September 2023

Hello brothers and sisters. As I write this, I hope you and your family safely made it through the storms and life is settling back down for you all. As we look forward, we will celebrate Labor Day and then watch the clock wind down on our UAW and General Motors agreement. My hope for all of us still active is that the company applies common sense and understands that we, the workers, are the most integral part of the process for them making a Billion plus dollars every month of the last four years. If they are willing to negotiate with our top negotiators, I do not doubt we can get a strong agreement and avoid any work stoppage. My next biggest hope is that they are willing to respect the past work of our retirees and bargain for an improvement for all of you as well. But, as I have explained in the past, bargaining on behalf of retired workers is a permissive, not mandatory, topic of the collective bargaining process. With all that is looming in the near future, I decided to look back at our labor history. I was surprised that the first notable strike on record in America was in 1794. It was an organized work stoppage by a printers union. Their main issues were better wages and better work hours. As I kept reading, I read about many small strikes from 1794 until 1866, with similar goals to what we seek today. But, in 1866, the first national labor union was formed. The National Labor Union was born on August 20, 1866, in Baltimore; though it failed fairly quickly, the idea of multiple small Union Locals banding together to gain strength was sound. Today, many national labor unions, such as the UAW, wield tremendous power when the working class decides to unite. Having unity and showing solidarity are just a couple of reasons I am a proud union member and know I will always be. We have been through some stressful days here recently with the storms and are facing many stressful days to come. When the storms hit my community, I witnessed the people put aside all the fractional things that don’t matter and band together to help one another get our community back to normal. As we enter what could potentially be the longest strike in automotive history, I will hold to that same ideal that when it truly matters, we as unionists will band together, lock arms, and remember what Walter Reuther said, “There is no power in the world that can stop the forward march of free men and women when they are joined in the solidarity of human brotherhood.”

In closing, I have a couple of requests; please look at the gains banding together and embracing our similar goals can achieve for the working class. Also, please try and avoid the pitfalls of seeking to find fault in others, which robs us of solidarity and proves only to divide and restrict us from what we have earned and must be strong to gain. Stay united brothers and sisters and never forget, Solidarity Forever!

Ben

April 2023

Greetings, Brothers and Sisters,

I hope this edition finds you well, were are experiencing a changing season. You probably think I am talking about the weather, but I am not. The political season has begun to change here in Michigan in favor of the masses, not the few. Since our last edition, much progress has been made for the working class and our most vulnerable here in the mitten. With the passing of HB 4001 (Lowering Michigan Costs Plan), we begin to heal some of the damage we, as citizens, have lived through over the past decade. This bill phases out the retiree tax and expands earned income tax credits for our citizens that are most in need. On top of those accomplishments, our state legislators have restored prevailing wage and finally were able to repeal Right-to-Work. We all know RTW had nothing to do with actual working people and everything to do with breaking unions and providing more profits to corporations. As I stated at our last union meeting, for too long, we have uttered the phrase; elections have consequences. Now, finally, we can say elections have benefits. With all of this good, it is hard to believe I still have a dark cloud about me these days. This sadness stems from losing one of my good friends and an even better friend to this newspaper, the community and our Local Union. All of the fantastic legislative accomplishments I wrote of all had a little less glimmer on them as one very important person couldn’t witness them with all of us. Harold Foster was a great man; aside from being a wonderful husband and loving father and grandfather, he was the Editor-in-chief of our Lansing Labor News for over thirty years. Add his service as President of the Board at LAFCU for even longer, coupled with his accomplishments in his home community, and you can see that great man we all knew. It fills me with pride that I am a part of his Local because there is one undeniable thing about Harold; he was a UAW Local 652 man to the bone. I only knew Harold for a little over a decade, but I will miss his laugh, illuminating smile and friendship for the rest of my life. As you will see in this edition, we are adding photos, and if you knew Harold, he loved being on the taking end of photos but we have compiled some images of Harold to celebrate our wonderful friend. If Harold were here, he wouldn’t want all this attention. He would want us working for the membership. So, with this in mind, I will change gears to honor him once more. We are in our General Election time frame for Local 652. I wanted to tell you to review the following pages for our election notice. We will also post the information on our Local Union Boards in all Units and on our website: uawlocal652.com. I hope all who are able will take the time to participate in this election. We will not have another article until the fall, so I wish you all a happy and healthy summer.

