
30:25
Secretary Treasurer, OK, that's what I thought.
30:28
But I wanted to, you know, I want to clarify it for me and
30:32
let our viewers know. Well, listeners now.
30:36
Yes. So if it's if it if the person
30:38
who's supposed to preside over it is running for the position
30:42
they're supposed to preside over, then they should be
30:45
refused from that and taken to the next person in line per the
30:51
per the constitution. And that should be your
30:53
secretary, treasurer. After the elections are over
30:58
with, then you have what? You have the swearing end of the
31:05
new board. You know, swearing in of the new
31:10
officers that take their positions.
31:13
Yes. And then you have your closing
31:17
afterwards, the retreat of the colors, and then that's the end
31:24
of the National Convention, right?
31:26
It's retreating the colors and then they close the business
31:30
session with the slap of the gavel and everyone go back to
31:34
the room at. No, I won't be going back to my
31:38
room. I'll be driving home because I
31:40
have to work Saturday morning. God bless you.
31:44
I apologize. I'll be going back to my room to
31:46
celebrate. Some some people will be going
31:50
going next door to the to the bar and have a stiff drink after
31:55
all the all the mental stress that they've gone through going
31:57
through this National Convention because.
32:01
If you've been to a state convention, national conventions
32:04
are bigger. National conventions are longer.
32:08
And as I recall five years ago when we were in Grand Rapids, we
32:13
didn't get out until almost 9:30, between 9:00 and 9:30 when
32:19
we last year beat back. Did last year.
32:24
Yeah, I know. I.
32:25
Did it. Yeah, yeah.
32:27
F state conventions, you're getting done at about 7738.
32:31
O'clock at night, National Convention.
32:33
You're done at 9:30, ten, 11:00 at night, depending on how much
32:36
business you have to deal with. We get done at about 11:00,
32:40
between 11:00 and 1:00 at our state convention.
32:45
Book So we have. Before Kristen read.
32:47
There should be a podcast Friday night so we can celebrate on
32:53
here with the new president. Ooh, yeah.
32:59
If it's possible, I you know, if somebody wants to record it, I
33:05
could definitely TuneIn via mobile.
33:08
I might drive home. We're, we're gonna discuss,
33:12
we're gonna discuss options tonight after the show of what
33:16
we're gonna do concerning this National Convention and getting
33:21
you guys information. The biggest thing here is that
33:25
we can't give too much information from the National
33:30
Convention because there are rules and regulations that we
33:35
have to abide by when we're here.
33:39
But we will try to figure out a way to get pertinent information
33:44
to our audience members over what's going on in National
33:48
Convention, because this is your union.
33:51
You are entitled to this information, so we're going to
33:55
do our best to figure out a way to pass on what we can.
34:01
It might be a drunken, slurred speech Wednesday after banquet,
34:04
but you never know. We might do a special.
34:10
Well, yeah, I hate the rain on everybody's parade, but once we
34:14
get our packet with all the resolutions in there, that's
34:17
when our homework starts. And that takes you into the wee
34:21
hours of the night, into the next morning through breakfast.
34:24
You know it's five times what a state convention is in regards
34:29
to resolutions and trying to, you know, just filter out the
34:34
the the BS from the the meritorious items because just
34:40
envision whatever your state put forward and pass.
34:44
Assume every other state has the same number that passed or more.
34:49
Well, that that's why the resolution committee throws out
34:53
duplicates. Well, they condense them, but
34:56
yeah. That's the other thing of it is
34:59
you're going to have the same same percentage of passed and
35:03
failed resolutions at the national level as you did at the
35:06
state level, because some states are not going to agree with what
35:12
another state put forward on a resolution.
35:15
And if the states don't agree to it?
35:17
And then it's not going to pass. So that's the other aspect of
35:22
it. You know, you have an entire
35:24
nation of carriers that have all come down on Grand Rapids, MI
35:30
this year to discuss what's going to happen to our jobs
35:35
basically over the next four years because these are the last
35:39
resolutions before we go into contract negotiations.
