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Wow...so if your boss cut your pay by 30% while making you pay more for health care and giving himself a raise, you would just happily "swallow your pride and get back to work"?
Sure you would....
They probably would because most folks bend over and take it without lube. These workers had balls, they don't make a ton of money and they still stuck to their guns.
Unions can foolishly work against their own best interests but so does upper management & CEOs.
It is not logical for CEO / Management to convince employees earning $15 an hour to take a voluntary pay cut if they were unwilling to accept $750K a year while the company is losing money... thus it is CEO/ management's fault that the company failed to reach a timely compromise.
If soldiers are insubordinate, it's because the general has not done what is necessary to earn their respect & trust.
“A leader leads by example not by force.” — Sun Tzu
In Germany workers must be represented on the boards of large corporation. That would certainly eliminate a lot of conflict of interest but we can't have that here because it's too "socialistic".
Having had some exposure to the electrical workers unions of NYC I would have presumed that the southern electrical workers would have made a fortune in take home even after the union payments. So they basically were agreeing to take less money so they did not have to be in the union. That is strange.
There was no higher authority. That is simply an industry blanket organization who mediated.
I am certainly not defending LIPA who was reasonably notorious before Sandy. But that has to do with LI politics not unions.
What you keep deliberately ignoring was the terms under which the visiting workers were to receive the "LI union wage":
LI Union Wage
MINUS 22.5% of each employee's gross salary to the IBEW annuity fund
MINUS $9.75 an hour to the union's health and welfare fund
MINUS 3% of their gross salary to the union's "craft division skill improvement fund"
MINUS 3% of each worker's gross salary to the union's National Electrical Benefit Fund"
MINUS lesser amounts to other funds
That's a lot of deductions to be handed over to the union ... plus they have to pay taxes! Depending on the prevailing wage where the workers come from, perhaps many would not have even took home what they take home during normal working times in their own state. I think they deserve a premium for travelling, living and working under difficult conditions in another state WITHOUT some union they don't even belong to demanding a huge part of it. And you're assuming in your post they cannot count and figure out how much money they will be left with after the union extortion? That they are earning less money because they chose not to be in the union? Come on. We are not that stupid and neither are southern utility workers. They refused because they were getting ripped off, not because of anti-union sentiment and simplemindedness. Not "strange" at all. The spin some "union sympathizers no matter WHAT" put on things is what is strange here.
As for "higher authority" it doesn't matter WHAT they are, I am grateful the organization stepped in and brought these people to their senses!
As for the accusation that I shouldn't have even posted this and brought it into the light because it's "about local politics" I posted the news story in answer to another person who thought the whole thing was a FOX hoax or myth and specifically asked for verification. So take him to task for asking. And it most certainly IS about unions.
Sorry but sometimes the union can be wrong in what they do, just like management can be. IBEW was wrong in this case, especially for holding the public of LI hostage without electricity (and heat) to their whims, and they were stopped dead in their tracks, which is what they deserved.
Last edited by I_Love_LI_but; 11-18-2012 at 04:49 PM..
What you keep deliberately ignoring was the terms under which the visiting workers were to receive the "LI union wage":
LI Union Wage
MINUS 22.5% of each employee's gross salary to the IBEW annuity fund
MINUS $9.75 an hour to the union's health and welfare fund
MINUS 3% of their gross salary to the union's "craft division skill improvement fund"
MINUS 3% of each worker's gross salary to the union's National Electrical Benefit Fund"
MINUS lesser amounts to other funds
That's a lot of deductions to be handed over to the union ... plus they have to pay taxes! Depending on the prevailing wage where the workers come from, perhaps many would not have even took home what they take home during normal working times in their own state. I think they deserve a premium for travelling, living and working under difficult conditions in another state WITHOUT some union they don't even belong to demanding a huge part of it. And you're assuming in your post they cannot count and figure out how much money they will be left with after the union extortion? That they are earning less money because they chose not to be in the union? Come on. We are not that stupid and neither are southern utility workers. They refused because they were getting ripped off, not because of anti-union sentiment and simplemindedness. Not "strange" at all. The spin some "union sympathizers no matter WHAT" put on things is what is strange here.
