Posted by
James Burns on Tuesday, November 18, 2008 8:36:19 AM
As I stated in a previous post (
p://workingclassview.blogtownhall.com/2008/11/04/my_view_on_unions.thtml ) unions in the American workplace can be good. They can be a benefit to it's members and can even benefit management. But with the proposed bailout of the American auto industry we can see the extreme greed of a union. We can see the extreme selfish attitude that some union leaders can have. Just this last weekend UAW president Ron Gettlefinger said union concessions were out of the question. He stated that the economy must be turned around so things can go back to the status quo.
Here lies the problem. This antiquated way of thinking by the union is what will put it out of business. Mr. Gettlefinger gives unions a bad name. He is not at all concerned with the fact that if the American auto industry goes belly up then his union members have no jobs. If the auto makers goes bankrupt without him working with the companies to adjust contracts a judge will do so. In this case he would have no control to what his union will give up or be able to provide his its members. This mentality is really going against what the union is supposed to do.
A union is supposed to provide its members protection from management in event of unfair treatment. The union is supposed to negotiate fair wages for its memebers also. But if the company that the union is associated with is having trouble, the union must also help the company. It needs to be a two way street. Not one of just take by the union.
When the airline industry was having trouble, unionized pilots, flight attendants, baggage handlers all gave back out of their contracts to save their jobs. This is what needs to happen in the auto industry. These airline employees realized that if they did not give back, then they would not have jobs.
My last year in the Teamsters our contract with the town I worked for was being negotiated. At the time the town was raising property taxes and looking to cut spending because tax revenues were falling due to the lack of big business in the little town. We were told that they were going to lay off Teamsters in the public works department because of budget short falls. As a whole us Teamsters decided that it would be in our best interests to take a small wage increase, I think it was 3% for the first year, cost of living increase for the area was at 6 or 7%. After the first year the wage increase would be renegotiated to examine if conditions would allow for another increase. If not we would stay at the same rate until the next year. When we did this we saved two union jobs and allowed for hiring one additional person. If we did not do this we would have lost three jobs or more.
We knew that we needed to give back if we wanted our jobs. This is the mentality the UAW has to adopt. They must stop acting like they are in control. The union is no longer in control, the economy is. The days of union control are gone. For a union to be relavent they must be willing to adapt and change with the times. If a union cannot do that then they will become extinct.
My view on unions has not changed. They can be beneficial to all parties. But with the example given by the UAW, it gives all unions a bad name. This is a perfect example of union greed and arrogance.