William Richburg responds to Kevin Kollmeyer

CWA 6203 Member William Richburg sent the following brief response to Kevin Kollmeyer’s letter as an iMessage from his phone. He asked me to take care of any minor formatting issues that arose as a result of that, so the paragraph breaks are mine, not his. The rest is the statement as I received it.

Mr Kollmeyer, with respect for the office you hold, after reading your letter carefully I am compelled to ask if the West Region did not in fact get a better bargain for their members? They fought hard for not just a few days or weeks but for months after their last contract expired finally resorting to mediation after refusing to cave in to the company and settle for less. They did this in the same environment you cite as the reason our leadership could not do better. They fought longer and harder and the members got a better contract. Imagine that!

You quoted Mahatma Ghandi at the conclusion of your letter. Consider this quote from him also, “They can beat me and torture me. They can even kill me. Then they will have my dead body. But they will never have my obedience.”

That kind if leadership will mobilize folks into a movement that produces positive change. Not the kind of leadership that hopes someday a parade will beeak out so they can jump in front of it and take the credit for making a parade happen.

William Richburg
An Educated Member with the freedom to express his opinion