Andy Stern, head of the Services Employees International Union (SEIU) has a fight on his hands. It’s not with Corporate America, but with a prominent union official, who has accused Stern of growing the union at the cost of not getting enough benefits for its members.
The SEIU is the largest union in the country with 1.9 million members. It has had enormous success in its organizing efforts, utilizing innovative techniques to get new members. Andy Stern has been the driving force behind the success of SEIU.
At the annual convention of SEIU in Puerto Rico in June, the insurgent wants to end the management style of Stern.
One of the union members claims that he was fighting both his employer and the union to get what he considered to be appropriate benefits.
This is an example of what happens when a union gets to be too big and feels that its very size not only gives it inordinate leverage in its negotiations with Corporate America, but also with its members as well. Such is the scenario that leads to union failures.
Apparently not everyone around the globe learned a lesson when President Reagan fired the striking air-traffic controllers in the United States. Now it appears as if the air-traffic controllers in Ireland have issued a formal notice that they plan to go on strike against the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA).
Ninety-nine percent of the air-traffic controllers, members of the Impact trade union, voted to go on strike.
Such a strike will have a dire effect on commerce, halting all air traffic in and out of the country, and be against the public good; therefore, the strikers should be fired as they were in the United States. No one has the right to put a gun to the head of a major enterprise whose smooth and efficient service benefits the public. To do so is a breach of the compact that exists between public employees and the public which it serves.
The Irish government may wish that they have a Ronald Reagan in their midst.
The United Auto Workers union, looking for several jackpots resulting from its organizing efforts, has bet its best efforts on trying to win new members from a wide array of professions. The union has not only gambled and lost on behalf of many of its auto worker members, but it is now drawing a losing hand with casino dealers
In Kansas, dealers at the Argosy Casino voted 113 to 68 against joining Local 710 of the UAW. It’s obvious that the dealers have decided not to bet on a risky future with a union that is not doing well.
The dealers know that they can have their issues addressed by management without the intermediary voice of a self-interested union. Management wants workers with high morale who are productive and who enjoy their work. Management, by listening to the interests and concerns of the workers, can deliver exactly what is needed. No outside mediator is needed.
Played smartly, management and labor can each enjoy the benefits of having winning hands without placing risky bets on union representation. As I titled my best-selling book, Everybody Wins! That is, everybody but the union.
In South Beloit, Illinois, a two-member police union is very unhappy. The two members, both sergeants, have registered an unfair labor practices complaint with the Illinois Labor Relations Board against the town.
Now, we have dealt with many unions, most of which represent large numbers of employees in various kinds of industries. One would think that two police sergeants, who formed their tiny union which resembles a marriage more than a labor union, would be able to work out their disagreements with the town of South Beloit. But in this era where adversarial relationships generate the most heat, very few individuals want to negotiate their differences.
In small towns, where everyone knows everyone else, one can only wonder why the two sergeants were not able to discuss their disputed benefit packages with the town council. The town council simply wanted the two offices to pay 5 percent more of their health care benefits and not to roll over their vacation time to the following year.
One can only be surprised that this earth shattering issue hasn’t caught the attention of John Sweeney, head of the AFL-CIO.