Michigan legislative action thread
Posted on 01/14/2016 2:35:38 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
A Michigan union fired back at workers who dropped off the membership rolls by urging its members to isolate them at work.
Jeff Hagler, president at UAW Local 412 in Warren, Mich., sent out a newsletter to about 3,000 autoworkers who belong to the union in December. The letter includes a list of 43 mostly female workers who opted out of membership, as well as advice on how they should be treated in the workplace.
"They have elected to quit paying union dues, but are still benefitting by continued representation by the union. Whether we feel this is fair or not, it is permitted to happen because of this continued attack on unions," he said in the letter, which was first obtained by Michigan Capitol Confidential. "Please do not share any tools, knowledge or support for any of these employees who choose not to pay their fair share."
Hagler did not respond to request for comment.
Local 412's advocacy for isolating co-workers could hurt the union's cause, said Vinnie Vernuccio, a labor expert at the Mackinac Public Policy Center, a Michigan free market think tank.
"The UAW is possibly jeopardizing workplace safety by advising its members to not share tools, knowledge, or support with employees on the list, the exodus will likely only grow," he said. "The UAW is simply trying to bully and intimidate former members who exercised their rights. The tactic is backfiring as every time the union publishes the list, it only grows."
Michigan unions are still coping with the state's enacting a right to work law that was enacted in 2013.
The law barred employers from enforcing union membership as a condition of employment, giving workers in the traditional labor stronghold the option to opt out of dues and agency fee payments completely. The unit reported 3,014 members in the spring of 2015, down from 3,144 in 2012 before right to work took effect. Hagler warns his remaining members-98 percent have chosen to remain, according to the newsletter-the consequences of leaving, while noting that they are free to return as long as back dues are paid.
"Your name will be put on a list of all names of those members deciding to opt out of UAW Local 412 and will be made public," the letter says. "If at any time you wish to rejoin UAW Local 412, you will be required to pay all unpaid dues and/or dues in arrears as well as an initiation fee."
Local 412 is following in the footsteps of UAW chapters in other right-to-work states to isolate non-members. Local auto unions in Kansas and Tennessee have each published "scab lists" to name and shame the workers they accuse of being "free riders." Those newsletters, however, advised members to persuade, rather than punish co-workers.
"If you work near one of these people listed please explain the importance of Solidarity and the power of collective bargaining," Tennessee-based UAW Local 1853 said in an October 2014 newsletter.
"It says to talk to them, explain the importance of collective bargaining and solidarity. I'm not trying to intimidate anybody," 1853 president Tim Stannard told the Washington Free Beacon at the time.
Patrick Semmens, a vice president at the National Right to Work Foundation, said that the union's approach ignores the root of why some workers decide to cease their dues payments.
"Instead of leading this thuggish campaign of intimidation to stop workers from exercising their rights, these union bosses ought to be reflecting on why it is so many workers aren't willing to support them voluntarily," he said.
No I in Team nor Man in Union.
Are They are playing with fire? Could this be a class action Hostile Work Environment suit against the Union? They are playing with productivity and safety by not discussing good will type intrinsic work environment practices that make productivity and safety better. If you damage moral that much, does that plant become unproductive? A winning Corporate Culture is everything, this move is a playing a hand against that win.
Talk about vindictive and spiteful. I hope it backfires.
The union has the option of only bargaining for concessions for “union workers”. Nothing is stopping them except the almost-sure lawsuits for discrimination that would be filed against them and the employer. Unions want their cake (dues) and to eat it (concessions) too.
If my name ever showed up on such a mass-distributed union hit list, I’d have a pit bull lawyer down their throats so fast that they would not know what had hit them.
My son is a plumber in the Peoria, IL plumber’s or maybe it’s pipefitter’s union. A tremendous chunk of his pay comes out of his checks, plus also for medical benefits. He sees other union guys at the hall who are lazy, and when you would work jobs with them, they’d get on you if you worked too fast.
