I think I confused you by explaining the origin of "dog in a manger". It's just a figure of speech that is used to describe somebody who doesn't want what you've got, but he doesn't want you to have it either, kind of the way I am about gay marriage. As you pointed out, two gays getting married doesn't materially affect me, I just don't like the idea of it. Truth be known, there is very little I can do to prevent it, but that doesn't mean I have to approve of it. The Cheboygan dogs resented that we made more money than they did yet, when they had the chance to hire in at the mill, they chose not to. They couldn't do anything about it but, if they could have, they would have rather reduced our wages than increased theirs. At least that's the impression you got from talking to them about it.
The oldest part of our paper mill has been there for well over a hundred years. Several additions have been added, and substantial remodeling has been done over the years, but the original structure is still there and in use. The mill had been shut down for some time, the last owners having gone bankrupt, when Charmin Paper Products bought and reopened it in 1960. Shortly after that, Procter & Gamble bought Charmin Paper Products, and our little plant was included in the deal. The union was organized while Charmin still had it, and continued after P&G bought the place. Sometimes, when a plant is sold, the new owners recognize the union and sometimes they don't. They are not required by law to recognize the union or retain any of the employees of the previous owners, but sometimes it's negotiated into the sales agreement that they do so. I don't know exactly how it went down at our plant. If the new owners don't recognize the union, the employees could always reorganize and start all over again. The organization of a plant is frequently a tumultuous event, with hard feelings on both sides lasting for years afterward, so maybe P&G agreed so as to avoid that hassle.
Most labor unions in the United States are organized into a three tiered structure. First you have the local chapter, commonly referred to as the "the local". Almost all locals are sponsored by a parent organization, commonly referred to as "the international". Almost all the internationals in this country are affiliated with an umbrella organization called "The AFL-CIO", which was formed when the American Federation of Labor merged with the Congress of Industrial Organization. The formal title of our union reflected this: "The International Paper Workers Union, Local 126, AFL-CIO, CLC" The CLC stands for "Canadian Labor Congress" which, I suppose is the Canadian equivalent of the AFL-CIO. The organization and operation of labor unions is closely regulated by The National Labor Relations Board, commonly referred to as "The Labor Board".
When a bunch of guys want to unionize their plant, they usually contact somebody from one of the internationals, and they send out people called "organizers" to help them with the process. In theory, they could skip this step and form an "independent local", but that seldom happens. Legally, you can't be fired for trying to organize a union, but it happens, and the organizers from the international know ways to prevent this, and can file a complaint with the Labor Board if it happens. The organizers, both local and international, circulate among the employees and try to persuade them to sign cards, which are actually applications for union membership. When a certain percentage (the exact number of which I have forgotten) of the employees have signed cards, the organizers petition the Labor Board to call an election. The Labor board sends out people to conduct the election, which is by secret ballot. If a majority of the employees vote for the union, the Labor Board certifies that union as the legitimate bargaining agent for all the employees in the plant, or subgroup thereof, whether they voted for the union or not. At this point, the company is supposed to recognize the union and negotiate a contract with them. Not all companies are eager to do this, and there are various methods, both legal and illegal, that they can use to stall the process, sometimes for years. If, at some point, the employees change their mind and want to get rid of their union, they can file a decertification petition with the Labor Board, which will conduct another election.
Say what you want about Red China, but I maintain that they wouldn't be where they are today if Richard Nixon hadn't kissed up to them and sold our ally Taiwan down the river. Of course, a lot of other things have happened since then, but that was the watershed event that got the ball rolling. While the Chinese could have initiated many changes on their own, and probably did, they still wouldn't be where they are today without the U.S. dollars that have been pouring into their country for the last couple of decades. Maybe that's not such a bad thing but, as I have said before, I would like to see some of those dollars repatriated, and not by borrowing them. International trade is supposed to be a two way street, but this one has way more eastbound lanes than west bound lanes in operation. Does that seem fair to you?
No comments:
Post a Comment