Cupe Leader Threatens MFD Reformer
What do you get when you ask CUPE Local 110 president Terry Egan some questions?
Don't know? Well, we're going to show you:
"If I were you I'd keep watching out of your "top floor" window every single night for the rest of your life."
Yup, you read that right: An email sent to CUPE Local 110 president Terry Egan by one of MFD's contributors received a rather shocking, disturbing, and somewhat retarded, reply.
Terry Egan has presided over CUPE Local 110 for nearly a decade. Egan took the baton from former president Rik Panciera who now holds the position of CUPE National Representative.
Local 110 represents support employees at the Winnipeg School Division and, according to recent statistics, has 402 members in one unit and 24 in another.
The opportunity to reach out to Egan came as Local 110 was in negotiations with Winnipeg School Division management who, according to the word on the street, were demanding some serious concessions.
How else to get answers than to simply ask? We did just that:
Hello
We understand your local is facing tough negotiations despite having an NDP dominated board and a member of your local on the NDP government executive.
Have you formed your Strike Committee and set up strike seminars?
What if anything has your local done to send strong messages to management, like withholding overtime, that you will not tolerate any concessions?
We are of the understanding that management wants changes to all your best clauses and are demanding the introduction of part timers at the intro level?
We hope you have indicated that your local will not budge one inch especially so as you hold the position of Chair on the Cupe School Steering Committee and set the example that all follow.
Just a word of caution, that any information you share may or shall be used in the future for or against your position.
Good luck
Fraternally
The following is Terry Egan's reply - sent the very next day:
Dear Au Sol,
I wonder who this is ....................... pffffffffft ................... I guess the truse is off .......................... so we start again ................... only harder this time .............. and this time ass hole I plan to win harder then last .................... oh and Au Sol a word of caution to you if I were you I'd keep watching out of your "top floor" window....... and ........... every single night for the rest of your life.
Oh and Au Sol just in case you didnt know ........... I forgot to mention I have been watching you all along and have never stopped and niether has a few others ............... I just gave you another chance .......dumb move me huh ............. not to worry ........... it wont happen again.
T
ps Ever consider leaving town?
Just a few minutes later, a second email from Egan arrived:
Oh and I forgot never ever ever threaten me again.
T
A little stunned by such obvious stupidity, we here at MFD took a day to just contemplate a rational reply.
During that time we forwarded Egan's email to some friends across the country. Here are some of the responses we received:
Hello
I do not think very much of him? Isn't the following email evidence of criminal harassment? Isn't Taz Loco Terry Egan?
In Solidarity,
Greetings
Want my advice, go down to the nearest police station and report this.
Fraternally
Good Morning
Got to get to work, but it sounds as if that guy is threatening you.
Obviously, he thinks he knows who you are Au Sol, I can't believe someone would write something that ugly, especially a union president.
Are you going to be okay? Is this guy going to come after you? I am kind of freaked after reading his reply to you.
What are you going to do? Even if CUPE supports him, they have a responsibility to maintain non-violence and to deal with harassment.
What is his problem????
In Solidarity,
Hi
What a complete idiot! If this is the level of intelligence that is to be found in leadership positions within the locals, no wonder the employers are getting braver and braver in their efforts to water down contracts and jerk dissenters around. There's actually nothing in your note that's threatening or offensive. It simply challenges the guy to show that he's got a plan. Are you thinking of doing a little story? It's good when they show their true colours this way.
later brother
Good Morning,
This is pretty disgusting! But, interestingly he seems quite comfortable to cc it to the world.
I take it the dmaclaughlin is a CUPE Rep?
Watch your back brother!
In Solidarity
Yes, we too find it interesting that Egan has no problem CC'ing it to the world. Here's a list of some of the addresses Egan included in his reply and the people those addresses belong to:
- archie.nicholson@shaw.ca
- Archie Nicholson
- An executive member of Cupe Local 110.
- dmclaughlin@cupe.ca
- Doug McLaughlin
- CUPE National Representative - (204) 725-8888
- gstoroszczuk@7oaks.org
- Gale Storoszczuk
- CUPE Local 2938 President - 582-4867 / 632-6314. Gale Storoszczuk is president of Cupe local 2938 which represent 8 library technicians at Seven Oaks School Division.
- krebeck@unitedwaywinnipeg.ca
- Kevin Rebeck
- Current president of CUPE Manitoba and Manitoba Regional President for CUPE National. He also holds the position of recorder for the Winnipeg Labour Council.
- rik59@hotmail.com
- Rik Panciera
- CUPE National Representative
- sedwards@cupe.mb.ca
- Steve Edwards
- CUPE National Representative - 942-0343 / cell. 771-2534
- gflood@wsd1.org
- Gerry Flood
- An executive member of Cupe Local 110, a Winnipeg Area Executive Member for Cupe Manitoba, and a member of Gary Doer's NDP executive.
- wwellborn@pein.org
- Wendy Wellborn
- Northern Area Executive Member for the newly merged Cupe Manitoba Local 3305. In 2003 the locals of Dauphin-Ochre, Duck Mountain and Intermountain, Locals 3305, 2834 and 1685, decided to voluntarily amalgamate into Local 3305.
The reason we're posting this is to remind union members, activists, proponents, and critics, of just how bad things really are in some unions. As Egan's email demonstrates, if you ask a question of your representatives, you may get a grade-school assault in reply.
Some friends had asked what we were going to do about Egan's email. Well, the answer to that is simple. We're going to give Egan the floor and let the world see how some CUPE presidents behave. With this solution in mind, Egan's email has been forwarded in full to a number of CUPE executives.
