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.
It is the PUBLIC SECTOR UNIONS that must be destroyed at all costs.
And that...THAT...is where all of our concerns must lie.
The UAW ain't public sector.
And yes...unions in the private sector have raised the standard of living in this country by taking on the Chamberpots and their allies.
Whereas public sector unions have only been an anchor on the quality of life in the United States.
I give you the IRS.
;-)
This should be valid grounds for firing a union member, if documented and counseled against.
Workplace safety is no joke.
Q: Which of the following do most union leaders consider to be their primary responsibility above all others?
A. Union member wages
B. Union member health and safety
C. Union member benefits
D. Preservation of the union
This university was often criticized for its "conservative business school curriculum" in a "union town" ... so you can no doubt come up with what the professor considered to be the correct answer.
I worked in a GMC truck factory for a few WEEKS once....and hence wasn’t ever forced to become a UAW...member...
Pick D. ;-P
What I am trying to point out, however, is that the union is putatively a “partner/adversary” of the business, and anything the members do that harms the business (outside the bounds of the actual contract) is grounds for termination, especially in right-to-work states.
I still hear about the flight attendant scab lists from Pan Am, some 30 years ago.
Point taken ... well-put.
That little “no lending” idea cuts both ways. I’d say the union guy needs to borrow as often as the non-union guy.
I think he just might.
See #40
Extortion & intimidation.
This union should be legally be disbanded.
They have never been polite-—I had connection with them as far back as 1959-60. They were bullies then.
Unions have outlived their usefulness. Time to legally outlaw them.
Democrats target specific women in their war on women!
this was in Flaint Michigan in the early mid 60’s
this was way back before much of anything was automated...and I spent all day BENT OVER walking along the line following a moving truck installing heater vents .......etc..into the cabs...
very unpleasant...physically and very draining..
I had very little patience or anything else left by the end of the day.
I was told to slow down...by guys who were “union members” .several times a day during my “tenure” there.
It certainly sounds like he has options, and with his ability should pursue them.
About twenty years back some of my co-workers started rumblings about a union. I kept my mouth shut about my position in the affair. A couple of co-workers approach me and demand my position and I told them I had no use for unions. A day or two later I had management approach me and did some feeling me out on my position to unions to which I told them the same thing.
A few weeks later some of my co-workers asked about striking would I join them and I told them no and I will cross your picket line to which a couple insinuated that might be a problem for me, even extending to my home and family, careful to not make a threat out right but making a threat, to which I replied if you want to play hardball you ALL better remember I also know where everyone of you sons of bitches live if you mess with me and mine I will mess with you and yours. You a-holes asked my position and you got it. I respect your position although I don’t agree with it and you damned well will respect mine or leave me the hell alone.
The union agitators him-hawed around with the union reps and management for a few months and then it all went away. They didn’t go union...
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