My son, and the other young guys, loved their work, and would work fast and hard, then go to the next job. For that reason they were picked up quickly by the best contractors full time, but of course they were still union.
He wants to start his own business, but knows there is no way, NO WAY he can without being part of the union.
I suspect Michigan is ten times worse. There is no way those things in life, strong private unions, are broken until someone or something breaks them and for good reason.
Peoria at one time had probably 40,000 UAW union members and thousands more in Joliet, Aurora and other places. I worked there as a doctor. EVery four years or so they’d strike us. These guys were unskilled laborers making more than anyone else in Peoria with full medical and dental coverage, back then NO DEDUCTABLE. And they’d strike for more.
One year, management decided that they were going to run the plants themselves, as most if not all of the supervisors came up the ranks as UAW members. It was a real fiasco at first as the UAW tried to stop them. Finally a court allowed them to come to work and work the lines.
The strike lasted forever, I think almost a year, can’t recall. But it was the first time they stood up to the union.
The next time there was a strike, they did it again, and then in the years there after Caterpillar started moving their UAW jobs to other states that were right to work.
Today there are very few UAW workers for Caterpillar in Illinois, maybe a few thousand if that. In short, they screwed themselves.
I have no problem with private unions, not what so ever, but I do with public ones. They are nothing more than the strong arm of the democratic party, and the republicans allowed it to happen.
We can live with private unions, but the public unions work for us, and they should not have that right.
Sounds like the basis for a RICO suit.
Most people I know don’t go to work to make friends - they go to work to pay the bills. Choosing to talk or not to talk to “Sally”, “Sue” or “Bill” makes no difference at all. Decent companies train employee’s regularly on safety and the such. Nothing hostile about not talking to someone.
Heck, I wish 99% of the folks at my place of employment would just shut up and leave me alone ! Most are useless idiots anyway with no plans to change. Are you a progressive socialist ? You gonna FORCE me to talk to folks? Should I have something to say, I’ll damn well say it - if not, silence is GOLDEN !
Snoot ;o)
REAL mature and grown up
Amen !!
-I’d have a pit bull lawyer down their throats-
Hiring a lawyer and initiating a lawsuit costs roughly $5,000 on deposit with the lawyer and he will charge roughly $500 per hour. Sixty-seven percent of the population have no savings. Then, when you’re done, assuming you won, what would you win? For defamation you have to prove monetary harm. How did their printing of your name hurt you monetarily, other than causing you to sue them?
There is no justice to the justice system.
Persuade?
Yeah, I think we all know how the Union likes to "persuade" co-workers.
Got a kick out of your keywords.... haha
Public unions are not just an arm of the dem party. They are the new “mob”. I mean that. They operate just like you would see in any mob movie. I can’t describe the disgust I feel toward them - and that includes cops and firepersons.
In theory. Reality on a modern production line or tool room is that you are constantly interacting with fellow workers. Modern management structures are relatively flat meaning information flows sideways rather than up/down. What the UAW Local is proposing is to hinder that information flow. Productivity will suffer and there will be opportunities to sabotage fellow workers. (where is that workpiece? Oh I gave it to ‘Joe’. And the workpiece is conveniently planted in Joe’s toolbox)
Them or me? ;-). I think you miss my point. The most highly functional organizations I have worked for communication was a key to their success. Additionally, so was a lot of intrinsic knowledge ( that is why I use the term "good will" because Accounting and Wall Street might view it as such ) on how things are done to offer that service or make that product that you only get from the old timers in the trenches that have that knowledge in their heads, yes, that knowledge may have not been digitized yet, it not in a manual printed or in a PDF file on the company wide training systems or standards.
So if that wise one is Union and does not share that info, how does it help the organization? It doesn't.
Didn’t the UAW sell its members out on 0vomitcare?
WAR ON WOMEN! Will Hillary be outraged!
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