35:44
So these are going to probably be taken with a fine-tuned comb
35:48
by a lot of people. I know for a fact that Bill,
35:53
myself, Kristen and probably a few other people that are here
35:57
are probably going to all sit down in a room and discuss these
35:59
resolutions together and go through them and try and figure
36:02
out how we want this to be played out.
36:06
So are you guys up for that too? Yeah, I might have to have
36:10
somebody asked to get me up to the microphone to speak on mine
36:17
if needed. Once I read it and see what it
36:19
see says suspend the rules, that's what I was looking.
36:22
For I had to. Think there for a moment to
36:25
suspend the rules so I could speak at my resolution if needed
36:28
so. Well, you've got you got
36:31
multiple people here, including audience members who probably
36:35
would be more than willing to step up and do that for you.
36:38
And if not, they there's some people that will step up and
36:40
speak on it on your behalf too. And I want to give a shout out
36:43
to the listener that stopped us at the corner when we were
36:46
waiting across the street to James and I when she said, hey,
36:50
I recognize your voice. The look on James's face was
36:53
precious. He's like, huh?
36:57
I would say hi, but yeah, I. I'm sorry, I'm not used to
37:03
running into fans like that. That's a new thing for me.
37:07
I was flabbergasted and I do appreciate the person taking the
37:12
time to actually stop and say hi to us.
37:14
That was really, really kind of you.
37:16
And I'm glad you're a listener. You're such a puppy girl.
37:19
With your friend, Yeah. If you see us here and you
37:23
recognize Kristen's voice, say hi.
37:26
We don't bite unless it's a meal.
37:31
I love my food. I love my food, Christa.
37:37
Found out all that cake was really good.
37:40
Is there any other questions that were on there we can touch
37:43
base on? Josh you got any?
37:45
I didn't see anything else that pertained to Nashville
37:48
convention, but we could always talk about those other parts.
37:52
I didn't take notice anything else throughout the day, but
37:58
then again I had other things going on a little while ago, so.
38:03
There was the question on if we're going to actually discuss
38:07
Rex at the at this convention. I know that there's going to be
38:13
a lot of discussion about this if it's allowed, and that's
38:18
going to be the hard part is I know there are a lot of upset
38:23
carriers out there and I know a lot of them are here at at
38:27
National Convention, but we also have to remember while we're
38:31
here. That we are professionals and we
38:35
have to follow a level of decorum as we're discussing this
38:38
stuff. We need we we need to have the
38:41
passion within us, but we need to project the professionalism
38:46
that is the rural craft and what we are as rural carriers.
38:51
We're upset at management. We're upset at management.
38:56
We're upset. What?
38:58
When does Doctor Miracle speak? I didn't see does I believe.
39:02
It I think it's part of the handshaking ceremonies that they
39:06
have a Tuesday. I don't remember.
39:10
For some reason I thought someone said something about
39:13
tomorrow. Kristen, you have the book there
39:17
in the bag, right? Is it the State of the Union
39:20
address tomorrow? Well, I just need just tomorrow,
39:26
just before the state of the Union.
39:28
Whatever happens, he's going to be grilled by a lot of people.
39:31
I'm guaranteeing if they open up questions to him, not just me.
39:35
I know several carriers that want to step up and ask
39:37
questions that are delegates, so hopefully they allow us to have
39:40
questions and answers with Doctor Miracle.
39:43
I'm hoping they allow us to ask questions of Mr. Dejoy when he
39:48
shows up. Me.
39:49
Me. Me.
39:50
Me. Me.
39:53
Oh, me too. Me too.
39:54
Me too. Because I have a very, very
39:57
important question to ask him. You better.
40:01
Want to ask, Mike, because I'll be right.
40:03
Question on my question. Last year he through was it 2030
40:11
minute time slot, he talked for 2025 of it and then opened it up
40:15
for questions. And the last the second one was
40:18
a young was a woman who got very upset and tears discussing about
40:29
the horrible conditions in her individual office.
40:32
So and then he ran out of his handler, ushered him off.
