THE BURNING EMBER 16

BULLFROG TAKING THINGS AGAIN

Local President Greg Stinson is falling back on his old tricks in a vain attempt to find ways to attack the local. Given the changes that management is inflicting on employees, his time and energy should be focused on management. Instead Stinson, the bullfrog, is attacking on other members of the local. Now we know that in the past, Stinson snuck into the local Secretary/Treasurers office took documents containing member’s personal information and made copies of those documents. He then told other members that he had “evidence” of misdoings on the part of the executive board. He stated he had copies of documents in a safety deposit box and he was going to file charges with the Department of Labor. The membership directed that an audit be held and one was conducted. Stinson, in his typical spineless, cowardly fashion failed to show for the audits, failed to produce any evidence, and failed to return the personal information he had stolen from the local. Furthermore, his attempt to file charges with the Department of Labor blew up in his face. Instead of going after other members the Department of Labor turned on the bullfrog like a heat seeking missile, which he narrowly dodged by lying last fall. So you would think that after the powder burns healed he would have learned a lesson. Nope not the bullfrog, he is once again up to his juvenile skullduggery.
This last week the bullfrog was again skulking about the office and snooping in other’s desks he found a packet of papers. One of the things that were in that packet was information and checks left to take care of business while the local Secretary/Treasurer Debbie was away on vacation. Well, hallelujah, the bullfrog thought he had found the “smoking gun,” wrong again Greg. One can only guess what the bullfrog did with that file—yep he stole it. He took all of the information and checks that the local Secretary/Treasurer left, including lost time checks for the members who attended the national convention and to pay the local’s bills. He stole everything, including the new credit card number, now that is scary, which was given to the local secretary to keep the local operating for the three weeks that Debbie is going to be gone—things such as purchasing supplies and paying bills and the information needed to process checks, including her pay and benefits checks. Just so there is no misunderstanding, this is the procedure that is followed whenever the Secretary/Treasurer goes on vacation—the local secretary is given the information and resources necessary to make sure things continue to run. Stinson it seems does not know this, of course if he showed up to do the job the members want him to do he might have known. Now you might wonder how anyone knows for certain that Stinson has these papers. Well again, in his dim-witted manner he admitted to doing having the papers in e-mails to other members. The editor of the Poker, who is also the Oregon State President, Anna Smith, has repeatedly tried to get these items back from him to no avail. The local secretary, with no other recourse, has contacted the Department of Labor and her union in an attempt to get her earned pay and benefits. Stinson is once again flailing about causing the local problems in an ill thought out attempt to hold the local hostage until he gets what he wants.
Turns out, one of the things that he wants is his paycheck, I have no problem giving him his unearned salary, if it keeps him from doing more harm to the local. Of course he seems to forget he was out of town when the checks were cut. More importantly he has failed to turn in his time sheet even though Debbie and Anna have repeatedly asked him to do—more things to seek answers for at the September meeting.
You should get a hold of him and insist he return the things he took. Call him on his cell,503-819-7298, or email him at orbulldog1@verizon.net, gstin29803@yahoo

l.com.

THE BURNING EMBER 15

BULLFROG CHARGES ON

Well, less than a week has passed since the National Convention and the bullfrog is back in Portland and up to his tomfoolery—splashing around in the mud and making attacks on the rest of the local executive board and other members. It is of course understandable considering how he was continually snubbed by APWU National Officers. He must be so frustrated after having the National Officers treat him like the pariah that he is. It seems they are content to only let the bullfrog stay in office for the rest of his term and nothing else. He was real distressed when the National Secretary/Treasurer set him straight on his alleged charges. Maybe bullfrog will get the hint that national wants nothing to do with him, I think not. Now he is back in Portland, and if must cause him a great deal of angst to know he must now face the membership and be held accountable for his ham-fisted handling of the stewards list and his letters and deals with management, without National’s support. One might wonder why with all of that why he would want to add to his list of bone-headed blunders but he did.

It seems that the bullfrog believes that the local’s credit card is his own personal card in that he can charge things and not account for the expenditures. The local’s Secretary/Treasurer alerted the membership to a possible problem and the membership directed the audit committed to investigate the usage and accountability of the local’s credit card. The audit committee did so on July 20, 2008. The entire audit committee was there as were some other concerned members. Greg Stinson was invited, but in keeping with his usual duck and cover avoidance tactics he failed to show. The audit committee found some things that are very disturbing.

