Public sector union cracks down on Eagle Scout project

[Surlethe]

Fuckin' public sector unions

In pursuit of an Eagle Scout badge, Kevin Anderson, 17, has toiled for more than 200 hours hours over several weeks to clear a walking path in an east Allentown park.

Little did the do-gooder know that his altruistic act would put him in the cross hairs of the city's largest municipal union.

Nick Balzano, president of the local Service Employees International Union, told Allentown City Council Tuesday that the union is considering filing a grievance against the city for allowing Anderson to clear a 1,000-foot walking and biking path at Kimmets Lock Park.

"We'll be looking into the Cub Scout or Boy Scout who did the trails," Balzano told the council.

Balzano said Saturday he isn't targeting Boy Scouts. But given the city's decision in July to lay off 39 SEIU members, Balzano said "there's to be no volunteers." No one except union members may pick up a hoe or shovel, plant a flower or clear a walking path.

"We would hope that the well-intentioned efforts of an Eagle Scout candidate would not be challenged by the union," said Mayor Ed Pawlowski in an e-mail Friday. "This young man is performing a great service to the community. His efforts should be recognized as such."

Balzano said Saturday the union is still looking into the matter and might cut the city a break.

"We are probably going to let this one go," Balzano said .

The possible entanglement of a local Boy Scout in a union dispute underscores the frustration and anger SEIU members feel after being the lone city union to suffer layoffs in the ongoing financial crisis. It may also serve as a preview of future labor battles as the city tries to outsource some necessary jobs as a result of the layoffs.

Anderson, a junior and varsity soccer player at Southern Lehigh High School, is a member of Boy Scout Troop 301 of Center Valley.

He got the idea for the trail while taking hikes along the partially complete, 165-mile Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor. He noticed there were a few missing connections to the trail in Kimmets Lock Park, which is on the Lehigh River near Dauphin Street. He already has logged 250 hours trying to carve out a walking and biking trail along the river.

"I decided to do my part in completing this part of the trail. In that way, others could enjoy walking along the river, without having to walk on the busy road," Anderson said in an e-mail Friday.

During last week's budget hearings, where City Council reviewed the Public Works and Park and Recreation departments' funding requests, it was made clear that the layoffs and early retirements -- all of which have led to the lowest city staffing levels in two decades -- are bound to create union disputes in the weeks and months ahead.

For example, the city currently does not have an electrician available because of the layoffs and an employee on an extended sick leave. As a result, the city has been forced to hire an outside union electrician to oversee the installation for the popular Lights on the Parkway holiday display.

"In the spirit of the holiday, we decided to let that go," Balzano said.

Greg Weitzel, head of the Parks and Recreation Department, which lost 17 full-time employees as a result of the layoffs and retirements, said the low staffing levels will require more outsourcing of labor and a greater reliance on volunteers.

"There are some things that we can do in-house and other things we will have to bid out," Weitzel said Tuesday. "We originally had plans to do more with our labor force, but now we have to bid out that work."

Hey! You laid some of us off, so don't you fucking dare let volunteers do our goddamn jobs! What the fuck do you think you are, some kind of charitable organization?

[The Spartan]

"We'll be looking into the Cub Scout or Boy Scout who did the trails," Balzano told the council.

"We are probably going to let this one go," Balzano said.

---

For example, the city currently does not have an electrician available because of the layoffs and an employee on an extended sick leave. As a result, the city has been forced to hire an outside union electrician to oversee the installation for the popular Lights on the Parkway holiday display.

"In the spirit of the holiday, we decided to let that go," Balzano said.

So, you let the electrician thing go because of the spirit of the holiday but you decided to be a grandstanding prick because a fucking Boy Scout is clearing trails for his Eagle Scout Badge?

How magnanimous. Or maybe you didn't have a problem with that because the electrician was union, even if from a different one, but the Boy Scout is doing something for free and you think it makes you look bad. What will you be whining about next, a shop keeper who brightens up their store front with some daisies and "violates" this: "No one except union members may pick up a hoe or shovel, plant a flower or clear a walking path."?

