|
Comments:
raymond - 2005-02-07 09:28:10 WCC's cafeteria is also run by its culinary arts program, and is said to be very good. It seems foolish to me to outsource something like janitorial services. Janitors have major access to all parts of their building. You want a person in there who likes his or her job, is paid fairly, and has benefits, not someone working for a pittance. From what you say, Raymond, it seems to be a trend sweeping EMU: the quiet sweeping-away of those inconveniently "pricey" (to the brass at the top) union jobs. No mention of anyone at the top taking a modest pay cut, of course--that would be heresy. I think this is a bad move for the EMU community, or, the soon-to-be-former EMU community.* * * * * * * * * * * * Al Pugno - 2005-02-07 10:36:20 Jimmy Hoffa: Please call home. Your mother is looking for you.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-02-07 10:41:44 excerpt from this Hoffa mini-bio: "Jimmy 'The Weasel' Fratianno stated in his book, "The Last Mafioso," that Hoffa wasn�t killed by the New Jersey Mob at all, but by the local Detroit Mafia bosses. He says that Tony Giacalone, a close friend of Hoffa set him up, and Tony Zerilli and Mike Polizi ordered him killed."* * * * * * * * * * * * Dan Arbor - 2005-02-07 11:24:10 How did we get from EMU to Hoffa?* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-02-07 11:32:40 I believe Al Pugno's comment was his way of mentioning that as great as unions are, they have had their low points. Which no one would deny; but I still think it's wrong for EMU to try and ease out its unionized jobs in favor of outsourced workers earning $7 or $8 an hour.* * * * * * * * * * * * raymond - 2005-02-07 11:33:22 the UAW is alive (but how well?) at EMU* * * * * * * * * * * * Dan Arbor - 2005-02-07 11:43:05 Gotcha. Man, it seems that "let's screw over the average folks" is the clarion call these days. With everything from SSA to health benefits to lawsuits targeted by Bush and his cronies, they truly are trying to drastically transform the lives of most Americans. For the worse. I think they should first look at Management for compesation cuts. Because that's where the waste is. The last EMU president built himself a brand-new mansion on the taxpayer tab, and it looks like the rank and file are getting screwed to make for it. Why don't they sue the prez for the money? How about the EMU brass? Why isn't this a huge scandal in the local papers?* * * * * * * * * * * * Jacobo Morales - 2005-02-07 11:49:29From now on, underwear will be worn on the outside of the pants..* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-02-07 11:55:47 The article says that the UAW Local #1976, led by Tyrone Wilson, has 415 members. Wilson says 35 at EMU would be affected. I agree with you, Dan. Another big development in the "let's screw 'em" movement (crusade?) is the ongoing privatization of the huge California pension system. But anyways. More on that later. Why isn't this a huge scandal in the local papers? Oh, I'd guess it's for the same reason we didn't we read about the Eastern Highlands tenant rent strike in the paper. It's because the Heritage people who now run the Courier are mediocre. They're not hard-hitting reporters. They're ad salesmen and the Courier is their new ad vehicle. The main editor for the Courier is a lady in Belleville. She's not even from the community. How much do you think she cares whether Mildred Williams loses her job or not? So long as there's enough space for a cute puppy photo.* * * * * * * * * * * * raymond - 2005-02-07 12:04:55 When my pal Brian first went to EMU in the 70s he worked briefly in the dining commons. Mildred was there. She was very nice to him.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-02-07 12:11:27 Really? That's rather amazing. Ypsi is a very small town.* * * * * * * * * * * * Anna - 2005-02-07 12:24:00 I have to say I have mixed feelings about this. At my current university, the janitors are overpaid, have nearly 100 days of vacation a year, do a terrible job, and have little hideouts all over the building where they sit and smoke for most of the day. Our bathroom is filthy, the floors are filthy, the hallways are filthy... you get the picture. Worst, our computing equipment is stolen on a regular basis -- out of locked laboratory rooms. The janitorial staff are unionized. The union protects their jobs despite terrible performance. Young people come in and are discouraged from ruining things by having anything approaching a good work ethic. The union is largely second- and third-generation immigrants and African-Americans, yet, they manage to keep out newer immigrants, like Asians and Puerto Ricans. You should have seen the brou-ha-ha when the U hired an outside contractor to come in a couple times during a recent strike -- the union claimed that the University was trying to start a