Video: SEIU accuses Card Check opponent of wanting workers to die
posted at 1:35 pm on March 17, 2009 by Ed Morrissey
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The unions are getting desperate. With Democrats balking at eliminating the secret ballot in union organizing elections and saddling business with crushing arbitration requirements, the SEIU has decided to play hardball — and dirty. This video accuses Rep. Dan Boren, D-OK, of not caring whether workers die:
This is some rough stuff. The SEIU has just launched a hard-hitting Web video that ties Blue Dog Democrat Dan Boren to the horrific death of a worker in his home state, yet another sign that the battle over the Employee Free Choice Act is shaping up as a no-holds-barred free-for-all.
The video — an effort to make Boren pay a political price in his home state for his recent declaration that he’ll vote against EFCA — dramatizes the plight of a father of four who, according to the video, worked at an industrial laundry and was dragged into a heavy duty dryer, where he was violently tossed around for 20 minutes and eventually died[.]
It’s not just “rough stuff”, it’s despicable. It blames the death of a worker on a lack of union organization, but what the video doesn’t tell you is that the workers have the right to organize now. They can gain enough signed cards to file with the NRLB, which will then conduct an election on site. Did the workers in this plant try that? The video never says, although it emphasizes that the employer opposes union organization, which is both true and irrelevant. The workers in that plant apparently didn’t want to organize, or at least not enough of them did.
While unions do help protect lives and enforce safety regulations in dangerous work environments, they’re not the only way to get that done. On the federal level, OSHA can enforce safety standards as well, and workers can file anonymous complaints about unsafe conditions. Many states have parallel agencies for the same purpose. In Oklahoma, the Safety Standards Division appears to cover the workplace in Tulsa. Did workers file any complaints to OSHA or OK-SSD before this accident? Apparently not, as the SEIU only says that safety issues were found on surveillance tapes after the death.
It doesn’t take the elimination of the secret ballot to organize workplaces. Workers have had those rights for decades. The SEIU wants to exploit a tragic death in order to frighten and intimidate people into making the unions relevant again — which gives a pretty clear indication of their tactics if Congress ever does remove the secret ballot in organizing elections.
Update: Reader MGR asks what kept Cintas employees from organizing without Card Check when the other workplace they reference managed to do so. Good point.
Previous posts on Card Check:
- Johnson against Card Check, too?
- Video: Murkowski tells AK legislature she’ll oppose Card Check
- Video: Warren Buffett on Card Check
- Video: Blue Dog speaks out against Card Check
- Conference call: Rep. John Kline on Card Check
- The Ed Morrissey Show: Dr. Anne Layne-Farrar, Card Check; John Taylor, Getting Off Track
- Three Dems wavering on Card Check in the Senate?
- Obama tells unions that Card Check will pass this year
- CPAC Interview: Card Check
- Obama moving away from fear-based politics?
- Secret ballots for workers in Mexico, but not the US?
- Will Stern strong-arm unions to join the SEIU?
- Video: Labor officials can’t explain why they need to dump the secret ballot
- Card check a dead letter?
- Audio: Sharpton opposing Card Check?
- Card Check loses a vote? Perhaps
- Video: Blago, SEIU, and Card Check
- DeMint conference call: Card Check, bailouts
- Card Check: A direct pipeline to corruption and abuse
- Can Obama get Democrats to support Card Check?
- Video: The Card Check ad CBS doesn’t want you to see
- Irony escapes the House Democratic Caucus
- Guess who used the secret ballot … again?
- Video: Meet Union Boss Bill
- USA Today: Stop Card Check …
- Video: McGovern on Card Check
- George McGovern to fight Card Check in debate ad
- Video: What if Congress passed Card Check for all elections?
- FRC Action Summit: Barbara Comstock on EFCA
- George McGovern: Stop Card Check
- Where did the SEIU get $150 million for politics?
- Right Online Conference: John Fund
- Maybe this is why they need Card Check?
- Video: “I Hate Heroes”
- Johnny Sac takes on the unions
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Their depravity has no bounds.
ladyingray on March 17, 2009 at 1:37 PM
Bingo, Ed.
