I just returned from the APWU Biennial Convention held in Chicago, Illinois.  There were a total of 1900 delegates from 305 locals across the United States.  Ohio was represented by the OPWU, Columbus, Springfield, Tri-County, Lake Geauga, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Akron, Lorain County, and Youngstown.  We had 50 delegates which is less than half that has attended past conventions.  Cost was definitley a factor in the drop in delegates because the cost of a union-approved hotel room was well over $200 a night.

The proceedings started out well enough with the opening ceremonies and reports from our national executive board.  Then the parade of guest speakers began and there were more than any previous convention I have attended.  Here is a list of the speakers, some of them very inspirational and informative:

Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky of Illinois, Congressman Dannie Davis of Illinois, NALC President Fred Rolando, Mail Handler President John Hegarty, Rural Letter Carrier President Jeanette Dwyer, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, MSNBC Broadcaster Ed Shultz, Radio Commentator Jim Hightower, American Actor Danny Glover, Jesse Jackson, Reverend William Barber, NC NAACP and head of Moral Monday, Walmart Workers, Communication Workers of the United Kingdom President Billie Hayes, CWA President Larry Cohen, AFGE President J. David Cox, CLUW President Connie Leak, VP of Chicago Teachers Union Jesse Sharkey, and Kimberly Goldbaum of the Chicago Teachers Union.

I might have missed one or two and they were spread out over the five-day convention but it did take at least one full day of convention time for all to speak.  Reverend Barber, Ed Shultz, Danny Glover, and AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka were especially inspirational.

In addition to those speakers the convention body had to deal with the following issues: 24 constitutional resolutions, 24 national executive board issues, 145 labor/management resolutions, 49 clerk craft-17 maintenance-10 motor vehicle resolutions, 3 support services resolutions, 34 formal resolutions, and 28 legislative resolutions.  So, it is easy to see there would not be a whole lot of time to waste during convention hours.

Of the 24 constitutional resolutions there were seven dealing with eliminating national officer positions, including one about a business agent job in the Cincinnati Division.  Until the early retirement of Russ Bugary, Ohio-Indiana-Kentucky had three clerk craft national business agents.  The resolution considered was one to do away with this job.  Despite the loss of clerk craft membership in the Cincinnati Division, the workload has increased and the delegates from our three states strongly felt we deserved to keep the position.  When the debate on this issue began, this is where the convention turned UGLY.  Because this would be a constitutional change it would require a two thirds vote of the delegates in attendance.  Keeping the position would only require a one third plus one vote.  The debate was openly hostile between the delegates from Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky and most of the rest of the convention.  We did receive support from Hawaii, Kansas, Michigan and Illinois.  Funny, but all of the delegates who spoke from the floor microphones on this issue against us keeping our position - none of them faced losing an officer in their area!!

The debate went on for a long time and even featured our own regional coordinator, Sharyn Stone, speaking on behalf of doing away with our national business agent.  Ms. Stone skipped a caucus between Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Michigan and Illinois where we discussed our situation saying she "overslept" and she never visited any of our state delegations prior to speaking out against us keeping the position.

Finally there was a movement for a vote.  President Dimondstein was the chair and called for a voice/hand vote.  It must have been inconclusive because he then called for a standing count.  All of us in the Tri-State could see the rest of the convention floor and we all thought there was NO WAY the burden of two thirds was met, however President Dimondstein said it was.  We immediately called for division and a teller count so there would be certainty to the count.  After all, we are talking about representation in the field which is the most important thing our union does.  The president refused to allow a division/teller count.  Why?  If he was so certain two thirds was met, why not make certain and provide Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana a final conclusion.  Instead he cited a Roberts Rule of Order parliamentary rule that says a call for division/teller count must come from more than 50% of the delegates.  If this is true, how would a minority (less than 50%) ever get approval for a count.  Remember, we only need 1/3 plus one vote to keep the position.

I have attended every national conventio since Miami in 1982.  That is a total of 17 straight conventions and I have NEVER seen a call for division/teller count handled this way.  Needless to say the Tri-State feels we got screwed big-time.  We will never know the true outcome of this debate and vote.  But, we do know that now we will have to represent the membership with one less clerk craft business agent.  Right now there are 2141 cases waiting to be heard, one of the largest backlogs in years.  Our two remaining business agents are hear-working and dedicated to doing the best, but I don't know how they can address that kind of backlog.

President Dimondstein and the national executive board including Sharyn Stone got their wish and eliminated five out of seven positions but they have created an atmosphere of mistrust among the membership and now will be known for relying on tricks instead of honest debate & vote to get things accomplished.  The handling of the debate and vote on eliminating the clerk craft business agent from the Cincinnati Division is the main reason I am calling this the UGLIEST convention I have ever attended.

I am not sure where we go from here.  If the national union really cares about representation in the field they will find a way to provide help to address the case backlog in the Cincinnati Division.  If they care about unity and solidarity, there is a lot of repair work to do.

Terry Grant, President OPWU AFL-CIO