It's an honor to accept FW Jefferson's nomination to run for a seat on the General Executive Board.

I am a union delegate affiliated with the GMB in Portland, Oregon. I have been an active member of the union since 2003. I am currently serving on the finance committee of Portland's Industrial District Council.

Working with other GMB members in the IU 560 caucus I led a campaign against deadbeat boss, Troy Melquist, who had not paid several of his workers thousands of dollars. While we were unable to collect all the money, we did raise the profile of the union in the industry and in the local press, and we made it nearly impossible for this small time crook to operate his scam. (See troymelquistsucks.com or back issues of the Industrial Worker for details.)

I have been a computer programmer, a child care worker, and an organizer for the Peace and Justice movement. (For five years I was co-coordinator of a campaign against the Honeywell Corporation, then Minnesota's largest weapons manufacturer, demanding worker and community control of the corporation and a conversion to peaceful production.)

I currently work at Free Geek, a nonprofit community technology center and computer recycling and reuse facility in Portland. I helped organize the workers on our shop floor into a collective that controls working conditions on the floor.

If elected to the GEB my priorities would be to: (1) build the IWW's capacity for organizing on the shop floor, (2) facilitate better communication between the GEB and GHQ and the branches, and (3) document in plain English how things are done, so new branches and committees don't have to waste time reinventing the wheel and can instead get onto to what we should be doing best -- organizing.

Richard Seymour
x355122
IU 560, Portland GMB, Industrial Workers of the World
http://blocksupplycompany.net/comics/