In Solidarity,

Ben

February 2023

Greetings, Brothers and Sisters. I expect none of us are too upset at the pleasant late winter or early spring we seem to be experiencing to begin our year. Here at Local 652, the weather isn’t the only reason for our excitement. We have some significant events coming this spring to set us up for a great summer season! I know our Civil Rights committee is pleased to get our black history program running again. This year, they have set the event up for success with a fantastic lineup sure to entertain and inspire all who attend. This event will be on February 26 and starts at 3:00 p.m. It is open to Union members and community members. Following our Civil Rights program, our Women’s committee has an event scheduled on March 19 from 1:00-4:00 p.m. with a focus on empowering women, which is very fitting since March is Women’s international month and Women’s history month. Credit for March being the month to honor women started in 1908 with an organized protest by thousands of women marching through New York City for better labor laws and working conditions. These strong women deserve all the credit for standing up and banding together to fight for a better future for themselves and all women who have followed.

Such selfless committee chairs willing to work together to create outstanding programs for the membership and surrounding community make my job much more manageable. To witness the effort all these great members put into their committee programs and the willingness of other committees to collaborate to provide the best to our Members only scratches the surface of why I am so proud to be a member of Local 652.

As we progress through this year, we will have more events to discuss and attend that will work to highlight our stance as community participants and to show solidarity amongst our many units. There will also be plenty of events that will present us with challenges and opportunities to come together as we did in 2019. We will be facing a historic bargaining session this September, where we here at Local 652 will have two of our units in negotiations for National Agreements. Our GMNA Unit and our GM Sub-Systems LOC will both be looking to present updated agreements for our memberships to ratify. Along with the national negotiations, our GM Unit will also be negotiating our new Local Agreement, which expires at the same time in September as our National Agreements. Many thanks to the members who have already submitted dozens of Local demands to be considered by the Local bargaining committee.

Before we here at Local 652 enter into Local negotiations, an important event must happen. Our Local, along with most all other UAW Lansing Locals, will have their General election cycle followed by committee elections during May and June 2023. Elections are an essential step in the Democratic process of our Union. As we see with our International Executive Board elections, participation in the process is paramount to an effective process. Stay tuned for updates on more events happening at our Local by visiting our Union boards and viewing our website at www.uawlocal652.com.

In closing, I hope you have turned in your ballot for the International Executive Board elections and allowed your voice to be heard. By the time you receive this edition, there may not be enough time to rectify that issue, but if you have not received your ballot, please go to uawvote.com and follow the process to see if you can get a ballot mailed to you and returned in time. May you all be blessed until next time.
In Solidarity,

Ben Frantz

December 2022

Merry Christmas and Seasons Greetings Brothers and Sisters! The Holidays are here again! My family and I genuinely enjoy the entire holiday season because it is a time of togetherness and family. I decided to write about things we can appreciate during the recent months and opportunities moving forward. Since our last publication, Local 652 was able to get our retiree meetings going again and it has been a great success! Seeing all the old friends reconnecting, laughing, and having some fellowship has livened up the Local. UAW Local 652 partnered with UAW Local 724 in donating our combined parking lots for a wonderful charity event sponsored by Footprints of Michigan on Veteran’s day. They held a drive-through boot and shoe giveaway for veterans with a strong turnout and excellent volunteer support. We have had another great year of collecting donations for our local area children through the Old News Boys organization and the Marine Corp. with our Toys-for-Tots campaign. It fills me with pride and makes it easy to represent Local 652 when you have a fantastic membership that proves year-over-year that they are some of the most giving and caring members in the UAW. With all there is to celebrate, this year has not fallen short of providing some steep challenges. I, however, choose not to allow those challenges to distract me from what a good year 2022 has been. At work, I want to thank every single member who fought through those challenges with us and emerged stronger for it. At home, I must thank my amazing wife, Kristin, for supporting me on the late nights, board meetings, stacked weekends, and weeks away from home. She provides me this gift while raising our boys and being a full-time medical professional. Without Kristin’s support and the fact that my sons are a blessing to our family, I don’t know how I could do what I am blessed to do. As we see the sun setting in 2022 and anxiously await the beginning of 2023, we already know that some residual challenges will linger and present us with more reasons to get angry if we so allow. A new year also means getting older. I no longer fear this, as age has given me the gift of perspective. This year I found myself learning about my opportunity and obligation to control what is under my control and release all that is not. I use a great quote from coach Tony Dungy to continually remind myself of this opportunity, "You can’t always control circumstances. However, you can always control your attitude, approach and response.” As a leader, I am constantly pulled into situations where I am providing information or answers to members who are upset, confused, or unsure of what is happening to them. Most of the time, the members are agitated and the goal is to provide information and answers, do it calmly, and work to ensure the members understand when we are done speaking. Getting to this understanding is rarely done calmly; working to control our attitude, approach and response are vital to moving forward in these situations. In the coming year, I look to improve myself and better serve our membership by putting this into practice. As I finish this article, I look back on 2022 with a thankful heart, thankful for my family, friends, the active and retired members of Local 652 and the opportunity to face 2023 positively.

