The Defense Department, along with ten labor unions, agreed to postpone the implementation of the National Security Personnel System’s labor relations propositions until February.
A request for the postponement was filed by the Dept and unions at the U.S. District Court for Washington, DC. Now the unions will not seek a temporary restraining order to halt the implementation of the Department’s new labor relations rules and regulations.
The unions had sued the Defense Department earlier to prevent it from imposing performance-based compensation standards on employees.
An organization known as Working America and claiming to have have1-million nonunion members will publicize workplace safety violations on its website, www.workingamerica.org/jobtracker.
The Web site will contain data on more than 60,000 companies. That data will be compiled from a variety of government institutions and agencies, and it will be organized geographically and by industry category.
Such information, if widely disseminated, could generate negative publicity for many companies. Consumer products companies can have their reputations damaged amongst customers, and publicly held companies may have their images tarnished by the widespread dissemination of such information. All of which are grounds for companies making every possible effort to be in compliance with all OSHA rules and regulations.
If they do not pay their union dues, more than 700 Washington state workers could lose their jobs. Their unions, the Teamsters and the Washington Federation of State Employees, have given the state Labor Relations Office the names of those workers who have not paid their dues and have not given up their union cards.
There are about 53,000 unionized government state workers for whom contracts were negotiated last year. Their contracts were the first to require workers to join a union and pay dues; however, if they declined membership, they still had to pay fees for representation. If workers refuse to pay dues and/or fees, they can be fired from their jobs.
This is just another case of employees refusing to pay for services they do not want and being coerced by unions, which thrive on dues and other fees.
The National Labor Relations Board has agreed to decide whether unions can organize the 2,400 workers at the Indian-owned Seneca Niagara Casino.
Because of old treaties, it is uncertain whether the casino, which is owned by the Seneca Nation of Indians, is subject to the National Labor Relations Act.
If the casino is unhappy with the decision, it can challenge the Board’s jurisdiction in court.
In August, Teamsters Local 375 had filed an unfair labor practice charge, accusing the casino of preventing the union from organizing the casino’s workers. Following the accusation, a union activist was fired from a job at the casino.
In a reversal of a previous policy, the NLRB declared, in 2004, that it had jurisdiction over the San Manuel Indian casino in California. Prior to that, it had been NLRB policy that the labor relations act did not cover Indian-owned enterprises.
While many have inferred that the California ruling will apply to the Seneca’s casino, it may not. The NLRB will have to examine treaties to learn if they have jurisdiction over the casino.
In my best-selling book, Everybody Wins!, I quoted Benjamin Franklin, who wrote in 1776 that “We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.” And that must be the conviction of the UAW, its workers, and the management of General Motors.
The past is no longer an example for today’s auto industry and the UAW. No more must there be a confrontational approach between management and labor, no more saber rattling, no more threats of strikes, slow downs, and walkouts. Too much is at stake for the scenarios of yesteryear to be played out in these perilous times when bankruptcy looms for Delphi, sales of new cars stagnate, and revenues spiral downward.
GM is fast losing ground to foreign based companies as its market share plummets from 45 percent to 28 percent.
If a new paradigm is not put in place, we may see the end of the US auto industry as we know it. Just look at what happened to the steel industry as a result of high union wages and unbeatable international competition. The union and management realized that if they were to right their capsized ship they had to make some painful choices: The number of workers was cut, health benefits were re-negotiated, and pensions were turned over to the Federal Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. While such actions were difficult for the union to accept, they knew that rejection would mean the death of the domestic steel industry. Having made those painful decisions, the domestic steel industry is now prospering. This is the example that the General Motors must follow if it too is going to prosper.