Kent18 on March 17, 2009 at 1:39 PM
It will be fun when Blue Dogs decide to tell them to take a hike and start counter-advertising cases where the SEIU and other unions were selling out the rank-and-file for the personal benefit of the union officers.
(I don’t have any particular stories of this offhand as far as the SEIU is involved but it seems to go hand-in-hand with union organizing, such as when the Teamsters Pension Fund was being used as the Mob’s piggy-bank to fund casinos in Las Vegas and get a skim on the profits as a result.)
teke184 on March 17, 2009 at 1:39 PM
Does George McGovern not care if workers live or die? How about Warren Buffett, everlasting support of Obama? Methinks the SEIU’s attempts here will fizzle.
amerpundit on March 17, 2009 at 1:41 PM
Yeah, this is brutal, but much more brutal for OSHA.
myrenovations on March 17, 2009 at 1:41 PM
Boren, you are in Tulsa for Pete’s sake – change parties.
Vashta.Nerada on March 17, 2009 at 1:41 PM
UNIONS should be FORCED to get off their asses and ORGANIZE. They need to spend their OWN time and money if they want workers to pay them UNION DUES and more importantly INITIATION FEES.
originalpechanga on March 17, 2009 at 1:42 PM
the union bigwigs are gonna be PISSED at barry, harry, and nan when this doesn’t go through …
/popcorn, anyone?
Buckaroo on March 17, 2009 at 1:42 PM
There have been NO deaths in union shops?
originalpechanga on March 17, 2009 at 1:43 PM
What about all the deaths from those union-made vehicles. The point is one can find outrage in any situation if one stoops low enough to make a connection.
genso on March 17, 2009 at 1:43 PM
The factory I worked in, you could still get yourself injured, maimed or killed even though we were a union shop. Workers (yours’ truly) doing stupid things led to injuries all the time. Unions can demand that conditions be made more safe, which is great, but that job could have been just as easily done by OSHA or concerned company management.
Geministorm on March 17, 2009 at 1:44 PM
You are not supposed to ask that kind of question.
myrenovations on March 17, 2009 at 1:44 PM
Yes, come over to the dark side, we have pie and punch.
Seriously, if this is how the Left treats the Blue Dogs, I wonder how many of them can be flipped before the 2010 elections. It would sure beat the hard left agenda of Dear Leader.
rbj on March 17, 2009 at 1:45 PM
Apparently it has become quite trendy to be a thug these days. Nice message being sent out from this administration.
sherry on March 17, 2009 at 1:45 PM
AFL-CIO is telling Arlen Specter they’ll do an Operation Chaos for him, having their Dems re-register as GOP for the closed GOP primary, and switch back for the general. So far Arlen hasn’t publicly taken them up on this, although he has been telling people himself to register as GOP to vote for him.
Wethal on March 17, 2009 at 1:46 PM
KOS kids are glowing about this Gallup poll which is ambiguously worded at best. Of course if this passes, Obama will have to reap the consequences to the economy. I used to think he wouldn’t actually be that stupid, I stand corrected.
msmveritas on March 17, 2009 at 1:46 PM
Thank goodness for Rep. Dan Boren, D-OK, who would have thought that there is actually a Democrat that is not a puppet of the unions.
Maxx on March 17, 2009 at 1:47 PM
EAT THE RICH!
Ooops, pardon me. I thought this was the Charles Grassley thread.
/sarc
Y-not on March 17, 2009 at 1:48 PM
Jimmy Hoffa was not available for interview…
More people have been killed crossing union picket lines then killed in laundromat drier incidents.
right2bright on March 17, 2009 at 1:49 PM
My first encounter with the SEIU was back in 2004, when 15 bus loads of SEIU professional campaigners invaded this small midwestern city as part of the Kerry/Edwards entourage.
They trashed every eatery and bar in town before they left, and were in general obnoxious all around.
The language most of them used when addressing unionizing every aspect of America, and their confrontations with owners/entrepreneurs who had a small number of employees, non-union, of course, would make a sailor blush.
This is typical SEIU…and this ad, this piece of viciousness, is meant to intimidate, not educate.