I hope you all have a fantastic Christmas, New Year, and holiday season!

September 2022

Greetings, Brothers and Sisters, it is Tuesday morning after a great Labor Day weekend and I am rested and relaxed! I can't say enough about what the Labor Day weekend means to me as an active member of the labor movement. I never forget to take a little time and reflect on the great effort and sacrifice that went into making this an official Holiday. Did you know that Labor Day would not even exist without the strength and unified determination of the American workforce beginning with a march back in 1882? Though the Holiday wouldn't be officially signed into law until 1894, the first Monday in September had long held the significance of the worker's Holiday. We celebrate Labor Day year in and year out but I wonder how many know this was a hard-fought, bloody, and even deadly won Holiday for the working class. Labor Day is another instance that shows when working people band together, there is nothing we can not accomplish. If you are interested in learning more about our Holiday, I encourage you to look into the September 5, 1882, Manhattan workers march, the Haymarket riot and the Pullman palace car company dispute. These stories will shed more light on how the labor movement has changed America.

On a lighter note, I thought I would share some other interesting points attached to Labor Day that you may not have known. They call Labor Day weekend the end of hot dog season. This seems odd considering all the tailgating that occurs this time of year, as Labor Day is also the unofficial kickoff weekend of college and professional football. I don't know about you, but a grilled hot dog and a beer on a cool fall day sitting with my family watching Michigan football is about as perfect as it can get. Go Blue! No disrespect to Sparty; I just love my Wolverines.

Back to a more serious topic, as we proceed through the calendar, another important day that should be a National Holiday is  Election Day; this year, it falls on November 8, 2022. For many in the middle class, Election Day is a day where we can vote to protect all that we have fought for and earned. We all know Walter Reuther’s famous quote about the ballot box, but it bears mention. What do they say, never talk about politics or religion? Well, as a labor leader, it is a part of my job to be involved in the Local, State and Federal politics that directly or indirectly affect the membership of Local 652. Understanding which politicians are proposing or enacting legislation that promotes a solid and stable future for the American worker and our Local is of paramount importance to me. We, as working-class citizens, need to understand that having a good-paying career with secure benefits is vital to our futures. That is why evaluating the candidates and identifying those who support these concepts is critical. I am proud to be the Recording Secretary of the Capital Area UAW/CAP Council, who invites all Local, State and Federal candidates to apply, be screened and potentially be endorsed by our Regional and National UAW/CAP councils. If you are interested in looking at the endorsed UAW candidates you can always go to uawendorsements.com. This opportunity is open to all politicians regardless of affiliation; candidates need only apply and follow the process. I am hopeful we can make Election Day a National Holiday just as the American workers made Labor Day. Remembering our history is how we protect our future, and learning from the past is how we get stronger moving forward. If we apply lessons learned, we can create a brighter future for workers and maybe even gain another National Holiday that directly supports and honors the American worker. We all know when the working class turns out to vote, America wins.

April 2022

Spring has sprung! I hope you all are enjoying the warmer temperatures and seeing the sunshine and not just recognizing the rain and slop that spring also brings. Recently, it seems we are all too ready to point out the negative and overlook the positive in most situations. During my recent vacation with my family, this attitude presented itself repeatedly. Our vacation took us to a medium-sized coastal town that saw its population explode with approximately twenty-five thousand additional people during spring break. This is a positive, as we all traveled there for the beauty and temperatures. Yet, while dining and shopping, I was saddened to overhear and be addressed by patrons who were disgusted at how many people were “lazy” and “didn’t want to work.” This is looking for the negative in a positive situation, not understanding reality.

