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Moe FonerMoe Foner
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during the winter months with rank and filers and other supporters doing the calls in a carefully designed poll. The results of the poll indicated that number one, the major issue was the strike and the five percent, the fact that the workers had not received the five percent increase as Turner had promised repeatedly and repeatedly and repeatedly. Other questions that were on the same level -- not exactly the same level, that were important -- was the load of unresolved grievances. There were over 1,000 unresolved grievances at the time of the election, and workers had by this time lost any confidence in the union's ability to solve any of their grievances on the hospital level. So workers were sort of throwing up their hands and not raising anything. The managements, recognizing the total weakness of the union, would throw everything into arbitration. So there was this tremendous backlog of cases in arbitration.

In addition, there was the question of corruption.

[END TAPE ONE, SIDE ONE; BEGIN TAPE ONE, SIDE TWO]

Foner:

The question of Turner's credibility relates in the following manner. Since the end of the strike, Turner had repeatedly fended off questions about the five percent increase and the retroactive pay by fumphaing the thing, by saying always that “We're going to get it, it's coming, it takes a little time. But don't worry, we're going to get every penny, and it's going to be retroactive.” That approach was taken at all meetings of the delegates. It was taken in the publication month after month. There was a variation of that statement, that “That's coming, and we're going to get it with full back pay. The opposition is raising it. It is merely trying to deceive and divide us. They're trying to do the management's work. We always had a long time to wait before we got the back pay and before the contract was implemented.” That was not true. That position was taken for almost a full year.

After awhile, the members became more and more unhappy with it, and began to feel that maybe it was gone and maybe it should be forgotten. Because into the second year, I'd say about four or five or six months before the election, suddenly, if you follow the official union publication you find no reference to Turner's comments on the five percent and the back pay. It's becoming a non-issue. Telbert King, the number two person, at a meeting at St. Vincent's Hospital -- we have obtained a tape of that meeting -- he said during the early part of the election campaign, “Are you going to throw out this leadership just for a lousy five percent? After all, that only means ten, twelve, dollars a week. Is that more important than the union?” So it became clear that they were giving up on that issue. They were confronted





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