How is everyone feeling about this year’s upcoming convention given the $20 million dollar racketeering case in 2023? How do we prevent the “personal piggy bank” mentality from happening again in the future with our pension?
How is everyone feeling about this year’s upcoming convention given the $20 million dollar racketeering case in 2023? How do we prevent the “personal piggy bank” mentality from happening again in the future with our pension?
Below is an announcement from Dan Sullivan but it’s also some insight into the reality we face if we don’t make some crucial changes to leadership and the structure.
“ANNOUNCEMENT”
Since I announced running for International President, I have seen a lot of comments about the pension, annuity, and health and welfare funds.
I’d like to get something straight.
No one person — not the IP, not the IEC, not anybody — can wave a magic wand and fix every national fund issue overnight.
That is not how this works.
These are ERISA funds. They are federally regulated benefit plans run through trustee structures and fiduciary rules.
Not slogans. Not campaign theater. Not fake promises.
The real problem is the broken organization behind the funds not the funds themselves.
Right now, we have about three members or beneficiaries drawing a pension for every one active contributor.
That is not a talking point. That is a warning sign.
We have also lost good participating members because they lost faith in leadership.
Everybody has seen it.
And while members were losing hope, leadership was not doing enough to aggressively secure new work opportunities.
That failure matters.
Because this is basic math.
More work means more man-hours. More man-hours mean more contributions. More contributions mean stronger funds.
You do not strengthen pension, annuity, or health and welfare by protecting insiders, covering up failure, and pretending the system is healthy when it is not.
And let’s stop dancing around the corruption issue.
It damaged this union. It damaged our reputation. It damaged trust with contractors and employers.
Nobody wants to be tied to an organization known more for scandal than strength.
That lost trust costs market share.
Lost market share costs hours.
Lost hours hurt the funds.
That is why constitutional reform is not fluff and desperately needed.
It is the starting point.
Clean house. Restructure. Restore accountability. Rebuild trust. Grow the work. Grow the hours. Strengthen the funds.
Some people say that when I talk about past failures hurts the organization.
That is a lie, and those people ARE a big part of the problem! They want to protect the “king” in hopes he throws them a crumb.
Those who have said I’m “hurting their organizing campaigns” can kiss my ass!
A 20 million dollar embezzlement scandal and 8 federal indictments with 5 of them being international officers hurt their organizing campaign!
The cover-ups hurt the organization.
The silence hurt the organization.
The excuses hurt the organization.
Transparency does not weaken us.
Transparency is how we rebuild.
You do not fix a failed system by lying about it.
You fix it by exposing what failed, removing what is broken, and rebuilding it the right way.
So here is the question.
Do the members want more of the same?
Or do they want new leadership that knows exactly what the problem is and is not afraid to say it?
Because I am not running to protect a failed system.
I am running to break it apart and rebuild this union the way it should have been run all along.
The old leadership culture built this mess and is thriving still today!
Now the members have to decide whether they want another excuse for it — or a leader who is willing to call it out and change it.
Break the Cycle and question anyone who believes in and supports the status quo!!! Because they too are part of the problem!!!
NewBreedOfLeadership
BoilermakerReform
AccountabilityMatters
BuildBackTrust
https://www.breakingthecycle2026.org/podcast/
It is time to have conversations about transparency. It’s time for members to be engaged. It’s time for reform. Make this convention count in 2026.