It seems there are several charges to the card with no receipts for accountability. The total of those charges is about $1068.00. The other two people on the card accounted and provided receipts for their items, which leaves only Greg Stinson as the person using the card. He was asked by letter to provide receipts, but has refused to do so. Another letter was sent asking him to explain why the local had to pay more for his travel to Las Vegas than for other members, he has failed to respond. I guess he believes that his is above accountability for his charges. His use of the local’s funds without authorization or accountability equates to theft and embezzlement, albeit petty theft. Now in typical bullfrog fashion he is splashing mud around in an attempt to cover his gaffes. His moronic response is that the local cannot prove who made the charges. Problem with that is that two of the charges are for airline tickets in his name, oops. I wonder who he is going to blame for those charges. Fortunately the audit committee cancelled the credit card in order to keep the bullfrog from charging on and to protect the local. Now, we have more members who now want him to explain this new issue along with the other issues that he has failed to explain. His time is coming.

The local membership meeting is coming September 21. I strongly urge all members to show up and get some answers for all of his misdoings, shenanigans, including his failure to account for his use of the local’s funds. Regardless, it is going to be fun to watch him sweat, stutter, and stammer as he tries to explain himself. I expect him to use typical evasive and mud splashing tactics, of course that is what the bullfrog is good at, wallowing in the mud.

If you wish you can call him on his cell, 503-819-7298 or email him at orbulldog1@verizon.net, gstin29803@yahoo.com.

THE BURNING EMBER 14

DIFFERENT TOWN; SAME BULLFROG

Just a quick report. It has only been a few days at the National Convention and the bullfrog is showing his colors. After leaving a day early, have to avoid actually being on the same plane as other executive board members, and staying at a different hotel, again to avoid having to be with the Portland Area Local or Oregon State delegations, the bullfrog immediately began seeking meetings with National APWU officers in another attempt to bring National into the local's affairs. Of course when he does bring himself to speak with anyone from Oregon he puts on his good ole boy front acting as if he is not about to stick you in the back with his knife. Fortunately, the rest of the folks from Oregon already know what he is about and they tend to avoid him also. It is fun to watch him as he ususally sits all by himself as no one wants to be around him. He has become the epitome of a pariah--both with local and, what he does not realize, the National Officers as well. They put up with his tantrums only because he is still in office and look for the day when he is not. Of course he would not be the same bullfrog if he did not vote against at least one motion supported by the local. Anything that the local supports he opposes, as usual. If anything new comes up, look for it here.

THE BURNING EMBER 13

KEEPING HIS TIES WITH MANAGEMENT

Nothing changes; the bullfrog continues his odious dealings with management. This time he is attempting to use management to attack my good brothers and sisters in MVS. Before I get to that, there is something I wish to address. I have heard from some members that they would like to see this blog address issues other than those of our local president. They seem to want the issues with the bullfrog to go away. Yeah, I would love to focus my attention full bore on things that are happening here with stupid supervisors who discipline people for getting cancer or with double-dealing senior plant managers who expect employees to believe how much he cares about them, yet he refuses to lift a finger to help them. The list is long, however, we will not be able to effectively address the issues and deal with management as long as we have the bullfrog, Greg Stinson in office. He has continually done and continues to do things to the local that have undermined years of efforts, attacks on other executive board members, attacks on stewards, letters to management weakening and eroding the local’s strength. At the beginning, some members of the executive board tried to help and guide him so that the local would continue to be able to protect and help the members. Those efforts were wasted as the bullfrog continued to go off and do things that he wanted—things that harmed the local from sending letters to management to begging National APWU to put the local into trusteeship. I am one who cannot sit by and pretend that everything is fine, especially since the bullfrog continues to do things that are harmful to the local. I am going to make certain that his actions are brought to light, things such as letters to management, like the ones he sent to the Senior Plant Manager, Kim Anderson, on July 30, 2008.

