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Subscribe to RSSNew York power utility Consolidated Edison Inc locked out its unionized workers early on Sunday after contract talks broke down, both sides said, raising the possibility of power cuts during a summer heat wave.
The company asked to extend negotiations for two more weeks, it said, but the union, which had threatened a strike, refused. In response, the firm told union members not to report for work on Sunday.
Reuters reported that the action increased the risk of power outages if a continuing heat wave puts extra strain on the electrical grid for New York City and suburban Westchester county.
However, a utility official told the New York Daily News that customers should not expect to see any adverse effects.
"Both sides are far apart," said company spokesman Mike Clendenon. "We asked the union to extend the talks for two weeks but they refused."
"We can't operate the system reliably for customers if the union can still call a strike at a moment's notice," he said.
He did not use the term "lockout" but said the company notified unionized workers not to report for work. ConEd managers have been specially trained to handle emergency or maintenance work, he said.
John Melia, a spokesman for the Utilities Workers Union of America (UWUA) said that as of 2 a.m. Sunday (EDT) its 8,500 ConEd power workers were locked out.
"ConEd took the extreme measure of locking out its unionized workforce putting the city of New York and Westchester county in peril during a heat wave."
The lockout came as the summer's second heat wave hit the city of over 8 million people, with stifling temperatures near 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius), raising demand for power to operate air conditioners.
Both sides continued talking for over an hour after the midnight Saturday deadline expired, but failed to reach a settlement over a new contract for the company's unionized workers. A major sticking point in the contract was ConEd's plan to phase out defined pensions.
The union membership had authorized its leaders to call a strike at midnight on Saturday, when the collective bargaining agreement expired. A similar strike in 1983 lasted nine weeks, while a blackout in July 1977 - caused not by labor action but by lightning strikes - resulted in looting and civil disorder in the largest U.S. city.
As the deadline approached, 200-300 union members staged a rally in downtown Manhattan, chanting "If we go out, the lights go out."
Tony Ballone, a union delegate, told Reuters the main issues were pensions, wages and health care. "They (ConEd) want to take everything we have fought for 50 years."
"We're the first responders, we come out in rain and snow, we keep the lights on. All we want is a fair contract," he said.
With Con Edison workers locked out, company managers are left to fix whatever problems arise as New Yorkers crank up their air conditioners.
The utility had only just returned power to Brooklyn and other areas of the city blacked out in a heat wave 10 days ago. Still, with the lockout coming over a weekend, when many businesses in Manhattan are typically closed, demand for power will be lower than a weekday.
That would lessen the risk the utility will have to reduce voltage, commonly called a brown out, as the utility was forced to do last week in Brooklyn and Queens.
Still, the UWUA union stressed that without its skilled workers, the Big Apple could be facing outages if a deal is not agreed. Con Ed has 13,000 employees including union members.
Temperatures in New York City were expected to reach 92 degrees on Sunday and 90 degrees on Monday before slipping into the 80s on Tuesday before the Fourth of July holiday, according to AccuWeather.com. The normal high for this time of year is 83 degrees.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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Fire them all..... How about the teacher union slugs in Shy-Town that have the shortest school day in the country want a 30% raise over 2 years or they are going to strike!!! Mafia unions suck and any of them that strike should be canned. Maybe having new teachers in there that actually give a crap about the kids might be a breathe of fresh air.....(even Deadfish is upset....)
OMG put down the Hoffa movie and come back down to earth
The Mafia has a union? Why, that must really annoy the other organized crime cartel: corporations. That would mean the Mafia can attract better talent; no wonder you boys are getting hammered.
One wonders: what are the dues like?
They are like the mafia because they extort the money they earn. "You want your machines intact? Give us this concession. You want us to not shut you down while we keep your competitors humming? You give us that concession."
I've had to deal with their vandalism and sabotage, I actually made a lot of money fixing it. I guess I could thank the union for that.
So you are one of those overpaid contractors that does substandard work? Too many get a hundred plus an hour to just show up.
I have to laugh in the face of all those contractors, electricians and pklumbers who only a few short years ago wouldn't even return phone calls for a job and if they did quoted a redicuilios price. Today they are all crying because the work dryed up. I'd rather hire an illegial that wants to works and does it well.
