Sources: Teamsters, SEIU to Bolt AFL-CIO (link)Somewhere in Red Square, Lenin is coming back to life, and clutching his chest once more...
By RON FOURNIER, AP Political WriterOrganized labor is at war with itself as the Teamsters and a major service employees' union decide to bolt from the AFL-CIO, paving the way for two other groups to sever ties in the labor movement's biggest rift since the 1930s.
The Teamsters and the Service Employees International Union, the largest AFL-CIO affiliate with 1.8 million members, intended to announce Monday that they are leaving the federation after failing to reform the 50-year-old labor giant, according to several labor officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The unions are part of the Change to Win Coalition, seven labor groups vowing to accomplish what the AFL-CIO has failed to do: Reverse the decades-long decline in union membership. But many union presidents, labor experts and Democratic Party leaders fear the split will weaken the movement politically and hurt unionized workers who need a united and powerful ally against business interests and global competition.
(Oh, if only I had a screenshot from that Simpsons episode! "MUST CRUSH CAPITALISM!" muhahahaha...)
When I was in high school, I worked part-time at the local Super Funk...er...Super Fresh.
I HAD to belong to the freakin Grocers Union or whatever it was called. That meant I earned like, $120ish bucks a week, and took home maybe $80. Yes, there were state and Fed taxes...but the rest was *@(#& union dues...
I was in high school for cryin' outloud!
Then one Saturday evening, to make a long story short, my assistant grocery manager decided to be a dick and "suspended" me for no reason for a day's work and pay.
Turns out, a few weeks later my rather eclectic union shop rep. tells me he had no authority whatsoever to make such a decision and could be strung out by the union for doing so... HAD I KNOWN BETTER TO TELL SOMEONE SOONER.
At 16, I hardly knew better.
And oh yea, Cowboy Brian the Grocery Manager is still a douchebag.
Feel free to leave your union horror stories here in the comments section!
(Eric...I KNOW you have one...or 20... hehe).
Posted by Kyer at July 25, 2005 02:11 PM | TrackBackI don't have any Union stories, but I sure enjoyed yours. ;)
Posted by: Jay at July 25, 2005 09:26 PMHm, well, there was the time where a jackass stood up at a meeting and proposed kicking out every member who didn't have the Union's health plan, which, no one does because it sucks.
And the Local newsletter is now publishing the names of non-union members, and I live in a right-to-work state. Very tacky, if you ask me.
Actually, in all candor, given that unlike the private sector, the management where I work does NOT take the best and the brightest, the union at the local level still serves a purpose.
The Regional and National levels however...well, they could wear the hammer and sickle with pride.
Posted by: Eric at July 25, 2005 11:15 PM