I have in my possession copies of letters that were sent by the bullfrog to management. In those letters he attempted to interfere with MVS Director Ralph McEvers’ efforts to negotiate consecutive days off for MVS drivers. I have a real difficult time in understanding why bullfrog would want to prevent truck drivers from having consecutive days off, maybe he likes having split days off, but I do not and I am certain that most, if not all, drivers would like to have consecutive days off. Aside from that, the real problem though is that again, the bullfrog is going to management in a dull-witted attempt to control the local and we know that this is not the first time, nor will it be the last time. Fortunately this time the Senior Plant Manager saw this for what it was, a possible violation of the National Agreement and refused to be a part of bullfrog’s dirty deed. Myself, however, as long as he continues to be in office I am going to watch and report on his every misdoing. I am still tempted to go over to the Flamingo Hotel where he is staying and try to get some answers.

For my MVS brothers and sisters not at the convention, maybe you can call at the hotel or on his cell, 503-819-7298, though I expect he is going to be trying to meet with National Secretary-Treasurer, Terry Stapleton in an attempt to get the local in trusteeship again or at the very least to file spurious charges against other members of the executive board. You can also try to reach him at orbulldog1@verizon.net gstin29803@yahoo.com.

THE BURNING EMBER 12

DOES ANYONE KNOW WHERE

MY BULLFROG HAS GONE?

Last Sunday, Aug. 10, was the APWU Member appreciation picnic. This annual event is where the local executive board shows our appreciation you the members, both current and retired. Of this year’s event even I have to admit that is was a smashing success. The food was great. The weather was beautiful. The fellowship was warm and friendly. Those of you who were unable to attend were missed. I hope you are able to come in the future. There were some super prizes given out during the member’s and COPA drawings. The children’s games and drawings were fun. Myself, I enjoy watching the Safety Director, Roseanna Foster-Mikhail and our local Secretary-Treasurer, Debbie Battle moving about like a couple of mother-hens overseeing the children’s games and handing out prizes. I would never even think about getting between those ladies and their broods. Debbie should also be recognized for the outstanding job and unselfish efforts she put toward coordinating the whole event. I would also be remiss if I did not mention the other members of our executive board who put in a lot of time and effort before, during, and after the picnic. Local Vice-President, Brian Dunsmore, and Poker Editor Anna Smith among other things were continually moving about taking care of whatever needed to be done. Director of Associate Offices Bill Martin had arranged the food and MVS Director Ralph McEvers did a lot of the grunt work with trucking stuff to and from the local office and picnic site. Both also helped with the set up and take down of the event. All of the above officers did an outstanding job and sacrificed their own time to make the event as go off smoothly and be as good as it was. Their families also sacrificed time to help. Even the “Beer Garden” team of Kevin Fraser, David Baldwin, and Daryl Teckenburg did a super job in keeping the refreshments cool and flowing. The only notable absence was the local President Greg Stinson. The bullfrog was a complete no-show for any of the planning, preparation, or carrying out of the Membership Appreciation Picnic. He never even called to offer even the most piteous excuse as to why he was not there. Some of his supporters were there and probably wondering where the bullfrog was. I suppose that it is no surprise as he has continually shown that he only is concerned with a very small minority of the members of the local, his supporters. He also has not been to a meeting since May. Makes a person wonder why he fails to show as he seems to keep in pretty good contact with management; you know letters to Labor Relations and the Senior Plant Manager. Maybe he is just become a little shy. My guess is that he fears being held accountable for his appalling blunders over the last few months. I suppose he figures he can control the damage by limiting his public appearances. George Bush ought to try that. Got some news though, bullfrog can run, but he cannot hide. He is going to Las Vegas for the APWU National Convention. Even though he is leaving a day earlier and is staying at a different hotel, in an attempt to distance himself from the other executive board members, at a greater cost to the local by the way. I believe though that the delegates are going to seek him out and get some answers. I might even go to his hotel, introduce myself and see if he wants me to publish some of his excuses on this blog. That would be fun. As it stands he can continue to run, but his time is running out. If the answers do not come in Vegas, they will come at the September meetings. The members want answers. For those of you that are not going to the convention, I will try to submit reports as I can. It should prove interesting as he tries to avoid the rest of the local delegation in order to lick the boots and kiss up to the National Officers. If you want answers now, you can try to reach him at orbulldog1@verizon.net, gstin29803@yahoo.com or 503-819-7298. Remember though, unless you are one of his supporters or an APWU National Officer like Terry Stapleton he will not answer, because he apparently does not appreciate you, the member.