You sir are a complete moron and don't deserve the resources you take from the environment to exist. To call you retarded would be an insult to those who have a legitimate mental disorder. Complete total ignorance is what you are spewing. I'd rather live in a world where ignorance like what you just typed doesn't exist, but we all have our say in a free society. At least it gives you the chance to prove just how ridiculously uninformed and ignorant your views are.
I love the union bashing Fox new indoctrinated morons in here, you can smash everyone of their arguments, they are a joke. As if no non union company ever went bankrupt or left the country. As for union workers being lazy and incompetent, have any of you imbeciles been to Wal Mart, Mcdonalds, Target or the hundreds of other places like that. I've seem some real idiots at those places and guess what they still work there, and there is no seniority. Must be that the anti-union trolls on here are the imbeciles that are working at those places. Probably have their wives working there too, and still have the audacity to call themselves "men". LOL.
That's the problem; they don't have any arguments- just sound bytes.
When unions prevailed, the economy was great.
Now they don't, and it isn't.
Trickle UP works- trickle DOWN doesn't.
We've let the corporatocracy hold the reigns for about three decades now, and they've been getting fat eating the rest of us over that entire period.
You can't argue with empirical reality, but they try- and the outcome is tragically hilarious.
It won't change; corporations just keep hiring new shills as we crush the old ones- it keeps their victims from noticing that they're being lined up in a chute- in front of a slaughterhouse.
Pathetic liberal lies. I got a "union education" four decades ago, long before Fox, long before Rush, long before I even knew what conservatism was. Nice try.
Union workers are lazy and incompetent. When I worked for a union, the most I was allowed to work was 40 minutes a day due to union work rules. The vast majority of the time our entire crew just hung around the shop watching the Cubs lose. This is the norm, not unique.
They also do lousy repairs on purpose so the system will fail again in a few weeks. They call it job security.
Again, this is not hearsay, this is first person experience. Once I jumped sides I knew what to look for and saw plenty of it. As late as last year union thugs sabotaged and vandalized a port and the union was so embarrassed they agreed to pay for the repairs. Nothing has changed.
Six years ago when republicans ran government the economy was great. Unemployment 4.6%, booming economy, record dow, etc. then democrats took over congress and destroyed it all with their "home ownership is a right" propaganda.
Trickle down prosperity works, trickle up poverty doesn't. That's what we've practiced the last six years.
Only a complete idiot would say they are better off now than they were six years ago, unless they were the 1%.
@ Valhalla Phil: Actually, I suspect you were fired because you couldn't cut it.
Americans are more productive than any other group out there per capita- and union members lead that statistic.
If a job isn't done right, it's because management won't hire enough people and demands higher productivity to compensate- resulting in the old "Never time to do it right the first time- but always time to go back and do it again."
All the problems you attribute to unions are management driven- and ultimately rooted in naked avarice.
Most of your posts are inflammatory lies, but....funny thing....they just aren't that effective any more.
Oppression is very educational- and memorable.
I suspect you're being paid to hold up a red blanket in front of unions for the "benefit" of a stunned and disowned American Middle Class- and wondering why it isn't working as well as it used to.
Here's a news flash, you Viking idiot: there just isn't a whole lot of union out there to attack any more.
An enraged public attacked and trampled unions after people like you described them as the proximate cause of their grief- but the unemployment still prevails.
Now they're looking for another target; they'll be coming for your masters soon, and you'll be out of work....again.
Deal with it.
Your friends- the ones like the Koch brothers- the ones who suborned America and made it a Banana Republic- have had control for more than three decades now- and they trashed a thriving planetary economy.
They better finish the job while they have the chance- because I doubt they'll be around after the backlash that's building.
Valhalla phil:
You do not make a lick of sense. If you are a contractor? you most likely are new at it. Experience would help you to identify rather than compare. In other words you are a member of the under informed clapping seals who think they have the best work ethics, will work for very little and do the most for their clients at less costs. If you are this Disneyesque prototype than goodluck with that...myself I want enough money to be an American. Union pride, union made.
Corporations and conservatives call helping your neighbor socialism, unless your neighbor happens to be a corporation.
Pathetic lie. Conservatives call helping your neighbor being a good neighbor, government putting a gun to your head, and forcing you to support a leach is socialism. Nice try.