race riot because the people in the contracting service were of members of the latter two groups (actually, the university was just trying to get the garbage emptied, but the buildings were cleaner than they'd ever been -- part of me wished the Union would stay on strike). I used to be mildly pro-union, but after my experiences, I now see how terribly abusive and manipulative the unions can be. That doesn't mean that I think that *all* unions are bad or that there is never a need for them. And I feel for the loyal worker who's been here for 35 years and who faces losing his/her job. But those people are few and far between, and many longstanding employees have houses full of stolen goods (another anecdote for another time). I don't blame our university to want to outsource janitorial services. Things could hardly be worse.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-02-07 12:31:08 That's an informative post giving the other side of the story, from personal experience--a very useful and interesting comment, thanks Anna. Sounds like unions sure didn't work out in your university. The trash strike story is ludicrous. Yes, I'm so sure the University was "trying" to start a race riot. A stupid thing to say. At any rate, now I'm very curious about the houses-full-of-stolen-stuff anecdote. I hope that "another time" comes soon so that we can hear that story.* * * * * * * * * * * * Anna - 2005-02-07 12:54:54 This is actually a UM anecdote... A colleague of mine had her laptop stolen from her locked office. She was dismayed because of the data. She put a note up asking whoever took it to please put the data on a disk and leave it for her and to keep the computer -- no questions asked (it was a longshot and of course she never got the data back -- three years of clinical research down the tubes). Of course, the janitorial staff came under suspicion, but it's very hard to prove, so she just had to sort of let it go. Several months later she started getting bizarro bounced-back email -- email that she hadn't writtten. One email complained about the poor quality of the pornography on a paid porn site, another was a message meant to be posted to an internet bulletin board about how "rap speaks to my soul"... that sort of thing. She realized after a few of these emails that they were from whoever had the laptop. They had been using Netscape to send email, but hadn't thought -- or hadn't known -- to change the "bounceback" address. She was able to forward the emails with header information to the police, and the police with the help of UM computing were able to trace the location of the laptop. It traced to the home of one of the UM cleaning staff. Turns out she'd stolen it and given it to her teenage son. But that wasn't the only thing she'd stolen -- they found tens and maybe even hundreds of thousands of dollars of stolen UM property in her house. She turned in some others, and it turns out that she wasn't acting in isolation. Before that, I naively thought that the thefts in our building (a different building from hers at UM) were an outside job, but now I'm pretty confident that many thefts of this sort are by the staff (shortest point between two lines). We've caught a number of people here stealing (not on that kind of scale, but still).* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-02-07 13:17:55 That's an amazing story, the tricky trace in particular. I'm glad the police pursued it, instead of kind of back-burnering it as "just" a property crime. I have 2 questions, though--did she ever manage to reclaim the data from her research somehow after getting her computer back? Also, was the thief prosecuted?* * * * * * * * * * * * Anna - 2005-02-07 13:35:16 She got some, but not all, of the data back -- she sent it to a data retrieval specialist, but some sectors had already been overwritten. The U did prosecute, as far as I know!* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-02-07 13:37:53 Good. I'm glad they prosecuted--this isn't Tom Joad stealing an orange for a starving daughter, for Pete's sake.* * * * * * * * * * * * Anna - 2005-02-07 13:38:46 I don't think the trace was that tricky -- since the kid had been using his mother's UM dial-up, there were records of who was assigned that IP address at that particular time on the UM side. I don't think they even had to get help from the phone company.* * * * * * * * * * * * Dan Arbor - 2005-02-07 15:46:24 Great. These kinds of stories just fuel the fire. And in the middle is someone genuinely trying to make it, and they'll get screwed by either the criminals within the unions, or management using this sort of example as a means to justify shifting to $7 an hour jobs with no benefits. Sigh...