Kudos to sportswriter Dave Zirin, always a cut above, for pointing out that the highest paid players were not willing to allow owners to contract future and discarded players for as little as $75,000 a year. Yes that means the richest among them (count Kobe in) stood unanimously to stick up for future generations.

Zirin wrote:

Maybe they’re fighting for a reason so basic, we’ve missed it. Maybe it’s because they overwhelmingly come from the ranks of the working poor, have career lengths of six years and have been facing off against the ranks of true generational, aristocratic wealth in all its arrogance, personified by the snide, oozing contemptuousness of David Stern. Maybe they’re just tired of being treated as less than men by the people who write their checks.

Maybe they just hate to lose. NBA players: welcome to the 99 percent.

So, don’t dump on the players for having a strong union willing to work on members’ behalf. That’s what all bullied targets want who have a union. Work for me. Look out for my benefit.

updated Oct. 27, 2010

Follow the story of a worker-driven push for change of a government workplace culture to drive out bullying. No ending yet. We support the unions whose workers deserve to be free from abusive conduct and retaliation. And we support the County administration that has the opportunity to turn a PR disaster into triumph and do the right thing.

2010

As in all government institutions, bullying occurs. Of this we can be sure. 8,000 employees work for Ventura County, California. Using WBI national statistics, we can safely estimate that 720 employees at any given time are being bullied; an additional 2,080 have been bullied. It’s a mid-size corporation.

January, 2011

A group of employees complained to the County Grand Jury (GJ). In a role much like consultants, the GJ investigated complaints (in one of their roles in that county) about workplace bullying by current and former county workers. The GJ as investigator concluded that bullying is a problem and employees deserve protection from it. An investigation conducted by HR might have concluded differently (as it nearly always does). The GJ reported that HR procedures are not trusted.

May 24, 2011

The GJ issues its report confirming the existence of the workplace bullying problem. Read the original Grand Jury report The county HR director, John Nicoll, told the local newspaper “We do not tolerate employees being mistreated because they’ve filed a complaint.” This directly contradicted facts about retaliation and fear of it contained in the GJ report. Read the press coverage of the GJ report and response of County administrators.

May-Sept, 2011

County employees are represented by several unions. SEIU Local 721 represents the majority of workers, numbering 4,500. The SEIU forms an Anti-Bully Committee. Meetings on the topic draw large crowds and several heart-wrenching stories from workers. The Committee conducts a survey of its members. Nearly 500 members responded. Read the SEIU Local 721 Bullying in the Workplace Report.

Some of the most compelling survey findings were:
- 60% of respondents have been bullied, compared to the 35% national estimate
- 69% have witnessed bullying
- Over 40% have been yelled at
- Over 40% have been retaliated against

Sept. 27, 2011

Gary Lowery, SEIU, showing the County's Report Card with all F's

The full record of Union Testimony on Sept. 27, 2011

The full responses by Supervisors & CEO M. Powers on Sept. 27, 2011

Dignity, Deservedness & ‘Lucky’ Jobs

Dignity at work is a human right, not a privilege that has to be earned. In these tough economic times, it is important to not let others tell you that it is an unnecessary luxury.

Download Podcast 20 (in .mp3 format)

The false claim is that the Post Office is broke. (And Social Security and Medicare did not cause the recession/depression; investment banker gamblers did.) Turns out that Geo. Bush in 2006 torpedoed the USPS with legislation requiring an unprecedented prepayment of anticipated pension funds to cover 75 years of operation!

Issa’s move is both union-busting and privatization of a cherished American tradition. Here’s the real story behind the headlines pronouncing (almost celebrating) the death of the USPS.

More news to come about this important story.

But it also is a day for demonstrations heralding the causes of working
people and their unions such as are being held on Sunday that were crucial
in winning important rights for working people. The first May Day
 demonstrations, in 1886,  won the  most important of the rights ever won by
working people ­ the right demanded above all others by the labor activists 
of a century ago:

“Eight hours for work, eight hours for rest, eight hours for what we will!”

