Rumors and Karma

It has been mentioned in passing that the union is trying to stir things up by pointing out misdeeds by non-dues paying employees while not reporting those by dues-paying members. While I have not been told exactly what was said by whom and when it was said, I have a piece of advice:

Those that live in glass houses should not throw stones.

By no means am I saying that employees that do not perform their jobs in a satisfactory manner should be kept on. Quite the contrary. What I am saying is that if this is the work environment the union wishes, then so be it. All of us can start recording every miniscule item of note when someone does something inappropriate and turn it in. We can go around and around and do this all day. And at the end of the day, no one will have a job. Is that what the union would like?

During these times of economic uncertainty, the union raises dues. Instead of "protecting" those it says it represents, it is on a witch hunt to get them fired. Again, I am not in favor of protecting those that break the rules, but the union seems to have a double standard when it comes to the employees it likes, and the ones it doesn't like. I have heard from union members, stewards, and other union elected officials that the union represents all hourly employees whether we like it or not. But their actions do not indicate such. They expect our support, but give no support to the employees that they say they represent.

The fact is, the union is on the brink of decertification. They are here because of their own mismanagement. They continue to blame everyone else for their failures. They have already started to blame us for a bad contract in November. WHAT? They haven't even began negotiations yet and they are admitting failure and placing the blame on someone other than themselves. Is this an organization you want representing you? No number of union pride shirts could replace that. Perhaps that is what all those increased dues are going to.

We do not collect dues because we don't need to. Everything that we do is funded by the employees that are interested in a chance for a better workplace. The working relationship with the company has been fractured for the past several years. We want the opportunity to try something better. That opportunity doesn't take money, just your signature. When the decertification petitions begin, please take a moment and sign it. Talk to the person with the petition if you have any questions. We can't promise what the workplace will be like without the union, but every one of us already knows what it is like with the union.