What's pathetic is your failure to learn from empirical reality: things were better when unions prevailed. Your inability to debate and your inflexibility fail the Turing test- and someone needs to do a little work on the stale old scripts you use....those are pathetic too.
For those of you who say you made it on your own, bend down and take your bootstraps and pull up and see how far up you get.
Stupid liberal argument. The only way anyone succeeds is by individual initiative. "Giving" someone success, is not success, it's fascism.
That "logic" flies in the face of reality once again: solid teamwork and good communication are the core tenetes of any successful organization, and your religious devotion to solipsism is a very poor business model indeed- the same one that crushed GM...until their management team got fired.
Some industries should never be unionized period.
Energy, Public sector, Social services, First Responders, Healthcare, and Education (this does not include support staff).
None of the above should be unionized for one very simple reason... the risk to the private sector by the above to potential deal irreparable harm.
Energy (power outages) - result could be fatalities do to medical equipment no longer functioning.
Public Sector - essential public services no longer functioning
First Responders - Lawlessness, Looting, Deaths due to non-response
Healthcare - death due to inadequate services in an already strained system
Education - loss of productivity and potential in the youth of today which need all the education they can get.
The problem with that is that if there is no recourse then for change in the work place, City's go broke or the first time they have a financial crises due to bad management your wages and benefits are first to go or you get laid off. I don't think public sector should have the right to a shut down of services but feel they have the right to fare collective bargaining under due process.
Newsflash, under union extortion cities are going broke. Stockton is filing this week and it is not alone. And guess what, the judge will give the union a haircut cutting wages and benefits. Look what happened at GM when they went through bankruptcy.
Democrats have bought union votes with taxpayer dollars, we the people have had it. Check San Jose and San Diego for the future of public unions, they gravy train is over.
Reality check: the destruction of the middle class by the greed of businesses (who exported every possible job for reasons having nothing at all to do with unions) caused the collapse of the tax base required to support civic services. No job, no taxation- and no revenues for even the necessities.
Once again, you fail to grasp the obvious- and blame a dying institution for the problems people like you created.
Flaming rats will appear from thin air and eat my breakfast on the day your arguments survive critical thought.
Too many of you are angry because people work for fair wages and benefits, what's wrong with you, too good for that?
Another pathetic lie. We are angry because unions are living like fat cats, extorting what they haven't earned. Fair wage my a$$. Again, check San Jose and San Diego as well as Stockton for the future. It's coming to a city near you.
A living wage supports the tax revenues cities require to survive.
Concentration of wealth at the top- where it sits and does nothing for anyone but bankers- destroys economies.
The destruction of the paths available for upwards mobility- like a lowered cost of education- inevitably result in the stagnation and collapse of a civilization.
That's what you'd like to attain- and it's working brilliantly, isn't it?
There's reason the Cern Large Hadron Collider isn't in the United States- and why we now lag as a nation in broadband speed, infrastructure relevance and creative endeavors in general.
It's because of people like you- intent on maintaining domination over the wreckage you've created at any cost.... to the rest of us.
Study a term called "the velocity of money" to understand this concept- in fact, I'd recommend you go back to school and refresh that 18th century education of yours.
It truely amazes me that people truely believe that those in union jobs should just give up everthing they have bargained for over the years. They have earned through negotiations a fair wage with benefits as there were none of these prior to unions coming into play.
Nowhere have I seen many say the the corporations needed to adjust those in managements compensation packages nor do they say anything about this utilities in excess of 40 billion dollars in profit. Now why would this coporation want to take away what they pay these workers in pay and benefits when they make these obscene amounts of profit? Why would people blast the unionized workers for wanting their pay and benefits to stay at the levels they now have?
Logic would tells us that what Edison wants to do makes any sense. Logic should tell those who disparage these workers that they are "just" in request in this negotiation process to come to a fair settlement. Corporations all the time do not negotiate and then come down to the last minute like this and expect that you extend the negotiations. It has been that way forever because corporation in a lot of cases will not "Negotiate in good faith."
Disparage the unions all you want but the middle class has shrunk and will keep shrinking as too many believe it is the unions that are ruining this country when in fact if you look at corporate profits that are running at all time highs yet if you can get a job you are not even getting paid a living wage let alone any health and retirement benefits.