Winning the eight-hour workday took years of hard struggle, beginning in the 
mid-1800s. By 1867, the federal government, six states and several cities
had passed laws limiting their employees’ hours to eight per day. The laws
 were not effectively enforced and in some cases were overturned by courts,
 but they set an important precedent that finally led to a powerful popular
movement.

The movement was launched in 1886 by the Federation of Organized Trades and
 Labor Unions, then one of the country’s major labor organizations. The 
federation called for workers to negotiate with their employers for an
 eight-hour workday and, if that failed, to strike on May 1 in support of the
 demand.

Some negotiated, some marched and otherwise demonstrated.  More than 300,000
 struck. And all won strong support, in dozens of cities ­ Chicago, New York,
 Baltimore, Boston, Milwaukee, St. Louis, San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Denver, 
Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Detroit, Washington, Newark, Brooklyn, St. Paul
 and others.

More than 30,000 workers had won the eight-hour day by April. On May Day,
 another 350,000 workers walked off their jobs at nearly 12,000
 establishments, more than 185,000 of them eventually winning their demand.
 Most of the others won at least some reduction in working hours that had
 ranged up to 16 a day.

Additionally, many employers cut Saturday operations to a half-day, and the
 practice of working on Sundays, also relatively common, was all but 
abandoned by major industries.

“Hurray for Shorter Time,” declared a headline in the New York Sun over a 
story describing a torchlight procession of 25,000 workers that highlighted 
the eight-hour-day activities in New York. Never before had the city
 experienced so large a demonstration.

Not all newspapers were as supportive, however. The strikes and
 demonstrations, one paper complained, amounted to “communism, lurid and 
rampant.” The eight-hour day, another said, would encourage “loafing and
 gambling, rioting, debauchery, and drunkenness.”

The greatest opposition came in response to the demonstrations led by
 anarchist and socialist groups in Chicago, the heart of the eight-hour day 
movement. Four demonstrators were killed and more than 200 wounded by police
who waded into their ranks, but what the demonstrators’ opponents seized on
were the events two days later at a protest rally in Haymarket Square. A
 bomb was thrown into the ranks of the police who had surrounded the square,
 killing seven and wounding 59.

The bomb thrower was never discovered, but eight labor, socialist and
 anarchist leaders ­ branded as violent, dangerous radicals by press and
police alike ­ were arrested on the clearly trumped up charge that they had 
conspired to commit murder.  Four of them were hanged, one committed suicide
 while in jail, and three were pardoned six years later by Illinois Gov. John
 Peter Altgeld.

Employers responded to the so-called Haymarket Riot by mounting a
 counter-offensive that seriously eroded the eight-hour day movement’s gains.
 But the movement was an extremely effective organizing tool for the
 country’s unions, and in 1890 President Samuel Gompers of the American
Federation of Labor was able to call for “an International Labor Day” in 
favor of the eight-hour workday. Similar proclamations were made by
 socialist and union leaders in other nations where, to this day, May Day is
 celebrated as Labor Day.

Workers in the United States and 13 other countries demonstrated on that May
Day of 1890 ­ including 30,000 of them in Chicago. The New York World hailed 
it as “Labor’s Emancipation Day.” It was. For it marked the start of an 
irreversible drive that finally established the eight-hour day as the
 standard for millions of working people.

###

Dick Meister is a San Francisco-based columnist who has covered labor and
 politics for more than a half-century as a reporter, editor, author and
commentator. Contact him through his website, dickmeister.com

[See post to watch Flash video]

Gawker.com (the source of the video) reports that the actors in the film are both union members.

Steve Greenhouse, New York Times labor writer, reported on the organizing efforts on May 23.

But it also is a day for demonstrations heralding the causes of working people and their unions such as are being held on Sunday that were crucial in winning important rights for working people.

The first May Day demonstrations, in 1886,  won the  most important of the rights ever won by working people ­ the right demanded above all others by the labor activists of a century ago:

“Eight hours for work, eight hours for rest, eight hours for what we will!”

