Category: Labor

A Contemptible Excuse for an Educator…

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And a contemptible excuse for a human being.

And no, I am not referring to DC schools chief Michelle Rhee, who by all indications subscribes to a similar policy, but rather New York City schools Chancellor Joel Klein, because all he thinks that all that has to happen to fix schools is to make teacher’s jobs crappier:

Klein told Frederick Hess of the American Enterprise Institute last week that the D.C. contract is marvelous and in fact ground-breaking. ‘This deal slayed The three dragons. Seniority. Lockstep pay. Tenure. It got them all.’

(emphasis mine)

I understand that management does not like labor unions, and does not like the protections that union contracts afford to workers.

So I can understand how an administrator might see a weakening or destruction of a labor union as a step on the road to school improvement, or at least a step on the road to making his job easier.

That being said, what Mr. Klein is saying here is that crappifying the teacher’s working conditions is The Only Thing that is required to fix schools. That is what he is saying when he talks about the three dragons.

School reformers view education like investment bankers, and other chief executives, view their jobs: They have no obligation to work for the stake-holders, children and teachers for schools and the shareholders and employees for businesses, they simply have to work for their own personal benefit.

It’s not about education, it’s about making things more convenient for administrators, you see.

I can’t speak to whether or not Michelle Rhee holds the same opinions as her one time mentor Joel Klein,since she hasn’t explicitly stated that she holds this view, as Klein clearly has.

My guess is that she holds these views, particularly since she went out of her way to ensure that millions in private funding for the DC schools was dependent her continued employment as the Chancellor. (Scroll down past the snark about her fiancee.)

This is why, when I hear people like Rhee and Klein talk about accountability, or when I hear someone like Secretary of Education Arne Duncan sing the praises of charter schools (which, by the way don’t outperform public schools), I roll my eyes.

The culture of American management for the past 30 years or so has been to maximize personal gain at the expense of both the enterprise the society as a whole, and I guess that this is just a reflection of this warped value system.

While it is a revolting and reprehensible development as a nation-wide trend, it’s just plain evil when our children, and their ability to become thoughtful citizens to the alter of executive expedience.

Yes, It Probably Is Abused

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Something that popped up some time after I graduated school was the rise of unpaid internships, and it appears that authorities are beginning to look at them for labor and wage law violations:

With job openings scarce for young people, the number of unpaid internships has climbed in recent years, leading federal and state regulators to worry that more employers are illegally using such internships for free labor.

Convinced that many unpaid internships violate minimum wage laws, officials in Oregon, California and other states have begun investigations and fined employers. Last year, M. Patricia Smith, then New York’s labor commissioner, ordered investigations into several firms’ internships. Now, as the federal Labor Department’s top law enforcement official, she and the wage and hour division are stepping up enforcement nationwide.

Many regulators say that violations are widespread, but that it is unusually hard to mount a major enforcement effort because interns are often afraid to file complaints. Many fear they will become known as troublemakers in their chosen field, endangering their chances with a potential future employer.

I would be inclined to agree.

My father, my mother, and my older brother all went to the (lamentably now closed, at least until 2012) Antioch College, and I considered going there myself, and they had a co-op job program, where work credits were required to graduate, and this was for paid positions, so the idea of huge numbers of unpaid students doing scut work seems to me to be more of an opportunity to get free labor than of any legitimate educational need.

Additionally, I think that the growth of unpaid internships may hide a darker agenda, specifically that with the growth of this practice, and the necessity of this sort of experience to enter some fields, it creates an unlevel playing field for people in many fields:

While many colleges are accepting more moderate- and low-income students to increase economic mobility, many students and administrators complain that the growth in unpaid internships undercuts that effort by favoring well-to-do and well-connected students, speeding their climb up the career ladder.

Many less affluent students say they cannot afford to spend their summers at unpaid internships, and in any case, they often do not have an uncle or family golf buddy who can connect them to a prestigious internship.

Additionally, the laws regarding discrimination and sexual harassment appear not to apply to interns, since they are not employees, so the opportunities for abuse are rife.

Joe Lieberman with Better Hair*

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OK, so Blanche Lincoln is polling horribly against her Republican opponents, who basically have the name recognition of Cranston Snord†, she is in favor of the banks, and the health insurance companies, and now she is running robocalls accusing her Democratic primary Bill Halter opponent of taking union money:

The Senators phone survey first asks how the constitutient feels about Lt. Gov. Halter. The survey then goes on to ask the constitutient if they are aware that the Lt. Governor has accepted money from unions.

Note that the distinguished lady from Arkansas has taken well over $½ million in labor PAC money in her career, despite the fact that she has been the Senator from Walmart, and now that labor unions are supporting her opponent, they are, of course portrayed as the font of all evil.

