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UFCW Local 951: An Undemocratic Union

The truth is sad: UFCW Local 951 is not a democratic union. In fact, calling Local 951 a “union” isn’t correct. A union fights for its members. Not Local 951. Union officials and leadership have had no problems collecting members’ dues and using it to benefit themselves. But when the members ask for need help or raise questions, they are ignored and cast aside. Local 951 wants money, not members with democracy and their own well being in mind.

Local 951 is still Robert Potter’s union. Some people may say Russ Blunden is inexperienced, but Potter was union president for over 25 years. What do the members have to show for all that experience? Stagnant wages, higher health care costs, contract concessions and ineffective business agents. It seems all that experience helped Potter and his associates destroy the livelihood of Local 951's membership.

And Marv Russow is no better. Russow was appointed after Robert Potter’s resignation. But why would Potter, this supposedly seasoned and knowledgeable leader, resign? We believe his complacency, incompetence and misuse of Local 951 finally caught up with him in form of a government investigation. The U.S. Department of Labor filed suit against Local 951 for improper conduct in the 2004 union president election.

But of course, instead of acknowledging any misconduct and rerunning the election, Local 951 chose to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees defending itself. If Potter won fairly, why fight in court? Because Potter knew the truth: Russ Blunden would have won the election, and Robert Potter's regime would have crumbled.

So the union has adopted a new strategy: remove Potter, appoint Russow and steal the issues of Russ Blunden’s 2004 platform with the hopes of conning the members into believing Local 951 is a new, improved, pro-member union. The goal is to fool the members into believing Local 951 is a different union, a union for them, so Local 951 can continue its self-serving ways. But this isn’t a new union. It’s still ruled by selfishness, ignorance and greed.

The only way to create a new union is to start from the ground up. Change doesn’t come from the top. It starts with the members. And that is why Russ Blunden is the best choice for union president. He is a member, not some appointed businessman with money and power in mind. He wants to create a new union, a better union. Russow may be a new face, but the rest of the faces haven’t change, and neither have their unethical, undemocratic ways. This union needs new faces, people who care about the members.

The Campaign to Elect Russ Blunden is dedicated to achieving this goal of democracy and pro-member leadership.

Democracy: What Local 951 Should Be

Local 951 is not a democracy. In a democracy, people have a choice; people have a voice. Members have the right to control, participate in and shape their future. In a democracy, people wield the authority and have the right to participate in the decision-making process.

Democracy is not having people who know nothing of the hardships and challenges a worker faces every day. It is not being ignored and controlled. It is not having the terms of employment contracts kept from the members. It is not having intimidating business representatives who ignore the members. It is not having appointed stewards who hold allegiances to the Local 951 leadership. It is not having health care benefits systematically taken away. It is not having wages left stagnant when the cost of living continues to rise. These are not the traits of a democratic union. These are the traits of a dictatorship, a dictatorship like UFCW Local 951.

Local 951 doesn’t care about its membership. Union members only serve as a source of money. The reason the union needs its members? For their large paychecks. The dues are important, not the members who pay them.

So now ask yourself, would you rather have democracy, the type of union Russ Blunden wants to create, or the dictatorship Robert Potter created and Marv Russow now leads?

The Campaign to Elect Russ Blunden is dedicated to achieving union democracy and pro-member leadership. And we can’t do it alone. We need your help and support to change the way things are. So please vote for Russ Blunden. It’s time for change.