It's Déjà Vu All Over Again

The end of our long union nightmare may be near.

The change movement began quietly in Boston on January 1, 2008, when Pat Hollenbeck defeated the incumbent Lee-supporter Barbara Owens for President of Local 9-535.

The quiet revolution continued on to Nashville a year ago, with an impressive victory by Pomeroy and Krampf against Lee's minions Bradley and Linnemann.

Now comes the biggest rejection of Tom Lee's status quo yet: the landslide victory of the Members Party in New York.

Lame ducks Bradley and Linnemann, along with Lee, Folio and the rubber-stamp IEB, may prove to be sitting ducks at Convention 2010, if this trend in rejecting disingenuous leadership continues.

Musicians must drop their attitude of inherent trust of our elected leadership. Delegates at Convention 2007 were blindsided by Lee’s Canadian shenanigans and his contentious behavior regarding the lawsuits, among other things.

For survival of this union, at the local and national levels, we need this revolution of change to deliver us with new leadership through Convention 2010.