There's a story about the TSA screeners getting the right to organize that I have been following for a few weeks now. It hasn't gotten much play in the news media but for some reason it struck a chord in my "that ain't right mode". I first heard something about it on a CBS Radio newscast. What stirred up my indignation was the fact that the screeners do not have the right to organize and if legislation in Washington is approved the Bush administration has vowed to veto it.
For a little background TSA is the Transportation Security Administration that was formed after 9/11. It is a federal organization that is in charge of all security in any form of transportation in our nation. The screeners are the folks at the airports that run the metal detectors and x-rays screening airline passengers, their luggage, carry-ons and shoes. Prior to 9/11 this job was done by employees of private security companies that were contracted by the airports and airlines. After 9/11 this job was taken over by the federal government and the screeners became federal employees after applying and being investigated for their jobs. According to one source there are some 45,000 of them across the country.
It is not that I am pro-union. For the most part I feel that unions have out lived their usefulness. When all is said and done the unions have shown in recent years that they cave in to company demands. If a company is going to downsize or even close there is nothing a union can do to stop it. If a company wants to reduce benefits the unions bluster about and cave in to the changes. Then they continue collecting their dues from the employees that survived the changes. Just to illustrate what I'm saying look at the people that worked at Sterling China here in the ville. The only thing the union did for them after Sterling was shut down was to tell their members how to file for unemployment. A little farther back in time look at the folks that worked at Crucible Steel in Midland. A lot of families were drastically changed in both instances. Look at the people in the auto industry. The list is long and sad for the formerly dues paying union members.
Those dues paying members spell out big money for the unions. Just using the screeners as an example say they did join the union ranks and their dues was $10 per pay or $20 a month. That would amount to $10,800,000 a year paid out for that privilege. Any union would well be able to afford their lavish headquarter buildings and big salary union officials.
The Democrats in D.C. are attempting to pay back big labor for helping them gain control of the House and Senate this year. That's politics. The Dems are saying that the screeners deserve the right to collective bargaining and whistle-blowing that is held by most other federal employees. If the union election process stays the same passage of this legislation will give the screeners the right to chose whether or not they want union representation. The Republicans are saying unionization would negate the flexibility of scheduling and compromise security procedures. Haven't they heard of negotiating a contract?
As it is now a union has to have a card signing by enough prospective members to petition for a union election. If a majority of employees sign the cards the union can ask the employer for a card check and the right to represent the employees. However, the employer doesn't have to agree to this and can ask for a secret ballot election for a union to gain the right to be the worker's representatives. In this day and age there is a good chance that a union would lose in their bid.
What galls me about this is that the screeners do not currently have the right to decide for themselves. The TSA in their fascist way have denied them this basic right that should be enjoyed by every American. The TSA was formed by our present day Republican administration and they are proving once again that they considered American citizens feudal members of their fiefdom. Yea, security is extremely important and since 9/11 there have been changes made to what we were accustomed to tolerating. However, in a democracy something as basic as the right to chose whether or not you are represented should not be compromised.
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4 comments:
My union dues are $79.00 a month and they do nothing for me. They do cave in to company demands and there is nothing anyone can do about it. I just wish I had my union money in my own pocket.
My father was a Teamster all his life (this was when Jimmy Hoffa was still alive) and my husband was a member of 1212 at Crucible when it shut down. I always thought unions were there to protect the worker but after seeing what both of them went through (my dad really got nothing after he retired with more than 30 years in and we all know what the Crucible guys got...and it rhymes with tucked).
And, I see how teachers unions protect bad teachers.
You are right, unions have outlived any usefulness they once had.
I am hesitate to post here because I see how people get when they don't agree with others, but here goes anyway.
I have worked in both, union and non-union shops, and for me there was a world of difference. I have heard other people say that we don't need unions anymore and to that I say the following:
Union workers median weekly earnings $833
Non-union workers median weekly earnings $642
Union workers with empolyer provided health insurance 80%
Non-union workers with employer provided health insurance 49%
Union workers without health insurance coverage 2.5%
Non-union workers without health insurance 15%
Union workers with defined benefit pensions. 68%
Non-union workers with defined benefit pensions. 14%
Union workers average days of paid vacation. 15 days
Non-union workers average days of paid vacation. 11.75 days
Like I said earlier, I have worked in both kinds of shops in the same industry and the difference was night and day. Safety conditions were a joke, people were taken out in an ambulance weekly.
Like most people in this area I too lost a job that I had for many union job that I had for many years. People make the mistake that a union is all powerful and can wave a magic wand and do whatever it wants. Market forces, competition, and just peoples changing tastes, i.e. the automotive industry, all lead companies to downsize and there isn't anything any union can do about it.
Nib, I apologize for this being so long. And lastly, Rep. Wilson has already signed on as a cosponsor of the EFCA.
SO I'M JUST AN OBSERVER IN THIS TOPIC HOWEVER VERY INTERESTED, HAD BROTHERS WHO WERE STEEL WORKERS ETC.BUT I NEVER WORKED FOR A UNION, PROBABLY BECAUSE I MOVED TO FLA,THE UNIONS DID SHOW THEIR FACE A TIMI OR TWO BUT NOTHING CAME OF IT. HOPE SOMEONE RESPONDS TO THE PREVIOUS POSTING JUST BEFORE MINE AS A COMPARISON - VERY INTERESTING.
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