As for "higher authority" it doesn't matter WHAT they are, I am grateful the organization stepped in and brought these people to their senses!
As for the accusation that I shouldn't have even posted this and brought it into the light because it's "about local politics" I posted the news story in answer to another person who thought the whole thing was a FOX hoax or myth and specifically asked for verification. So take him to task for asking. And it most certainly IS about unions.
Sorry but sometimes the union can be wrong in what they do, just like management can be. IBEW was wrong in this case, especially for holding the public of LI hostage without electricity (and heat) to their whims, and they were stopped dead in their tracks, which is what they deserved.
NYC Electricians make triple or quadruple anywhere southern. And they do even better on overtime. Old family friend was a LI electrician. Had a pharmacy degree that he always said he might use when he got old...but the pay cut was much too big to do it before then.
Again you have no cite that IBEW was even behind it. And you still have not explained why the southern electricians would turn down a raise.
And I still think the thing is primarily a Right Wing hoax. That there is some germ of truth to it is merely to allow one to make the hoax sound real.
It should however be easy to prove me incorrect. All you need is the union wage on LI versus what the southern electricians were paid. Any good news organization would have gotten that would they not?
NYC Electricians make triple or quadruple anywhere southern. And they do even better on overtime. Old family friend was a LI electrician. Had a pharmacy degree that he always said he might use when he got old...but the pay cut was much too big to do it before then.
Again you have no cite that IBEW was even behind it. And you still have not explained why the southern electricians would turn down a raise.
And I still think the thing is primarily a Right Wing hoax. That there is some germ of truth to it is merely to allow one to make the hoax sound real.
It should however be easy to prove me incorrect. All you need is the union wage on LI versus what the southern electricians were paid. Any good news organization would have gotten that would they not?
I can see I am dealing with someone who ignores, or has no sense of, logic. Have a pleasant evening!
Private equity & hedge funds that controlled Hostess didn't live up to their promises to modernize plants and trucks but grew the company's debt while rewarding themselves financially.
This is a Mitt Romney-type deal. Workers fight back, so you blame them for the bankruptcy while enriching yourself.
1. Hedge fund guys are in there for a profit, not charity.
2. Union costs were 100mm a year (management made 3.6, then increased to 7mm) so management wasn't getting the bulk of the millions.
3. 6300 union workers fought back and them and 12,000 non union workers got fired.....Ummm how did that work out for them? 18000 unemployed......yep those unions are surely worth it!
The company said, on Wed. that if enough people were not back to work by Thursday night, they would close the company on Friday...yet no one came back. People are aware when they strike they can lose their jobs...
Anyone remember what happened in the Air Traffic Controller strike in the early 80's?
CANNED.....thank you please step aside so your "scabs' can take your jobs.
What you keep deliberately ignoring was the terms under which the visiting workers were to receive the "LI union wage":
LI Union Wage
MINUS 22.5% of each employee's gross salary to the IBEW annuity fund
MINUS $9.75 an hour to the union's health and welfare fund
MINUS 3% of their gross salary to the union's "craft division skill improvement fund"
MINUS 3% of each worker's gross salary to the union's National Electrical Benefit Fund"
MINUS lesser amounts to other funds
That's a lot of deductions to be handed over to the union ... plus they have to pay taxes! Depending on the prevailing wage where the workers come from, perhaps many would not have even took home what they take home during normal working times in their own state.
Did you even read the article you quoted? They get all that money back.
1. Hedge fund guys are in there for a profit, not charity.
2. Union costs were 100mm a year (management made 3.6, then increased to 7mm) so management wasn't getting the bulk of the millions.
3. 6300 union workers fought back and them and 12,000 non union workers got fired.....Ummm how did that work out for them? 18000 unemployed......yep those unions are surely worth it!
Hostess Brands have been bankrupt for over a decade, yet management kept getting raises. This is a clear case of upper level owners/management shaking the tree as long as they could. Keep in mind Hostess is a private company.
I remember when US Airways went bankrupt the first time after 9/11. They asked for labor concessions while giving management huge bonuses. Even if labor WORKED FOR FREE the company was still going to lose hundreds of millions of dollars a quarter. It was a clear management failure, had nothing to do with labor. Labor can only build/sell what they are told to do.
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