Dear All,

          The following communication is a letter that former BA
Phil Allen (he was fired by the Empire State Regional Council and has
started a new Local Union, # 1, to represent his membership in the Glens
Falls, N.Y. local area) has sent out.

          My own Local Union, # 370, which is adjacent to Local # 229, is in
the same state of affairs as far as no real representation.

          This document was scanned, sorry for the typos.

in solidarity,
John Newell Jr.
Local Union # 370
(the former Local Union # 6 and then former Local Union # 1150)

----- Original Message -----

Philip T. Allen
401 County Rt. 36
Hudson Falls, NY 12839

May 26, 2003

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I am writing to you as a member, not as a trustee.

My purpose is to answer the letter that you received recently from Steve
Flynn.

Mr. Flynn is not a member of Local 229, or even a resident of New York State.

Mr. Flynn comes to us from the state of Connecticut. I don't remember
electing him to any position for Loca1 229. Do you?

While Mr Flynn is bringing up the question about the Trustee's alleged
future meeting at the Foxwood, I have a question for him. Did you know that
in his position as Assistant Supervisor for Local 229 that all checks have
to be approved by him? Well, he or someone in the Local 229 office approved
a $5000.00 check to buy 10 tickets to a dinner at the Saratoga City Center.
That is $500.00 per ticket. There were tickets for this event available for
the price of $75.00 each. At $75.00 each, Local 229 could have sent 66 rank
and file members to this dinner, but they chose to send only 10 people. Out
of the 10 people that you paid for, two were not members of Local 229. In
fact, one of them is not even a union member.

Did you get a chance to vote on buying 10 dinner tickets at $500.00 each
with your money?

HELL NO!!

Now, you get a letter in the mail from Mr. Kent stating that if you send in
3 months dues in advance, he will give you a T-shirtfor free. Who the Hell's
money do you think paid for these T -shirts in the fIrst place? YOURS!!!

Did you get a chance to vote on buying these T -shirts with your money? HELL
NO!!

We had a clam bake all planned for last August. They cancelled it. We were
deprived of our annual dinner dance last spring. We were beat out of our
season tickets, to the Ice Hawks games. But the thing that you really got
beat out of was THE RIGHT TO HAVE UNION MEETINGS.

How has your work been? If you say "good", then you have been lucky indeed.
I'm told that Local 229's out of work list is longer now than it has been in
many, many years. Why then is the Council sending in Local 1163 members to
steal your work? Why hasn't the Council given more support to organizing
new work?

Last May, you elected three Delegates to the District Council. They threw
off one of the people that you voted in, and when they found out that they
were going to get Delegates who would represent the rank and tile; they put
Loca1 229 under supervision for no valid reason.

Look at the leadership in Region 3, and tell me who is responsible. If you
had the opportunity to vote, I am sure you would see a lot of new faces from
the top of Region 3 down.

Local 229 is no longer a democracy. You had no say in putting these people
in these positions and you have no way of getting rid of them or making them
accountable to you.

They tell us that we can't have our day, "Labor Day", as a paid holiday
because it makes us less competitive, but they, (Council Reps, Organizers,
and International Reps) have 10 holidays - up to 5 sick days, 5 personal
days, and up to 5 weeks vacation. Oh, I almost forgot. They also get 1 GOLF
DAY.

All of this is off the backs of the people out in the field who are trying
to support their families, and get their weeks in for unemployment. Does
this sound fair to you? Of course not.

The Health Care Fund Trustees asked for a $.35 hourly contribution increase
to defray rising health care costs (health care costs have been rising 15-17%
per year of late). Without allowing you to express your views, the Council
decided to put $.60 of your package increase into health care.

It is time for every one to start speaking up.

I don't do what I am doing for glory; I do it because it is the right thing
to do. If people choose to ignore their responsibility to govern themselves,
they deserve to be governed by others.

As long as we stand by and do nothing, they will continue to put it to us.

I know that some of you may not approve of what I am doing, but I also know
by the nunber of phone calls and letters I receive from members, that there
is also a lot of support for me from people who can't speak up because of
the fear of losing their jobs.

Mr. Flynn tells about the potential future Trustee's meeting at the
Foxwood.

Why didn't the International have their hearings last year at the Union Hall
instead of the Gideon Putnam? Rooms at the Gideon are $330.00 per night in
July and August. I am sure that they could have found a cheaper place and,
in the process, made it easier for the membership to attend those hearings.
I am sure they didn't choose the Gideon because the Flat track was in season,
aren't you?

If you would like to join the growing list of members who are writing to me,
my address is located at the top of this letter.

I would like to thank all of the people who have sent me letters of
encouragement. I appreciate your support and I also understand the position
that you are in.

I will continue to keep you informed with what is going on. I know that you
are all looking for answers. If I can be of any help, feel free to contact
me.

Phil