I am a true believer, whether you are in a union or not, that one gives a fair days labor for a fair days pay and benifits so that in the long run, we and the corporations, will all profit and survive. Now look at your own pay and tell us, are you and your fellow workers being paid a living wage with benefits or are you struggling just to survive?
Corporations join together for their benefit and now we're reaping the benefit of their victory, free trade.
When we band together for better wages and benefits it's called "socialism" or "communism". When corporations do it, it's called "free market capitalism". Welcome to republican "sound bite" land.
Corporations create jobs, unions destroy them. That's a fact. How many industries haven't been bankrupted by unions? They are bankrupting governments as we speak.
Unions have fought hard to be the ruling elite, like a cancer they weaken and eventually kill their hosts. Airlines, textiles, steel, autos, etc. the list of corpses goes on and on. The reason unions have lost ground in the private sector is precisely because they killed their hosts. Now public unions will be decimated because they are killing their government hosts.
When Walker gave workers a choice, AFSCME went from 67,000 to 28,000, even union members realize that unions are destructive.
Vahalla phil:
You've just got to stop standing on your hands...your thinking is upside down.
With free trade we got low prices, supposedly for our benefit, and yet lost jobs, which is more important, jobs or low prices? Yet the Corporations are swimming in huge profits, I guess the low prices aren't as low as they claim. That's the benefit of corporations joining together, yet people shouldn't?
What amazes me is with all this free trade, I don't recall seeing prices go down or become more competitive, everything keeps going up and there is less money in the middle classes pocket and when middle class stops spending jobs are lost, Corporations are cutting off the very lifeline that made them who they are.....the middle class and their to blind to see it, When middle class fails we can close this country down or take it back over again and start from scratch
You don't spend your way to success. The middle class still don't understand this. Debt and overspending is the killer and economy destroyer. The economy we are in and headed for at least will be real and not based on spending money that people don't have. The USA has lived in a false economy for years created by borrowing and spending money that cannot be paid back. The American standard of living was a false one.... and now you will have the real one... and it won't include overpaid union jobs that can be done for 1/20 the cost somewhere else.
Bush and republicans average 5% unemployment and left democrats 4.6% when they took over congress with the exact same free trade agreements and tax structure. It is democrats that have sent corporations fleeing to China. Obama's own jobs czar shut down divisions here and sent them to China. Obama's aids said he had a choice between fixing the economy and Obamacare. That's how laser focused Obama has been on jobs.
The public sector is doing fine at 8.2% unemployment yet the public sector need more workers at 4.3% unemployment. That's the kind of logic you get from a Marxist president.
I guess free market Capitalism, frees us from our money and our jobs as well.
Pathetic liberal lie. It Obama's socialist crony capitalism that freed you from your money and your job and it's gone on for the last six years beginning when he was senator.
Now, I'm just starting to feel sorry for you....
Keep in mind, that 40 hour work weeks, and many of the things you are afraid of loosing if not unionized, are already state laws. Minimum wages, work weeks, overtime etc. All those original things unions fought for are now laws, not necessarily benefits. My objection to heavy unionization is that they work under different rules for work ethics than non union. If my husband ( non union) shows up at power plant under the influence he is immediately fired. Liscense pulled etc. Same union guy shows up, under the influence, he is given 3 days unpaid leave and shows backup after his vacation. Those are the things that people object too. And that should not be allowed for union or non union behavior. Wages and benefits and retirements need to be such that they are sustainable. If it has been negotiated to a point where its not, then you don't get paid, and a company goes under... you get the idea. Everyone has to tighten their belts now, union and non union deal with it. I think in this instance the union thought to have a bargaining chip due to summer coming on. I will enjoy if it doesn't work for them. And job performance and quality is an individual personal trait, and has nothing to do with union membership, there is competency and idiots in and out of unions.
