LaborPains.org

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not a feminist scholar, but a bit of news coming out of Toledo left me flabbergasted.

The Toledo Blade reports that Lucas County Commissioner Pete Gerkin, who is a retired UAW official, leased his wife an Acura for Christmas–a non-union Ohio made Acura. Of course that is a real no-no if you owe the union for your job, your pension, and your political support–at least that’s what the UAW would like Gerkin to believe.

In response, Gerkin points out that his “wife was in mind to get another car, her lease was up, and chose to buy an Ohio-built car–and that’s her choice.”

Not so fast. The UAW will not stand for that kind of equal-footed relationship, where wives’ wants’ come before union brotherhood.

Doing his best Fred Flintstone impression, Bruce Baumhower, President of UAW Local 12, explained:

“My wife has always wanted a [Chrysler] PT Cruiser, which is made in Mexico, so there will never be a PT Cruiser in my family.”

I just received this from the North Pole.  It’s almost unbelievable, given the spirit of the season . . . and the billions of children who would be affected. [See below]

In response to the strike notice, Santa Claus has made the following announcement. [See below]

It’s a little unclear what the NLRB’s jurisdiction is in this situation, considering the transnational border issues this brings into play….delivery to every country and territory will be affected if Santa and BCERAS do not reach an agreement.  It is also unclear how this incident may affect the FedEx vs. UPS  controversy–whether the Brotherhood of Elves, Reindeer, and Abominable Snowmen are legally able to strike, or whether they are instead subject to the Railway Labor Act (RLA), which would make it more difficult for something like this to happen– given that Santa’s sled travels over interstate boundaries.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from LaborPains.org.

It was no contest.  The NUHW trounced the SEIU, 283 to 13.  That’s patently embarrassing.  The real competition ended up being between those who wanted the NUHW and those who wanted no union at all.  263 ballots were cast for no union at all, and with 17 votes challenges, as of late Friday evening, no final results had been announced, according to the LA Times.  It appears, however, that the contested votes will not alter the outcome.

While it comes as a major upset to the SEIU to lose sooo badly–I mean, I am sorry, but 13 votes is pathetic–it should come as no surprise.  When you run a campaign like the SEIU did, it shouldn’t surprise you when workers hand you a result you deserve.

See several NUHW supporters reenact their reaction, courtesy of the Empire Report:

What is surprising is how many workers soured on the entire notion of a union–at last count 263.  Very nearly half of all Santa Rosa workers decided that unions, no matter their stripe, had no place at the hospital. But at the end of the day, it seems NUHW has won the day

Today and yesterday, workers at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital are voting whether to join the NUHW, the SEIU, or not unionize at all. In a piece entitled “Hospital vote pits upstart union against colossus,” the LA Times framed it this way yesterday:

The NUHW doesn’t yet have a single dues-paying member but is waging a David versus Goliath campaign against the behemoth SEIU, which boasts more than 2 million members nationwide, almost half in the healthcare sector. The struggle for the allegiance of tens of thousands of health workers in California has divided the labor movement at a time when the healthcare debate dominates the national agenda.

The voting set for Thursday and Friday culminates a more than five-year unionization drive at Santa Rosa Memorial, a Catholic facility that is part of the Orange County-based St. Joseph Health System network, a major provider statewide. Beyond the vote in Santa Rosa, the upstart union is pushing for dozens of elections that could knock SEIU from its current perch representing more than 100,000 workers at hospitals, clinics, nursing homes and other healthcare facilities throughout the state. More than 2,300 Kaiser-Permanente workers in Southern California are expected to vote next month in a NUHW drive to oust SEIU.

It is some cold comfort that if the NUHW wins and healthcare legislation passes, and unionization of America’s healthcare system begins en masse, not everyone will become SEIU.

Here are just a few more testimonials from NUHW supporters on the lengths to which the leadership of a union, in this case the SEIU, will go to not lose.

For more information on the NUHW vs. SEIU fight, read Labor Pains here, here, here, here, and here.

In an exceptionally strange turn of events, the SEIU allegedly recently sent cakes with anti-NUHW slogans into the hospital, according to several blogs.

Results will be posted here as soon as they are announced.

Labor leaders have been back and forth on different portions of the health care bill, but in the last day, SEIU President Andy Stern and AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka have both come out with a “We’re just so disappointed” statement against the current version of the Senate health care bill. Don’t confuse this with labor leaders actually taking a stand. It remains to be seen whether they will NOT support the bill.

In light of yesterdays reading and quick dismissal of a public option amendment, and a variety of other concessions aimed a Sen. Lieberman and Sen. Nelson, leaders of both groups met last night to discuss the Senate bill, in an apparantly emotional and heated conversation.

At 7:30 am this morning, Andy Stern put his feelings this way:

“I am writing to you today because I believe this is the moment when we must stand as one and say enough. [...] But at the very moment that we saw real and meaningful changes within our grasp, one Senator came forward to say “no we can’t.” He can’t let the Senate have an up-or-down vote on health insurance reform. And the result of this Senator saying “we can’t?” The public option is declared impossible. Americans cannot purchase Medicare at an earlier age. The health insurance reform effort we have needed for a century is at risk.”

“SEIU does not accept that this monumental effort – that this reform that is so necessary to the health and wellbeing of our economy, our families and our future – can be over without a fight. A fight to make it work for you and your families.”

