People that got richer while making workers poorer don’t want poor workers to inconvenience them by asking for more wages.
I’m all for it….
…. as long as we cut down the law that makes it illegal to lynch your boss, too.
Color me surprised. Not.
How it always used to happen:
1. Management offers way too little.
2. Union demands way more than it’s prepared to settle for.
3. If after three or four rounds management still hasn’t budged, the union calls its members out on strike.
4. Both parties agree on a compromise which was what the union actually wanted all along.
How it’s going:
1. Management offers way too little and makes it clear it won’t compromise because “shareholder value”.
2. Union demands significantly more and makes it clear it won’t compromise either.
3. After the first round, in which everybody just yelled at each other, union calls its members out on strike, because anything the French can do we can do better.
4. Management tells the press that they don’t understand why the union is being so unreasonable, can’t they see that we’re *all* suffering in this recession? The CEO even had to sell one of his yachts.
5. Economists and politicians respond by saying that the problem is too much democracy.
Generally speaking I’m not in favour of unions downing tools right at the start of negotiations just because — strikes are supposed to be a last resort — but seriously, I can understand why they have so little patience at the moment. Things are so bad at the moment that we can’t even persuade people from Turkey to come and work in our airports because the pay and conditions on offer are so bad. You’d think that would have been a warning that something was badly wrong, but apparently not.
4 comments
People that got richer while making workers poorer don’t want poor workers to inconvenience them by asking for more wages.
I’m all for it….
…. as long as we cut down the law that makes it illegal to lynch your boss, too.
Color me surprised. Not.
How it always used to happen:
1. Management offers way too little.
2. Union demands way more than it’s prepared to settle for.
3. If after three or four rounds management still hasn’t budged, the union calls its members out on strike.
4. Both parties agree on a compromise which was what the union actually wanted all along.
How it’s going:
1. Management offers way too little and makes it clear it won’t compromise because “shareholder value”.
2. Union demands significantly more and makes it clear it won’t compromise either.
3. After the first round, in which everybody just yelled at each other, union calls its members out on strike, because anything the French can do we can do better.
4. Management tells the press that they don’t understand why the union is being so unreasonable, can’t they see that we’re *all* suffering in this recession? The CEO even had to sell one of his yachts.
5. Economists and politicians respond by saying that the problem is too much democracy.
Generally speaking I’m not in favour of unions downing tools right at the start of negotiations just because — strikes are supposed to be a last resort — but seriously, I can understand why they have so little patience at the moment. Things are so bad at the moment that we can’t even persuade people from Turkey to come and work in our airports because the pay and conditions on offer are so bad. You’d think that would have been a warning that something was badly wrong, but apparently not.