Some member comments submitted in support of the Brave 66 after they were sued by Bruce Bell

Member Comments in support of Bruce Bell's Recall

Some member comments submitted in support of the Brave 66 after they were sued by Bruce Bell. These were all submitted to the lawyer for the Brave 66 on the day of the trial. The judge did not get the opportunity to see them. Yet.

Prior to this Special Convention several locals submitted resolutions asking for Bruce Bell to resign. In one sense these resolutions were meaningless in that all he had to do was say no which he did. However, these duly submitted resolutions gave rise to the need for a Special Convention which was held and mandated to deal with the memberships' lack of confidence in Bruce Bell. This was not a recall. It was a Special Convention held in accordance with the TWU Constitution.

[Calgary Local's Recall Resolution] [Burnaby Local's Recall Resolutions]

Motion of no confidence From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pictures of the Brave 66's march to Court

Pride of the TWU - The Spirit of 66!

Bruce Bells sues the members and applies for a Restraining Order! It was served on Don Stang (the one who made the nonconfidence motion) and 66 delegates who voted in favor of the motion. He is asking for a restraining order prohibiting the delegates from participating in the March 10, 2006 election. (Notice of Motion page 1 section 2) He is asking the judge to award him costs. That means he wants the Union to pay his legal fees. The Union gets it's money from dues collected from the members. In this sense, Bruce Bell is suing the members!!!

For your information, I was present in court with the Brave 66. I saw the look on Bruce Bell's face when the lawyer for the Brave 66 tore apart every argument. I was not present at the Vancouver RAT and I was not allowed to bring a camera into the courtroom but I saw the look. It was the exact same look I saw on the photo of Bruce from the Vancouver RAT. IMO It was priceless.

Member Comments submitted in support of Bruce Bell's Recall:

My take on these sad times:

The vote to replace the leadership was taken to each local, with a majority vote requesting a recall of the Leadership to be brought to convention for resolution. This action was requested at the local level, inclusive of rank and file membership who chose to attend their regualr meetings. In my opinion Mr. Bell is making the suite against a democratic action taken by the membership at the grass roots level. This is unjust and and insulting. Mr Bell's request for an injunction has added further turmoil, doubt and hestation in moving forward to more stability within the TWU.The nobler and more honorable route would have been to bow to the democratic action of the membership and graciously concede the cessation of office to upcoming nominees.

My delegates already know they have my full support. To all the other delegates who stood up for integrity and never, ever giving in to the capitalists at the cost of the workers, solidarity and support to you too. Thanks for standing up for us and our future.

I XXX XXXX, a member in good standing at local XX, whole heartedly supports the non-confidence ruling that took place on March 6 2006.

Had Bruce pursued our lockout situation with as much passion and tenacity as he is pursuing this activity, we would not have lost.

I totally support the non confidence motion that was made Monday March 6/06 at the TWU convention. I have no confidence in Bruce Bell

I support the recall of the executive!

I'm writing to voice my support to the union delegates that voted to remove Bruce Bell and other members of the executive. I believe that the past executive had misled the membership and was no longer representing the majority of the members of the TWU.

I XXX XXXX,a member in good standing of local XX support the non-confidence ruling.

This purpose of this e-mail is to show support for the TWU deligates in the recent recall of the union executive. This recall was done with my full support as I felt that as a union member that I was miss led during the recent dispute with Telus. I feel that with this recall that the TWU can move forward without having to question executive decsions.

As a member in good standing I fully support the non confidence vote

As a 18 year member in good standing of local XX. I support the order of non confidence.

I XXX XXXX member of local XX support the nonconfidence vote against Bruce Bell.

I support the non confidence vote that took place on Monday on march 6

I, XXX XXXX from Local XX support the non-confidence vote on March 6th 2006.

I XXX XXXX, a member in good standing at local XX, whole heartedly supports the non-confidence ruling that took place on March 6 2006.

I would like to express my support of the non-confidence motion. We were advised that this motion would be brought forward at our local meeting in February and my convention delegate was well aware that I supported this motion. For months preceeding our lockout we were advised to be prepared to be out for 6 - 9 months and I was fully prepared for that. Instead, after just 3 months we were encouraged to accept a collective agreement that made no gains. If we were going to do that we might as well have done it all along instead of bankrupting the union and going without pay for nothing.

Hello, I am XXX XXXX of Local XX and the 66 delegates who have been served with a court summons have my full support! We were SOLD OUT by Bell, Massey and their cronies.

I fully support the nonconfidence ruling as I'm very dissapointed in the actions taken by Bruce Bell and the EC during the negotiations leading to the final vote.

Dear Delegates:

I am writing to tell you that I am in complete support of the non confidence vote of Monday March 06^th, 2006. At this time I also wish to say that I am sending you all my sincerest and best wishes for a positive resolve to the charges against you all by Bruce Bell et al.

As a member of the TWU, I want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart for being able to stand up for the TWU membership as you were voted in to do.

My sincerest and best wishes are that the court will rule in the favor of the non confidence vote and support the members of this union.

Feel free to call me in the am if you need it re sent or re done…and good luck!! My fingers and toes are crossed and you are all in my prayers…thank you for having the strength to stand up for this and please pass this message of gratitude to everyone who stands beside you.!!!!

