Help this union steward

[Redroach]

Anyone out there who can tell me what the correct response to this latest anti-union garbage out of * ?

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/article.php?sid=26836&mode=nested&order=0

We're Teamsters and we've got leadmen and this worries me. Thanks to any who can clarify this.

[Demit]

1. I'm curious. What do you mean by "correct response"?

What did you think when you heard about this? Wouldn't you, as a union guy, already have a response? A gut response?

Or do you mean how should it be answered?

[Redroach]

3. Oh I certainly know what I think.

This is just another attempt to undermine the union. I'm Chief Steward here and I'd pull all our union people out of leadmen status the moment this thing takes effect. I'm looking for anyone who's up on this. Thanks.

[Quantess]

2. You would know more about it than I would.

[Redroach]

4. Hi again.

The comments section in the Smirking Chimp post didn't help at all. Looks like it's time for Dogpile and Google.

[Redroach]

6. Some basic info

Haven't got the time right now to peruse the whole thing.

http://www.bna.com/bnabooks/ababna/nlra/2002/ceresi.doc

[TomClash]

9. Pretty simple

If the NLRB makes almost everyone a supervisor and your workers have leadman status they can be reclassified as "supervisors." The NLRB is basically eviscerating the independent judgment rule upheld by in an opinion by Scalia(!) in Kentucky River.

The correct response? The choices are: 1) strike when the contract expires 2) sue to have the reclassification deemed arbitrary and capricious and in violation of Taft-Hartley; 3) refuse to have workers provide any assistance to another worker that might be classified as "supervisory" which means virtually everything.

[Quantess]

5. There is a Unions Forum

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=367

You probably will get more quality responses over a longer period of time, there. Here on GD, your thread is likely to drop like a stone without a lot of good responses.
:)

[Redroach]

7. Thanks

:toast:

[Gabi Hayes]

8. check this out

http://www.firedoglake.com/

http://spewingforth.blogspot.com/

former teamster, current NEA here

union, YES!

[im10ashus]

10. A dying breed.

By this administration's doing, at any rate. I was in a printers union right out of high school. Then the hospitality union in Chicago years later. They look out for you in the union. At least from my experience.

[Quantess]

11. Welcome to DU, by the way!

I'm kinda new too.:hi:

[Touchdown]

12. It looks like busting to this Steward

Actually it should look like busting to a 4th grader. Is there a timeline when this Kentucky River goes into effect? I wouldn't pull your lead men until you knew for sure. We have sort of trainers, we call T5Ns who help out with technical/skill helping with new people on the job, or moved from a different one. They only get paid $10 a day to do this, and they are invaluable, especially in a complicated job with antiquated software (read 1980s software) and corrupted databases as we've got.

I don't have any answers. It seems that the Bushies can get away with everything they try to do, and nobody calls them on it. If this is what they want to do, it'll be implemented at 3am on Monday morning, and you will be caught off guard. I wouldn't be suprised if they made union membership illegal by 2009.

[Gabi Hayes]

13. ''It seems that the Bushies can get away with everything''

[Touchdown]

14. Saw that on your link.

Good article. AWFUL picture. How dare he wear a real working man's uniform! Jeff Gannon probably likes it though.:D

[Redroach]

15. Thanks all.

Good stuff Gabbi and TomClash. Thanks to all who helped.

Figures Firedog would be on top of it. Hadn't checked them today.

:toast:

[lonestarnot]

16. link location off-line. hmmmmf.