To my knowlege, Kohler is still recovering from his burst appendix. In his absense the local has been quiet with at least a few people doing their jobs. Im sure Roger Kohler is resting comfortably knowing his medical bills will be taken care of by our health plan, a comfort many members will not know because they havent been called back to work. Reform worked hard to get their fat paychecks and perks and spend time defending the same, time that maybe would be better spent getting members back to work.

Union business does not stop because one man is ill who is the person taking charge and getting things done.

Im not sure which one of the key stone cops is taking charge, but the Pres. Hawkins most likely. Boy,looks like the addition of two extra agents was a real good idea with the shrinking membership and some members reduced to less than 40hrs a week, while others are in the unemployment line because their shops closed. I think the loss of 300 members would mean a reduction in agents since for one less money coming into the local and two less work for at least 2 of the agents. Does Kohler see it this way? I dont think so, seems he is going to take care of his cronies no matter how much of the members money it takes! How bout that new copier? Boy we really needed that huh, another waste of our money. One would think with Kohler college education he would have a plan for these hard times, at least one that would protect the members instead of just his cronies. Simple things like organizing, Kohler has no real plan for that except to sit and wait for employers come to him [English trucking], VWR was a big issue in Kohlers campaign but we havent heard a word about it since Kohler took office. Kinda hard to negotiate a contract from a bar on a friday afternoon. The Joint council has a training site, employers from our locals jurisdiction contribute to this training site and our members are eligible for training. One would think a smart agent would be interested in getting members trained and putting them to work on the pipeline projects coming thru our area, but Reform agents just dont seem that smart. After all, why should they work so hard? They get their check either way.

Maybe they can get members jobs selling copiers to TDU locals at 30,000 a pop the commission has to be good.

Maybe not so quiet with Roger gone. Word has it Mark Salemi is under investigation for threatining a member. Has Roger lost control over his own people? If found guilty will Salemi be punished? What else can one expect from a agent who spends friday afternoons in a bar when he is still on the clock. How bout printing that in the locals newsletter, what next?

Is this the union rep who was drinking and driving with a union car and now he is threating members he is a law suit waiting to happen .If he has a drinking problem why doesn!t the local take away his car and if that doesn!t help maybe Kolher can give him a $ 1,200 dollar a month car allowence you know so you don!t get sued.I have to laugh your past officals were not perfect and they made some mistakes but these TDU guys are turning out to be drunks who think they can threaten members and spend money that is not theirs. Loss of jobs , drunk officals, members money being wasted, members and officals being threaten,and it has only 6 months these people have been in power I hope your Local is around in a year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A law suit would put the local under in a hurry. There are two appointed Reform agents that are high risk in my opinion,Kohler chooses to ignore the risks involved. The risk to the local is the reason the members voted to have background checks for all agents and officers, Kohler chose to ignore the will of the members and refused to run background checks on his appointed staff. Kohler seems to care more about protecting his cronies more than he does our local. Members first must have meant members of Kohlers staff, he doesnt seem to care about the working members, the ones who pay their salaries and benifits. And what do members get in return? Threats!

If in my old Local if we had back round checks we would have found out that our TDU President (john georgopolus) was a drug dealer and a car thief.When he became president of Local 138 he was only a THIEF who cost the local jobs , I am sure you could find out if your officals were arrested and you should, this way you will know what you are dealing with.I think the next time you see your offical in a bar drinking and then he gets into your union car you should call 911 to keep him from killing himself or someone else.You do not have to give your name use your cell give them the make and plate number and save the life of an innocent person.As far as threats go a file police report if you fear for your safety if you are being threatened with loss of job go to the NLRB.

I do believe Roger Kohler would like to keep the backgrounds of a few of his appointed agents hidden. Im sure there are some smart members of our local who can do their own background checks on these guys. The point is Kohler is keeping information from the members to protect his cronies. If Kohler wont protect our local then its up to the members to do it.

Your right find out what he is hiding about these mis-fits and make a news letter and put them in shops the more members who know what they are doing the faster you can stop them.

You've got to be suspicious of a guy who is so dead set against background checks....

Local 138 TDU president was a car thief and a drug dealer who turned his life around he became a labor racketeer I wish we had done a background check .