TMJ I'm not sure where you got your info from but I'm union and if i show up under the influence, I get written up and not allowed to go back to work until a panel (union and Management) agree to it, usually about 3 weeks (non-paid), I would then have to do rehab for 1 year at which time i can be tested at any time, after I complete that if it happens again I'm without a job with Union blessing. All we get is one chance for change after that were on our own. Most unions and companies have come to agreements on this due to insurance reasons as well they should. As far as retirement mine is a union pension so when I leave the company the company has no further obligation to me what so ever. Oh and as far as the bargaining chip, contracts are typically 3 or 5 year contracts , when its up its up just so happens its during the summer they can't strike any time they want their contract is just up. and I totally agree with your statement " And job performance and quality is an individual personal trait" could not have said that better
Jay-1660872
Jay, it sounds like you might be in one of the IBEW locals. They're about the only ones left with Union pension plans that I know of.
However, while I agree with you to a point, and having been a District Steward myself, I HAVE been forced to defend a person (successfully I might add) who in reality if I was in management I would have fired myself. TOO many people like that, although generally not in the trades, get that union protection when it is unwarranted. What other members seem to forget when they "rally around" the person is that his/her incompetence and/or failure on the job has an affect on themselves. It might have an impact on the next contract win or loss the company is trying to get on that major construction project, or just extra work for the diligent workers and a bad reputation for the company and potential loss of follow-on work.
Unions are good AND bad. Too often, today, they're they own worst enemies.
XD:
I agree with your post except for one thought. Management has the same failures and protects them too. Suppose it is a human condition. Usually the piss test weeded them out. I was a utility union member and am proud of it. There were "quota people" who should never have been given the higher paying jobs. They were miserable and performed the same. Not union rules so much as federal government/management/company rules.
where's louie
I can assure you we agree on that point. Unfortunately, and especially in government, often times people are "promoted" to management positions, not because they are capable of doing the job, but because of grade or time with the organization.
In Government, I will submit that the VAST majority of "management" is in their position because of grade, and grade alone. Many were fantastic in their previous technical position, but had not yet matured to the level of a manager. They wanted to keep "playing with the hot new toys" but instead were forced into a management position and not only became miserable and it showed in their new work ethic, but they lost the technical skills that made them great. So, they plodded on until they could pull the plug and get out with enough time to pull down a pension.
The corporations have us fighting and blaming each other for our problems while they are the main reason for them. Don't fight each other, work together, help each other.
Antone...
Look at the labels in the clothes you're wearing. Let us know where it says they were made.
Personally, I can HONESTLY say that everything I'm currently wearing was Made In The USA. Including an old Hamilton watch.
It's not that difficult to put your money where your mouth is. BUY AMERICAN, whether Union made or not, when you BUY AMERICAN, you're employing your neighbor WHEREVER in this country they live. THAT'S what union and no-union people SHOULD be doing. But it's so much easier to talk the talk than walk the walk.
It kind of reminds me of when I was living in CA. 4 Cal Trans guys standing around watching one guy fill a pot hole and 2 girls holding a stop sign at both ends. That my friends is 7 people to fill one pot hole.
So many people have seen similar circumstances it's become a joke. That is the norm, not the exception.
The people you saw holding stop signs are necessary- they're a mandated and necessary part of something called a work area protection system.
Three of the people watching were probably managers doing a job evaluation (CalTrans is rather..top heavy- and since Taft-Hartley, managers aren't union members)- the other was likely a steward there to assert the member's Weingarten rights.
Please stop with the fairy tales....you couldn't do that job, and you probably lack the intelligence required to avoid a pothole, let alone repair it.
Speaking of fairy tales, I wish you knew how embarrassed you should be....
Fe02-Don't mind Vaginal Philling he is a corporate shill and a traitor to middle class America, he constantly crusades on these blogs for corporate America as if they need his help. The more this guy says the more worthless his words become. Best to choose "ignore author".
When you're falling behind
blame and call names
typical liberal reaction
Good points. I should be ashamed of myself...but it's so hard to resist.
Sometimes that Viking idiot is just a little too tempting-his posts are like marching 20 canaries in full band dress with glockenspiels, led by dancing mice twirling batons- right past a hungry cat.
@ great pretender....perfect handle- and the following post- a description of right wing tactics- completes what can only be described as consummate irony.
I am beginning to think Vaginal Phil is a corporation. Since the SCOTUS and Romney both declared that corporations are people, he must be standing up for himself. Yes, that's it! Now it all makes sense.
great pretender- you guys think anyone that doesn't agree with you is a "liberal", and then you guys call them libtards, socialist, commies. Typical hypocrisy from the right.
