As all important readers of The Most Important Blog... Ever have heard, the main airline in Detroit and the one with which I have tens of thousands of frequent flyer miles has been involved in a major strike for the past month.
Northwest's mechanics went on strike to protest a plan by the airline to fire half of the mechanics and cut then cut health benefits and slash the pay of those who remained. Unfortunately, union solidarity fell apart as the Northwest flight attendents and pilots chose to stand by their company and continue working rather than standing by their fellow workers on the picket line. Thanks to scab replacement mechanics and the loyalty of the flight attendants and pilots, Northwest has continued its business with little interruption.
Today, Northwest announced a big "thank you!" to its loyal workers. 1,400 flight attendents will be laid off starting next month, and 400 pilots will lose their jobs shortly as well. Super.
Northwest's mechanics went on strike to protest a plan by the airline to fire half of the mechanics and cut then cut health benefits and slash the pay of those who remained. Unfortunately, union solidarity fell apart as the Northwest flight attendents and pilots chose to stand by their company and continue working rather than standing by their fellow workers on the picket line. Thanks to scab replacement mechanics and the loyalty of the flight attendants and pilots, Northwest has continued its business with little interruption.
Today, Northwest announced a big "thank you!" to its loyal workers. 1,400 flight attendents will be laid off starting next month, and 400 pilots will lose their jobs shortly as well. Super.
Eric, I wonder what your take on this story would be?
About 4 months ago, my brother (who incidentally lives in SB) was fired from a job where the carpentry union ruled. The reason? HE WORKED TOO HARD! My brother loves wood, loves fixing things, loves working, and loves helping the people he is serving. Apparently though when you are in the union, you aren't supposed to fix anything. AKA, you aren't supposed to work! Then, yesterday I was told the exact same story by a friend who's brother's friend in Michigan quit a union job because they kept telling him to take a break.
This is completely crazy! Are Americans that lazy? Are unions making it worse? The world is getting flatter with globalization; what's going to happen if Americans get any lazier? Pretty scary to think that our workers won't be able to compete.
The only solution I see is for the education system to buck up and give ALL US citizens an intelectual edge... but that's another story.
Anyway, I have to ask you what you think? This kind of story makes me wonder about the bigger picture. Are unions as they are now hurting the US in the long run?
Hi, Cat -- thanks for your important comments.
I'm sorry to hear about your brother -- it sucks that he lost his job.
I'm all for improving our public education system, but I don't see why we can't have a living wage, good unions, and good education system all at the same time.
Here's why I think union rules on the pace of work are necessary and good. These comments come straight from the hoverbike, via Captain Daraka.
"This is pretty simple. An employer is going to set the pace of work at the fastest rate possible. The point of union contractual rules on pace of work (or type of work) is to make sure that the fastest or youngest or fittest or most personally motivated worker doesn't set the pace for everyone else- that instead a reasonable pace is set for everyone. If employers set the pace, conditions become dangerous- think of sweatshops in 1900's America (or present-day Mexico).
Think of it this way. Erik and I both work as Teaching Assistants. We have rules regarding our working hours. If one TA decided that they were going to personally meet with every student, read every paper multiple times, write extra course materials, and work far more than our 20 hours/week, Professors would expect everyone to do so. Someone who is a good TA, works hard and fulfills the responsibilities that we are paid for would then be seen as shirking their duties.
On a macro-economic level, barring employers from being able to squeeze all the work they can out of someone forces them to create more jobs by hiring more workers.
American workers are far from lazy. They work more hours (and more productively) than any workforce in the industrialized world. They aren't the cheapest labor around, which is why they get dumped in favor of workers whose poverty forces them to work for wages
way below the sustainability level. That's the competition with globalization. Mexican, Thai, Chinese or Somali workers are not more productive or less lazy than American workers- even corporations are the first to say this. They simply work for less. Companies are willing to -lose- productivity in order to bring their labor costs down by 100% or more.
I'm sorry about your brother losing his job, but following workplace guidelines keeps everyone safe and keeps employers from pushing workers
in the name of profit."