Seriously, I understand the desire to support a loyal Democrat who might be a conservative, but given her record on labor issues, healthcare, etc., she’s a disloyal Democrat.

Note that Mr. Halter is on my Act Blue Page, I support Bill Halter for Senate.

Barack Obama, on the other hand, supports Blanche Lincoln: he has formally endorsed her.

*Originally, I was going to say, “With t**s,” but I decided that that is insufficiently sensitive new age guy.
†Who, you ask, is Cranston Snord? And that is, of course, my point.

Ben Nelson and Blanch Lincoln Need to be Reminded What it Means to Be a Democrat

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It’s one thing to oppose a presidential appointee of your own party, but Ben Nelson Blanche Lincoln, just filibustered Craig Becker to serve on the National Labor Relations Board, and that crosses a line.

Their committee chairmanships should be in doubt, though that won’t happen with Harry “Sta-Puft Marshmallow Man” Reid leading the senate.

Note also that Nelson spoke out strongly against filibustering Bush appointees, but he’s with it when it involves Obama.

In either case, this is where a line should be drawn.

The reason for the filibuster? Because Craig Becker has represented labor unions as a lawyer. No problem with nominating union busting lawyers, but nominating a lawyer that supports workers’ rights? So Ben Nelson, and the Senator from WalMart filibustered him.

Needless to say, the AFL-CIO has blown a gasket over Nelson’s vote, I think that they understand that Lincoln is bought and paid for by WalMart.

Big Surprise

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The Conference Board’s survey of US job satisfaction hit an all time low. 45%, the lowest number since the survey began in 1987.

There is some surprise that, even as workplace safety and things like vacation days have increased, this number had trended downward:

“[That] could spell trouble for the overall engagement of U.S. employees and ultimately employee productivity,” she [Lynn Franco, director of the Consumer Research Center of The Conference Board] added.

The report notes that job satisfaction has steadily declined over the years despite big improvements in the work environment, such as a reduction of workplace hazards and an increase in vacation days.

Simply put, we are at the point where the fetishism of management for screwing with their workers may start hitting the bottom line.

This is basic primate behavior: People know that that upper management’s wages have gone up by more than 10 times, while their wages have stagnated.

The National Geographic noted this over 15 years ago:

Monkeys Show Sense Of Fairness, Study Says
Sean Markey
National Geographic News
September 17, 2003

If you expect equal pay for equal work, you’re not the only species to have a sense of fair play. Blame evolution.

Researchers studying brown capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) have found that the highly social, cooperative species native to South America show a sense of fairness, the first time such behavior has been documented in a species other than humans.

The question of whether human aversion to unfair treatment—now shown by other primates—is an evolved behavior or the result of the cultural influence of large social institutions like religion, governments, and schools, in the case of humans, has intrigued scientists in recent years.

The new finding suggests evolution may have something to do with it. It also highlights questions about the economic and evolutionary nature of cooperation and its relationship to a species’ sense of fairness, while adding yet another chapter to our understanding of primates.

……………

G.M. Is Snatching Defeat from the Jaws of Victory with Opel

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As a part of the deal that would have GM’s Opel/Vauxhall division sold to a consortium headed by Canadian auto parts manufacturer the workers agreed to wage and benefit concessions that would save the firm €265 million.

OK, so far, so god, but then GM decided to back out of the sales deal at the last minute.

This is apparently because they think that bring their European division back to profitability will be easier than everyone else thinks:

The company said it expected to spend 3 billion euros, or $4.4 billion, to downsize operations, which it said was “significantly lower” than what Magna and other bidders had projected.

There is also the matter that GM has next to nothing by way of fuel efficient cars in its labs in the US, because….because…They are f%$#ing morons, and they need Opel’s technology in order to make fuel efficient cars in the US.

Well, good luck with that, as the abrupt reversal has enraged Angela Merkel in Germany, and Putin in Russia, as well as the their workers, who now see the entire sales fiasco as a sort of Kabuki theater for the benefit of Angela Merkel’s reelection.

We are already seeing calls in the Bundestag for the immediate return of the €1.5 billion bridge loan that was floated by the Germans to facilitate this sale.

As a result of this decision, there have been strikes across Opel’s German factories, with protests by people carrying signs saying, “GM – Go Away!” and “Hands off Opel!”, and the German unions are demanding changes to the structure of the company, from LLC to AG (joint stock corporation), so as to increase German, and lessen US control, over the firm, because joint stock corporations in Germany mandate greater worker stock ownership and board participation.

So, GM, which will still need government support for the foreseeable future, has double-crossed and made enemies of the entire political establishment in Russia and Germany, while also creating a hostile and demoralized workforce.

Heck of a job, Brownie.

