Perhaps, you can figure out the why, if you hear it from someone who needs a union and isn't able now to organize one because of fear of job loss:
The problem is simple - I'm at an impasse. On one hand, I stand to gain a formidable amount from unionization. However, at the same time, I can relate horror stories from previous employees who attempted to unionize this very company - and were fired for it. I wouldn't put a mass-layoff past this company if the shit goes and hits the fan with this, and I, rather unfortunately, need this job about as much as I need oxygen to survive - ergo the dilemma.
Now, it goes without saying that my mere presence on DailyKos, along with the content of the bulk of this post, surmises nicely my feelings on why the Unions are win. However, for those pressing for Unionization in the current political climate, one can begin to rapidly see just how much we frickin' need the Employee Free Choice Act passed.
The front lines on this bill aren't merely the Wal-Marts and Home Depots of this country, throwing enough cash that could keep their employees set for life at lobbying against it just so they can continue to not provide healthcare, abuse their employees, and provide poor wages and hours, but at a far more local level, with smaller companies willing to coerce, intimidate, and fire employees just to keep their costs down.
Rick grew up in a housing project on the West Side of Cleveland, OH. He was literally poor whitey in the hood. SNIP Rick is currently a 19 year member of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and Vice-President of the International Labor Communications Association, www.ilcaonline.org.
There's more on the flip
I'm just amazed at how much I have in common with this guy, all the way to getting drunk on the same college campus probably during the same years!! Here's more of Rick's Rocky-ness!!
When John Kerry lost in 2004 Rick realized that he had to do more. So on Labor Day weekend 2005 Rick began his radio journey. United for Progress was born out of frustration and optimism as a vehicle to add balance to the conservative controlled airwaves. 2008 looks to be a very positive year and the Rick Smith Show will be on the front lines.
Kind of cool, huh? Well, there's more, you see I was a bad, bad girl...
Here's the thing, I couldn't stick to the script. The script being blogging. That was the topic, but talking about blogging when I'm not actually blogging, ugh. Instead, I decided I wanted to talk about a recent diary I posted on DKos, a rescued diary, thank you very much.
I was able to talk about women in the labor movement, women like Mandy from Ohio and how she's now driving a dump truck and getting steady apprenticeship work through her union. And why is she getting steadier work now? Well there was this little thing called the Stimulus Bill. She's working a Shovel Ready Project. As a single mom with two little girls, that steady pay check is important, very important. But what I love about Mandy's story is that she'd been working at a Good Year service center and had been promised that she'd be able to get certified to be a mechanic. She kept working there, watching as her male counter parts hired after her just kept getting promoted or trained and she couldn't. So, she applied for the apprenticeship program and although it was hard at first to make ends meet during the first part of the apprenticeship, she's now got steadier work, makes more than she did at Good Year and is moving up the ranks, toward a journeyman level.
I also got to talk about how the Employee Free Choice act will have a greater impact on women in the labor force than it will on men. My point on this piece was that women make different choices when we take a job. It might be because we're thinking about the hours, getting kids to school or trying to figure out a way to be home to make dinner. We simply think differently about working and how to work than our male counterparts.
That's when Rick made an excellent point. In a union, everyone knows what everyone else makes. You see, it's part of the contract. But women outside of unions don't get this break, take the story about Mandy. She discovered after the fact, that men hired after she was were getting paid more. When waited tables, male servers made more than we did. My mom always said it's because people think they're raising a family and need a higher wage. But so are we.
So, if you get a minute, check out the audio file. I'd love to hear what everyone has to say. And, if I'm on again, what do you think I should talk about? Keep in mind, I'm pretty labor and women focused, but I really would like some new ideas. Who knows where those thoughts could lead me?
We can talk about this election day in and day out, but where are we really? We’re still talking.
Meanwhile, Southwest Airlines is fined for safety inspections and the FAA is going to check all Airline maintenance records. And yet, still we argue. Americans are losing their homes, we're in a recession, jobs are hard to fine, major low cost airline fined the largest fine in US history, American Axle is on strike and causing the closure of 28 GM factories and on DKos, we continue to argue about Wright or Clinton stepping aside or can Obama win. But, when are we going to get off our asses and do something?
Help me do something about American Axle. Together, we can help these strikers. Together, we can help their families.
