If there was any doubt as to who is telling the truth, all you have to do is watch the testimony of Judge Brett Kavanaugh and the Republican Senators’ Day of Rage against Dr. Christine Blaisey Ford. White, male patriarchy was on full display, not unlike a visit to the Ape House at the zoo, with all the required chest thumping, noise making and teeth baring.
They became so unhinged that Kavanaugh called having Dr. Ford testify as to his sexual assault against her when she was 15 years old, a “conspiracy” organized by the Clintons, against the election of Donald Trump!
This is the guy who could sit on the court for the next 30 years and protect Trump while reversing Roe v. Wade, and threatening the lives and well-being of millions of poor and working class women.
To her credit, Dr. Ford walked into a real snake pit and came out untouched. The snakes (there were no lions there) were exposed for the misogynist fraternity that they are. Of course they are outraged! They are all cut from the same country-club cloth.
As we go to press, we don’t know how this will end. But I know I speak for the overwhelming majority of our members as we add our voices to those of millions of outraged women and men, and untold numbers of victims of sexual abuse, and demand that this nomination be withdrawn.
DA Follow-Up
Following up on what was a very successful Delegate Assembly last August, we have a new Election Committeethat consists of Barbara Beckwith (Boston), Keith Bagwell (AZ), Demtria Irwin (NY) and Irving Jones (Philly). Their first assignment will be to schedule the Special Election of two At-Large members to the National Executive Board for the next three years. We hope to have this done by Thanksgiving.
Another item is to get the volunteer Bylaws Committee up and running. Trustee Alex Faiz has volunteered to chair the committee which includes Recording Secretary Dan McCrory and Sgt. at Arms, Mauricio Niebla. The committee will go through our bylaws, section by section, offering proposed upgrades to the delegates. By law changes require a two-thirds vote of the delegates. Anyone interested in helping with this project, let me know.
We are also making some initial progress on updating the NWU.org homepage and transferring the Grievance and Contract database to the main site.
NPGs
The NY labor law firm of Levy Ratner has been contracted by the UAW Legal Dept. and has filed a case against in New York against Uptown Media. They owe six members about $17,000. UAW Region 9A has also approved our request for legal assistance in going after Consumers Digest, based in Chicago, which owes 17 members $60,000. We signed an agreement with them in May and they missed 3 out of five payments. We did collect $11,000 before seeking legal assistance. The third payment from Ebony is due this week and the August payment from Nautilus was postponed until this week as well. Both of those are nearing completion. We have no other current group NPGs, though we are looking at some possibilities.
UN General Assembly
The UN General Assembly is underway in NY, and Trump wasted no time proving that he is indeed, an international laughing stock. The International Federation of Journalists is hosting an event around the issue of impunity against journalists and the attacks on press freedom in the U.S. and around the world. The event is scheduled for October 23 and we invite all members in the NY area to attend.
NWU is the sole provider of IFJ Press Passes to freelance journalists in the U.S.