40:38
So. As soon as as soon as he steps
40:41
up to the mic to talk, I'll step off to my mic and wait and I
40:48
will be I. We're going to, we're going to
40:50
try to position me with the state of Michigan as close to
40:55
the mic as they can get me. Well, Michigan will be bright
40:59
and center because you're the whole state, which means either
41:03
Friday or Compile should be a. Microsoft Yeah, there's.
41:09
I believe it's Mike's. 2:00 and 3:00 will be in the area where
41:13
I'm going to be at, so I'll just figure out which one I want to
41:16
sit at. Beautiful, beautiful little
41:19
setup they have here at the De Vos Center and it looks really
41:25
nice, really well organized. I actually spent some time
41:27
talking with one of the stagehands that set everything
41:31
up for it. So it was really nice to learn
41:34
all the information of behind the scenes of what's going on
41:36
here, on the technical aspect of it.
41:38
Big technical guy here, and just seeing how everything's laid out
41:44
and set up for everything. I saw the.
41:47
All the booths that are set up for everybody and of course they
41:51
put all the candidates that are not on the board, that are
41:55
running for office in the same area.
41:57
So they're all right together. So you don't have to travel
42:01
here, travel there for candidates.
42:03
They're all in one exact spot. So if you're here at National
42:08
Convention, there's going to be a booth there where you can
42:12
actually run into us, so. Make sure you come check out the
42:16
booths in the little room they have them set up in, because
42:19
we'll be there. If not, find up on the floor.
42:24
Anything else tonight, guys? We're going to wind this down
42:26
for this evening. I think I'm ready to wind it
42:32
down. All right, I there's one thing
42:34
posted right here for those that don't know who is Dr. Miracle.
42:38
Dr. Miracle is one of the three engineers that worked on the RX.
42:43
System. He is the union engineer.
42:47
He is still on retainer by the union.
42:50
I did not see him listed in the program, but that doesn't mean
42:53
anything at this point. So yeah, that's who Doctor
42:56
Miracle is. He is the Union's appointed
43:00
engineer that worked on the RX. He's he's instrumental in
43:07
supporting the Union side of the REC system.
43:11
We can't blame him for all of this.
43:14
He's was involved in the engineering aspect of it, just
43:18
creating the program, creating the system that it operates on
43:21
through the information that he got from the Union and from
43:25
USPS. A lot of people want to turn
43:28
around and make him the bad dog on this, but he's just an
43:32
engineer. He's just a programmer, a
43:34
creator of systems, the. The bottom line of this all is
43:40
it comes down to three different parties in this failure of this
43:46
and that is management, the union and carriers themselves.
43:53
And I hate saying it like that, but part of that is carriers not
43:58
getting the information and if they got the information, not
44:01
actually using that information, but.
44:05
That I've seen over the past couple of months, a lot of
44:08
carriers have been doing what they need to do with the RECS
44:12
program and that is the most important thing is stepping up
44:15
learning what you need to do and and applying what you need to
44:18
do. So I'm hopeful just like I said
44:21
last episode that with this next count a lot of carriers are
44:25
going to see improvement on their, on their evaluations.
44:29
So remember, this is a calm, peaceful.
44:35
Passionate environment and we're going to get through this
44:40
safely, securely and professionally.
44:45
I just wanted to add to what with James saying keep my
44:48
doctor. Miracle was the union's
44:50
engineer. The post office had an engineer
44:53
and there was a third one as a neutral party that created the
44:58
system. All right.
45:00
Josh, I'm going to have you give your final thoughts and comments
45:02
first. Go ahead, I'm glad everybody
45:06
made it there safely. For those of you that are
45:11
working through this week, couldn't get off for an Evil 2
45:14
for whatever reason, Be safe out there, it's still hot.
45:18
I haven't looked at what the forecast going forward is for
45:22
this week in my area, but make sure you're hydrating.
45:26
Not only just hydrating, make sure you're eating also because
45:30
just the just the fluid, just the water or pedioid or
45:34
electrolytes, whatever you're drinking, Gatorades fitting in
45:38
your stomach, it's going to slosh around and that's not
45:40
going to be well either. Don't get overwhelmed if you do.