I have so much to say but the message boards only allow you 500 or 1000 characters. This whole situation is really getting out of control. I really do not think I will ever walk thru the turnstiles of American Axle again. This is now a pissin contest and I think Mr. Dauch will win. He has pocket Aces and the UAW is holding those Kings thinking that he has nothing. I am going to start posting my thoughts on the strike and the UAW as much as I can. I know that no one cares what I have to say but it is coming from a view point of someone that is a realist and not a dreamer. I love working for American Axle I started there right after my 19th birthday. It makes me sad to think I may never work there again.
Hear the words of his kids:
Understand that this is an important issue for not only American Axle, but also for GM. There are 28 GM plants closed, 37,000 workers out of work and now, there are other plants working half time so that they can at least stay at work.
What happens when you put in 14 years and watch everything you've worked so hard to make into something be brushed aside while the CEO makes 9 million to run your plants into the ground?
As bad as this is, there is something you can do. There is something that we can all do.
Write your LOCAL papers a letter to the editor.
American Axle is a national company. The more local press, the better. Local stories are the ones that matter because all things are local. And it's these small local stories that make it into the major stories and this should be a major story for every American.
Call your local Radio and TV broadcasters
Ask them what they’ve done on this story. Let them know you want more info and you want to know how a family can survive on a 50% cut in wages.
Let's add your voice to this short list of active American Axle UAW strike bloggers. And if you post a vid to Youtube on the strike, let me know so I can link to it as well.
And probably the most important suggestion I have,
Write and call the UAW and let them know you support the strikers.
You can also contact UAW locals 262 and 235 as well as Region 1.
Well, really this is more about TeamsterPower. I've had the pleasure of meeting him and talking to him about union issues. He totally rocks. I try to keep up on anything he posts on all the diary based sites, but things do fall through the cracks. For instance, I missed his recent post on Dailykos which detailed why every union worker should vote for Obama.
He opens with
Two words: Replacement workers.
And it just gets even better after that...
Permanent replacements have been around since 1938 when the Supreme Court said in NLRB v. Mackay Radio & Telegraph Co. that a company does not have to reinstate "economic strikers" if it hired strikebreakers to continue the business. Now, for you business majors out there, that may sound well and good. Why should I rehire a worker who went on strike for a raise if I can find someone to do the job for less money? Why? Because it's fair. It's the right thing to do. Because many times, these workers have sacrificed to make your business a success and when it succeeds they should be rewarded, not treated like draft animals or machines.
Consider the workers at Diamond Walnut in Stockton, Calif. In 1985 Diamond was facing bankruptcy and turned to its workers for help. The workers, Teamsters from Local Union 601, agreed to take pay cuts of up to 40% to help the company weather the tough times.
By 1991 Diamond had reached the Fortune 500 and bragged of record profits. But instead of giving those profits back to its employees, the company demanded more concessions.
On Sept. 4, 1991, the workers went on strike -- a fight that would last 14 years only because Diamond was prepared. As soon as the strike was called the company began hiring replacement workers.
I hated Diamond, but I really loved how the workers on strike for 14 years were able to work with the scabs and bring both groups into the same union. More from TeamsterPower on Diamond Walnuts and supporting Obama.
But today, Barack Obama is the only presidential candidate left who supports a ban on permanent replacement workers. (Edwards also supported such a ban.)
If you value your union, if you value the right to collective bargaining, if you value the labor movement, then you will vote for Barack Obama. The Employee Free Choice Act is important. Renegotiating NAFTA and stopping other trade agreements that sell out working Americans is important. But if workers continue to be denied the right to strike, they lose the ability to fight for economic justice. Unions must organize more and more workers to exceed losses. And what value is solidarity if you're all unemployed?
The members of Local 601 are heroes. They took a stand on principal and through ingenuity and perseverance actually succeeded in a situation where most strikers fail.
After more than a year of crossing the picket line, the replacements realized they were Diamond's pawns. See, even "permanent" replacement workers can be fired at will without a union contract to protect them. They voted with the strikers for union representation with the Teamsters. The workers turned the tables on Diamond.
Having followed the Diamond strike (yep, I really am that girl, surprise surprise!!), I knew everything that he wrote about, but I couldn't put it so eloquently.
So, way to go TeamsterPower!
And, here's hoping today's voting reminds every union household out there who has always supported worker's rights (read UNITE-HERE's endorsement for more on that) through actions and not dissing workers by sitting on the board of Wal-Mart.