As quoted earlier, "If this is in fact the level of intelligence that is to be found in leadership positions within the locals, no wonder the employers are getting braver and braver in their efforts to water down contracts and jerk dissenters around. There's actually nothing in your note that's threatening or offensive. It simply challenges the guy to show that he's got a plan."
Given the above quote, one really has to wonder why Egan was compelled to write an arguably criminal-in-content email in reply. Equally puzzling is the aforementioned fact that he seems rather comfortable in cc'ing it to numerous CUPE executives. What does that mean exactly? Is harassment such a common occurrence within CUPE that the executives brag about it to each other? Was Egan acting tough for his CUPE buddies? Besides demonstrating a tenuous grasp of basic grammatical concepts, what exactly was Egan hoping to achieve with this?
The obvious answer is silence. Egan's intent was to intimidate. Unfortunately for Egan we don't scare easily.
Now, besides the question of intent, Egan's email also raises a lot of other alarming questions.
Let's read it again: (for the comfort of our readers we've removed some of the bastardized punctuation)
Dear Au Sol,
I wonder who this is... pffffffffft... I guess the truse is off. so we start again... only harder this time... and this time ass hole I plan to win harder then last... oh and Au Sol a word of caution to you if I were you I'd keep watching out of your "top floor" window... and... every single night for the rest of your life.
Oh and Au Sol just in case you didnt know... I forgot to mention I have been watching you all along and have never stopped and niether has a few others... I just gave you another chance... dumb move me huh... not to worry... it wont happen again.
T
ps Ever consider leaving town?
So, Egan implies that he knows where the author lives and/or works and, given that information, he states that he and a "few others" have been watching "all along and [have] never stopped". Well, isn't watching someone with such vigor commonly referred to as stalking?
And what's with "Ever consider leaving town?". Is that a threat in and of itself? It's like old western movies where the mere utterance of "this town ain't big enough for the two of us" all but guaranteed a showdown at high noon. Perhaps Egan needs to be reminded that no one stole his cattle or robbed his bank. He was simply asked some questions.
To paraphrase an email quoted earlier, even if CUPE supports Egan, they have a responsibility to maintain a non-violent atmosphere and, like every other employer in Canada, a government mandated responsibility to investigate and deal with issues of harassment.
To date there has been no apology from Egan or anyone else from CUPE.
In lieu of an apology, however, Egan did offer a few more insightful words. On June 5th, via his hotmail account, Egan wrote "Keep it up ............................ " and in another email later that day "You are really pushing it".
On June 6th, in response to a question about how he felt about being party to such behaviour, Kevin Rebeck, President of CUPE Manitoba threw in his two cents:
Morning all,
I'm not sure what this is all about or who this even is. If anyone copied on this has concerns they would like to discuss or address they should call me at 771 6490 or send me an e-mail with their name on it. I can't be sure what this is about or if it is a poor attempt at humour.
I dont think this type of communication is helpful or respectful for anyone involved. The tone of both communications is about as useful as naming yourself "Au Sol" on e-mails.
If people want to discuss this please call me, if not please remove me from future communications.
in solidarity,
Kevin
Although Rebecks response is hardly comforting, the fact remains that Rebeck is now informed. He is now either part the problem or a part of the solution. And to quote yet another union member that's been privy to these events:
A half brain knows to investigate; to take any and all threats seriously. A quarter wit knows to err on the side of caution.
In closing, CUPE members are still waiting for the answers to the original questions. So, if there are any CUPE insiders (and we know you're reading this) with the faculties (and temperament) to answer them, you are hereby cordially invited to join us in the discussion that will accompany this article.
If there are any CUPE members who would like to contact the Cupe National Executive Board regarding this issue, you may do so by clicking the following link (pre-formatted email):
Email the CUPE National Executive Board
Alternatively, we have compiled a list of individual email addresses for a number of CUPE executives:
- National President
- Paul Moist - pmoist@cupe.ca
- National Secretary-Treasurer
- Claude Généreux - cgenereux@cupe.ca
- General Vice-Presidents
- Rick MacMillan Atlantic/Maritimes - macmillr@nbnet.nb.ca
- Mario Gervais Quebec - mgervais@scfp.ca
- Patrick (Sid) Ryan Ontario - sryan@cupe.on.ca
- Tom Graham Manitoba/Saskatchewan - tomgraham@sasktel.net
- Barry O'Neill Alberta/British Columbia - lwatt@cupe.bc.ca
- Regional Vice-Presidents
- Donna Ryan Newfoundland and Labrador - dryan@cupe.ca
- Betty Jean Sutherland Nova Scotia - bj.sutherland@ns.sympatico.ca
- David Rouse New Brunswick - drouse@nbnet.nb.ca
- Donalda MacDonald Prince Edward Island dmmacdonald@edu.pe.ca
- Charles Fleury Quebec cf.scfp1500@qc.aira.com
- Claude Turcotte Quebec - cpas@videotron.ca
- Michael Hurley Ontario - michaelhurley@ochu.on.ca
- Candace Rennick Ontario - c.rennick@sympatico.ca
- Judith Mongrain Northern Ontario - jmongraii@shaw.ca
- Kevin Rebeck Manitoba - krebeck@unitedwaywinnipeg.mb.ca
- Frank Mentes Saskatchewan - fmentes@accesscomm.ca
- D'Arcy Lanovaz Alberta - darcy@lanovaz.org
- Colleen Jordan British Columbia - lwatt@cupe.bc.ca
- Fred Muzin British Columbia - fmuzin@heu.org
- Diversity Vice-Presidents
- Dharam Boodhoo DVP (Worker of Colour) d.boodhoo@sympatico.ca
- Leo Cheverie DVP (Aboriginal) lcheverie@upei.ca