* * * * * * * * * * * * Dan Arbor - 2005-02-07 15:46:27Great. These kinds of stories just fuel the fire. And in the middle is someone genuinely trying to make it, and they'll get screwed by either the criminals within the unions, or management using this sort of example as a means to justify shifting to $7 an hour jobs with no benefits. Sigh...* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-02-07 15:50:52I see your point, Dan. But a thief is a thief, unionized or no. The fact that they had keys to Anna's colleague's room was the important factor. And if these stories fuel the fire, the fault is mine, not Anna's, since I asked her to tell. Just in my opinion, I personally don't particularly see them as fueling the fire--just one facet in a complex picture.* * * * * * * * * * * * Dan Arbor - 2005-02-07 16:04:33 Whoa! Let me be clear, I was not at all defending or justifying the actions of theives. As far as I'm concerned, they're the worse problem because they ruin it for everyone else. They're like traitors. My lamentation of this behavior fueling the fire was of the "Thanks a lot, jerks. Now everyone gets hosed." point of view. My dad worked for EMU for 30 years, and we saw the BIG down side to unions when the UAW organized his office. No knee-jerk action here. As you said, a crook is a crook. * * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-02-07 16:10:11I know you weren't defending thieves--I wouldn't dream of saying you did. Sorry about that Dan. I seem to be doing a poor job of expressing myself clearly today. Last thing I want to do is make commentors defensive. My apologies. All I meant was that the fact the lady was a keyholder was the thing. There are unionized and nonunionized thieves of course. Of course, now I'm curious about what the downsides were to your father's office's unionization. I was so laudatory in my initial post with its idyllic kitchen scene that these alternate points of view are very useful for rounding out the whole, complicated picture.* * * * * * * * * * * * Al Pugno - 2005-02-07 16:21:08 The union issue runs a complete gamut. A complete circle (of confusion?) On one hand, unions can guarantee you're not fired so someone can hire their brother-in-law. Rules are spelled out clearly for wages, greivances, and disciplinary actions and such. Unions usually negotiate better pensions (evaporating all over the American landscape) vacations, holidays, etc. But the negative goes the other way as well. You get one lazy ass person who does the absolute least he can to keep his job and coworkers eventually see no point in working any harder. The pay is all the same. There are no merits for outstanding employees. Union members can also file frivolous greivances just to take up time. I found an employee snoring away onetime. I wrote him up (for the first time) which was only a warning. The next thing you know I had a racial discrimination complaint filed against me. The issue is like abortion or similar controversy. You're on one side or the other, sometimes changing. But I think a lot of unions are digging their own graves, but management will do no better with a disorganized fluctuating work force.* * * * * * * * * * * * Al Pugno - 2005-02-07 16:27:33 PS: I cannot fish worth a Dam.* * * * * * * * * * * * Dan Arbor - 2005-02-07 16:32:08 The short explanation is that office staff at the lowest level felt very under appreciated, and decided to approach the UAW for representation. Things got very ugly, nasty accusations were made, and EMU office staff went on strike pending a contract. Post-contract, the same workers had a very rude awakening when they found the UAW shop steward to be a much harder taskmaster. Additionally, roles and job descriptions were much more narrowly defined, and the staff could no longer count on assistance from people in other positions during times of high-business, like fall and winter registration. They basically found themselves in a worse situation than when they were under appreciated, and several were fired at the insistence of the UAW. Don't know what the climate is like these days, but I remember how my dad looked during that time...* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-02-07 16:43:01Al Pugno, I think you give a good overview of the various pros and cons, and the last sentence of your para does a good job of summing things up I'd say. Dan, that sounds grim. Sounds as if the union took a pretty heavy-handed approach. * * * * * * * * * * * * Lee Forge - 2005-02-07 16:47:20 My sister worked at the Detroit News when the strike happened. She never liked belonging to the union and went back to work as a scab. She was called bitch, whore and other things as she went to work. Also had to get an unlisted telephone. She left the paper anyway as she was required to stay in an office for 8 hours a day and most of the work could be done at home. So now she works for herself at home. Many in my parents generation seem to have the "I got mine" attitude and unions suck so screw you attitude. I know several relatives that talk shit about unions now that they are retired and getting weekly fat checks and paid health insurance for the rest of your life. I guess we are all lazy and they were great.