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Unions Suck
Posted: Thu Dec 30, 2010 9:09 am
by Ibanez
Here's another example of why Unions are detrimental to the country.
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/sani ... OJlekSSDJK
hese garbage men really stink.
Selfish Sanitation Department bosses from the snow-slammed outer boroughs ordered their drivers to snarl the blizzard cleanup to protest budget cuts -- a disastrous move that turned streets into a minefield for emergency-services vehicles, The Post has learned.
Miles of roads stretching from as north as Whitestone, Queens, to the south shore of Staten Island still remained treacherously unplowed last night because of the shameless job action, several sources and a city lawmaker said, which was over a raft of demotions, attrition and budget cuts.
Read more:
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/sani ... z19c04DOSH" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Re: Unions Suck
Posted: Thu Dec 30, 2010 9:53 am
by SuperHornet
Maybe this comes from my Navy background (no unions allowed), but I've always hated unions. One should be grateful for the job one has. Even with that, they have internal politics that ensure that only certain members get the benefit of protection from corrupt management.
I should know. They didn't even lift a finger to protect me when management at my last so-called "permanent" job threw me out two months before my probation expired and didn't even come up with a decent reason. "It's all covered in your evals." But the evals were late by their own policy and said nothing.
Re: Unions Suck
Posted: Thu Dec 30, 2010 11:59 am
by houndawg
Ibanez wrote:Here's another example of why Unions are detrimental to the country.
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/sani ... OJlekSSDJK
hese garbage men really stink.
Selfish Sanitation Department bosses from the snow-slammed outer boroughs ordered their drivers to snarl the blizzard cleanup to protest budget cuts -- a disastrous move that turned streets into a minefield for emergency-services vehicles, The Post has learned.
Miles of roads stretching from as north as Whitestone, Queens, to the south shore of Staten Island still remained treacherously unplowed last night because of the shameless job action, several sources and a city lawmaker said, which was over a raft of demotions, attrition and budget cuts.
Read more:
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/sani ... z19c04DOSH" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Sounds like boolsheet. More likely they laid off lots of people and got caught short-handed when the blizzard hit; now they want to shift blame for their screw-up. Pretty typical of management in the private and government sectors - blame the people at the bottom.
Business as usual.
Re: Unions Suck
Posted: Thu Dec 30, 2010 12:00 pm
by houndawg
SuperHornet wrote:Maybe this comes from my Navy background (no unions allowed), but I've always hated unions. One should be grateful for the job one has. Even with that, they have internal politics that ensure that only certain members get the benefit of protection from corrupt management.
I should know. They didn't even lift a finger to protect me when management at my last so-called "permanent" job threw me out two months before my probation expired and didn't even come up with a decent reason. "It's all covered in your evals." But the evals were late by their own policy and said nothing.
Sounds like "they" were in consensus about your performance.
Re: Unions Suck
Posted: Thu Dec 30, 2010 12:22 pm
by GannonFan
houndawg wrote:
Sounds like boolsheet. More likely they laid off lots of people and got caught short-handed when the blizzard hit; now they want to shift blame for their screw-up. Pretty typical of management in the private and government sectors - blame the people at the bottom.
Business as usual.
Of course, your own response is the pretty typical union response when something like this happens. I'm sure the truth, as always, lies somewhere in between, although neither management or union would ever admit as much. Business as usual indeed.
Re: Unions Suck
Posted: Thu Dec 30, 2010 12:34 pm
by SuperHornet
houndawg wrote:SuperHornet wrote:Maybe this comes from my Navy background (no unions allowed), but I've always hated unions. One should be grateful for the job one has. Even with that, they have internal politics that ensure that only certain members get the benefit of protection from corrupt management.
I should know. They didn't even lift a finger to protect me when management at my last so-called "permanent" job threw me out two months before my probation expired and didn't even come up with a decent reason. "It's all covered in your evals." But the evals were late by their own policy and said nothing.
Sounds like "they" were in consensus about your performance.
Nope. I was always on time or early even dealing with the cluster[bleep] that is the Altamont Commuter Express (often delayed by hitting cows), yet a co-worker coming from about the same area was often late. There was never anything production-related they could hit me on. The only thing was a phony EEO complaint that was immediately proven false but stayed over my head for four months. Only time ANYONE's ever lodged such a thing on me. Perhaps I was "too Navy" for a Bay Area company and they just wanted an excuse to get rid of me.
Re: Unions Suck
Posted: Thu Dec 30, 2010 12:38 pm
by TwinTownBisonFan
not saying it isn't true... but until it's verified by a newspaper that isn't a right-wing mouthpiece... I'll reserve judgment...
I've known east coast unions to be pretty cutthroat... but I also wouldn't put it past city hall to have slashed their workforce (that's a fact) and then blamed the remaining workers despite the fact that they were short-staffed and underfunded...
Re: Unions Suck
Posted: Thu Dec 30, 2010 1:12 pm
by houndawg
GannonFan wrote:houndawg wrote:
Sounds like boolsheet. More likely they laid off lots of people and got caught short-handed when the blizzard hit; now they want to shift blame for their screw-up. Pretty typical of management in the private and government sectors - blame the people at the bottom.
Business as usual.
Of course, your own response is the pretty typical union response when something like this happens. I'm sure the truth, as always, lies somewhere in between, although neither management or union would ever admit as much. Business as usual indeed.
The vast majority of the workforce is not unionized. Like 90%.

