27 June 2007
Charges Under Article XIX, Section 8 of the IBT Constitution
Brothers and Sisters,
The most frequently asked question at the moment seems to be "What is going to be done about the strikebreakers?"
On 26 Jun 2007, David Brown and I met with President Bouvier and Teamsters Canada counsel, Stephane Lacoste to discuss
this issue.
As there is a great desire to charge all strikebreakers with violations under the IBT Constitution, and in particular Article XIX,
Section 8, we are presently insuring that this is done according to the constitution and the law. We want to make sure that anyone
charged is entitled to, and receives, a fair hearing. We also want to insure that there are no frivolous charges and/or charges
entered that are not supported by the requisite proof.
This is a very serious matter and will be handled with the gravity that it deserves. Everyone is innocent until proven guilty and they
will have a fair chance to present their defence and refute any evidence presented.
We did have a number of procedural and constitutional questions and Mr. Lacoste has confirmed that he will answer all of these in
writing over the next few weeks. If you wish to examine the IBT Constitution on this issue, you can find a copy of the document at:
teamster.org
I am going to request at this time, that you collect up all of the evidence that you have (pictures, documents, video,etc.) and insure
that everything is as complete as you can get it. This means that all pictures must be accompanied by the name of the photographer and
the date, time, and location that the picture was taken.
Anyone in the photographs that you recognize should be identified. Once you have done this with your pictures and videos, please send
them to the Ottawa office. This is very important because we will share the photographs and videos with other strike captains across
the country to properly identify the scabs in your pictures.
One company manager gave us evidence (name, address, etc) of a "member" from Alberta who was shipped all the way to Thunder
Bay, Ontario to work so that he would escape identification. As you can see, the company went to great lengths to cover for their
scabs and the scabs went to great lengths to hide what they were doing. Thanks to a number of company managers we do have information
on eight (8) rank and file members that crossed the line. There are rumours on a few more that we will follow up on, as well.
I realize that it will take time to gather all the evidence, but if you want the charges to be sustained, they must be accompanied by
evidence. We will not be accepting any charges on simply hearsay. As I said, this too serious a matter for that.
Fraternally,
Bill Brehl - President TCRC MWED
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