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-02-07 16:54:29 Nice treatment towards your sister from people who are clearly chivalrous gentlemen. I think it would be possible to strike and not be a crude jerk to a complete stranger. Everybody's got to put food on the table, for God's sake. And calling someone at home is way, way out of line. My dad was never part of a union and would shudder at the thought, but he worked his whole life as a printing press mechanic for one company and got a pension and health coverage and the whole deal...back when it was possible to work at one place all your life.* * * * * * * * * * * * LF - 2005-02-07 18:44:31 Over the years, at different jobs, coworkers have proudly told anecdotes about friends and relatives who were unionized employees at the big three. After hearing countless tales about workers punching in and going home for 8 hours to sleep, the malingerers (injury fakers), the drug/alcohol use on the assembly lines and resultant rehab programs, the prostitution in the plants and parking lots, the guy who had a cot set up in his office that he blatantly used daily, I am not surprised that every American automobile is marked up over $1400.00 to cover the costs of union abuse. The unions were neccesary, but Al Pugno is absolutely right - one bad apple leads to institutionalized abuse. And they can't be fired. Makes me sick.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-02-07 18:51:11 Those are serious abuses and something I wasn't really aware of before--thanks LF. You have to wonder what leads to that kind of broken-down corporate culture. The dehumanizing monotony of putting in bolts B and C all day? I have read about some abuses you mention in Alex Haley's Wheels.* * * * * * * * * * * * LF - 2005-02-07 19:17:53 I remember one guy telling me how his buddy and some co-conspirators stole a truckload of 5.0 liter Ford engines from the factory they worked at. As for Anna's tale, I worked as a student janitor one summer in a UM building and I can vouch for the laziness and dishonesty of the staff. The students are no angels, though. One of the students stole computers from various buildings throughout campus as an undergrad.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-02-07 19:22:41 A truckload, good heavens. Call me naive, but as a former night-shift convenience store worker, I have to say that there is dignity in every job and it is right to try and do one's best whether it's wiping up the soda machine or writing a Ph.D thesis. If you ask me.* * * * * * * * * * * * Anna - 2005-02-08 08:37:03 I have no doubt that the UM students are no angels, either. Personally, I've just never understood the I-hate-my-job-so-I-will-be-terrible-at-it-because-it's-someone's-fault-that-I-don't-have-a-better-one attitude. I waited tables for many, many years, and I wanted to be the best damn waitress I could be -- see how fast I could do things, how well I could remember orders without referring to my pad, see how many tables I could handle at a time and beat my last tips record. If you have to be there anyway, why not just work hard -- what's the drawback? Otherwise it's mind-numbingly boring!* * * * * * * * * * * * Jimmy H. - 2005-02-08 08:54:32 work, work, work it's a lot of jive never gonna work 9 to 5 tell mr. bossman i said goodbye never gonna work another day in my life i hate work, yeah i do i hate work, and you should to i hate work, ain't no clerk i hate work, ain't no jerk never gonna work in a factory or sweat my life in misery work like that never meant to be work like that is not for me work work work away the years of your life work work work never see your wife work work work sweat and tears work work work lost my years we're not gonna work in your crummy jobs we're not gonna fight in your stinkin' wars we're not gonna vote in your phony elections take a good look we're your reflection * * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-02-08 09:22:44 Anna, that sounds like a good attitude to me. Sounds like you turned it into a bit of a game, as well. I'm not sure Jimmy H shares my opinion, though.* * * * * * * * * * * * Anna - 2005-02-08 09:24:54 Yeah, but the thing is, I'm alive, and good ole Jimmy's under a building foundation somewhere.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-02-08 09:34:09 There's that.* * * * * * * * * * * * LF - 2005-02-08 16:57:01 I never would have imagined that Jimmy Hoffa would know the lyrics to a Millions of Dead Cops song titled "Hate work". Since that song was recorded 10 years after his disappearance, maybe he's still among the living.* * * * * * * * * * * * add your comment: |