Now here is a surprise....

[turnpike boy]

Originally Posted by Scott S

So I walk up to somebody on the line and tell him/her for the 5th time they are still doing a crappy job, I document the discussion for the 5th time and forward the paper to the union rep for the 5th time. The union claims for the 5th time that the employee is not properly trained and I have the employee trained for the 6th time.

And you say it's a management problem? Have you ever heard a union rep say gawd your right in the best interest of the product and company fire the dumb SOB?

Scott S

As a matter of fact, yes. We deal with several unions - on a daily basis - and while the 70's and early 80's were mighty argumentative and given to the kind of horsesh*t you hold out, a staggering loss of business to non-union contractors altered the business perspectives of most unions (execs as well as rank & file) within a scant few years. Mind you, they still hold to the work rules and signed contract agreements that establish disciplinary protocol, but a slug who makes them look like a$$holes is quick to be moved to another project or to the unemployment line. And, yes, we lost equipment to fires or vandalism; had ready-to-act picket lines thrown across access points; even had police involvement (they're unionized, too) to keep all parties separated, at least at the job site. But the attitudes changed awful fast when management decided that they weren't about to put themselves out of business because of unsustainable costs.

We have unions within our sacrosanct government organization as well - and while it is damn difficult to discharge even the worst employee, it does happen. It does NOT happen, however, without the full and committed backing of the executive staff, who regularly shirk from common-sense decisions on the threat of political consequence. Can't get that lineworker to produce after the 5th warning? - are you saying your contract is so poorly written it doesn't define the limits? And who agreed to that contract?

At the end of the day, YES, the unions are/can be huge impediments to stable, reasonably efficient operations. However, until management decides that the whole organization has to prosper - not just them - the union is only one cause in the effect. And when times are bad, management has far, far more power than the unions do. Ask the ATC folks about that.