Here is the truth: multiple thousands of families crashed this town and overwhelmed the town’s establishments. It has nothing to do with people not wanting to work or laziness. What business can adequately handle the deluge of business that spring break brings? Spring breakers to a destination town are like torrential rains to a river; it can only take so much before the banks give way. The easy answer is to realize there is a worker shortage nationally and if you are blessed enough to afford a vacation and dining out, plan and know it will take a bit longer. Can we blame workers who aren’t willing to be abused by impatient customers for crappy pay? I, for one, don’t enjoy waiting longer for goods and services but I can appreciate the good that is coming from all of this. Let’s acknowledge and be happy for workers who are finally deciding working these jobs that have paid far too little for too long are no longer worth it and are moving to other industries. Retail and food service will be the most transparent industries hit during this transition.

It may come to you as a surprise but the healthcare and nursing field is almost as in need as the food and retail industries. Pre-pandemic, there was a nationwide shortage for nurses and now with how society seems to have regressed and treats people just awful, that need has not improved. My beautiful wife works in the health care field as an RN and she has been disheartened time and again by the rude and disrespectful treatment she and her colleagues receive as educated working professionals. Yes, it takes longer to get into the doctor’s office or get our surgeries, but why take it out on the staff whose sole purpose is to care for you? Why take it out on anyone? Understand that these industries are being cautious for their safety and ours. Most likely, they are understaffed and overworked like so many of us. Life, in general, can’t all be sunshine and rainbows, but it also can’t be all doom and gloom. We need to work toward a healthy balance and stop looking for something or someone to blame. Life as we knew it is coming back slowly, so as we enjoy getting back there, let’s not forget to be happy for workers looking to better themselves and try to be more tolerant during this shift in the workforce. As unionists, we should remember that patience is key to getting what we have earned when it is our time to make moves, and support is what we can provide when it is not our time to make gains.
Solidarity Brothers and Sisters.

March 2022

Greetings Brothers and Sisters. I hope this year has started strong for you all. I have decided to write about my mission moving forward for this year and beyond. My focus moving forward is to not give traction to false narratives that are merely designed to divide and distract us from being a united collective of the working class. The fact that I refuse to speak to these issues doesn’t mean that I am ignorant of these topics' reality. It merely means that they have no foundation in my thinking or vision to promote unity and a positive collective movement that puts working families' welfare at the forefront. That said, a great example of my goal, and fitting for February, would be the unity of our sit-downers. These great people were a diverse group with many different opinions who united as one and didn’t allow differences to deter them from their ultimate goal of creating a better future for themselves and those who would follow. With us hopefully emerging from the gauntlet of world-altering issues of the past couple of years, I hope that we can mimic their courageous efforts and seize the day when it arrives.
Regardless of our industry, we can use this time to ready ourselves for the fight we will all soon face in our next contract negotiations. We active workers must use the extra hours of labor that we will be working this year as positive stock for the future. We must not allow these corporations who have made record profits on our lives to offer anything less than competitive agreements moving forward. With our ability to quickly determine what these corporations make each year, we need to negotiate and ratify only gainful agreements for our future. Accepting nothing less than our fair share of what we have earned is how we solidify the foundation of those who come after us, just as we must do now to honor those who have come before us. This is the best way to celebrate the courageous men and women who risked everything for us so many years ago.

Speaking of those who have come before us, our retirees, I don’t want to fail to honor their efforts in our Labor Movement. With that, I think it is fitting to address one of the most troubling and polarizing questions that cause friction between our active and retired members. Why don’t retirees get improvements during contract negotiations? The answer, though restrictive, is one I feel worth sharing. My hope in sharing this answer is to reduce the distance between our active and retired generations. Due to a Supreme Court decision, bargaining to reconfigure retiree pension plans is deemed a permissive category of the collective bargaining process. In short, this means that only active workers can have items like wages, benefits and health care continually renegotiated as an object of mandatory collective bargaining when agreements expire. It isn’t that the majority of us have forgotten your hard work and dedication. It means that we can’t force corporations to renegotiate those terms as we can for active members, so it rarely happens. This is why we must unite both retired and active Americans in our common cause to come out of this storm stronger with one common goal: to take these corporations to task when the packages they offer don’t meet the standards we have earned. We must never forget that the active worker of today will be the retired worker of tomorrow. This is the most significant way to honor our active workers, retired membership and the sit-downers. Remembering what we gain together at the bargaining table benefits the entire working class of America now and for future generations.