New York City is not in perial. The only thing in perial is the union and many of the union slugs who are looking for something for nothing. Con Ed's first move should be to fire half of these 8500 workers who do little or nothing. Perhaps then we could get a break on our electric rates.
PERIL
Half of the union probably will get fired but good luck on getting your electric rates lowered. The money saved will simply be paid out to management for being so successful at reducing the payroll. The only people who will lose anything will be middle class Americans...again.
New York City is in New York State, not perial.
lot of people looking for work. treat them like the air traffic controllers fire them all and hire new. time to kick the union thugs to the curb.
Yep and get rid of all of the trial lawyers. Union thugs and trial lawyers = the democratic party.
Tax evading corporate CEO's and no tax paying ignorant minimum wage earning rednecks=republican party. Which one are you a---hole rand ?
Break up the Unions and destroy them for good, once and for all.
Unions are ONLY good for Union members who are screwing the taxpayers with bloated salaries, benefits, pensions, and job protections that make it impossible to fire the bad and lazy workers, which would describe most Union members anyway.
This is GREAT news and it will not be hard to find non-union workers to replace the greedy union workers and at HALF the cost or less.
Fire & Police should be next... these dummies are the most overpaid and some of the dumbest humans in existence. Putting out a fire and harassing people with speeding tickets while real criminals run free is hardly a job that should pay more than minimum wage. Time to cut Fire & Police salaries and eliminare pensions... unless the Fire & Police want to pay for them themselves. Taxpayers have had enough of Union greed. Bye Bye Unions!!
Republicans” and their Stepchild “The Evil Violent Tea Billy’s” are just like a “Huge Power Failure ”. They are a Major Disaster, Cause Fear, Panic, Chaos, Misery and Destroy anything good in their Paths.
G. O. P. = GREED, OIL, POWER
Democrats, Debt, Incompetence, and Unions have destroyed the US economy. Unions protect the dumbest and the least qualified workers. This is why there are so many lousy teachers and why US test scores are at the bottom compared to other countries.
D. N. C. = DUMB NUTCASE COMMUNISTS. See I can do it too! :<)
sAyItLiKeItIs- Yes, all the best workers are non union like those at Wal mart and Mcdonalds. If that's what you consider good labor your argument is as sad as you are.
Corporations are there to make money for their investors
Unions are there to make money for their members
Somewhere in between there is breaking point
It's the american way
Not like public sector unions that drain the economy
Less than 10% of the work force in the United States is Unionized and the benefits to ALL workers is at an all time LOW. CEO salaries are....well you do the math. I'm afraid your average union worker or civil servant has been turned into a economical terrorist. They are not running the country into the ground. Management is! Nowadays I see so many people working mandatory overtime.. That is illegal! The law states you do not have to work more than 40 hours. If they don't work.. they won't have a job....Hell of a threat. The very reason Unions were brought around in the first place. We are going back to the sweat shop days. Study your history.. the pendulum is all the way to the right...
Is it wrong to ask for a decent health care package and retirement for 30 years of service?
Yes it is absolutely wrong because the only way to afford it is to steal it from your children and force them to foot the bill. We are borrowing 40% of what we spend. That is the legacy you are leaving to future generations.
The ONLY thing that protects workers is prosperity. Obama has been in office four years, democrats have controlled government for six. Have they done one thing to change any of what you say? Of course not.
When republicans ran government and unemployment averaged 5%, jobs were going begging. Only under those condititons can workers walk if they don't like the deal. Now, under democrat government people are going begging and corporations can walk if they don't like the deal.
Ignore the propaganda from both sides and look at results instead. Compare the dozen years republicans ran congress to the last six. No contest, democrats are destroying the economy and the middle class along with it
and Bill Clinton balanced the budget.. Its the Party line that has us where we are today..
Here come a few more "contract workers". You know them, their the ones taking less money with little to no benefits just to get a paycheck
If you think unions have a bad name now, just wait until the remaining unions wise up and organize these contract workers. Instead of collectively being able to have a drastic impact on one industrial segment they would have the power to shutdown the entire country. Personally, I can't wait. I am sick to death of watching helplessly as middle class Americans see their earnings eroded while the corporate fatcats continue to see millions in bonuses, often paid despite poor results.
