One non-union company chooses to go union after 30 years

[Omaha Steve]

Source: Workers Independent News

One non-union company chooses to go union after 30 years

Lede: One New York contractor has gone union by choice after two and a half decades of being a non-union company. Doug Cunningham reports.

By Cunningham

Jim Kernan runs Oriska - an upstate New York contracting business that was non-union for decades. But in the last couple of years he decided to work with unions rather than against them.

: “We had pitched battles with the unions – both legal and otherwise. And we learned a lot from each other. You’re hurting everyone, including yourself.”

Kernan says greed is what’s behind the stance of anti-union companies. He says skilled union labor is far better than trying to be a non-union contractor.

: “The best place for us to be is to move into the area where the union is the strongest and utilize their skills and training for our benefit and move away from our non-union experience.”

Kernan believes unions built the middle class in America and unions add tremendous value and professionalism to construction trades, setting the stage for what he believes will be a resurgence of the union movement and a rebuilding of the American middle class.

Audio story here: http://www.laborradio.org/node/6833

Read more: http://www.laborradio.org/node/6830

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This story is not copyrighted and may be distributed freely.

[More Than A Feeling]

1. That's wonderful!

More employers like this one, and maybe the fight to pass the Employee Free Choice Act won't be as hard as I'm afraid it will be.

[MadMaddie]

2. I think there is another issue behind this..Protecting good hard

working Americans...I think companies are slowly coming around to this especially the smaller ones. They are going to be on the right side of this issue when it is all said and done.

[blondeatlast]

3. I think it would be wise of Americans to take note of just what you said.

How employers treat their employees is already a HUGE consideration for me when I make a purchase, and I'd love to see the idea spread.

This is excellent news.

[LiberalFighter]

4. Headline is misleading but what else is new about newspapers?

Employers can't force their employees to become union. That is a violation of NLRA.

But it is legal for an employer to allow their employees to become unionized when they petition.

[kernelfarmer]

5. Not necessarily

I thought so at first. However, it appears that this company is in the contracting (construction) business. In most instances, a Union contractor will use the Union as a 'hiring hall.' Usually there is some sort of agreement that the Union will refer all skilled labor. If the Union is supplying the workers it only makes sense that they would all be members.

The difference between the Building Trades and Industrial Unions (factory and service workers) is not necessarily something everyone is aware of.