Solidarity Brothers and Sisters.

December 2021

Seasons greetings brothers and sisters!
As we approach the entire Christmas and holiday season, I hope to put behind us the pressure, negativity, and sadness that past couple of years has presented. This time of year can be a time of renewal and a perfect time to revive some old-fashioned family values. All too frequently during this pandemic period, we have watched people fall away from many of the edicts that we were all raised to live by, such as “if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all” or “treat others as you would like to be treated.” Witnessing the de-evolution of courtesy and respectful behavior in everyday human interaction coupled with increasing selfishness reaching an alarming high during the past many months has taken its toll on my mental strength. So much so that I have caught myself being taken to dark places and presenting negativity that I can't allow as a husband, father, or leader. I plan on taking time to reset values,  reconnect with loved ones and push off the frustrations of all of the restrictions and deaths that have burdened my life over the past years. The challenges I have faced are not exclusive to me; many of us have shared similar experiences, with many people’s pain and burden being much more than mine. That is why it is so vital for us to take this opportunity to look for the good and positive and allow that to feed our attitudes and actions. We have a prime opportunity to reinstill common courtesy and let different opinions and thoughts on issues be just that. Our unique perspectives are what makes us, as individuals, so great. We start to fail when we allow only our own opinions to be correct. We must avoid becoming entrenched in our tribal thought processes which can short circuit conversations and even end friendships. I am sure we can all look at our own lives and find a few examples where we have failed to allow someone else to take a position on a topic and acknowledge and respect it even though we disagree. This is something that we used to be able to do but as of late, we have truly lost as a society. The referendum vote we just completed in our UAW is a perfect example of a polarizing issue that caused so much division and angst amongst friends and co-workers. Regardless of the position you took on the issue, now that the resolution has its result, we have the best chance we have had in a long time to come together as one and strive to be stronger and more unified than we have been in recent history. Arguing over a final result accomplishes nothing and only continues the same negative trend into which we have all fallen. As humans and as unionists, our priority should be to be each other's keepers and come together for a better tomorrow.
Let us use this season of holidays as a reset button for our lives. Let us look to have a brighter outlook as we usher in the new year. None of us can control what the future will throw at us, but we can control how we allow it to affect us. I commit to facing the challenges with renewed energy being an asset to the lives of those I come into contact with and will resist falling into past failures. If we can all review our actions and find some positive room for improvement, maybe we can all be a mechanism of change for the betterment of our world both at home and at work. So regardless of what holidays you are celebrating during this time of year, I wish you all health and prosperity with a renewed energy heading into 2022. In closing, I would like to take this opportunity to tell you from the Frantz family; we wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

September 2021

Happy Summer brothers and sisters. I hope this article finds you well and enjoying your summer. I am choosing to write this article about what is happening in our community instead of picking one of the many hyped-up stories circulating in mainstream TV media and various podcasts and social media. Here at the Local, we have enjoyed having the opportunity to have the hall opened up again for Member events. This year has continued to be a challenging extension to the struggles of last year for sure. However, as I  write this article, we are providing mesothelioma screenings to all qualifying members of UAW Local 652 or UAW Local 602 here at Local 652 Union Hall. We mailed all eligible members the flyer that gave the particulars to schedule appointments. I was happy to be informed that we had over 600 members take advantage of this screening. As more and more Michiganders get vaccinated and we progress through this pandemic, scheduling events that we are used to having like the Veterans Chili cook-off, Trunk-or-Treat and the all-time favorite, the children’s Christmas party are on the horizon. We look forward to continuing progress and no reinstatement of restrictions. When this happens, we will keep you all informed of the scheduling of these events.
Another high point of this summer is our Ryder Unit’s newly ratified Agreement. The bargaining committee brought to the Membership an agreement that provides immediate raises for existing workers; yearly raises for the life of the agreement coupled with reductions to benefit co-pays beginning next January. Along with a variety of bargained work-life improvements.
We at UAW Local 652 are also patiently awaiting a tentative agreement proposal from our GM Sub-systems Manufacturing, LLC (LOC) group. I would expect this agreement to land near the other settlements ratified in the Lansing area Supplier Unit base during this past year. Though this past year and a half has been a difficult period in our lives, the positive that has come from this whole situation is that working-class people have significantly benefited from the rising wages in all aspects of everyday work life. Unfortunately, it took this extreme situation to finally provide the leverage for the working class to gain this ground on the wage inequities in our society. Still, we will see as we all get back up and running, providing better wages to the masses provides better profits and livelihoods to all. The workers who provide the vital everyday services and products for this country and its small business and major corporations will now have a better life with better wages across the board. So instead of being frustrated that we have longer wait times for goods and services or even a longer wait at a restaurant or bar. We can look at it in a positive view. Maybe people are seizing this opportunity to change their line of work to improve their lives. Perhaps we can avoid falling prey to the notion that our working class society is lazy and just want a free ride. Maybe, families are just working to figure out if they can go from working multiple jobs to just a single occupation, saving on child care, providing more family time to improve their home lives. We need to acknowledge that everyone has a part to play in our communities and that diversity is a powerful asset to us all. I have written many times before. We should choose to support and raise one another, banding together to make forward progress. We will never achieve our collective potential if we are divided and arguing against ourselves. I, for one, am hopeful as we continue to gain momentum opening up, many families come out stronger, more unified and better able to support their families. God Bless, Brothers and Sisters, I hope you enjoy the rest of your summer.