Unions were originally formed to fight against corporate corruption and unfair treatment. It sure looks like we are headed that way once again.
Who runs you life? You don't.
Why does no one ever mention the divided middle class? Everything is always tax the Rich, give to the poor, and the middle class pays. So WHY should a Union worker make more than someone doing the very same job that is not in the Union?
Are you telling me an auto worker at Ford, GM, and Chrysler are worth more than those auto workers at Honda, Toyota, Hyundia, KIA, and BMW all made here in this country?
Are you telling me an auto worker at Ford, GM, and Chrysler are worth more than those auto workers at Honda, Toyota, Hyundia, KIA, and BMW all made here in this country?- No, they would all have great pay and benefits if it were up to unions. Stop electing anti-union middle class traitors and someday it may happen.
I don't care what any of you bitchers and moaners rant on about, endlessly decrying "evil, lazy, incompetent unions". When the lights do go out, and the odds are pretty good with the current heat wave that they might, you'll be screaming at the utility company management to settle as quickly as humanly possible, and turn your air conditioners and televisions and refrigerators back on, so you can return to your life of slovenly indolence on the sofa, watching your moronic television shows, and shoveling Doritos down your maw while swilling Budweisers, and while getting on the internet on your wireless laptops once again and spewing pointless tirades against "them damn lazy, incompetent, thieving union fellers". Just wait. You'll see. I laugh at your insignificance and ineffectuality. And no, I am not a union man, nor do I have any friends or family in unions. I am, however, a realist, and have been around long enough to see how these scenarios play out over and over again.
You are working on the old paradigm. There is a new reality. WE CAN'T AFFORD IT. The days of extorting absurd wages and benefits are over.
Yes Phil we will bow down to your corporate masters as you say we should. In fact I think I will go to work for free tonight. I'm sure my company will gladly refund you the 10 cents of savings on their product. Will you finally shut up then.
First of all, Phil resorts to using the ridiculously inappropriate word "paradigm", and then goes on to say the real issue is that he can't afford it. FIne, Philly boy, just learn to do without electricity. You didn't happen to notice what the storms in the mid-Atlantic and other parts of the country did the other day, did you, Phil? If there were not enough workers to restore power due to a strike or a lockout, Phil would be the first one soiling his panties over it. Here is the new reality, Phil. It's the same as the old one. It doesn't change because you think it should, and all your whining is just that - whining. Endless, repetitive, and boring whining is what Philly excels at, and in his alternate universe, that passes for normal. Tell me how you make out the next time you lose power and there aren't enough workers to fix it. By the way, none of the union workers in other states will break a strike or lockout, just in case you were wondering, so you could just sit around and swelter and watch your food rot, and your beer get warm. Sounds like Phil needs to go "off the grid".
Let me see if I understand this: the ConEd spokesman said "We can't operate the system reliably for customers if the union can still call a strike at a moment's notice," but they CAN operate the system reliably if they lock out the union workers? I call shenanigans!
Having been in that situation, yes the company can operate. There wil be no new work done but unions are so inefficient that management can keep the current system running. As former management I've done it.
Particularly in the electric utilities many management have been promoted from the ranks so they are quite competent to do the work. One guy with a "bucket" truck can easily do the work of half a dozen union leaches, do it faster, and do it better.
You`re not being the "brightest" bulb are you? Intentionally perhaps? Okay I`ll bite...
Read what you typed again. Slowly.
Try and comprehend that an electrical grid is kind of like an airplane in flight. Or a nuclear power plant.
Would you want a crew at the controls that could get up and walk away mid-flight or mid-shift?
Or one that`s going to stay at the controls? You get it now?
Being directly involved in the 1981 air traffic controllers firing, management,
by setting the clock timeline on the firings, were able to draw up contingency plans.
Management took over and directly worked in the system that was supposed to shut down all air traffic in the US.
In a nutshell, air traffic schedules were implemented, (like metering on ramps) routes were developed for
rerouting, sped controls were put into effect, etc.
These changes increased safety and much of it is still in effect today.
Setting your timelines are very important for planning, you control the accelerator.