Labor
Posted By Russ Emerson on April 1, 2009 at 3:01 pm
My employer, Major Unnamed Telecommunications Corporation, has a large number of employees who belong to unions. I suppose it’s inevitable, given the huge number of people on the payroll, that certain segments of the workforce would be unionized.
Normally I don’t care a whole lot; only occasionally do the union rules affect what I do for a living. There are things which I am perfectly capable of doing while comfortably ensconced in my home office which I am not allowed to do because of the requirement that union people do the tasks in question. Regardless of the urgency, customer needs can go hang as long as the union is happy.
And that’s where I have a problem. Unions are no longer all about protecting the little guy from abuse by mythological robber barons. The purpose of unions now is to increase the well-being of the union itself.
That’s a whole ‘nother rant.
This month, the union contracts at my employer expire, the first of the expirations coming this weekend. In anticipation of the possibility of a strike, management employees like me (but not me, myself) have assignments to go fill in for striking union members. My group will be down to about half strength.
The half of the folks on my team who have contingency assignments have, over the past few months, gone off to do a week of training here, another week there, and so on, preparing to do the jobs that striking union members won’t be doing. If there is a strike, all of us, in temporary assignments or not, will be working 12-hour shifts, 6 days a week for the duration.
With half my team gone, I could be a busy guy. Not, however, without compensation. Which is nice.
Now, given the state of the economy, I’m thinking that the union would probably be foolish to go out on strike. There are thousands of people who would be perfectly willing, very happy, to do the work at bargain basement prices. It seems to me to be an opportunity to tell the union to insert their demands firmly into their backsides.
Frankly, if a management employee can be trained in just a couple of weeks to do your job, you are replaceable. And to be honest, I’d be just fine with the union getting a good hard butt-hurtin’.
A large part of me hopes there isn’t a strike. I’m not terribly keen on the idea of working 6×12, but needs must when the devil drives.
But another part of me hopes there is a strike, and that in the process the union takes it in the shorts. If giving the union the aforementioned butt-hurtin’ means I have to work 6×12 for a few weeks, that’s a price I’m willing to pay.
Plus, bank.
I think we work for the same company, Russ. I didn’t get an assignment either, due to the project I’m on, but I agree about the 12×6 for a while if it comes to that.