Category: Union

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.

I Call This a Good Start

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The labor union the SEIU is starting a 3rd party named North Carolina First in that state.

They are collecting signatures to get qualified as a state party, and the implication is that they will be running candidates in the general against the Blue Dogs Heath Shuler and Mike McIntyre, as well as conservative Larry Kissell.

My attitude is that this is a good thing.

To quote James “I hate that smarmy bastard” Baker, “F%$# them, they didn’t vote for us.”*

I don’t have a problem with this. There is a difference between a conservative Democrat, and particularly in a conservative district, I understand the difference.

Shuler, McIntyre, and Kissell are disloyal democrats, and they can reliably be counted on to vote against healthcare, financial reform, and fair labor rights.

Truth be told, if they want to go after just one of them, I would suggest going after Shuler.

He’s the whip of the Blue Dogs, and taking him down would make the rest of those guys think twice about playing to Fox News as a political strategy

I would note that my hostility towards Shuler might be a function of his tenure as a Washington Redskins over-priced first round draft pick washout.

*Yes, I am aware that Baker said this about Jews and the Republican party while serving in the Poppie Bush administration.

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.

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.

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.

Barack and Rahm Need to Get Over Themselves

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So, as a result of putting Republicans (Olympia Snow) and insurance whore DINOs in the driver’s seat in the Senate, the White House is getting flack from Gerry McEntee, the president of AFSME, and the Obama and His Stupid Minions™ are describing this behavior as, “gratuitous slaps.”

Tough noogies, kids. The Obama administration has been running the process on healthcare reform, and pretty much everything else as a war on the “Democratic Wing of the Democratic Party”, and somehow they are surprised when a Union President, would oppose what is literally a tax on his members just because Obama is desperate to put his name on something … anything … that he can call health care reform.

We need more of what Mr. McEntee is doing, not less.

H/t AMERICAblog.

Another Day, Another Obama Backdown on a Campaign Promise

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So now Barack Obama is saying that they just don’t have the votes to pass the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA):

President Barack Obama said there aren’t enough votes in the Senate to pass “card-check” legislation sought by labor unions and only a revamped measure would have a chance getting through Congress.

“There may be areas of compromise to get this bill done,” Obama said today a town hall meeting in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, outside Albuquerque.

Suck it up man!

You are the President of the United States of America! Your job is to find the votes for this.

He thinks that by not pushing this, he’ll get cooperation from the ‘Phants healthcare or his other initiatives. He’s wrong.

And, BTW, I am sick and tired of all these people claiming that he’s playing some sort of ten dimensional chess, he’s not.

He figures that labor has no where else to go, so he will not work for them.

Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis No Longer Chairman of the Board

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It was a close vote, but splitting the CEO and Chairman of the Board positions passed, 50.3%-49.7%, and the new Chairman is Walter Massey.

I do not think that this makes much of a difference in day to day operations, but the fact that shareholders went against Lewis and the board on this is significant.

It’s also a big win for AFSME, who campaigned for this, because of Lewis’ aggressive campaign against labor unions.

White House “Happy” that EFCA is Dead?

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I would offer the the caveat that one of the contributors to MSNBC’s “First Read” is Chuck Todd, who can be one of the stupidest muthf%$#ers in the White House press room,* but there is a report that the White House is “happy to have this debate out of the way” because, “sticking a finger in business’ eye wasn’t something the White House was looking forward to.”

This is about the most politically opportune time to do this, with the public attitude toward businesses being rather low, AIG is a symptom, not the trend.

I cannot for the life of me think of anyone in the White House who would even hold this opinion, except for economic adviser, and poster child for sex without partners, Lawrence Summers, who is on record saying that unions cause unemployment,† but even he isn’t stupid enough to mouth off to a reporter, or for that matter a co-worker, about this.

I’ll call bullsh%$ on this for now.

*Cases in point were his questions at the first two press conferences, would Obama veto something that doesn’t get any Republican votes in the interest of bipartisanship, and how Americans should sacrifice to address the financial meltdown (like millions of people out of work and losing their homes isn’t enough) because he does not understand the difference between a foreign war and a domestic economic downturn.
†Yeah, I know, with “Democrats” like him, who needs Republicans.