[Surlethe]

To be fair, he did say they were probably going to let the Boy Scout off the hook. The problem is that they thought they could nail him (or the electrician) in the first place. (If they actually could have, that's a bigger problem.)

[The Spartan]

Yeah, but that they're even raising a fuss over it and then going, "Oh, we'll probably let it go," has got me steamed. Especially since they've already done so in a situation where they have more valid reason to be upset.

[Lusankya]

Why do all of the North American unions seem so unreasonable? I mean, Australian unions occasionally make some unreasonable requests, but I have never once heard of anything on this level of dickishness and to be honest, I can't actually imagine them trying it.

[Bounty]

Yeah, but that they're even raising a fuss over it and then going, "Oh, we'll probably let it go," has got me steamed. Especially since they've already done so in a situation where they have more valid reason to be upset.

Good money says they're just making a fuss to stop the city firing people with the express purpose of letting volunteers pick up the slack. They just aren't handling in the most PR-friendly way.

[Surlethe]

A long history of labor disputes? I'm not sure. Also, how are European unions? I mean, don't the French unions start rioting any time anybody threatens to cut wages or increase working hours? (I don't know if that's actually the case, but that's my impression.) Anyway, the board is also largely North American, so we may just hear more North American horror stories hear.

[Bounty]

Also, how are European unions?

A very necessary pain in the ass. They make a lot of noise and strike a bit more often than some people might like, but being being so obstinate they managed to secure - and maintain - very respectable workers' rights and protections.

[Lusankya]

It might be a different story in countries like Australia, because we have a very strongly entrenched Labor Party, so for the Union officials in Australia, Union leadership isn't the end of the line: they can go from Union leadership into politics, but if they do too much stuff to disturb the country, then they'll lose Party support. It might also help with facilitating negotiation with the government during disputes (especially with Labor dominance at the moment), which would decrease the possibility of strikes.

[Simon_Jester]

Also, how are European unions?

A very necessary pain in the ass. They make a lot of noise and strike a bit more often than some people might like, but being being so obstinate they managed to secure - and maintain - very respectable workers' rights and protections.

Thing is, if the European unions are a necessary pain in the ass, how does it make sense to condemn the North American unions for being a pain in the ass?

Lusankya may have a point; in Europe the unions don't have to bother fighting over extremely petty details because they have a fairly direct line to political power through the leftist parties. In the US, there is no leftist party, so the union leaders are forced to look at petty low-level bullshit. If they let the low-level stuff slide, they may not have the muscle to stop the slide before everything they've managed to gain falls apart entirely. Moreover, the petty stuff is the only place they can really hope to score offensive victories and make further gains at this point, because that's where they're aren't going up against powerful interests that can afford to buy politicians.

Unfortunately, that has the long term cost in the US of making the unions look petty and unreasonable, which hands the corporatists a steady stream of "fuck the unions" propaganda.

I have no idea how Canada fits into this picture.

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

Erm.. I seem to recall that in some places, they actually license electricians, as a way of also protecting the jobs of the electricians by making it a more exclusive club.

[Ma Deuce]

In the US, there is no leftist party, so the union leaders are forced to look at petty low-level bullshit

The Democrats may not be a left-wing party, but they are still very much in bed with the big unions. What do you think that "Buy American" clause in the stimulus bill was all about?

because that's where they're aren't going up against powerful interests that can afford to buy politicians.

And large unions aren't "powerful interests that can afford to buy off politicians"? Trouble is, you seem to be assuming the bosses of the big unions (who are usually quite wealthy) actually care about the workers they represent, when as near as I can tell, they don't care more than the corporate executives, and simply manipulate the herd instincts of the rank and file workers as necessary to enrich themselves further.

Unfortunately, that has the long term cost in the US of making the unions look petty and unreasonable, which hands the corporatists a steady stream of "fuck the unions" propaganda.