May 2021

Hello Brothers and Sisters,

Let us think about our lives as single entities; most everything we do could still be done, but isn't it easier when we have help? That, in a nutshell, is the purpose behind our Union. We can still have a job, perform the task for our employers and earn paychecks, but alone, we really don't have any other options when we only look out for ourselves. Alone, If we don't like something and speak up, there is no weight behind our singular comment. Our employers can easily live with us being unhappy and if we decide to leave, they will get another worker. After receiving some leadership training, it got me thinking on a deeper level,  how to articulate this to our Memberships.

Joining a Union and seeing its benefits is like this; grab a piece of paper, place a hand on each side, hold it out in front of yourself with your arms half extended. Think of your right hand as your interests and your left hand the stance of the employer. Now, for every benefit you want in your job, pull your right hand toward your chest. For every right you have that the Company doesn't want you to have, push your left hand further away. As you will see, with differing views between yourself and your employer on what the composition of the workplace should look like, the single piece of paper will tear quickly and easily, just as you will likely fail, fighting only for yourself. Luckily, we are in a Union, but it doesn't mean that everything is perfect and we don't suffer in our places of work. We all see problems present themselves daily on the job. Adversity is a fact of life. As unionists, we should strive for a united worksite, unilaterally joined in collective progress, sending a clear message to the companies. Showing them that they need not try their games with us because we stand together in our pursuit of the best vocations possible. This would look something like changing out that single piece of paper in the analogy above with your respective contract books or a ream of printer paper. If you tried the exercise above with this, it would prove nearly impossible to tear in half. That is the power of being in a Union.

When individuals join together, their power compounds innumerably. Sadly enough, the reality is more in line with this scenario. Take any book and separate it by the chapters. The overall strength is now still well better than a solitary page but, with these separations in the entire book, the ability to tear small sections increases. The divisions we create are where we fail each other in the workplace. Arguing amongst ourselves provides small divisions, which is the employers' ultimate opportunity to keep us from uniting. Our challenge as unionists is to understand that there will never be a perfect Agreement; there will always be Members who will not get along. We must understand and learn from the failures of those who came before us. As leaders, we are now in an era where we must be accountable for the greedy, morally bankrupt few and work to regain the memberships' trust and respect. The work goal should never be utopic bliss because that is not attainable. Yet, we can strive to be informed participators, realizing that showing no division to management will provide the most significant leverage when entering negotiations working towards a more robust and secure future for us all. God Bless and be safe.

