Posts Tagged ‘union’
Union Refs Allowed Back by Greedy Owners
Thursday, September 27th, 2012
Unions don’t win many fights against bullying employers these days. Chicago teachers won but will now have 30% of their evaluation based on student test scores. Caterpillar machinists (IAM) strikers conceded everything to end their strike. 45,000 CWA & IBEW Verizon workers preserved their collective bargaining rights just last week.
The 121-member NFL Referees Association, thanks to ineptitude shown by non-union replacements, won a new 8-yr contract with the National Football League. The league locked out the refs. Technically, it was not a strike. The NFL insisted that referees give up their fixed pension plan and convert to 401K (gambling with retirement funds by investing in Wall Street, risking losses like many Americans experienced in the 2008 financial meltdown). The current refs are “grandfathered in” (though the newest professional ref is a woman) to retain their pensions. Newcomers won’t be so lucky.
Tags: CTU, CWA, IAM, IBEW, NFL, NFL referees, strike, union
Posted in Employers Gone Wild: Doing Bad Things, Unions | No Archived Comments | Post A Comment (
BC Union Celebrates Pink Shirt Day – Feb. 29
Wednesday, February 29th, 2012
BCGEU President Darryl Walker announced the union’s commitment to stopping workplace bullying on Pink Shirt Day, Feb. 29. Said Walker,
“the BCGEU is a strong advocate of respect in the workplace and we’re continuing to put mechanisms in place to address the problem. We’ve organized member and public awareness campaigns, and held workshops to ensure our members are knowledgeable about workplace bullying and the steps they can take when they encounter it… We’ve also negotiated anti-bullying language into collective agreements.”
WBI’s Gary Namie addresses a BCGEU workplace bullying event on March 9.
Tags: BCGEU, Darryl Walker, Mike Schmidt, union, Workplace Bullying University
Posted in Unions | No Archived Comments | Post A Comment (
Our requisite rediscovery of democracy
Monday, March 14th, 2011
I have written that We Are All Badgers Now to link WBI’s pro-worker goal, with its aspirational organizational democratic principles. Inherent in our work is to strive toward equality with an intolerance of inequality.
Tags: Col. Sanders, Martin Niemoeller, Matt Taibbi, union, Wall Street, Wisconsin
Posted in Fairness & Social Justice Denied | 6 Archived Comments | Post A Comment (
Canadian union power humbles Wal-Mart
Wednesday, December 8th, 2010
Walmart, the world’s largest corporation, is famous for its anti-union stance–no U.S. store is unionized.
Tags: UFCW, union, Wal-Mart
Posted in Fairness & Social Justice Denied, Unions | No Archived Comments | Post A Comment (
Alberta Occupational Health Nurses Conference
Tuesday, February 16th, 2010
Gary Namie will offer a May 28 workshop for AOHN reps & stewards at their conference in Banff. Read the conference brochure.
Tags: AOHN, Banff, conference, union, workshop
Posted in Hear Ye! Hear Ye! 2, Unions | No Archived Comments | Post A Comment (
Wal-Mart Anti-Employee Guide
Wednesday, March 11th, 2009
When Orson Mason wrote the union-prevention tips below, he was branch manager at a Greencastle, Indiana Wal-Mart store. He is still anti-union as an Employee Relations executive at Clarian Health Partners a non-union healthcare system that operates the Indiana University, Methodist and Riley Hospitals in Indianapolis, IN. In 2005, a union organizing effort for Clarian nurses was thwarted.
This essay was published as “Look for the Union Label” in Harper’s Magazine, October, 2004
Labor Relations and You at the Wal-Mart Distribution Center
by Orson Mason
Wal-Mart is opposed to unionization of its associates. Any suggestion that the Company is neutral on the subject or that it encourages associates to join labor organizations is not true. As a member of Wal-Mart’s management team, you are our first line of defense against unionization. This toolbox will provide you with valuable information on how to remain union-free in the event union organizers choose your facility as their next target.
EARLY WARNING SIGNS:
- Increased curiosity in benefits
- Associates receiving unusual attention from other associates
- Associates talking in hushed tones to each other
- Abuse of rest-room visits
- Associates spending an abnormal amount of time in the parking lot before and after work
- Associates who are never seen together start talking or associating with each other and begin forming strange alliances
TYPES OF ASSOCIATES ATTRACTED TO UNIONS:
Unions have learned to identify certain types of individuals who are more susceptible to union exploitation than others:
- THE INEFFICIENT ASSOCIATE realizes that he will not be able to measure up to the facility’s standards and will be terminated. He is attracted to the union because they convince him that they will clothes him with the so-called shield of “job security.”
- THE REBELLIOUS ASSOCIATE is attracted to the union cause simply because he is opposed to all management or bosses. He consequently becomes an antagonist to the employer and a respondent to the union propaganda.
- THE SOMETHING-FOR-NOTHING ASSOCIATE is the typical injury faker who has collected worker’s compensation from most of his former employers. He is always looking for a deal. he takes every imaginable shortcut in his job and sincerely feels that the world owes him a living.
- THE CHRONICALLY DISSATISFIED ASSOCIATE might be one of the most productive associates, but he will find fault with everything. He is a hopeless griper, as distinguished from a constructive critic. He is truly an unhappy individual. He was probably born unhappy, is going to die unhappy, and is going to be unhappy for the duration between.
- THE CAUSE-ORIENTED ASSOCIATE will “jump” on any bandwagon that passes through his area. He was the same individual who joined all the “off-beat” organizations in high school or college. He once took a trip to India to visit his personal “guru.”
- THE OVERQUALIFIED ASSOCIATE is out of his element. He might well be a Ph.D. operating a grinding machine or a former accountant sweeping the floor, but his station in life has deteriorated to the point that his vanity suffers. He will attempt to exert his influence over his fellow associates in an effort to bolster his deflated ego and will be attracted to the union simply because the union will seem to offer hopes of returning him to his previous station in life.
HOW TO RESPOND TO UNION DEMAND FOR RECOGNITION:
If a union organizer contacts you demanding recognition or seeking to show you authorization cards, DO NOT acknowledge that the union represents a majority of your associates, DO NOT agree to look at any proof of majority support — such as authorization cards or membership applications — DO NOT agree to have a “neutral” party examine the offered proof of majority status. The proper response when a union organizer seeks recognition is to refer him/her to your Personnel Manager. Refuse to accept any documents from the union. Immediately after any conversation with a union rep, call the Union Hotline at 501-273-8300.
Staying union free is a full-time commitment. Unless union prevention is a goal equal to other objectives within an organization, the goal will usually not be attained. No one in management is immune from carrying his or her “own weight” in the union-prevention effort. Unless each member of management is willing to spend the necessary time, effort, energy, and money, the Wal-Mart union-free objective will not be accomplished.
The Keene Group, one of many consulting companies proud to prevent unionization for employers afraid to grant employee rights or dignity. Aren’t these the true “job killers”?
Tags: Orson Mason, union, Wal-Mart
Posted in Employers Gone Wild: Doing Bad Things | 3 Archived Comments | Post A Comment (
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