An Idea So Good It Will Never Pass

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George Miller (D CA-7) has introduced a law requiring employers to pay workers for up to 5 days if they send them home because they are sick:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. employers who tell workers to stay home when they are sick will have to give them paid time off for up to five days under new federal legislation proposed on Tuesday.

The emergency law would cover pandemic H1N1 flu or any other infectious disease, said California Representative George Miller, a Democrat who chairs the House Education and Labor Committee and who introduced the bill.

“Sick workers advised to stay home by their employers shouldn’t have to choose between their livelihood, and their co-workers’ or customers’ health,” Miller said.

<George Herbert Walker Bush>Not Gonna Happen.</George Herbert Walker Bush>

It makes sense from a business perspective, a public health perspective, and a moral perspective, but there is no way that the Congress is going to pass this because….Because they are a bunch of wankers.

It’s Official, Ford UAW Votes Down Concessions

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This is no big surprise, the UAW has voted against wage and benefit concessions to Ford.

It would have been the 4th round of concessions since 2005, and the rank and file said, “Enough is enough”.

Basically, they are not in the mood to make more give-backs when the stockholders, including the Ford family, are kept whole.

Additionally, I think that the Ford workers really do believe that they make a better car than their competition, something which is born out by 3rd quarter results, where Ford posted a profit of nearly $1 billion, largely on the fact that it was the US manufacturer to do best on the cash for clunkers program, because Bill Ford, even in the days of the SUV, was committed to making good quality smaller automobiles.

In a way, they are a victim of their own success: Their workers believe in their ability to make a good product that people will buy.

Elections Make a Difference: Labor Regulations

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It appears that people who want to treat their employees like so much excrement are distressed that Barack Obama is not vociferously anti union, and that under his watch union leaders have access to, and information from, the White House, and that sensible rules have been established:

Delta Air Lines, the world’s largest carrier, would be more likely to lose union elections sought by flight attendants and machinists if a proposal by the AFL-CIO is approved.

The workers asked the National Mediation Board in July and August to clear the way for an election. Last month, the AFL-CIO petitioned the board to revise procedures and allow a union if most of those voting approve, instead of a majority of all workers in the class.

The board plans to announce a proposal in coming days to advance the union request on voting rules, people familiar with the matter said. Seven Republican senators said in a Sept. 30 letter that the board was delaying a decision on the union election while it considers the new vote-counting method.

Yes, under the old system, a non-vote was counted as a no vote, so you could lose because someone got the sniffles, or just didn’t want to be bothered to vote.

What’s more, they are appointing people who are not management toadies to boards. In the case of the National mediation board, you have a former flight attendent union official replacing a former lobbyist for Northwest (now a part of Delta), and the President of Delta Airlines is pissed about it:

“You have two former heads of AFL-CIO unions at the NMB and they really are politicizing the process,” Delta CEO Richard Anderson said on a conference call with investors last week.

My heart bleeds borscht for you sadistic equestrian necrophiliac…But that’s beating a dead horse.

Even more shocking, the head of OSHA decided to, “replace pictures of OSHA managers displayed in a conference room with photos of workers who had been killed on the job.”

It gives one the vapors.

I’m not sure how deep the support for labor is in the Obama White House, but what is going is a welcome change form the vociferous hostility exhibited by Bush and His Evil Minions&trade.

Ford’s Unions Draw a Line in the Sand

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There have been 6 plants so far that have rejected Ford’s request concessions on their contracts in order to match the terms at Chrysler and GM.

I understand it. If I were a worker on the Ford shop floor, and I had already made major concessions about 8 months ago, I’d want to make sure that the shareholders, including the Ford family, were wiped out before I would give anything more:

[UAW Local President Tom] Spears, who backed the contract changes, said in an interview. “The membership did not have a warm reception to additional contract modifications. We did this in ‘05, ‘07 and in February and now they’re back at us again.”

Of course, you will doubtless hear how these guys are being selfish and stupid, and have to give back more, but if you go through those same papers over the weeks before and after, you will find them defending the outrageous pay and bonus contracts as sacrosanct.

It’s kind of like the Droit de seigneur, where of the local lord in the old days had the right to deflower any new bride, only with the banks, we all get f#$@ed.

Look for the Union Label

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Here is an interesting fact: If you retired from Delphi, the bankrupt GM parts supplier, and you are a member of the UAW, your pension is safe, because the Union fought for contractual assurances that it would be safe, but for non-union middle management? Not so much:

But four months later, Mr. Gump finds himself in a far more perilous condition than his neighbors.

On his street, he is the only Delphi worker whose pension benefits may be cut. His neighbors all belong to unions and have received a lifeline in an unprecedented deal related to the government-supervised bankruptcy of General Motors, the onetime parent of Delphi. (G.M. spun off the parts division as a separate company 10 years ago.)

