Tamara Marshall's Credibility Gap

Members have questioned Tamara Marshall's credibility. She pounded the pulpit at the 2010 TWU Convention insisting that the Union was in strong financial condition and that the talk of a missing million dollars were vicious rumors and was absolutely false. Yet not long after that same convention she sent out a letter describing the financial hardship the Union was under justifying the need for a dues increase. So what happened?

That letter has members and delegates questioning Tamara Marshall's credibility. If the Union was in a difficult financial situation a few months after convention, just maybe they were at convention and Tamara was lying.

By the way, I said three million was missing not one million. Some say it's not missing, they cooked the books but I say it is missing. Right before Sherryl Anderson and Lila Hacket were fired by the Executive, the TWU worked very hard to pay off all their debts owed to other Unions from the long labour dispute in 2005. By the 2009 Convention the TWU had paid off all their loans and were three million dollars ahead. After they fired Sherryl and Lila, by December of that same year they were no longer three million dollars ahead. They were in financial difficulties. That is why I say they lost $3 Million. At the 2009 convention they were $3 Million ahead, six months later that money was spent.

$1 million for negotiations? Let's have an itemized accounting of those expenditures. I don't think they are properly submitting their expenses and I think they are hiding their junkets by throwing out random numbers here and there without giving anything close to an accurate financial accounting of how that money was spent.

By July of 2010 the Union implemented an unheard of corporate tactic and locked out COPE to roll back their office staff's wages and benefits due to financial hardship. In fact, they even laid off two Cope staff as a result. Only they laid off the two staff with the highest seniority in Alberta because someone doesn't like them, then hired temps in BC. Tamara says she doesn't think there's a grievance and they have laid off two of the most senior members “purely for financial reasons”.

In fact, there has been a great deal of drama displayed by the executive of the Union trying to convince the members what a financial crisis the Union is in that would justify a dues increase. The Union will not longer pay for the members to be trained at the CLC Winter school in Harrison. If a member wants to go, they have to pay for it themselves. The Union has cut back members and delegates per diems. In fact, if you want a shop steward manual, you now have to pay $20.

In Tamara's defense I will say that in my opinion she is not the driving force behind the financial mismanagement and the malicious attacks on fellow members and officers but I will say she is an active participant helping to cover their tracks and rationalize their misdeeds. BTW Is Peter Massey working for another Union now and in fact representing COPE mistreated by the TWU? Wouldn't that be ironic.



So where did the $3 million go after they FIRED Sheryl and Lila?

Show me the money!