11 August, 2014

Dear Sir,

I just received notice from the recently completed Special Delegate Conference of the BIU dated 7/29/14 where a decision “was taken” to increase the weekly dues from $12.00 to $14.00. The Acting Registrar General has ratified this for implementation on September’s first pay week.

At first blush a $2.00 increase seems reasonable and hardly inflationary but drill down a little and the sludge starts to rise. The BIU are infatuated with the word Consultation in monetary concerns most vociferously when dealing with the government and employers, but union members have their pockets pillaged arbitrarily. Workers have been subjected to furlough days, lay offs and being made redundant.

My pay was reduced by $10.00 per week for insurance premiums increase of which I had no say, add $2.00 for the BIU and no increase in weekly pay for at least two years because my employer is feeling the pinch of this economic Armageddon. I am informed of my great fortune of having a job!

The BIU’s increase amounts to 16.5 percent while the executives enjoy their bloated salaries and the workers languish in wage freezes. This seems to me to be without conscience as the members receive this notice by diktat.

I am disgusted and annoyed by those who appear to feather their own nests while my income is ravaged when the cost of living continues to rise and I am told to be understanding during these difficult times. The BIU’s case must be special and really deserving of this 16.5 percent windfall. They ought to be ashamed!

Am I the only BIU member that feels this way?

If so, I can only say that it leaves me speechless. Rents going south is the new reality as our apartments lay empty for months, but my union must enjoy an increase because their expenses trumps every other business.

Disgusted, outraged, disadvantaged and left with no opportunity for consultation from this entity that is supposed to work for me and others who happen to be their only clients. What a money grab in the worst of times for workers. Where is the shame, how do they sleep at night?

BIU Member

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