Do The Right Thing        

Stephen Blanton, Director of Communications

I’m sure that everyone knows that 2008 is an election year not only for the National general election but, also for our local NTEU Chapter 72 officers.  We elect local officers of NTEU every two years and that time has come for us.  If you’ve been paying attention you should have noticed that there has been an abundance of flyers placed in take-me-bins around the building and dropped on tables in all of the break rooms and in the cafeteria.  It’s up to each NTEU member to take notice and read those flyers.  You may also receive emails or mailers at home.

I want to stress the importance of following those notices and the discussions going on during this campaign period.  I know all of the candidates personally and I know that each and every candidate on the ballot cares deeply about the future of Chapter 72 and NTEU.  What you should notice, though, is a difference in philosophies in how to approach Labor-Management relations in general and how to deal with Austin’s local management specifically.  Chapter 72 represents bargaining unit Submission Processing employees in Austin as well as the Automated Underreporter employees in Building J, the local Taxpayer Advocate bargaining members, bargaining units in Building K and N and the San Antonio satellite office, and a few units under Accounts Management which are located in the Submission Processing Building.  As a result we deal with all three local Directors: Submission Processing, Compliance, and Accounts Management.  They are three very different upper-level managers who sometimes require different approaches from NTEU officials.  Negotiations can vary greatly in scope and complexity and require a level of skill and experience that may be found in many of the candidates running for office.

So the 64 thousand dollar question is which of the candidates’ philosophies do you most closely relate with and who do you feel most comfortable with representing your rights with management?  Don’t hesitate to speak with any of the candidates to ask questions or to express your own opinions.  I guarantee that each of them will be more than willing to talk to any member of NTEU about their stance on the issues (and explain what their issues are) and to listen to your thoughts. 

Ballots will be going out in the mail the first week of September and must be returned by the 24^th of September.  The reason for the mail balloting is the great number of seasonal employees we have in our chapter who have already been released into non-work status.  We have to make the election fair for all of our members.  Remember that you can vote for a full slate OR you can vote for individual members if you prefer. 

So DO THE RIGHT THING!!  Make sure that you take full advantage of your rights as an NTEU member and vote.  The direction of your Chapter 72 for the next two years depends on each and every one of you.