Posted on 09/21/2007 10:41:41 AM PDT by Big Labor Hater
Todays Birmingham News (http://www.al.com/opinion/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/opinion/119027658977250.xml&coll=2) has an excellent article exposing union officials hypocrisy when it comes to threats against employees.
In Birmingham, United Auto Workers (UAW) union organizer and Honda employee Sheila Boyd recently complained to local media outlets that a letter sent by Honda executives "is trying to threaten us" and claimed that the letter is "just an intimidation tactic.
So what does the intimidating letter say?
The letter, which the Birmingham paper quotes from extensively, merely points out that Honda has never had to layoff a worker in 30 years, something its competitors in compulsory unionism states cant say.
Simply pointing out how laughable it is to call that letter intimidation, would be enough if union propagandists werent using such baseless claims as evidence that Congress should pass a law mandating coercive card check organizing drives. These types of unsubstantiated claims by union organizers were the exact basis for a 2005 study created for the union-funded and financed lobbying group, American Rights at Work."
But more to the point is the hypocrisy of union officials to complain about threats and intimidation, when every day they threaten millions of workers with termination, if they refuse to pay forced union dues (like 16 year old Danielle Cookson).
And the UAW has a particularly dubious history when it comes to actual threats and intimidation against employees:
Responding to actual threats, the National Right to Work Foundation hired round-the-clock private security guards for Thomas Built Bus employee Jeff Ward who was targeted for opposing the UAWs unionization tactics at his facility. At a Freightliner facility in Gaffney South Carolina UAW militants threatened employee Mike Ivey that things are gonna get ugly if he didnt stop opposing UAW organizers. In another case the UAW was forced to settle a lawsuit filed against it for its role in a violence campaign against workers at a Virginia plant who refused to walk off the job during a union-ordered strike. A lawsuit in that case charged several union militants with civil conspiracy and other counts for making death threats, shooting out windows, sending obscene mail, acts of stalking, theft of property, and harassing workers on the job to coerce them into quitting their jobs. And in a particularly vivid image of UAW intimidation, 55-year old Sucheng Huang was greeted early one morning with a bloody severed cows head on the hood of her car. So it turns out that UAW officials have no problem using intimidation and threats against employees. They just dont like those employees being given any information that threatens the unions ability to force workers into union ranks.
Was a teamster (Air transport workers) out of high school for a job back in the mid to late 70’s-
Later found out president of local was jailed for corruption and was tied in with the mob.
Basically as long as you forked your dues over, and made sure you “appreciated” the steward and business agent you were protected. Many instances I observed my “teamster brothers” sleeping, coming into work drunk, threatening a supervisor, Not a problem.
The UAW just got approved to represent all the casino dealers in Atlantic City in most hotels. I now expect to see a distinct drop in the attitude level of the dealers and a drop in player comps as well.
Is that near OnePelo?
That sounds like a certain outfit at JFK.
How do they move “around the country looking for poverty pockets” ?
yesiree
Not all that difficult, Eric. For example, western New York State. Huge swaths of Louisiana (not talking NOLA), Alabama, Arkansas, Maine, all are dying for jobs, looking for industry to move in, making huge tax concessions, etc. The trick for a company is to find a state that will officially encourage the move and provide incentives, and this is key, has a stable trainable population base.
There are many places in the country where there is no industry, agriculture is highly specialized and needs few workers, or there is industry like mining, which actually needs few workers. More important, these places seem to have gone from agricultural to post-industrial, with nothing in between.
Before Honda hit Central Ohio, the place was dead. But like all the above places, it had a potentially good work-force available. Many of Honda's first generation of farm and dead industry-trained associates could weld, measure, knew a piston from a pothole, and could actually read and write. So the Japanese and others search out these places. Down south is looking good for many foreign-based manufacturers.
In regard to labor peace in Japan, many of the unions there are "company unions," and although it is changing drastically, many Japanese companies in the top tier do not lay people off much. Their dirty little secret is that the top companies are supported by thousands of smaller units who can be very rough on the help, indeed.
I worked for Allied - TWU.
Marysville, OH -15,000 employees about a mmillion units a year. Anna, OH, Engine Plant. About 30 miles North of Columbus.
Servair
I'd stand below them just out of the "line of droppage" and start shooting when they dropped a brick near me.
"Officer I was in fear for my life. I'd like to speak to my attorney now."
The names are starting to come back. What was the company name before it was Servair?
Is ANYONE still foolish enough to believe Unions are for the employees?
Unions have many objectives:
- Enrich the Union thugs
- Enrich the politicians to whom they donate the employee’s money
- Extort from Employers excessive benefits that will render their product uncompetitive and CHASE THEM TO CHINA
The best thing Unions could do to benefit workers - is to stay the hell away and let individual merit and the market work its magic...
So, in other words, not hopscotching around, looking for poverty pockets.
“looking for poverty pockets”
I did a little search on google. You need to get your facts straight. Here is the list of Honda plants across the country. I think you need to do some research before spewing ignorance.
Lincoln, Alabama Odyssey, Pilot, V6 engines :- Honda Manufacturing of Alabama (from November 16, 2001)
East Liberty, Ohio Civic Sedan/Coupe/GX, Element, CR-V :- East Liberty Auto Plant (From 1984),
Marysville, Ohio Accord Sedan/Coupe, Acura TL, Acura RDX, motorcycles, motorcycle engines :- Marysville Motorcyle Plant (From 1979) and the Marysville Auto Plant (From 1982)
Anna, Ohio Engines :- From July 1985
Raymond, Ohio Vehicle R&D
Torrance, California Vehicle R&D/design
Swepsonville, North Carolina General purpose engines, Walk-behind lawn mowers, Snow blower, String trimmers, Water pumps, nnd Tillers :- Honda Power Equipment Mfg., Inc From 1984
Greensburg, Indiana Civic Sedan (Opening in Fall 2008)
Timmonsville, South Carolina ATV’s & watercraft(Four Trax Recon, Four Trax Foreman, Four Trax Rancher, Four Trax Rincon, Four Trax Rubicon, Sportrax 400EX/250EX, AquaTrax F-12/12X) - Honda of South Carolina Mfg., Inc. From 1998
I know what you mean. My brother was in a union for 35 years and swore by it. I call him a communist to this day.
100 years of political backing by both parties has resulted in a strength of unions far in excess of anything management can do to workers.
Democrats are the voice of unions. Republicans are afraid to oppose unions.
Providing they get no further concessions from Washington (like what was tried recently), unions will go into the ash-heap of history along with the Democratic Party.
Now, if Republicans have the courage to eliminate the government unions after that is questionable.
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