45:44
Take a step back, take a deep breath, step back in.
45:49
Have a good week. We'll see you next time.
45:52
Yeah, it's going to be a rough week whether you're working or
45:58
whether you're here at National Convention.
46:00
And the biggest thing you can take away from any of this is
46:04
that we are one union and every carrier that is stepping up to
46:11
do the right thing when it comes to the contract.
46:15
Writing resolutions, coming to National Convention as a
46:19
delegate, even coming to the National Convention as a non
46:21
delegate. You're making a difference in
46:24
this union by stepping up and doing something for the union.
46:30
For your brothers and sisters in the craft, it's going to be a
46:34
very tough National Convention for all of us involved.
46:40
And it's not just the fact that we're going to be working long
46:43
hours at this. It's also the fact that we're
46:46
dealing with very, very passionate individuals from all
46:51
states in one location. So even though I'm from
46:57
Michigan. My brother or sister from New
47:00
York or my brother and sister from Arizona will have the same
47:04
passion I do for this National Convention, and we all just need
47:09
to make sure that our passion is directed in a positive,
47:13
professional way. And for those of you that are
47:19
working and listening to us talk about this on the on the route,
47:22
I wish you the best. Like Josh said, don't drink your
47:26
fluids too fast on the route. And if you start feeling the the
47:29
effects of heat sickness out there, dip cold water.
47:34
Don't. Don't down it, dip it.
47:37
Because that's if you down it too fast, you can actually shock
47:41
your system, and that makes things worse.
47:44
Take care of yourself. Take care of what you need to do
47:49
and make sure you make it home every day.
47:52
Fill you're up. Ladies and gentlemen, every
47:57
Sunday we get together and put this podcast together for
48:00
information to better your lives in your work environment.
48:05
And we do it freely, without pay because Kristin's too cheap and
48:13
without any endorsements and and you know it's what we do
48:16
voluntarily, you know, because we see benefit to our efforts.
48:21
Okay, I I would just want to. Thank everybody who's here in
48:26
Grand Rapids because we are on our second overflow hotel.
48:31
The participation for this National Convention is off the
48:35
charts. And these people also deserve a
48:38
hand because they're not giving up several hours on a Sunday.
48:41
They're giving up a week of leave, annual leave, sick leave,
48:47
elwop, whatever they're utilizing to be at this
48:51
convention, they're using their own time here.
48:54
To be here and represent you and hopefully you have selected
48:59
people who do represent your views and your aspirations in
49:02
regards to what this union can be.
49:05
So my, my hat's off to everybody who attends these national
49:09
conventions. You sacrifice a lot on your own
49:12
and let's go out and have a good convention.
49:17
Let's make it steamy, passionate, professional and.
49:23
And just everybody be able to, you know, the the walk away with
49:27
their heads held high and say, you know, we did good for the
49:31
union, the whole union. And with that, you know whether
49:35
you're leaving the convention at the end of the week where you're
49:38
driving your route all week long, everybody be safe, do your
49:42
job as best you can. At the end of the day, go home
49:46
because you're the most important delivery of the day
49:49
and that delivery is made to your family.
49:53
Absolutely guys. We will discuss if we're going
49:57
to what's going to happen and how we're going to update you
50:02
guys throughout the week if possible.
50:06
We'll post it if we can and will.
50:08
As far as I know we'll discuss Sunday because I'm not sure what
50:12
some people's travel plans are so.
50:14
We will post it up in the group and on the Facebook page.
50:17
If Sundays ago or no go, I know I'll be home.
50:20
I have to work Saturday morning, possibly a double as usual.
50:25
So I'm counting down. Trust me, I am.
50:28
She retires at the end of the month.
50:30
I am counting down. But on that note, guys, if
50:32
you're working this week, please stay safe out there.
50:35
Stay cool, stay hydrated. And if you're here in Grand
50:39
Rapids this week, stop by and say hi and we'll talk to
50:42
everybody later.