Dear Delegates:

As a member of the TWU, I want to thank you all for standing up for the TWU membership as you were voted in to do.

My sincerest and best wishes are that the court will rule in the favor of the non confidence vote and support the members of this union.

(Second Letter, different person)

I e-mailed the following to XXX XXXX, my elected delegate in Local XX.

*I fully support the delegates in their non confidence vote at the TWU convention March 6, 2006, (re Bruce Bell and the EC of the TWU).*

My opinion (and that of DOZENS of my co-workers on the XXX, XXXX) is that Bruce Bell is either incredibly incompetent or incredibly stupid. Either way, we want NOTHING to do him, or his cronies.

I, for one, will quit Telus rather than belong to a Union run by Mr. Bell. Tell that to the Judge.

I support the TWU delegates motion of non-confidence put forth at our unions convention on the 6th of March. The union members have spoken. People have done some real soul searching to arrive at this decision. The Executive council should abide by the members directives.

Mr Dennis Watson

Thank You for organising the support for the outcome of special convention, and seeing to the forwarding of support to where it is needed. I do not know how to contact the 66 delegates who voted for our motion of non-confidence, and so I hope you will be able to manage this.

My letter of support follows:

Dear Delegates

I would like to extend my deepest thanks and appreciation to the 66 delegates that had the integrity to vote the wishes of their constituent local members. I am not at all certain that my locals views were properly represented by the person we had entrusted the reponsibility to, but it is heartwarming to see that a firm majority of delegates did put forward the explicit wishes of the membership in their expression of non confidence. We were betrayed by the EC and constitutional directives were flagrantly ignored during bargaining. The membership was lied to and rules pertaining to ratification meetings and voting, were broken.

I am saddened that this matter needs to see the inside of a court room, and it bears further witness to the futile and non-representative lengths that those fearing ouster, will go to. It is my wish that the court will find in favour of democracy, and rule against Mr Bell's group. A non confidence vote is clearly supported by our constitution and it's implentation was by the book.

Thank You again for your efforts on our behalf!

With sincere gratitude.

Dear Delegates:

First of all let me say thank you to each and everyone of you for standing up for the members of the TWU by putting forth and executing a vote of non confidence in the former President of the TWU, Bruce Bell and the former TWU Executives as you were all elected to do by the membership.

As a member of the TWU who was adversely affected by the actions of Bruce Bell et al during the Telus/TWU labour dispute, tonight I am sending you my vote of confidence in you all and to let all of you know that I fully and strongly support the non confidence vote as expressed by you at the Special Convention of Monday, March 06, 2006.

Let me also say that I am hopeful that the court will see fit to ensure democracy and protect the actions of the TWU delegates as they were acting on behalf of their membership, and as requested by their membership. The majority has spoken, so we must believe that this will matter and keep the faith.

Stay strong and stand proud, as you all should be for your efforts on behalf of us all.

Sincerely

I SUPPORT THE NONCONFIDENCE RULING

To whom it may concern;

As a member of the Telecommunications Workers Union for 26 years I found the actions of the Executive Council of the TWU during the past round of collective bargaining to be without a doubt worthy of a vote of non-confidence.

Both myself and my wife; XXX XXXX lost considerable money (and she her job) due to their lack of planning and foresite.

The TWU was a rank and file trade union where our convention delegates were directed by their locals to vote for our executive who then were supposed to lead our Union. By not allowing delegates to vote the Executive is circumventing the principals upon which this Union was created.

Please do not allow the political agenda of a few misguided individuals to destroy the TWU.

Sincerly;

I support the nonconfidence ruling

I support the nonconfidence ruling 100%, for the TWU to survive we must operate open and honestly and not under the self serving under handed manner that our so called great leader has enforced upon the excecutive council and members at large.

Hello Dennis,

I read your post on the VFC website. Could you pass on my message to our hardworking delegates? Thanks.

To all the TWU convention delegates who voted for a re-call and re-elections:

I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for standing up for what's right, and demanding change. I know it must be difficult swimming upstream, when it could be so much easier to just follow the current. I support and encourage you all, to continue on and be my voice, and the voice of so many other members who are in dismay at the direction the TWU has taken lately. I am in favour of change, and these 66 hard working delegates speak for me. I thank them for their years of dedication and support and stand behind them in their fight for change.

In Solidarity,

Dear Delegates:

I am writing to tell you that I am in complete support of the non confidence vote of Monday March 06^th, 2005. At this time I also wish to say that I am sending you all my sincerest and best wishes for a positive resolve to the charges against you all by Bruce Bell et al.

As a 29 year member of the TWU, I want to thank you all for being able to stand up for the TWU membership as you were voted in to do. My sincerest and best wishes are that the court will rule in favour of the non-confidence vote and support the members of this union. I have been adversely affected by Bruce Bells term in office and in his, IMHO, inept handling of the last labour dispute.

I support the nonconfidence motion.

I support the non confidence ruling.

I also believe in democracy - the wishes of the majority of the membership should be respected and that once the non confidence vote has passed, Mr. Bruce Bell should step down immediately in order to avoid any further damage to the TWU membership.

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[Vancouver RAT] [Minority Report 1]

[Stop the Insanity] [Minority Report 2]

Darren gets his Imposed Contract and his Imposed President

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Finain dedicates a song for the Brave 67

D Day: Photos outside the Courthouse

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