Winning the eight-hour workday took years of hard struggle, beginning in the mid-1800s. By 1867, the federal government, six states and several cities had passed laws limiting their employees’ hours to eight per day. The laws were not effectively enforced and in some cases were overturned by courts, but they set an important precedent that finally led to a powerful popular movement.

The movement was launched in 1886 by the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions, then one of the country’s major labor organizations. The federation called for workers to negotiate with their employers for an eight-hour workday and, if that failed, to strike on May 1 in support of the demand.

Some negotiated, some marched and otherwise demonstrated.  More than 300,000 struck. And all won strong support, in dozens of cities ­ Chicago, New York, Baltimore, Boston, Milwaukee, St. Louis, San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Denver, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Detroit, Washington, Newark, Brooklyn, St. Paul and others.

More than 30,000 workers had won the eight-hour day by April. On May Day, another 350,000 workers walked off their jobs at nearly 12,000 establishments, more than 185,000 of them eventually winning their demand. Most of the others won at least some reduction in working hours that had ranged up to 16 a day.

Additionally, many employers cut Saturday operations to a half-day, and the practice of working on Sundays, also relatively common, was all but abandoned by major industries.

“Hurray for Shorter Time,” declared a headline in the New York Sun over a story describing a torchlight procession of 25,000 workers that highlighted the eight-hour-day activities in New York. Never before had the city experienced so large a demonstration.

Not all newspapers were as supportive, however. The strikes and demonstrations, one paper complained, amounted to “communism, lurid and rampant.” The eight-hour day, another said, would encourage “loafing and gambling, rioting, debauchery, and drunkenness.”

The greatest opposition came in response to the demonstrations led by anarchist and socialist groups in Chicago, the heart of the eight-hour day movement. Four demonstrators were killed and more than 200 wounded by police who waded into their ranks, but what the demonstrators’ opponents seized on were the events two days later at a protest rally in Haymarket Square. A bomb was thrown into the ranks of the police who had surrounded the square, killing seven and wounding 59.

The bomb thrower was never discovered, but eight labor, socialist and anarchist leaders ­ branded as violent, dangerous radicals by press and police alike ­were arrested on the clearly trumped up charge that they had conspired to commit murder.  Four of them were hanged, one committed suicide while in jail, and three were pardoned six years later by Illinois Gov. John Peter Altgeld.

Employers responded to the so-called Haymarket Riot by mounting a counter-offensive that seriously eroded the eight-hour day movement’s gains. But the movement was an extremely effective organizing tool for the country’s unions, and in 1890 President Samuel Gompers of the American Federation of Labor was able to call for “an International Labor Day” in favor of the eight-hour workday. Similar proclamations were made by socialist and union leaders in other nations where, to this day, May Day is celebrated as Labor Day.

Workers in the United States and 13 other countries demonstrated on that May Day of 1890 ­ including 30,000 of them in Chicago. The New York World hailed it as “Labor’s Emancipation Day.” It was. For it marked the start of an irreversible drive that finally established the eight-hour day as the standard for millions of working people.

###

Dick Meister is a San Francisco-based columnist who has covered labor and politics for more than a half-century as a reporter, editor, author and commentator. Contact him through his website, dickmeister.com

Reprinted with permission of the author.

Callahan’s article was a so-so attempt from someone new to workplace bullying. Her advice was not hurtful except for advising targets unwisely to (1) not get emotional (as if they can predict the assaults and control the spontaneous reaction to humiliation), and to (2) communicate (she actually wrote: “Pull the bully aside and talk to them someplace quiet where you can privately tell them how their behavior is inappropriate and that you won’t tolerate it.”). Otherwise it was a solid attempt to raise awareness.

Here’s the comment that speaks volumes and reflects a willingness to turn on fellow workers, to hold them responsible for their fate, and make individuals solve all of their own workplace problems by walking away.