Re: Unions Suck
Posted: Thu Dec 30, 2010 1:57 pm
by GannonFan
TwinTownBisonFan wrote:not saying it isn't true... but until it's verified by a newspaper that isn't a right-wing mouthpiece... I'll reserve judgment...
I've known east coast unions to be pretty cutthroat... but I also wouldn't put it past city hall to have slashed their workforce (that's a fact) and then blamed the remaining workers despite the fact that they were short-staffed and underfunded...
CNN is reporting it now.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/12/30/new.yo ... tml?hpt=T1
However, nothing verified at this time so still only rumor and accusation.
Re: Unions Suck
Posted: Thu Dec 30, 2010 1:58 pm
by GannonFan
houndawg wrote:GannonFan wrote:
Of course, your own response is the pretty typical union response when something like this happens. I'm sure the truth, as always, lies somewhere in between, although neither management or union would ever admit as much. Business as usual indeed.
The vast majority of the workforce is not unionized. Like 90%.

And? The ones involved in this story are part of the 10% that are unionized.
Re: Unions Suck
Posted: Thu Dec 30, 2010 3:43 pm
by Bronco
TwinTownBisonFan wrote:not saying it isn't true... but until it's verified by a newspaper that isn't a right-wing mouthpiece... I'll reserve judgment...
I've known east coast unions to be pretty cutthroat... but I also wouldn't put it past city hall to have slashed their workforce (that's a fact) and then blamed the remaining workers despite the fact that they were short-staffed and underfunded...
Here's the NY Times blog with people writing in on what they're seeing.
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/ ... ent-839459" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
* Sanitation trucks running back and forth along already-plowed main streets — plows up — for hours, while secondary streets remained unplowed.
* Bus routes plowed along main streets, but the streets that they need to use to turn around remaining unplowed, resulting in four buses stuck in the snow for three days, a few blocks away from my home.
* A fully loaded salt spreader tooling back and forth along the main drag in my neighborhood for at least four hours — with the spreader turned off.
Re: Unions Suck
Posted: Thu Dec 30, 2010 9:18 pm
by native
Bronco wrote:TwinTownBisonFan wrote:not saying it isn't true... but until it's verified by a newspaper that isn't a right-wing mouthpiece... I'll reserve judgment...
I've known east coast unions to be pretty cutthroat... but I also wouldn't put it past city hall to have slashed their workforce (that's a fact) and then blamed the remaining workers despite the fact that they were short-staffed and underfunded...
Here's the NY Times blog with people writing in on what they're seeing.
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/ ... ent-839459" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
* Sanitation trucks running back and forth along already-plowed main streets — plows up — for hours, while secondary streets remained unplowed.
* Bus routes plowed along main streets, but the streets that they need to use to turn around remaining unplowed, resulting in four buses stuck in the snow for three days, a few blocks away from my home.
* A fully loaded salt spreader tooling back and forth along the main drag in my neighborhood for at least four hours — with the spreader turned off.
Geez, bronco, don't confuse the losers with the facts.

Re: Unions Suck
Posted: Thu Dec 30, 2010 9:30 pm
by kalm
native wrote:Bronco wrote:
Here's the NY Times blog with people writing in on what they're seeing.
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/ ... ent-839459" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
* Sanitation trucks running back and forth along already-plowed main streets — plows up — for hours, while secondary streets remained unplowed.
* Bus routes plowed along main streets, but the streets that they need to use to turn around remaining unplowed, resulting in four buses stuck in the snow for three days, a few blocks away from my home.
* A fully loaded salt spreader tooling back and forth along the main drag in my neighborhood for at least four hours — with the spreader turned off.
Geez, bronco, don't confuse the losers with the facts.

Those aren't necessarily facts Nate. They're the exact same claims made in the Spokesman Review and Spokane AM radio after every snow storm. I'm guessing it's the same for every large city that goes through this.
Re: Unions Suck
Posted: Thu Dec 30, 2010 10:00 pm
by Grizalltheway
native wrote:Bronco wrote:
Here's the NY Times blog with people writing in on what they're seeing.
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/ ... ent-839459" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
* Sanitation trucks running back and forth along already-plowed main streets — plows up — for hours, while secondary streets remained unplowed.
* Bus routes plowed along main streets, but the streets that they need to use to turn around remaining unplowed, resulting in four buses stuck in the snow for three days, a few blocks away from my home.
* A fully loaded salt spreader tooling back and forth along the main drag in my neighborhood for at least four hours — with the spreader turned off.
Geez, bronco, don't confuse the losers with the facts.

For someone who supposedly values intelligent, reasonable discussion above all else, you sure resort to name calling quickly.

Re: Unions Suck
Posted: Thu Dec 30, 2010 10:05 pm
by native
Grizalltheway wrote:native wrote:
Geez, bronco, don't confuse the losers with the facts.

For someone who supposedly values intelligent, reasonable discussion above all else, you sure resort to name calling quickly.

I didn't single anyone out, griz-the-hallway. If the shoe doesn't fit, don't wear it.