DAYS LEFT

ONLY 138 DAYS LEFT UNTIL WE HAVE A

NEW PRESIDENT!!!

THE BURNING EMBER 11

BULLFROG'S PASTIME
ELECTRONIC CHARACTER ASSASSINATIONS

APWU Local President Greg Stinson, the bullfrog, just does not know when to quit. As I wrote before, he started attacking the other members of the local executive board right from the beginning of his term. He continues to launch his feeble personal attacks much to the dismay and disgust of many members of this local and others members throughout the country. One of my sources on the local executive board forwarded to me a copy of an e-mail that bullfrog sent to the other members of the local executive board and some members of the local. What follows is an excerpt from his e-mail. Bullfrog wrote,

“ I felt you the membership should be made aware of the true despicable nature of these persons who try to portray themselves as Unionist, who will go to ANY deceitful lengths of slimy behavior, legally or illegally. You all have my permission to past the email I sent to the E Board, around to ALL members so they can see what kind of despicable people they really are.” (All misspelling and capital letters were copied as written.)

I was appalled. Here he is making personal attacks on the other members of executive board. Now, in any organization it is normal for there to be differences—especially when the group is as diverse as our union. There will be debate, discussions, and disagreements, sometimes heated. Most of the members of the local realize this and treat it for what it is—just a fact of doing business. This is true in our local also. I have seen the members of the executive board disagree, discuss and then compromise in an effort to do what is best for the local. Sometimes one side prevails; sometimes the other—the discussions are never personal. Bullfrog’s attacks though are simply attacks on character of the other members of the local executive board. He makes those attacks for personal and professional gain.

In this case, he was angry that other board members did not respond to an earlier e-mail concerning a missing computer thumb drive. He accused two of the board members of stealing the device, without any evidence. Unable to get a response, he made an irrational attack on all of the members of the local board—a no fact attack. It was shocking enough that sent the e-mail to other members, but he had to go one step beyond; he sent the e-mail to APWU National Officers, other locals in the country, and even to people who are in USPS management, which causes me again to wonder why he involves management in the affairs of the local. One of the members of the local executive board, who is tired of bullfrog’s attacks, told me he even contacted an attorney in order to pursue a defamation suit against the bullfrog. Now, as if this character assassination was not enough, the bullfrog continues to make infantile and poorly thought out electronic personal attacks on the other members of the local executive board. I know I have seen and read the documentation that others have sent or given me.

I received a web site address and printed copies from the site from one of my sources. It is a site set up by the bullfrog. On that site he continues his pathetic personal attacks. It was just awful. He has a section on his site titled the “Dog Pound” in that he has listed the names of several members of the local. I was able to access the “Dog Pound” and I was shocked. There were things written there that were simply sad little personal attacks on good members of the local. There is also a section titled “The Fire Hydrant Award.” You can only guess what he means by that. In that section he makes a personal attack on one of the women members of the local board. The attack was personal in nature and completely irrelevant to any issue affecting the local. He makes attacks on union members, but never makes any statements about management. This is from a person who stated in his campaign literature that he would take a strong stance against management and who claims on his web site to be 150% for Union solidarity, though I have not seen it yet. Of course, when bullfrog found out that other members were reading what he had written he quickly tried to cover his tracks by changing his web site and denying access to it by others. I am wondering what the Union company that is selling the web space for unions to use would say if they saw that their site was is being used to attack union members.

The election is coming. We only have about 170 days until we get a new local president. The members of the local should keep in mind what the bullfrog has done while in office--attacking members and helping management, when the time comes to elect a new local president. In the mean time, the members as a whole need to keep the bullfrog in check, when he shows up at the picnic, the National Convention, or the next membership meeting he needs to be confronted by you the members as you deserve accountability and answers.

For more immediate answers, call him on his cell at 503-819-7298 or e-mail him at orbulldog1@verizon.net or gstin29803@yahoo.com