Based on this alone, is there any rational person in America who believes for one minute that should “card check” become law, the intimidation would stop?
SEIU…the most-poster child for what unions have done to America and have become over the past several decades.
coldwarrior on March 17, 2009 at 1:50 PM
I wonder if Mr. Gomez (the worker killed) was an illegal alien? Is Cintas known for hiring illegal aliens, and could that explain why the workers did not report the unsafe working conditions to OSHA or OK-SSD?
AZCoyote on March 17, 2009 at 1:52 PM
So a secret ballot causes dumbasses to climb on active conveyor belts?
James on March 17, 2009 at 1:52 PM
Was this guy an illegal? I stopped the video when I heard his name because my stomach began a spasmodic episode. Was he doing a job that an American worker wouldn’t do? Just askin’
hip shot on March 17, 2009 at 1:52 PM
AZ Coyote, you beat me to it, sorry.
hip shot on March 17, 2009 at 1:53 PM
That poll is useless. I usually believe polls, even if I don’t like what they say, but the questions they asked are partisan in nature. There is a gigantic difference between “Do you want workers to be able to organize” and the card check program that they are selling. It would be like someone who is pro-life asking “Do you like baby killing?” If they want their poll to be relevant then they have to ask the right questions.
txaggie on March 17, 2009 at 1:55 PM
in other news. important news:
Obama’s First Appellate Court Nominee: Hard Left [Wendy Long]
As reported by the New York Times this morning, the first Obama federal Circuit Court of Appeals nominee is “moderate” David Hamilton of Indiana, to be nominated this week to the 7th Circuit.
It’s interesting that this is what Obama and the New York Times call a “moderate”: Hamilton has a history as a hard-left political activist, and his choice signals that Obama does intend to push extreme liberals onto the bench and politicize the courts as we’ve never seen before.
Hamilton was a fundraiser for ACORN (nice ACORN payback, Mr. President) and served as vice president for litigation and a board member of the Indiana ACLU. In 1994, when President Clinton nominated him to the district court, the ABA rated him as ‘not qualified,’ apparently because of his almost purely political (as opposed to legal and judicial) experience.
Interestingly, he is also the brother-in-law of perhaps the hardest left radical Obama nominee to the Department of Justice, Dawn Johnsen.
Beginning to notice a pattern here?
unseen on March 17, 2009 at 1:56 PM
“Is Cintas known for hiring illegal aliens”
iirc, yes …
[!!]
Buckaroo on March 17, 2009 at 1:57 PM
The most brilliant propagandist technique will yield no success unless one fundamental principle is borne in mind constantly – it must confine itself to a few points and repeat them over and over. If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.
- Joseph Goebbels
MB4 on March 17, 2009 at 2:01 PM
This is actually good. The reason I’m so very much opposed to the card check bill is precisely because the unions have shown very poor skills at coping with the new attitudes and policies. This is so typical of the bullying that would go on if this bill were passed.
Except…..it would be on individuals.
No, no, no.
I may not be Republican due to the social issues attitudes, but I sure as heck don’t support this bill.
AnninCA on March 17, 2009 at 2:01 PM
So, only a union guy would pull the plug on that dryer and save the poor guy who got pulled into it, and a non-union guy wouldn’t? What were his co-workers doing for 20 minutes while this man was tossed around in the dryer? Picketing for a union, by any chance?
This regrettable accident has NOTHING to do with unions!!! If you’re a decent human being, and you see a co-worker in that situation, you hit the main circuit breaker or emergency switch to stop the dryer, whether you’re in a union or not! The real question is, why didn’t anyone see this accident for 20 minutes?
Steve Z on March 17, 2009 at 2:01 PM
Ummm doesn’t this lil video prove that if they know you are against the union they will attack you?
- The Cat
MirCat on March 17, 2009 at 2:01 PM
What is it about OK that at least some of the politicians have common sense? Thank God for Jim Inhofe and Tom Coburn and Dan Boren. Even the Dems have some common sense here (though not all).
