If the Workers at DHL Had Accepted Union Representation
Any candidate for public office should, endeavour to respond to each and every one of the emails, comments and letters that they receive in a thorough as well as in a timely manner.
Due to the nature and subject matter of some of requests one is not always able to do so.
One should also endeavour to demonstrate an ability to perform the most important function of an elected representative, and that is to serve.
Service to all constituents is a vital part of both running for office and is the essential purpose for being in office.
For example, the case of a disabled person on Social Security who agreed to have his benefits paid on a debit card.
A local bank advertised that if he banked with them the use of the debit card was free.
So he withdrew money once a week to buy groceries, and once a month to pay his utility bills and rent, six times in all each month.
After six months the bank wrote him that he was overdrawn and would be charged $8 a day until the matter was settled.
The first call from the bank was received after the account had been overdrawn for 10 days.
This individual kept very good records and had not spent more than he had deposited.
He was told he owed the bank about $170 dollars up to that date and an additional $8 a day until the overdraft paid.
Bewildered he went to the bank where he was informed that the free use of the debit card was only for the first use each month, and after the first use there was a $3 charge for every transaction.
How this had come about? Although this matter is still being investigated, it appears that a number of banks convinced the Social Security Administration that it would be cheaper to load social security payments onto debit cards rather than the traditional check in the mail, deposit and check clearing system.
However, at no time did the banks inform the Social Security Administration that they intended to charge social security recipients a fee each and every time, save the first time they used the card each month.
There are ten's of millions of social security recipients using the debit card system.
We trust the bank in this case, themselves a recipient of bail-out money, will move to correct this situation post haste.
By far, the largest single subject of the communications that come in to a campaign office in the middle of a recession concern employment, or the lack thereof.
One series of letters from a labor group suggests that if the workers at DHL in Wilmington, Ohio had accepted union representation they would have received two and one-half years severance pay, as did the GM workers, rather than the six month severance package they received.
It is also suggested that State of Ohio negotiators, those who were ostensibly negotiating on behalf of workers knew at the time of the union elections that DHL was curtailing its Wilmington operation, and actively campaigned to defeat union representation at the Wilmington Airborne site.
If so, this is a matter for the Department of Justice to unravel.
Members of the business community in the DHL affected area have written asking why, Lee Fisher, one of the principal negotiators, knowing that the loss of 8,000 jobs would have dire consequences for businesses in the area did not negotiate some form of assistance for businesses affected by the rather abrupt closing of DHL's Wilmington operation? Other letters concern such topics as the energy situation, oil, the rising costs of education, foreclosures, mortgage fraud, the wars, and jobs, jobs, jobs.
To all those to who continue to write their elected officials and candidates for office, insist that your inquiries are dealt with to the best of the ability of the official or candidate to investigate the matters you raise and respond to you with real answers to your questions.
"Everyday Expect a Miracle' by Butch Peelle.
It is not just the story of one person's journey from a dirt farm to prominence, but it is the enduring and endearing story of a people who will not be defeated, it is the story of the American people.
Together we can make a difference.
With best regards, Eric LaMont Gregory
Due to the nature and subject matter of some of requests one is not always able to do so.
One should also endeavour to demonstrate an ability to perform the most important function of an elected representative, and that is to serve.
Service to all constituents is a vital part of both running for office and is the essential purpose for being in office.
For example, the case of a disabled person on Social Security who agreed to have his benefits paid on a debit card.
A local bank advertised that if he banked with them the use of the debit card was free.
So he withdrew money once a week to buy groceries, and once a month to pay his utility bills and rent, six times in all each month.
After six months the bank wrote him that he was overdrawn and would be charged $8 a day until the matter was settled.
The first call from the bank was received after the account had been overdrawn for 10 days.
This individual kept very good records and had not spent more than he had deposited.
He was told he owed the bank about $170 dollars up to that date and an additional $8 a day until the overdraft paid.
Bewildered he went to the bank where he was informed that the free use of the debit card was only for the first use each month, and after the first use there was a $3 charge for every transaction.
How this had come about? Although this matter is still being investigated, it appears that a number of banks convinced the Social Security Administration that it would be cheaper to load social security payments onto debit cards rather than the traditional check in the mail, deposit and check clearing system.
However, at no time did the banks inform the Social Security Administration that they intended to charge social security recipients a fee each and every time, save the first time they used the card each month.
There are ten's of millions of social security recipients using the debit card system.
We trust the bank in this case, themselves a recipient of bail-out money, will move to correct this situation post haste.
By far, the largest single subject of the communications that come in to a campaign office in the middle of a recession concern employment, or the lack thereof.
One series of letters from a labor group suggests that if the workers at DHL in Wilmington, Ohio had accepted union representation they would have received two and one-half years severance pay, as did the GM workers, rather than the six month severance package they received.
It is also suggested that State of Ohio negotiators, those who were ostensibly negotiating on behalf of workers knew at the time of the union elections that DHL was curtailing its Wilmington operation, and actively campaigned to defeat union representation at the Wilmington Airborne site.
If so, this is a matter for the Department of Justice to unravel.
Members of the business community in the DHL affected area have written asking why, Lee Fisher, one of the principal negotiators, knowing that the loss of 8,000 jobs would have dire consequences for businesses in the area did not negotiate some form of assistance for businesses affected by the rather abrupt closing of DHL's Wilmington operation? Other letters concern such topics as the energy situation, oil, the rising costs of education, foreclosures, mortgage fraud, the wars, and jobs, jobs, jobs.
To all those to who continue to write their elected officials and candidates for office, insist that your inquiries are dealt with to the best of the ability of the official or candidate to investigate the matters you raise and respond to you with real answers to your questions.
"Everyday Expect a Miracle' by Butch Peelle.
It is not just the story of one person's journey from a dirt farm to prominence, but it is the enduring and endearing story of a people who will not be defeated, it is the story of the American people.
Together we can make a difference.
With best regards, Eric LaMont Gregory
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