February 2021

Greetings Brothers and Sisters,

As I reflect on recent history and see how our society has become so divided, it reminds me of an event in my childhood that has shaped how I think to this day. Growing up of meager means, I learned to make my way to get ahead at an early age in a small town. After being kicked off the bus route, walking to school was the only option. One morning walking to school, I stopped at the convenience store on my way. After grabbing a small assortment of candy and gum, off to school I went. Sitting in homeroom, one of my classmates asked if she could have a piece; I obliged. She then asked for more, to which I responded, I’ll sell you some! Boom, I was off. I had purchased a pack of candy for a dime and sold it for a quarter. By the end of the month, I had a mini-store in my locker, yielding me easily twenty dollars a week. For a few months, life was good until the turn. Another kid in school had heard of my success and opened a store of his own. Me, wanting to protect what was "mine," I addressed the kid and explained he needed to stop. He disagreed, and the store battle began. Though the fight didn’t last long, the result was the lesson that I keep with me to this day. I won the battle but lost the war. The loser took the defeat poorly and decided if he couldn’t have a store, nobody would.  I was pulled from class by the Principal. Locker searched, store closed, defeated. Taking my revenge provided me yet another negative, a suspension. I didn’t care about the punishment; my only concern was how unfairly the events had unfolded and the loss of my revenue stream. Sitting at a family member’s house that weekend, explaining how much of a victim I was and how unfair the system was, my uncle explained to me just how naive and selfish I was. He explained if I had looked at the opportunity as a whole, I would have found a middle ground with the other kid. I could have offered a compromise, where we split the stock and kept both stores open, working together. We both would have been making money, and neither of us would be negatively impacted long-term. This lesson was a eureka moment in my life. Instead of needing everything to be all or nothing, I started looking at situations that I wanted to be involved in with a multi-angled view. This thought process has provided so many benefits to my life and career. Now well into my adult life, I have realized that life is not about absolute satisfaction, it is about moving toward goals. We don’t have to like everything that happens in our lives, we need only understand that life is negatives intermixed with positives. If we can stop chastising and mocking those who don’t agree with our beliefs or views, we can grow. Surrounding ourselves with only those who support or promote our polarized thoughts and actions only amplifies our division—coming to the understanding that seeing and experiencing events that don’t please us can reaffirm those that do. Learning to tolerate those who irritate us so that those whom we irritate may know to show us the same respect. We all stumble at times, but if we all try to understand one another rather than change one another, we can set ourselves up to succeed. I, for one, will commit to being a forward-thinking voice for the masses. To paraphrase Gandhi, let us be the change we all want to see.

December 2020

Season’s Greetings Brothers and Sisters. Looking back through this Calendar year, there are so many events and actions that provided us opportunities for negativity and division. This pandemic has changed our lives, at least for now, in so many ways. The least of which were the closures of our favorite businesses, wearing masks, and not being able to visit family in person. If this virus has negatively affected you or your family, I pray for peace and healing to you and yours during these trying times. It seemed like daily we were seeing actions taken to counter the devastating effects of Covid-19 on our Nation. If someone would have told me at the beginning of the year all of this would transpire, I would not have believed them in the least. Now here we are at the end of the year looking to 2021 to bring us back safely to a pre-corona normal. Though these actions were taken to protect human life, it made them no less irritating to our daily lives. I am the husband of a medical professional, so I have learned these measures are necessary to help protect myself, my in-laws and others in my community. It doesn’t mean I have to enjoy them, I just choose to do my part and participate in these preventative measures. As we look to 2021, I hope we can look past the craziness and frustration that presented itself this year and look to find hope and peace in the new year. I plan on making a conscious choice to look for a positive in all situations, which at times feels impossible, and avoid the divisive elements in my life that consistently took me to a negative place. Maybe we can see the realization that living in real life with friends and family is a positive to pull from all of the closures this year. I hope that we as a union and nation can look for reasons to come together once this dark season has passed, instead of reasons to be angry and divided. Though this year has brought us adversity, through conscious choice, we can be a mechanism of change for the good in our personal lives, worksites and hometowns. Tearing situations and people down will never bring lasting satisfaction, but when we are built up or acknowledged for the efforts we put forth or we acknowledge the efforts of others, we can start to drive the positive change in our country and our lives that is well overdue after the memorable events of this past year. I choose to be a force for good pulling in a forward direction never dwelling on the negative that will inevitably find us all at some point. It is in that light that I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a happy and healthy Thanksgiving filled with fun and family. I also would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy Holiday Season with health and prosperity coming to us all in the new year.