Christian Conservative on March 17, 2009 at 2:01 PM
Given ever increasing power of organizations like OSHA and the EEOC, one has to wonder if unions will continue to be necessary. At some point, American workers may have access to many of the protections traditionally overseen by unions through federal or state government. After that, unions become nothing more than a political lobby that leeches money away from the very people they’re supposed to protect.
TheUnrepentantGeek on March 17, 2009 at 2:03 PM
Sounds like the SEIU is familiar with the Scientology tactic of “fair game”. Or the mob tactic of intimidation.
Matticus Finch on March 17, 2009 at 2:04 PM
Dem Tim Johnson from South Dakota has also come out against card check. Wonder what they’ll try to do to him.
Wethal on March 17, 2009 at 2:04 PM
Actually, we just want parasites like SEIU to die.
Painfully.
I used to live in Ponca City and knew the Borens well. Pretty Red district up there..
TexasJew on March 17, 2009 at 2:04 PM
Eh, it said he was alone on the floor.
Maybe we can just let them count Gomez’s vote as a ‘yes’ for the union and call it even.
James on March 17, 2009 at 2:06 PM
At 2:00 the announcer says there have been over thirty “incidences.”
It’s “incidents” SEIU, not “incidences.” So you couldn’t even bother having someone check the script for grammar?
radjah shelduck on March 17, 2009 at 2:06 PM
It sounds like the SEIU is trying to use the Chewbacca Defense.
Mr. Bingley on March 17, 2009 at 2:10 PM
So, it’s acceptable when rich, white collar Wall Street types die, preferably at their own hands by committing suicide to atone for their “sins”, but it is criminal that blue collar workers die and all because they didn’t have the good sense to unionize.
What is wrong with the boobs in Washington? What world are they living in? Now are we ready to start the revolution? Will there even be anything left worth fighting for?
gopmom on March 17, 2009 at 2:10 PM
I have worked at several different companies in my field over the course of my life, all in the same field. Took classes, apprenticed, and worked at all the different aspects of the job. Mostly have worked at small companies with little room for advancement. So in order for me to get a raise or a better position I had to change jobs. When I was younger did that about every three years.
Finally found a position I liked at a salary that I liked. The problem was, it was a union shop. Decided to go for it anyway. The union was there to protect and help me. My very first paycheck had two interesting deductions in it. One was my “initiation fee” and the other was my “weekly union dues.” The dues were calculated as a percentage of my total wages. If I worked overtime they got more money. That was ok, they were there to help and protect me.
Our contract was soon going to be up and I decided to work on the contract committee. What an eye opening experience that was. Every time a new subject was brought up, my “shop foreman” said, “If you want that, you’re gonna hafta walk.” After an afternoon of that, I was ready to run for shop foreman. I knew I was smarter than him, and could represent the workers better than him.
About a month later, I screwed up a job. Got called into the supervisors office to discuss the situation. Wasn’t worried has my union rep there to help me out. You would have though that I killed someone, with tall the weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth going on in that office. Through out all this my union rep sat quietly. I knew he was waiting for the right moment to jump in for my defense.
To my surprise, he did nothing. I got a three day suspension – without pay. Basically the only thing my rep said to me about the meeting was, “Even though I was only working two days that week, my union dues would still be calculated at the 40 hour weekly rate. It was in the contract.”
You can guess that I soon left that job (it took five months to find a new one). My supervisor was surprised and sorry to see me go. Told him I expected an excellent reference. Didn’t get one because, “I was disloyal.”
My extremely long point is: I have a job. There is a guy who pays me. Because he pays me, I consider him my boss. When I was in the union I payed some one to be my boss. Guess which one cares about me more? I also don’t expect anyone to help me in trying situations, I help myself. Lesson learned!
Tommy_G on March 17, 2009 at 2:13 PM
The SEIU is a criminal enterprise.
rockmom on March 17, 2009 at 2:15 PM
Why bother, this is PA, we’ll just make the election come out how we want /sarc. Kanjorski, who I noticed was pretty high on the AIG donor list, was re-elected despite all the odds. Murtha couldn’t have tried harder to alienate his voter, yet miraculously he is re-elected. I have no faith in my homestate politics.