That's because the really big unions often are petty and unreasonable. You think union greed had nothing to do with the near death of General Motors?

I have no idea how Canada fits into this picture.

I would say Canada actually disproves your hypothesis, given we have not only better worker rights and social services, but also a union-catering left wing party in the NDP (though they have never directly held power on the federal level, they have formed informal "accords" with the centrist Liberal party, and have led several provincial governments). Even so, public sector union assholes have often slit their own throats by becoming highly petty and unreasonable even when they were dealing with very union friendly governments, because they apparently expect such governments to cater to their every whim at the expense of everyone and everything else, and become highly upset when they don't. We saw this very recently in the five-week long Toronto garbage strike (which was fought because the union assholes wanted to keep cashing in unused sick pay, placing a huge liability on the already deficit-strapped city), which ended up destroying whatever chance the very union-friendly mayor had of being re-elected, prompting him not to run again next year. We saw it over a decade ago when the provincial government of Bob Rae was lambasted and accused of "selling out" by unionized public sector workers when they were asked to take a few unpaid days off a year to help cut government expenses in the midst of a recession, this despite the fact that Rae had helped the unions in many other ways, such as passing anti-scab legislation. Nonetheless this spat with the Unions was one of the reasons leading to his landslide defeat by the decidedly anti-union government of Mike Harris. I think we can also chalk up the "Winter of Discontent" in Britain (which directly led to the election of Maggie Thatcher) as an example of this pattern.

[Lusankya]

North America may have union-friendly parties, or parties in bed with the unions, but do they have the equivalent of the Labor Party which literally is the Unions? That's what a Labor party is - the political wing of the trade unions. It sounds like in North America, the Trade Unions are just another lobby group - albeit a powerful one. In Australia, the trade unions are more like the grass-roots wing of the Labor Party and in general can be told to shut up by people with brains.

[Simon_Jester]

Erm.. I seem to recall that in some places, they actually license electricians, as a way of also protecting the jobs of the electricians by making it a more exclusive club.

Since working with electricity is the kind of thing that can easily result in flames and screaming if done badly, I can see reasons to have licensing other than just job protection.

In the US, there is no leftist party, so the union leaders are forced to look at petty low-level bullshit

The Democrats may not be a left-wing party, but they are still very much in bed with the big unions. What do you think that "Buy American" clause in the stimulus bill was all about?

I know, but the Democrats aren't solely or even primarily dependent on the unions. Among other things, they still get giant freaking donations from major corporate interests, which defeats the purpose of having the unions appeal to them. The unions can get an occasional nod from the Democrats, but they can't count on the Democratic Party to support them when it's really important to them.

Unfortunately, that has the long term cost in the US of making the unions look petty and unreasonable, which hands the corporatists a steady stream of "fuck the unions" propaganda.

That's because the really big unions often are petty and unreasonable. You think union greed had nothing to do with the near death of General Motors?

You missed my point. Adopting a strategy of fighting over petty things will make you act petty, and therefore you will look petty, because you act petty, and thus are petty. I did not mean to imply that the "looking petty" here was a false impression. Some things do in fact look X because they are X.

What I'm getting at is that deliberately adopting a strategy of fighting over petty stuff, or being forced into one by circumstances, hurts you in the long run. Which may help to explain the gradual decline (in multiple senses of the word) of the American union.

I would say Canada actually disproves your hypothesis, given we have not only better worker rights and social services, but also a union-catering left wing party in the NDP (though they have never directly held power on the federal level, they have formed informal "accords" with the centrist Liberal party, and have led several provincial governments). Even so, public sector union assholes have often slit their own throats by becoming highly petty and unreasonable even when they were dealing with very union friendly governments, because they apparently expect such governments to cater to their every whim at the expense of everyone and everything else, and become highly upset when they don't.

This might well disprove my hypothesis, though I would like to see some more opinions on this issue, especially from other Canadians. Or British people who remember what the '70s were like economically. And, hopefully, some Americans more knowledgeable about American unions than I am.