September 2020

It’s election time! In this article, I would like to open up about some of the criteria I use to arrive at my voting decisions, not just for President but up and down our political ladder. These are just a few issues that are important to my electoral thinking. This list is not intended to change your mind, I just wanted to elaborate on how I approach which candidates get my vote. I hope that you follow a similar process to arrive at your decisions. For starters, I believe in a national Minimum Wage of at least $15.00 per hour. Many parts of our Country currently support these wages and have had strong economic results. Some candidates have stated this would drive job loss and small businesses couldn’t support such a wage, this is just not true for the majority. Many of the areas that have enacted such wages are seeing new businesses opening and profits from existing businesses on the rise, the reasons for these results are not complex. Paying people a living wage allows them to spend more money in their communities. The Citizens are paid their worth and the system gains, this is how America should work, in my opinion. I believe in legal Immigration and don’t support open borders, yet I understand our Country struggles without undocumented immigrants doing a variety of jobs including harvesting crops. So instead of building a wall, I support comprehensive reforms that acknowledge the need and stop the division. I understand Social Security; this program is self-sustaining and has brought in more money than it has needed for decades. I know which candidates have decided it is time to protect this program and which candidates want to cut these benefits. As a proud Unionist, I live the benefits of the Collective Bargaining process and know who supports Organized Labor and who has spoken on enacting a national right-to-work bill. I also believe we should have universal healthcare. I know which candidates support nationalized healthcare and those who have chosen to dismantle the Affordable Care Act. No Country’s system is perfect but that fact that all other highly developed Nations have created a system for their Citizens and we haven’t is a shame to me. As an American, not a Democrat or a Republican, these are a few of my beliefs and the reason that I am a believer that we are better with Biden. My values fall mainly in-line with blue candidates but I never give them a free pass, I make them earn my vote through their actions. If my opinions don’t align with yours, so be it, we are all entitled to our own opinions, and we can both respect each other's positions. The goal in sharing this is to inspire at least one of you reading this to revive or maybe develop an interest in the Electoral Process. Maybe provide some thought starters on what is important to you and why it is so important to participate in our Democracy. In any event, November 3rd will be here before you know it. Whether by absentee ballot or in person, please exercise your right to vote.

June 2020

Hello everyone, as you read this, I pray that it reaches you safe and healthy. Local election season is here for many of the UAW Locals in Lansing. As a result, I am writing this article with a thankful heart. Though this is not my first article here in the Labor News, it is my first as President of UAW Local 652. Starting this journey many years ago has taught me one thing if nothing else. Learn from those who have come before you and honor their lessons through the faithful execution of their teachings. One such man who came before me was an excellent mentor and a man that I will surely miss. I would like to extend heartfelt congratulations to the newest President Emeritus of UAW Local 652, Randy Freeman.  After the conclusion of the Nomination and General Elections, here at Local 652, Randy concluded his term and skipped into his well-deserved retirement with his lovely bride Michelle, grown children, and adorable grandchildren. Randy was instrumental in developing many of the Leaders in service at Local 652 I will forever be in his debt. I wish upon him many happy and healthy years of relaxation with his family. Now, we must get back to business and discuss something that Randy will always stay passionate about, the Michigan and United States elections coming up this year. As Local elections conclude, we must move to the late summer and fall State and National elections. We in the working class must protect our livelihoods with informed decisions that protect our way of life. We do this by electing leaders who have a long history of protecting and voting in favor of legislation that protects our jobs and increase protections for Organized Labor. The data is clear, states with larger Union densities, have better health and safety numbers for working people as well as better wages and health care. I will never tell any Member how or whom to vote for, I will, however, give you this link so that you can do your homework and research specific Candidates. https://www.congress.gov/roll-call-votes I would ask only that in your research of these individuals, add to your criteria list, candidates who vote to protect our pensions, healthcare, and wages. These are issues are important across generations and we can see they are under attack as you are reading this; it is our job as Unionists to research who is attacking us, unite and stop them. This website only takes a little while to learn but will help you to understand how those candidates that hold your interest are voting on every topic that to you is of the utmost importance. It has an easy to use the search bar to help filter to the legislation you wish to find. It will also let you research any elected member of Government seeing how they voted on any bill. With a little bit of time and effort, you will no longer need the biased new media to inform you, this tool will let you educate yourself on candidates utilizing your criteria. As I wrap this up, please don’t forget that the most important vote will be on November 3, 2020. We must get out to vote for a President who has more than Twitter, division, and distractions on his mind all the while stacking the deck against working people and the everyday Citizens of this Nation. Please take the time to research anyone whom you may be interested in electing. Do not allow a television program or newspaper to spin a narrative to you, regardless of which outlet it is, they are biased, protect what is important to you and do the research. Whichever choices you make, I say God Bless, get out and vote.