The CBS News blog reports the following about a statement by AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka released this afternoon:

“Meanwhile, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka released a statement this afternoon following a meeting yesterday of their union. “The labor movement has been fighting for health care for nearly 100 years and we are not about to stop fighting now, when it really matters,” Trumka said. Taking a somewhat more aggressive tone than Stern, Trumka called the bill “inadequate.” “For this health care bill to be worthy of the support of working men and women, substantial changes must be made,” he said. Trumka said the AFL-CIO is still fighting for a government-run insurance plan, or “public option,” employer contributions and the removal of the “Cadillac” benefits tax.”

Despite the grumbling and grandstanding, neither union conglomerate has pulled support for the bill.  Why? Because the bill still helps out these unions. They still have something to gain from current legislation as is. And they have a lot to gain if the bill passes as is–even with the “crucial” things that the unions have demanded missing entirely.

When the Senate bill passes unaltered, the unions can use it against the Democrats.  They can kindly let the Democrats know that the Democrats still owe the unions back for their hard work and support.  For America’s union leaders, the worst thing in the world will be the day the Democrats think they’ve done enough for the labor movement. Because who then can labor turn to? Think of the worst codependent relationship you can imagine.

So the labor union leaders will keep barking. And never bite.

Something to keep an eye on. From the Arts Beat New York Times blog:

A group of more than 260 workers on Broadway — cleaners, porters and matrons (bathroom attendants) at some 30 theaters — inched closer to the possibility of a strike on Tuesday afternoon. A unanimous vote, in which more than 200 members of the local 32 BJ of the Service Employees International Union participated, gave the union bargaining committee the authority to settle or strike. The workers are involved in negotiations with the Broadway League, which represents theater owners, and are demanding a pay raise of $1.50 an hour, a promise not to see their health insurance cut and additional pension benefits. The union’s contract expires on Dec. 31, though a spokesman said the last scheduled bargaining date with the Broadway League was this Thursday. The actor Jimmy Smits, who is currently starring in “God of Carnage” at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theater, addressed the workers who were voting in a midtown hotel and urged them to “fight for what’s fair and just.”

It remains to be seen whether this is a pure negotiation grandstanding or what, but it stands to be pretty effective around the holidays.  Thousands and thousands head to New York’s Theater District around the holidays. A strike would not be pretty.  It was a mere two years ago that the stagehands shut down Broadway for 18 days during the holiday season.  If it does shut down, it would be the fourth time in roughly 30 years.

In a New York Times piece from 2007, the city comptroller estimated lost revenue on Broadway to be about $2 million dollars a day.  Broadway provides an estimated 45,000 jobs to the economy.  In a time of economic downturns…and lots of people out of work, it’s not a good time for a strike.

Image courtesy of .craig.

You know what’s so special about the holidays? Everyone can get their true feelings out in the open. Even Vice President Biden.

The Delaware Online shares this little nugget:

For the probably thousands of Delawareans who recently received Christmas cards from the vice president and his extended family (virtually everyone in the newsroom did), there’s a couple things that jump out. First is the disclaimer on the back that tells the receiver of “joy” and “peace” that the card wasn’t paid for by a Biden. It was paid for by the Democratic National Committee. And the card isn’t considered a card at all, actually, it’s a “communication” that “was not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.” Not a very holidayish slogan for your holiday card.

But the most glaring omission from the card, something no god-fearing Democrat in Delaware would let happen, is the union printing bug. New Castle County Council President Paul Clark’s Christmas card has the union bug on the front. Tacky, to be sure, but at least it’s there. The vice president has no printers’ union bug on his card. But lest you think Vice President Biden has lost his collective union mind, the card does have the logo of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. No mom and pop union print shop for the veep. Go Teamsters!

As soon as I get my hands on the part of the card with the Teamsters logo, I will pass it along.

Image courtesy of Politico.

And you thought it was all about wages and pensions!

Unions and management bring alot of things to the table for negotiations: wages, paid leave, paid sick leave, furloughs, hours, breaks, overtime, pensions, health benefits, insurance…the list goes on and on. Specifically for janitors, something else has been added to the list: Cleaning supplies and how “green” they are.

Here’s an overview:

From News America Media in October:

When supermarket janitors in Local 1877 of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) rallied last month at Safeway and Lucky stores in San Jose, Calif., they weren’t only demanding improved wages and health benefits. They were calling for the adoption of green cleaning standards to make their jobs safer. Earlier this year, SEIU janitors in Southern California made similar demands. Union members even dressed up as fruits and vegetables and picketed outside the 2009 National Grocers Association Convention in Las Vegas. They were calling attention to the safety of chemicals used to clean supermarkets. Putting green cleaning standards on the agenda with wages and benefits is evidence that one of the country’s largest unions is broadening its idea of a safe and healthy workplace.

And more from the Star Tribune this month:

More than 300 janitors in the Twin Cities rallied and marched Saturday in downtown Minneapolis to push a campaign to make their jobs more “green.” The janitors are trying to reduce toxic chemicals in their workplaces and save energy — while making sure they have full-time jobs in their new contract.

The timing is convenient, as the union’s contract expires on December 31.  Locals across the country are picking up on the idea. It’s the oldest bargaining technique in the book–and the SEIU has latched onto something the public cares about as a way of getting more out of companies.

Caring about the environment and conservation is great (a nice change from how unions used to be), and workers safety is paramount, but for the SEIU, it is also a REALLY convenient thing to use as a trump card in negotiations.  It makes unions out to be environmentally-friendly and populist, when really it’s threatening a company with an additional cost burden– unless they kowtow to the union’s demands in other areas like wages and pensions.

Hence playing the card right before contracts expire.  Expect more to come, because it’s a damn great play.