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Posts Tagged ‘unions’

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Hypocrisy of the month, with a union label

Posted by Richard on March 22, 2009

The SEIU is one of the most vocal and powerful labor organizations promoting "progressive pro-labor" causes and policies. They spent tens of millions to elect Obama and lots of pro-union congressional Democrats.

Now they're spending staggering sums promoting the so-called Employee Free Choice Act (or "card check"), supposedly to strengthen workers' voices against management (a more accurate name would be Employee Coerced Choice Act, since it denies workers a secret ballot and enables union goons to intimidate them into supporting the union).

So how does the SEIU treat its own employees? Apparently, not in a "progressive pro-labor" manner (emphasis added): 

The Service Employees International Union, considered the most influential union in the nation, has notified the union that represents about 220 of the SEIU's national field staff members and organizers that it is laying off 75 of the employees.

In return, the workers union, which goes by the somewhat postmodern name of the Union of Union Representatives, has filed charges of unfair labor practices against the SEIU with the National Labor Relations Board. The workers union's leaders say that the SEIU is engaging in the same kind of practices that some businesses use: laying off workers without proper notice, contracting out work to temporary-staffing firms, banning union activities and reclassifying workers to reduce union numbers.

"It's completely hypocritical," said Malcolm Harris, president of the workers union. …

…

Fewer than half of the workers at SEIU chapters are unionized, and Harris's union's contract with SEIU forbids it from trying to help organize SEIU employees in local chapters.

The SEIU's national office has been contracting out more and more work to a staffing agency, Harris said, including advocacy for card check. He said it looks as though SEIU is trying to phase his union out of existence.

SEIU spokeswoman Michelle Ringuette said the contracting is limited and denied that SEIU is trying to undermine the workers union. "That would be the cynical way of looking at it," she said.

You can't make this stuff up.

(HT: Don Luskin )

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Why Detroit can’t compete

Posted by Richard on January 6, 2009

Mark J. Perry posted pictures of Ford's 1941 and 2007 UAW union contracts. A picture is worth a thousand words, so go check them out. But here are the key stats:

1941: 24 pages (3.5 x 5 inches).

2007: 2,215 pages (8.5 x 11 inches), weighing 22 pounds.

But that's not the only problem. The other day, Perry linked to this Stop the ACLU post. It described a Detroit TV station's exposé of how union officials abuse what are laughably called the "work rules" in that 22-pound contract: 

One of the bosses, Ron Seroka, a union job security officer, takes off half a day nearly everyday to go home to lounge around the house while he is on the clock. Seroka punches in at the plant at 6AM every single day and is home by 11:30 AM for some nice leisure time at home. Yet he gets a steady 10 hours pay every single day despite the fact that he is rarely at work.

Seroka’s union boss is even worse. Union chairman Jim Modzelewski buys beer on a daily basis while on the clock and clocks himself in for overtime pay hours before he even wakes up to go into the plant. TV 4 found that after he punches in, he typically leaves for a beer run mere hours later. Again, all this is on a daily basis. He is also paid overtime pay on a daily basis as he sits home drinking his daily beer. With over 2,500 hours of overtime, Modzelewski made a six-figure salary last year.

The problem isn't just a few corrupt union officials (emphasis added):

The TV news also briefly interviewed an auto business expert that says in the last ten years one in three American union auto workers would not show up to work on any given day while foreign auto plants would see 98 out of 100 of their workers dutifully show up for work. Makes it a bit hard to plan on a work force in the US with unions in control, doesn’t it?

Thanks to the Democratic Congress and the "compassionate conservative" in the White House, it's now your tax dollars (and your children's, and grandchildren's…) that are paying these louts. Think about that as you're dutifully showing up for work in the morning. 

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Too radical for McGovern

Posted by Richard on August 14, 2008

Today's Democratic leadership has lurched so far to the left that George McGovern is concerned. Specifically, the former senator and the party's 1972 presidential candidate objects to one of their top legislative goals, the Employee Free Choice Act (emphasis added):

The key provision of EFCA is a change in the mechanism by which unions are formed and recognized. Instead of a private election with a secret ballot overseen by an impartial federal board, union organizers would simply need to gather signatures from more than 50% of the employees in a workplace or bargaining unit, a system known as "card-check." There are many documented cases where workers have been pressured, harassed, tricked and intimidated into signing cards that have led to mandatory payment of dues.

Under EFCA, workers could lose the freedom to express their will in private, the right to make a decision without anyone peering over their shoulder, free from fear of reprisal.

…

To my friends supporting EFCA I say this: We cannot be a party that strips working Americans of the right to a secret-ballot election. We are the party that has always defended the rights of the working class. To fail to ensure the right to vote free of intimidation and coercion from all sides would be a betrayal of what we have always championed.

…

While it is never pleasant to stand against one's party or one's friends, there are times when such actions are necessary — as with my early and lonely opposition to the Vietnam War. I hope some of my friends in Congress will re-evaluate their support for this legislation. Because as Americans, we should strive to ensure that all of us enjoy the freedom of expression and freedom from fear that is our ideal and our right.

Most Democrats will no doubt ignore McGovern, dismiss him as old and confused, or accuse him of becoming a "neocon" (their current epithet of choice, despite having no idea what it means).

If Obama is elected and the Democrats get a filibuster-proof Senate majoirty, EFCA is likely to become law next year. Which means if you have a non-management job for a company likely to be targeted by unions, you can expect a visit some day by a couple of surly, burly "organizers" telling you that you really want to sign their card — if you know what's good for you.

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Teaching life skills

Posted by Richard on March 30, 2007

Britain has a teachers' union called the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL). Like America's teachers' unions — like unions of all kinds, really — it no doubt devotes a lot of energy toward maximizing its members' pay and benefits while minimizing the quantity and difficulty of the work they're expected to do.

But Britain's ATL seems to be pursuing work minimization with a vengeance. They've proposed discarding the current curriculum because it teaches "academics," and they say that's not fair to kids who aren't good at knowing things. They want the schools to focus on "life skills" such as — well, the ATL leadership has some ideas (emphasis added):

Speaking earlier this week, the acting deputy general secretary of the ATL, Martin Johnson, said: "There's a lot to learn about how to walk. If you were going out for a Sunday afternoon stroll you might walk one way. If you're trying to catch a train you might walk in another way and if you are doing a cliff walk you might walk in another way.

"If you are carrying a pack, there's a technique in that. We need a nation of people who understand their bodies and can use their bodies effectively."

His comments came as the union called for major changes to the education system that included the abolition of national examinations for pupils. The ATL would prefer a system where children were assessed by teachers.

By all means, have the kids assessed by people who think learning how to walk properly is more important than learning reading, writing, and math. And who find it much more agreeable to teach the former. 

Mr Johnson branded the national curriculum "totalitarian" because it prioritised academic education over other types of knowledge.
…

The union suggested that instead of the current national curriculum, which focuses on core subjects such as maths, English and science, teachers should have the freedom to adapt lessons to reflect a curriculum that concentrated on life skills.

The new curriculum could include lessons in physical co-ordination, personal skills, thinking skills and ethics, he suggested.

The same phrase comes to mind that occurred to me when the Iranians took the Brits hostage: WWMTD — What Would Margaret Thatcher Do?

Actually, I'm confused by ATL's emphasis on teaching walking. If the schools take over this function, what's to become of the Ministry of Silly Walks?
 

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