John's letter to members

My Sisters and Brothers,

How did I decide to run for AFT-CT First Vice president?  Like Jan, it was not a straight road, and like her, life experiences both brought me to, and I think, prepared me for, this next step.

When I graduated high school, I didn’t have any clear direction.  I attended Quinebaug Valley Community College in Danielson and started working.  I graduated with a degree in management and began working in textile mills, ware houses, a lumberyard, and an egg processing plant, as both a manager, and a laborer. I felt the sting of plant closings and layoffs more than I want to remember.

In school I was fascinated by the work of William Edwards Deming in Japan after WWII. Part of his management philosophy was to include the frontline worker in the process of management, yet in life, I never saw this carried out.

At the same time, I attended some classes at UConn, interested in the Natural Resources field, but life got in the way. I married, bought a house, and a year or two later, children. This summer will mark 40 years of marriage to Michelle, my high school sweetheart.  I have 2 sons, 3 grandchildren and 2 “adopted grandsons”, the sons of my good friend and L+M president Stephanie Johnson.

In my mid-thirties, I landed a job building airplanes, at Kaman Aircraft in Plainfield. I did that for 10 years, with a few layoffs when contracts ran out.  On one of those layoffs I went for government retraining.  I tested high in math and science; they recommended the medical field and asked if I had ever considered nursing. I attended Windham Tech and became a CNA and found something that gave me fulfillment, helping people.  Eventually, I took the leap and re-entered school, attending Three Rivers Community college in Norwich, while working full time at Backus Hospital in the ER.

When I graduated in 1999, I was 44. This summer will make 21 years in the ER, 16 as an RN. The work is incredibly fulfilling.  It is also incredibly hard.

Several years ago I became involved in an organizing drive. The hospital had changed, becoming a corporation first, a hospital second. The drive was difficult. The hospital spent millions trying to defeat us. They hired the biggest union busting law firm they could find, Jackson Lewis. They fought us hard for 13 months after we won the election, trying to prevent us from getting a contract, but we prevailed, with the help of our union sisters and brothers.

I loved organizing.  I loved being in a fellow nurse’s living room and listening to them. That’s how we won.  I remember one oncology nurse, sitting on the sofa with her husband, telling me that she didn’t care that they took away her pension, or her bonus. A tear came down her cheek and her husband took her hand and she looked at me and said, “John, they took away my peanut butter.  Some days, my patient’s only have a brief window in which they feel well enough to eat. Now, to save a couple of dollars, I don’t have protein to give them.”  She signed a card and I vowed to myself that I would never give up this struggle.

One of the first trips for the union was shortly after we voted. I was asked to go to DC and tell the NLRPB of the stall tactics of the hospital.  Afterwards, we went to a reception at the AFL-CIO and they asked me to speak.  I told them that yes, unions are under attack, but that right then in Norwich, CT, there were 400 new members.  The AFL-CIO people loved it.  I realized that they work in the DC office and do not always see the fruit of their labor, and I was showing them this fruit.  I also realized something that changed forever my view of the union.

I realized that it wasn’t just about the 400 nurses at Backus. It was about a worldwide movement that gives workers a voice and it was about speaking out for those who have no voice.

I have met many people and made friends nationwide. I have served on the AFT Small Unions Task Force with Erin Benham, spoken at the orientation of the leaders of the 34,000 member National Federation of Nurses when they joined AFT, I have been privileged to become part of the coalition of the L+M and Backus locals and of HOPE Unions, the 6 locals of Backus, Windham and Natchaug hospitals who are all under Hartford Healthcare. I am working with Dan Durant on a community engagement group we call Norwich Rising. I have watched with pride as my members have grown as unionist and the Backus nurses have become respected nationally. And though Randi Weingarten mispronounces “Backus”, she now does it with a smile and a nod towards me.

I love the union. I believe in it. I also know that we are under attack daily and we must build a union we can be proud of, one that is above reproach, which operates in a manner that is transparent, that puts members first, that respects and reaches out to leaders and members, and that plans the work and works the plan.

That is why when Jan came to me and asked for my support I said yes, I would support her in any way she needed.  When she asked if I would run as her 1^st VP, I promised to always tell her the truth, even if it meant I disagreed. The fact that this made her happy tells you a lot.

Jan Hochadel is a true unionist. She believes as I do that respect, inclusion, listening, and planning are the keys to an AFT-CT we all desire. We believe that leaders should answer to the members, not dictate to them.  Jean Morningstar and Ed Leavy, current AFT-CT officers, believe it too.  I hope you do.  I hope you share these values and together we can build a union we can all be proud of.

In service and solidarity

John Brady