Political Scabbing and Management Threats Against Labor

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So Arlen Spector has decided to cave, again, because of his fears of being primaried, and he has announced that he will vote against cloture on the Employee Free Choice Act, and Federal Express has said that it will cancel its contract to purchase Boeing aircraft if the EFCA passes.

I am not surprised at Spector, who has never seen a principled stance that he couldn’t weasel of, though I am surprised that FedEx, which has a long history of virulent and nasty anti-union activity, put a clause in their aircraft purchase contract that allowed them to cancel if unionizing there gets easier,* is a surprise.

Needless to say, if I need to send anything, I will use the use the US Post Office or UPS, rather than those C*cks*ck*rs.

*The EFCA would change how FedEx organizes, moving it from the National Railway Labor Act to the National Labor Relations Act, which means that parts of the company could unionize, as opposed to the whole company at once.

What David Said

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David Sirota notes that the push by the ‘Phants to cut retiree healthcare and pensions may create a profound change in labor negotiations.

This makes sense. Why negotiate for pension benefits or health insurance for retirees if you cannot trust the company to be there when the bill comes due.

Just go for the money up front:

Now, I think workers should always drive a hard bargain, but I also think that we don’t want to have an economy that effectively tells workers that they should never trust the future commitments of employers and that they therefore should be willing to destroy a company in order to get cash/benefits up front.

And that’s what slashing autoworkers’ health care and retiree benefits would do: It would likely make unions far more rigid in their future negotiations with all employers. That, of course, would be rational behavior by unions – having learned that employers’ future commitments cannot be trusted, they would simply never be flexible in trading wages for future benefits.

Somehow, the right wing thinks that contracts are sacred, so no cramdowns on mortgages, unless, of course they are with their employees, in which case, they are mere scribblings in the sand…..on a beach….before a hurricane hits.

Major Oil Refinery Strike Possible

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Talks between Royal Dutch Shell and the United Steelworkers do not appear to be going well, and a strike would idle about ½ the Gasoline refining in the United States.

The contract expires on Sunday, and if they go on strike, we can expect to see a significant spike in gasoline prices.

Needless to say, the ‘Phants would then be screaming for Obama to invoke Taft-Hartley, though I do not think that this would happen.

Sit Down Strike Ends: Workers Get Owed Benefits

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Bank of America and JP Morgan loaned a total of about 1¾ million to the owners, with specific stipulations that it be paid for, “60 days severance wages, vacation pay and a two-month extension of health insurance.”

Still, the more I hear, the more I think that the banks were set up by the owners, who were attempting to close down the plant, because they set up a new one down the road.

Update on the Sitdown Strike

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It appears that the owner may have been planning to shut down the plant and skip town for some time. It appears that, “company managed by the wife of Republic Windows and Doors owner Richard Gillman recently purchased an Iowa plant that manufactures similar products.”

Echo Windows and Doors was created two weeks ago and lists Sharon Gillman as its manager, according copies of records obtained by the Daily News from the Iowa Secretary of the State. According to Cook County property tax records, Sharon Gillman is Richard Gillman’s wife.

The couple purchased a $2.6 million Oak Street condo together in 2007, according to property records.

The Gillimans could not be reached for comment today. But this afternoon, Richard Gillman released a statement confirming the creation of the new company.

Also, Amy Zimmerman, who has served as Republic’s marketing director, is now listed as the contact on the newly registered echowindows.com domain name. She refused comment today.

As much as it pains me to say this, it may very well be that Bank of America is blameless in all this. The Gillimans may have set up a second company to find cheap non-union plant in Iowa, and then screwed up their credit line with BoA on purpose, so they could get out from under things like COBRA, owed vacation time, and other benefits.

In the mean time it appears that Chase, which had a 40% stake in Republic, is actually doing the right thing: it has pledged $400,000 to the employees there.

Still, this is getting weird, and if this is a scam by the Gillimans, and it looks increasingly so, there may very well be a criminal fraud case against them.