That poll is a joke, doesn’t stop KOS from glowing about it. I am no longer even remotely phased by the stupidity of the general public.
msmveritas on March 17, 2009 at 2:17 PM
As an Environmental, Health and Safety professional for 21 years I call absolute BS!! SEIU is using “fear mongering” (as the left likes to call it) to make Rep Boren look like an un-caring monster and further their card check agenda!
The fact of the matter is making a comparison between a company that is Union vs. a company’s that’s non-Union is not a logical nor accurate assessment of a company’s Injury Incidence Rate (IIR) or their Insurance Modifier Rate (IMR). First of all the IIR is a calculated number based on the number of injuries/deaths/illnesses a company experiences versus the overall number of hours worked by all employees.
Secondly, a company’s IMR is calculated by insurance companies and is based on the losses incurred by the company during any 12 month period, the higher the IMR number the higher the company’s insurance premium will be.
Also, the Bureau of Labor Statistics determines what the industry standard is for a given business sector when it comes to IIR, e.g., if your company in a given business sector has an IIR higher than what has been determined to be the “standard” for that sector then it is an indication you may have some safety issues within your company and if the numbers are way out of line it will more than likely trigger a regulatory inspection by OSHA.
So to insinuate that companies with unions are safer than non-union company’s is BS as I indicated above the stats for such things are derived by a company’s IIR and IMR rates as compared to what the standard in that particular sector.
In addition, while I have not researched specifics having been in the EHS field for 21 years I have never seen or heard of any studies or data that would support SEIU’s claim that non-union companies are less safe and more dangerous than a union company. In fact it has been my experience that non-union companies have a better understanding and grasp of how being proactive regarding EHS issues saves the company money and bolsters the bottom line and thus they have a better understanding of the importance of protecting their people, the environment, and property, not just for “bottom-line” reasons but most importantly for moral reasons.
It’s not to say there aren’t bad players out there (union or non-union) there are, but for the SEIU to make such a blanket statement is absurd and dishonest (not to mention dirty) and thus as Ed stated they are obviously desperate!
Here’s a link to the Bureau of Labor Statistic’s pdf doc if anyone is interested in learning more:
BLS pdf
Liberty or Death on March 17, 2009 at 2:18 PM
Buckaroo on March 17, 2009 at 1:57 PM
My employer started using Cintas last year to provide/launder our cleanroom attire, so far the experience has been very disappointing and we will most likely not renew the contract. Low bit is low quality and service.
dmann on March 17, 2009 at 2:19 PM
It looks like Cintas and the unions go back aways…
http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080306/cintas-files-suit-against-unions.htm
dish on March 17, 2009 at 2:21 PM
Without the elimination of the secret ballot and mandatory federal arbitration, the proposed labor bill means nothing and gives nothing to the unions.
They want PAYBACK and won’t settle for anything less from their Democratic servants in Congress. Screw the public, this is the unions chance to gain POWER.
GarandFan on March 17, 2009 at 2:36 PM
Ed is being too generous to unions.
Count to 10 on March 17, 2009 at 2:38 PM
Either business can start showing it can be humane enough to not need unions or it deserves every bit of unionization.
sethstorm on March 17, 2009 at 2:51 PM
Is the attire from a Third World country? There’s your answer on where the quality problem is – China.
sethstorm on March 17, 2009 at 2:52 PM
So I guess any death/injury in a union shop is due to union negligence…
CardCheck is an assault on the most basic premises of liberty, rights and freedom as an American.
While Stalin only gave people 1 choice, when voting, at least he provided a curtain to “act” legitimate.
Odie1941 on March 17, 2009 at 3:02 PM
Unions actually do very little with regards to active safety roles in the vast majority of work places. You’ll never see a union boss stick his neck out on any safety issue.
Wyznowski on March 17, 2009 at 3:04 PM
Best. Union. Story. Ever.
Mike Antonucci on March 17, 2009 at 3:04 PM
You should spend more time with Tammy Bruce (a real feminist)…she is not supportive of all the “social issues”, but is well respected by Republicans.
What few “social issues” you don’t agree with (probably abortion and gay marriage) is minor compared to the social issues of the other side…
right2bright on March 17, 2009 at 3:08 PM
I remember the story about a proposition on California’s ballot regarding minimum wage.
