Trade Union or Trader? by X355916
Once upon a time Unions in this country actually organized, educated, and fought for their membership. The Trade Unions as faulty as the bosses may have been, had some of the most dedicated Union members around. This was do to hard fought struggles in the trenches, not backing down and when taken advantage of would be ready and willing to take up for his/her fellow worker. The I.W.W members that built much of the west and improved working conditions did so much in the same way the I.W.W logger did, through direct action and no nonsense organizing, working together to solve problems on the job. Some of the tactics can be debated to its effectiveness but could not be accused of giving up all functioning mobility worrying about the profits of the boss and forgo to stick up and fight for members rights as have some today.
Survival of the fittest a book and traveling speaking tour by Mark Breslin is just one example of the depths the building trades have gone. Breslin states the basics of getting ahead is to work harder, faster and without fuss or question about company policy. Breslin states on his website:
“Survival of the Fittest: Motivation, Responsibility & Rewards”
“This presentation focuses on the key roles that must be played by the union, the contractors and perhaps most of all, the rank and file workers. Primary challenges covered include the realization that the good old days do not exist any longer and cooperative and strategic initiatives must be agreed upon and acted on. The focus for rank and file is attitudes and behaviors. Skills are simply not enough any more; it is about who you are as well as what you can do. A complete analysis of necessary skills, attitudes and behaviors is included.”
To anyone who work’s for a living I am sure this sounds all to familiar coming from management. Mr. Breslin also speaks to fortune 500 companies many of them anti union on how to have a successful business. This is the same man that our building trades in the afl-cio have endorsed, encouraged and in some cases made it mandatory for its members to go to his money making seminar’s.
The IBEW has created a wonderful handbook called the Code of Exellence. Makes you feel all worm an fuzzy inside, well let me give you an excerpt of what is now required by IBEW men and women:
Arrive to work on time, ready and willing to work.
Follow appropriate employer and customer work rules.
Give 8 hours work for 8 hours pay and ensure supervision has been notified when we need to leave the jobsite.
Respect management directives that are safe, reasonable and legitimate.
Respect the customer’s rights and property.
Take care of the employer’s tools and equipment as if they were our own.
Refuse to condone any act of property destruction, including graffiti.
Start work on time, work until the appropriate quitting time and limit break periods to the time allowed.
Never participate in job slowdowns, disruptions or activities designed to extend the job or create overtime.
These are some of the highlighted principles of this “code” and a over all look at where we may be headed, unions run by the contractors, or do we build a new future with a fighting union? More and more the ideals of Unionism are being lost, faked and rewritten. Union halls across this country are resembling hiring halls then a place where working men and women can find strength in their fellow workers and develop the tools and skills needed to defend themselves against the industrial terrorist. A union that is democratic to its core, run by the worker, where decisions are made on the shop floor by the ones doing the labor. We can do it all of us together, can help fight for a new way of handling business its up to us: I.W.W
