Effective May 1, 2008, as matter of principle, I am resigning from CSEA as President of Chapter 645 and as a CSEA union member.

My reason for this principled decision is because I can’t support or work on behalf of a union that allows and condones bigotry and racist remarks by Keynote Speakers and does not publically and forcefully correct the error when brought to the Presidents’ attention.

On Tuesday April 29th, a paid CSEA keynote speaker by the name of Lee Mun Wah, gave a presentation to the assembled members of CSEA. Throughout Lee Mun Wah’s presentation of “multi-cultural diversity,” he repeatedly blamed European white males for the suffering of others.

In addition, I understand CSEA has not endorsed a presidential candidate, but permitted the Keynote Speaker, Lee Mun Wah, to use the CSEA platform to, by his words, endorse a presidential candidate, Senator Barack Obama, defending hate speech by Senator Barak Obama’s spiritual mentor Reverend Wright, while denigrating the other two candidates.

I, sir, am a white male of Scottish heritage and personally had absolutely nothing to do with the imprisoning of Japanese American’s during WWII, or the death of Lee Mun Wah’s mother, or ANY of the racist examples he put forth. I will not be associated with an organization that permits the use of “white guilt,” calls me a bigot or ANY other form of racism and does nothing to address it.

I cannot stand by while a photo of the jet crashing into the World Trade Towers is used for marketing purposes in describing a “stereotypical” group of younger people. Among the many innocent lives to perish, I had friends die in that building that day, on 9/11/01. How dare CSEA use that tragic event, in the manner it did.

Nor can I condone, when a training “skit” is used to depict a registered Republican and a member of CSEA listening to the members of the audience laugh in condemnation, and so such disrespect. It saddens me that the CSEA leadership shows the same indifference, lack of respect and in-sensitivity for CSEA members,. that Lee Mun Wah showed. I expressed my views to CSEA leadership and was ignored. Your lack of response to my serious concerns is deplorable.

In closing, I held the belief that CSEA’s mission was about the workplace rights and well being of its union members. That belief has been damaged beyond repair because of your indifference to my real concerns, and I will make it my duty to alert media outlets that CSEA is more interested in multi-cultural racism and citizenship for illegal aliens, then the welfare of its own members.

I was and will be, deeply offended by Lee Mun Wah remarks and CSEA’s lack of response in repudiating them.

Respectfully,

Adrian Gillies