Well said.

I am not against the idea of National ALPA and believe that there is a lot of good that can come from the establishment. I also would not like to go through the pain of starting up a new in-house union (I am sure that management would love for us to go through that hassle and infighting right before and during our next contract negotiations). I believe that the problem we face with our National Association is the same problem that many Americans are facing regarding our elected political representatives. The "elites" at the top of the political/union structure have grown out of touch with the people they are elected to represent. We get sold a bill of goods that never get delivered (and often aren't even attempted to be delivered). All this happens while we the people sit back and complain while no taking the time to really learn all the facts on an issue (mostly because it is very hard to get educated with true facts to the issues both politically and within our union). We offer suggestions to our friends, neighbors, anyone who will listen but only when it is convenient in our daily lives. We as a collective group need to stand up, take action within our organization and get educated about what is happening. We all need to do that and we know that, easy for me/us to say. The hard part is in actually getting past making the comment. Action is difficult, we are all busy and it seems like a daunting task with so many roadblocks. It is like the cliche of how to eat the elephant, one bite at a time. We need to take that bite and I hope that this DPA group will at least get more of us to take that first bite, some might actually like it.

The low number of people that actually make it to LEC meeting is disturbing, the low voter turnout is terrible and this is why the elected have been able to broaden the gap between those at the top and those that they are elected to represent. There is no accountability at the top and it needs to change.

Agreed!