Elevation

If I read this correctly it seems like you're really driving at two points. We're bombastic propagandists, and we'll actively try to silence dissenting opinions.

We're trying to align our membership and get us working toward some common goals. The problem is the vast majority of folks don't want to sit down and read a nuanced discussion about the quality of line-checks, history of negotiations, corporate culture, human factors behind a decades-old crash of a Hawker Trident, etc. People rally to clearly defined causes. So trying to rally people to a given cause can over-simplify issues and even alienate some folks. This doesn't mean the union thinks of you or anyone else as an adversary. Far from it. We need all the involvement and perspective we can get.

I agree that silencing criticism is bad. Criticism is welcome. If the criticism is off base, we look better having weathered it. If the criticism is accurate, we are stronger for the awareness and correction.

Does this mean the voices telling you to be quiet will stop? No. Just like we can't and shouldn't silence you, we can't and shouldn't silence individuals who speak for themselves, regardless of ideas. What we can say is that we, as a union, want to hear from you. You are not an entity apart from the union. Keep speaking up! When you do so, it's a lot easier for us to listen to and address specific issues. If you just say "You suck!", we can't really get a correction or any data from that.