The company hired to promote the higher minimum wage, paid their employees a “below minimum wage” because of some temporary voters provision that allowed them to.
They exclaimed that if they had to pay minimum wage, they wouldn’t be able to afford to fight for a higher wage…just bizarre.
And of course, Feinstein’s vineyards are not unionized…if she unionized, she stated, she wouldn’t be competitive.
Yet she fights for unionization of everyone else…
right2bright on March 17, 2009 at 3:17 PM
Yep, see my previous post on the subject, as someone working in the environmental, health and safety field for 21 years their BS doesn’t hold water!
Liberty or Death on March 17, 2009 at 3:25 PM
You realize that they are not targeting the sharpest tools in the shed?
thomasaur on March 17, 2009 at 3:27 PM
I just went thru union negotiations for my Coop’s maintenance workers who are in SEIU. The union rep for SEIU looked like a Commie and had no problem threatening us with a strike if we didn’t give in to their outrageous wage increase demands.
My answer………”let em strike, we can replace these guys in less than a week in this economy and we can finally get rid of your Commie union.
But it worked, and they backed down within an hour…….but our property manager was none to happy with my “tactics” LOL.
Knucklehead on March 17, 2009 at 3:32 PM
They’re protesting because the folks inside can’t. Thuggery is rife in the folks from Bentonville.
sethstorm on March 17, 2009 at 3:47 PM
Hopefully you get fired for it.
sethstorm on March 17, 2009 at 3:48 PM
The “company” was ACORN. They sued the state in 1995 to avoid paying their own workers the minimum wage.
Mike Antonucci on March 17, 2009 at 3:53 PM
This is comical.
The unions, who work hand in hand with organized crime, are far more of a danger to the lives of workers than are corporations.
Especially if they don’t want to join a union.
Plus, they suck money out of member’s paycheck with no corresponding value added.
Finally, unions kill any industry in which they successfully infiltrate.
Unions are anti-worker, anti-American and anti-business. They should be banned.
NoDonkey on March 17, 2009 at 3:53 PM
FIFY
sethstorm on March 17, 2009 at 4:13 PM
I presume you also are a member of the Colorado Citizens Committee?
sethstorm on March 17, 2009 at 4:13 PM
Yawn… troll.
Daft Punk on March 17, 2009 at 4:20 PM
Only if a Third World country is allowed as an escape route.
sethstorm on March 17, 2009 at 4:36 PM
SEIU = ACORN, thus any policy they are for, I must on default be against unless there’s a blue moon.
eaglewingz08 on March 17, 2009 at 4:39 PM
Get a load of this crap the SEIU is producing:
http://vimeo.com/3152889
izoneguy on March 17, 2009 at 4:42 PM
Not far from the truth today, even closer to the truth a century ago and in China.
sethstorm on March 17, 2009 at 4:48 PM
According to Ras, only 9% of people not in a union would like to join a union.
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/business/jobs_employment/just_9_of_non_union_workers_want_to_join_union
angryed on March 17, 2009 at 4:54 PM
The unions coudltn stop when
our plants closed down
our plants went to mexico then to china
our plants had to cut costs to even hope to compete with labor in china..
Why do you think
Gm, ford, chrystler, american airlines and so many others
Are either bankrupt or almost their
the unions just demand more (and i was a union man)
until i watched the 5th printing plant move to mexico / o rthe phillipines or china
i mean they moved the entire plant to kentucky then sold it’
and that company parted it out and then sent the work overseas..
Ohh but the union boss made out great..
too bad i had to watch 5 men die of heart attacks as each plant closed..
They knew they were too old to look for new jobs and simply DDIED
BECAUSE of the UNION
So this ad is bullshit..
i got out of the industry and wont join a union plant again..
because the unions screwed the companies so hard they GM is going under..
And the unions response..
well it isnt our fault..
Sorry go sudck an egg..
if your in a union plant i tell you this as an ex union worker
Get out now because all of your jobs eventually the union will demand such outrageous stuff that the company will be forced to move overseas..
and for the CEOS your not innocent either..
because as we the workers watch your incompetence
then each cea jumps overboard with all of his suitcases stuffed with cash as the company RAMMS
EVERY ICEBERG in the OCEAN..
