Ford union heads: hard at work!

[Stargate Nerd]

Unless you're arguing that they're corrupt because they're union, I don't see how it matters.

*sigh* That even if rage is being leveled at a union, in this instance there is at least this one where it is justified you tool.

Since when is it ever okay to trash an entire institution based on the actions of two corrupt individuals?

[Knife]

Since when is it ever okay to trash an entire institution based on the actions of two corrupt individuals?

When those two are among the leadership of the institution.

[Stargate Nerd]

Since when is it ever okay to trash an entire institution based on the actions of two corrupt individuals?

When those two are among the leadership of the institution.

How high up the ladder are they really?

[aerius]

How high up the ladder are they really?

One guy is the union head for the entire factory while the other guy appears to be one level below him.

[Aaron]

One guy is the union head for the entire factory while the other guy appears to be one level below him.

The older guy's union title sounds like a glorified shop steward, the guy you go to when you need to file a grievance. That's hardly a high level position, the other guy's position is a mystery to me though. I've never worked in a factory that had to have an overall rep, that defeats the purpose of the shop steward. But CAW (or whatever the US calls it's union) is most likely different then Teamsters.

[Glocksman]

One guy is the union head for the entire factory while the other guy appears to be one level below him.

The older guy's union title sounds like a glorified shop steward, the guy you go to when you need to file a grievance. That's hardly a high level position, the other guy's position is a mystery to me though. I've never worked in a factory that had to have an overall rep, that defeats the purpose of the shop steward. But CAW (or whatever the US calls it's union) is most likely different then Teamsters.

In my shop for purposes of grievance handling, the department steward is responsible for 'first step' grievances in his/her department.
After the initial hearing if the grievance is denied, then the 'chief steward' for the entire building on the shift becomes involved and both of us (I'm a shop steward) work on the grievance at the next hearing.
If the grievance is denied at the second hearing, we advance it to a 'labor/management' meeting where the union's 'service representative' (also known as a 'business agent') is involved in meeting with the company's HR head.

The overall rep you mention probably functions like a chief steward does in my local.

Also, the chief steward handles first step grievances when the member involved requests it.
It's rare that it happens, but it does when either the member doesn't like/trust their departmental steward (rare, but it does happen) or when it's the area steward himself that needs representation.

I could represent myself in a hearing, but frankly the same dictum about lawyers applies to stewards.
Namely only a fool represents himself in a hearing.


Added: in my union (UNITE HERE), the service rep serves several locals, travels a lot and is responsible to and paid by the union regional office.
IOW, he doesn't work in the shop and is instead a salaried employee of the union itself.

[Darth Wong]

The real problem here is not so much that corrupt individuals exist within the union system. Such corrupt individuals will always exist. The problem is that unions promote a culture of job security for senior individuals which is so ironclad and pervasive that behaviour like this can go on for a long time without being corrected.

Frankly, all job-security guarantees in employment contracts should be outlawed by legislation (thus automatically nullifying those portions of any existing collective bargaining agreements because illegal aspects of contracts are not legally binding).

[Aaron]

In my shop for purposes of grievance handling, the department steward is responsible for 'first step' grievances in his/her department.
After the initial hearing if the grievance is denied, then the 'chief steward' for the entire building on the shift becomes involved and both of us (I'm a shop steward) work on the grievance at the next hearing.
If the grievance is denied at the second hearing, we advance it to a 'labor/management' meeting where the union's 'service representative' (also known as a 'business agent') is involved in meeting with the company's HR head.

The overall rep you mention probably functions like a chief steward does in my local.

Also, the chief steward handles first step grievances when the member involved requests it.
It's rare that it happens, but it does when either the member doesn't like/trust their departmental steward (rare, but it does happen) or when it's the area steward himself that needs representation.

I could represent myself in a hearing, but frankly the same dictum about lawyers applies to stewards.
Namely only a fool represents himself in a hearing.


Added: in my union (UNITE HERE), the service rep serves several locals, travels a lot and is responsible to and paid by the union regional office.
IOW, he doesn't work in the shop and is instead a salaried employee of the union itself.

Ahh, thank you Glocksman.

[Bilbo]

The real problem here is not so much that corrupt individuals exist within the union system. Such corrupt individuals will always exist. The problem is that unions promote a culture of job security for senior individuals which is so ironclad and pervasive that behaviour like this can go on for a long time without being corrected.

Frankly, all job-security guarantees in employment contracts should be outlawed by legislation (thus automatically nullifying those portions of any existing collective bargaining agreements because illegal aspects of contracts are not legally binding).

If these guys are paid by the Union then its the Union being stupid. If they were paid by Ford then obviously there was enough fear about reporting this that it was ignored until someone decided to give the local news an "anonymous" tip that there was something here worth reporting.