I have sent the following email to ufcw.org. It will probably get me in trouble with my local but there is times one has to decidw if you want to stand for something or just be a union puppet. sometimes the villen is not always kroger but the unions their selfes. As I have always told others, when your local fails you then go to the international until your local gets the job done.

I would like to talk about two things that is important to me. One goes back to an email that was sent to you a few weeks back. It had to deal with a member of local 1000 that works in my Kroger store ( 526) in (536 centennial blvd Richardson ,Texas 75080) in Richardson Texas. The problem is that she has had an ongoing issue with her pay and no union help. Yes it is a right to work state and she is still a union member. Contact thru email to the local started on July 24th and culminated with one to your office a week or two back. Emails have been sent from me ( on her behalf ) as she has no internet access and has asked for my advice and help. Her union rep is Rudy Anderson and there is also a board member ( Angela Johnson) that works in this store. From What Ms. Adoms is complaining about now is that she has yet to here from the rep and any contact to go over the problem and a solution. This has been going on for quite some time and does need something done to some point and an answer to Ms. Adoms. It is causing a lot of poor moral among the members in this store and others I have worked in and been around . The overall moral problem is simple. Why stay in the union or deal with them , when they will not return a call or attempt to contact you when you have a problem? She has asked me once again to please send this email and a few others until she can get a response and time to meet her rep. I told her I would but then again she has no faith in the union wanting to get back to her at any time. He next option is waiting until her anniversary date and getting out of the union all together.

Now the second part has to deal with me and my issue I have towards the union and trying to help anyone. I have no problem with my local and have always been able to help others, get in touch with them and information to other members when asked. I have done what has been asked but will find it difficult to continue in the future . Here is the problem. I was always told that we are brothers and sisters and to help those union members that need help no matter what. I have come across many times where those in local 1000 has had issues getting to contact a rep. That also includes many years when married and my wife was a member. Several times ( over the years) I have sent emails in their behalf and it has worked only when an email is sent to you in Washington. One store, it had taken countless emails. The problem comes to this. If a member in local 1000 asks for help in getting an email sent, I sent it for them. No response and I sent one for them to Washington when they ask. You respond back to local 1000 and they respond back to my local and they basically tell me to shut up and stay out of their business. The one that was sent a few weeks back got me a call from my rep telling me that I need to stay out of it as it is not my local. If I continue then the Board could take action against me as a union member. Now with this email I do expect the same results from both locals. They will call mine first. Mine will contact me and try to shut me up and take some action towards me. The third is that Ms. Adoms will still not get any representative to contact her and help deal with her complaint.
So here is my dilemma. So if we are brothers and sisters, are we to help only them in need that are in your own local only ? If that is true then that is not me. I will continue to support the union, promote it, advise others, sign members up and not look at the options of revoking my card and leaving the union. But I have to be me and if I am asked to help someone and they are not in my local then I will help them. I will not turn my back on them just because they are not in my local. If that is what is expected of me then the union and locals are wrong and that needs corrected. If that continues then there will be a lot of ill will and problems in the area and any locals. If one has to pick and choose who they help based on if they are in your local or not, then I will welcome whatever my local , local 1000 or your office decides to do to me. I can not go against my basic nature that has been instilled in me since childhood.

Thank you