Mr. Gump and some 21,000 other salaried workers and retirees are furious that their roughly 46,000 union co-workers at Delphi have had their benefits restored, apparently with government largesse, and they have not.

This is not “government largesse”, of course, it’s because the Union used its clout to protect its people, and got agreements and guarantees from GM as a result.

Mr. Gump, like myself, is an engineer, who as a group are tremendously resistant to the idea of unionizing, and this cost him, and thousands like him at Delphi.

Boeing Needs to Fix Its Fix on 787

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Basically, it looks as if it will be delayed even further:

While the installation of the 787 wing fix continues, Boeing engineers have returned to the drawing board to redesign part of the reinforcement, FlightBlogger has learned.

As a result, company and industry sources say the 2009 first flight target could be in jeopardy as engineers work to redesign the fix for four remaining wing stringers.

(emphasis mine)

Ben Sandilands makes a number of trenchant observations, but I think that he misses the bigger picture, which is, as I stated in my last post, that Boeing has given itself a cost cut driven lobotomy.

They cut the engineers and technicians because the finance guys thought they could, but they couldn’t.

It’s like when Boeing got their engineers (SPEEA) to strike a few years back, and they were surprised when the FAA said that they would not allow the suits to certify construction and deliver the aircraft.

Change I Don’t Believe In

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So, it now appears that the Obama administration is promising to restrict pay for senior executives at the big banks that got TARP bucks:

Responding to the growing furor over the paychecks of executives at companies that received billions of dollars in federal bailouts, the Obama administration will order the companies that received the most aid to deeply slash the compensation to their highest paid executives, an official involved in the decision said on Wednesday.

Under the plan, which will be announced in the next few days by the Treasury Department, the seven companies that received the most assistance will have to cut the cash payouts to their 25 best-paid executives by an average of about 90 percent from last year. For many of the executives, the cash they would have received will be replaced by stock that they will be restricted from selling immediately.

The devil is in the details, and I simply believe this to be political theater.

There will be loopholes large enough to drive a truck load of cash through. I do not know what they are, but I believe this to be the case.

Barack Obama and Geithner/Summers have been steadfast in their continued support of Wall Street fat cats, and I do not expect this to change.

Just Go Read Michael Moore

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Basically, after years of no support for their unions, and bankruptcy laws that do nothing to reign in executive compensation, pilot salaries have become so low that pilots frequently have to work 2nd jobs, and no small number are on food stamps.

You get what you pay for, and right now, we are paying for lots of airliners crashing by not paying pilots enough.

Here’s a sample:

I told the guys that I have a whole section in my new movie about how pilots are treated (using pilots as only one example of how people’s wages have been slashed and the middle class decimated). In the movie I interview a pilot for a major airline who made $17,000 last year. For four months he was eligible — and received — food stamps. Another pilot in the film has a second job as a dog walker.

“I have a second job!,” the two pilots said in unison. One is a substitute teacher. The other works in a coffee shop. You know, maybe it’s just me, but the two occupations whose workers shouldn’t be humpin’ a second job are brain surgeons and airline pilots. Call me crazy.

There has been an aggressive war on the wages of people who actually do useful stuff, as opposed to bosses and investors, since the Carter administration, and this is not a good thing.

Cash for Clunkers Have had a Long Term Effect

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The folks at the Wall Street Journal miss the point, by stressing capacity cuts, but it takes 2-3 years for new cars to become used cars.

I’m not sure whey they do this, except for the fact that the jobs being lost are UAW jobs.

More significant is the fact that anyone who got cash for a clunker under the government program did not have their car work its way down the used car ecology.

Cars traded in under that program had to be rendered undrivable, generally by putting abrasive in the crankcase.

What that means is that there has been a significant reduction in used cars in the pipeline, which is likely going to be boosting used car prices, and possibly new car prices, for the next few years.

Another Claude Raines Moment: Banker Salaries

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I’m shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on here!

US Bank CEO Pay Dwarfs Rest of the World: Study

I am stunned that suggestion that the geniuses at Wall Street might somehow be overpaid:

Jiang, chairman of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, made just $234,700 in 2008. That’s less than 2 percent of the $19.6 million awarded to Jamie Dimon, chief executive of the world’s fourth-largest bank, JPMorgan Chase

…

“The U.S. executive pay levels have always dwarfed pay for companies elsewhere in the world,” said Sarah Anderson, a fellow with the Institute for Policy Studies, which is critical of Wall Street, and co-author of the recent study “America’s Bailout Barons.”

“They have claimed it is impossible to recruit people without paying such compensation. Yet, if you look at the pay levels in Europe and in a lot of Asian countries, somehow they manage to find people who can run major global firms while making a fraction of what they make in the U.S.,” she said.

Great googly moogly: Why don’t we just outsource bank presidents to China.