One miracle of the modern at-will workplace is that if you see people anywhere in the organizati­on that are behaving other than in accordance with organizati­onal expectatio­ns of profession­alism and mutual respect on the jobsite, and you happen to be the manager, you can solve the problem in about 10 minutes, including the paperwork, in the modern ‘paperless­’ office. That’s how long it takes for most people to stuff their personal effects out of their desk or locker in a cardboard box, hand off their keys, and make their way to the parking lot.
And, from the other side of that, if you’re an employee, under at-will ‘no fault’ type work agreements­, you can pretty much clock out right then and there, no excuse or notice given or required, have a nice day, I must terminate my employment­, now, so it sort of works both ways, managers that want to keep good employees must respect their employees, and employees that want to keep good jobs need to respect their managers and coworkers also. It’s all about making a buck, and if you can’t maintain good manners for 8 short hours (7.5 in most examples, be honest) with your employees and coworkers and managers and stuff, then….ma­ybe you need to go back to whatever school you attended, and start over.

There you have it. Freedom is achievable if you are willing to walk away. What do you say?

In states where there are genuinely dire financial straits, the governors are blaming unions. Really?  Why do we have such collective amnesia? How gullible is the American public? Remember the investors who ripped off the world and mortgage borrowers and allowed us saps to absorb the losses? And not one has gone to jail for it (read Matt Tiabi’s new article).

And so the pattern is repeated in every bullying scenario. Bullies cost the employer, corporate or government, tons of cash that the employer whines they cannot afford to spare. Yet, they keep the bully on payroll while the losses mount from undesirable turnover, absenteeism, presenteeism, workers’ comp, disability insurance, and a damaged reputation as the worst place to work. Bullies are too expensive to keep, but it’s about power and cozy relationships between executive sponsors and their favorite sons and daughters. It’s never about the money.

Dignity at work is something that we should take for granted. Of course, employers, like Limbaugh, believe that is it their possession and  can dole it out to favorite employees and withhold it from others targeted for abuse and bullying. That is how they act. If Dignity were the starting point and employers had to justify ever depriving anyone of it, it would be a different world for American workers. Glad to see Thomas Harrington of Trinity College in Hartford, CT agrees.

To many Europeans, the rights to psychological integrity, personal self-esteem and dignity at work are fundamental and unquestioned. In Germany, in the Constitution, people enjoy protection from bullying based on the Fundamental Right of Persons. Gee, wonder who drafted that document? (Hint: the Americans for their post-WWII vanquished foe!)

New hires hear the message that no walmart associate will ever need, nor ever want, a union. They fire organizers and mount counter-union campaigns. One former manager, Orson Mason, wrote a guide to recognizing worker “types attracted to unions.” You can read his memo to other walmart managers. Geez, you think that preferring to work with dignity in a place free from abuse makes me or you a type attracted to unions?

But there is good news from Canada.

The first walmart union was a store in Jonquiere, Quebec in 2005 that the company shut down when ordered to negotiate.

In 2008, workers at a walmart Tire & Lube shop in Gateneau, Quebec voted to unionize and the company shut down the shop.  But in 2010 back in Gatineau, another UFCW election was held and 150 workers won the right to be represented.

A walmart store in Saint-Hyacinthe now has a contract with UCFW Local 501. In Weyburn Saskatchewan, the struggle to unionize has been a drawn-out process. Starting with a vote in 2004 and certification in 2008, countless frivolous appeals by the corporation, ending with a supreme court decision on  October 14, 2010, upholding the union’s right to represent the workers. Walmart has to move forward now and negotiate a contract. To date, there are 3 unions in place in walmart Canada.

How about the U.S. walmarts?

Read the details at the union website.

Read the NY Times story by Steven Greenhouse, one of few labor reporters left in the country.

Read colleague law professor David Yamada’s interpretation of the case and implications for bullied workers.

Redifining Global Competitiveness

Dr. Gary Namie suggests that an alternative meaning of “global competitiveness” be adopted in America. Less hardening, more humane treatment of workers as done by the globally competitive Europeans.

Download Podcast 18 (in .mp3 format)