We the workers will also come
After you..
jcila on March 17, 2009 at 5:14 PM
If I really worked at it, I bet I could make the case that union operations actually discourage proactive safety climates due to the monumental amounts of bureaucratic bull crap that get tossed into any company initiative.
Just today in our operation, we’ve had several union “safety cop” members attempt to completely rewrite our long established and successful lockout/taggout policy simply in order to make life difficult for management. What better way to stir the pot by raising all sorts of completely unfounded safety alarms. Now, management is insensitive to the union’s “safety concerns” and we just want to kill our employees for a $…yeah.
Wyznowski on March 17, 2009 at 5:23 PM
Then remove the overseas argument.
sethstorm on March 17, 2009 at 5:23 PM
Rasmussen poll(read: Fox leaning), and you don’t do service by hiding your blog from readers.
sethstorm on March 17, 2009 at 5:28 PM
Mob Tactics, Union Tactics, What’s the Difference?
regmgr on March 17, 2009 at 5:37 PM
FIFY.
sethstorm on March 17, 2009 at 5:38 PM
standard socialist operating procedure, when the truth is not on your side (and it never is) lie, and when you lie, lie big.
darktood on March 17, 2009 at 5:46 PM
Back in the early 1980’s I was in Hagarstown, MD. I was talking with a guy that worked at the Mack Truck Factory there. (UAW, of course)
He was bitching about a co-worker who operated some machinery in an unsage manner. ( I never worked in a truck factory so I didn’t really know what he was talking about)
I asked him if he had said something to his foreman about it. His response? “I’m not management!”, he said, very hotly.
That’s the knid of thinking that unions encourage. You stick together because you’re labor, no matter what. Your employer is the bad guy and you never, ever rat out a fellow union member even if it is a safety issue.
schmuck281 on March 17, 2009 at 6:08 PM
Something called solidarity come to mind?
sethstorm on March 17, 2009 at 6:11 PM
Heh. This speaks volumes.
Daft Punk on March 17, 2009 at 6:27 PM
I would think from experience that union shops tend to be less safe than non-union.
My reasoning:
many of the union shops advance based on seniority only; this tends to accumulate employees with little or no initiative or drive to perform better. It also creates an attitude of “we can’t be fired” so compliance with rules is poor.
The safest companies are the ones who show safety as a moral issue to protect the workers and actively remove the problem employees. Contrast this with a union shop peopled primarily by problem employees and the difference is clear.
mad scientist on March 17, 2009 at 10:12 PM
If card check passes it is important to form a new union. Here are a few ideas for that.
.
1. The union charter must forbid merging with, or becoming subservient to another union.
2. Union officers are to receive no compensation for union work, and must work along side represented employees.
3. Union members may only serve multiple terms as a union officers, if terms are separated by a two year interval.
4. No union dues are to be withheld from pay.
5. The union will not give any support to any political candidate without a unanimous secret ballot election with a 100% turnout in favor of it.
6. All changes to union charter must be unanimously approved by all union members, in a secret Vote.
.
I think that should protect employees from the union bosses for long enough for Card Check to be repealed by the following Administration.
darktood on March 17, 2009 at 10:31 PM
Oh, I forgot:
The qualities most often seen in a union steward:
1) Greed
2) Laziness
3) Stupidity
4) Dishonesty
And the bonus round;
a conviction for petty larceny.
sounds like the perfect formula for a safe shop, eh?
mad scientist on March 17, 2009 at 10:33 PM
darktood on March 17, 2009 at 10:31 PM
Coors Brewery has already worked along those lines; replacing a union with a similar but better program that highlights third party binding arbitration.
Your idea has merit; many of us need protection should card check become a reality. Even the better employers have their share of greedy and short-sighted employees.
mad scientist on March 17, 2009 at 10:40 PM
That’s funny, I see those in business too. AIG, Enron, Arthur Andersen, Satyam?
sethstorm on March 18, 2009 at 12:50 AM
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