Mondays are “Tee Days”
At the May membership meeting, Brother Doyle
Freeman made a motion that we re-affirm that Monday is tee-shirt day for Local
848 members. Tee-shirt day is when everyone is asked to wear union colors,
buttons, pins, and hats to show solidarity with our union. In the past, the
technique has been so effective that salaried employees and even some
lower-level managers have asked for union materials to wear on tee-shirt day!
They know that their wages and benefits are only driven upwards by ours.
Local 848 has honored tee-shirt day since our big
fight and victory in 1985. Lockheed members cannot participate on Fridays, the
day we used to observe. It was Freeman, in fact, who made the original motion
to change tee-shirt day to Mondays.
After the meeting, he was asked why he chose
Mondays. "Monday is a good day to start showing your solidarity.
Hopefully, we can keep it up all through the week. You start out on Monday and
you build through Friday. This is not only a contract year but also a national
election year. The issues we face concern not just our local, but also all jobs
throughout the country."
Freeman hopes to see more participation this year,
which will lead to more attendance at the monthly meetings. Also, he thinks
that union solidarity will get more people involved in the political arena.
"Our issues stretch far beyond just our doors at the local," he says.
"We have a political movement to cut out overtime pay, to cut out retiree
benefits, and in some cases, wiping out pensions completely. These are issues
that we, as a workforce, definitely have to pay attention to, to protect those
who have already retired, but also to 
protect our own livelihood in the future!
When should tee-shirt day start, he was asked.
"Immediately," Freeman replied. He went on, "I work in a unit
that is 100% union and we display our shirts proudly, almost on a daily
basis." Freeman is in a PCU unit at Vought, 8-25-1. "We see everyone,
we talk to people, we move parts, and between us and transportation, which is
part of our job family, we cover ever square inch of the plant on a daily
basis. If we can be seen wearing our shirts, hopefully, it will convince others
to show pride in their local!"
Doyle Freeman participated in the May Membership Meeting