So that's what it takes?
Wal-Mart is closing a store in Canada because workers were on the verge of establishing a union. A spokesperson for Wal-Mart Canada said, "Despite nine days of meetings over three months, we've been unable to reach an agreement with the union that will allow the store to operate efficiently and profitably."Neither labor nor management revealed details of the negotiations. The store, located 240 miles northeast of Montreal, will close in May.
According to the spokersperson, the union's demands over scheduling and staffing were unreasonable and would have forced the retailer to add 30 to the existing payroll of 190. "In our view, the union demands failed to appreciate the fragile conditions of the store."
I know when I hear the word 'fragile,' I think of Wal-Mart, a company that boasts annual profits of more than $7 billion. I'm not second-guessing the company's decision. They can see the writing on the wall in their home country. Recently, some workers in the tire department of a store in Colorado have sought union representation, and the National Labor Relations Board says it intends to schedule a vote. It may not be as long as many of us thought until retail workers get a foot in the door when it comes to collective bargaining.
In the meantime, we have another reason to envy our progressive neighbors to the north. A group of ordinary-- make that extra-ordinary, citizens struck a symbolic blow for the entire workforce of North America. They'll experience some struggle and heartache in the short-term, but the long-term benefits will be beyond calculation.
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The Cubs traded relief pitcher Kyle Farnsworth to the Tigers for three minor-leaguers on Wednesday. You know Farnsworth's a headcase since he's getting unloaded during a time of great uncertainty for the Cubs' bullpen. It's addition by subtraction, along the lines of the Sammy Sosa deal.
I'll always remember Farnsworth for these four shining moments...
1) The night last summer when he uncorked the go-ahead wild pitch to give the Cardinals a win in the last head-to-head Cubs/Cards series of the year at Busch Stadium.
2) The day he charged the mound in Cincinnati and body-slammed Paul Wilson. Bloodthirsty Cubs fans enjoyed the spectacle, but I'm still trying to figure out what cause he had to charge in the first place. And Wilson got some good pops in.
3) The time he fell asleep during a day game, prompting a clubhouse tirade by then-manager and Norway, IA native Bruce Kimm. Kimm toiled long and hard to earn a shot at the helm of a big-league clubhouse. It's unfortunate that when his chance arrived, he was stuck with the one he got.
4) Finally, the day last fall when he wrenched his knee kicking an electric fan. He had just given up six ninth-inning runs to the Astros, prompting Houston's catapault into the Wild Card race and ultimately sealing the Cubs' doom.
Six seasons as a Cub? Where does the time go? You'll be missed, Kyle.
posted by CM @ 9:18 PM
4 Comments:
I'm no fan of Wal-Mart, but there must a good reason why their enormous parking lots are never less than 40% full when I drive by them. I think it would be pointless to attempt to form a union at Wal-Mart in the U.S. today. The deck is stacked against the unions. And evidently Wal-Mart has already shown every employee the corporate strategy to stay union free: try to form a union and you're going to loose your job because we're going to close the store. I'm too lazy for research, but I bet that Wal-Mart would legally be allowed to open that store right back up again in about 12 months. Think there would ever be another union vote at that store? TA
Why do pitchers never "throw" or "toss" a wild pitch? They always "uncork" a wild pitch.
I think, regarding Walmart, TA makes the most important point which is that the system is set-up now for unions to fail. So-named "Right-to-work" laws (a perfect example of corporate America framing the debate with specific language) and other legislation has led to unions losing their power over the years. So much of what we accept now as proper treatment, pay, and benefits for workers is owed to labor unions, but they definitely don't have the clout they once did. To many eyes, that isn't necessarily detrimental and the economy has survived, I think, because, for one thing, so much was achieved, but also because as long as the job market is competitive, people feel they have options. It will be interesting in the coming years to see if that remains true.
There are definite downsides though and one is the feeling of anxiety that hangs over so many occupations that somehow your job is not safe, but also, I think, there's a certain long-term company loyalty that disappears. Of course, those things are tough to measure and therefore hard to debate. How many people start a new job - even into their thirties - and expect to retire with the same company.
Another downside, as with social security, is that it could potentially harm an established "safety net". For all of unions' historical imperfections, collective bargaining is the only voice that working people have ever had. And the historical good brought about by unions has far outweighed the historical bad and there was no middle class before unions created them.
As a former union organizer at a cellular phone company's customer service center, I can attest that today's corporate anti-union practices are really ugly (though that's relative, since they used to result in bloodshed.) When myself and a half dozen others met with reps from the Communications Workers of America, the reps warned us of all the scare tactics that the company would employ once the shit hit the fan. To a point, each one occurred. We were threatened that the communications center would shut down and move to a different city and that it would create an antagonistic relationship with management. With a strict contract in place, all of the other "perks" like our rare bonuses would disappear and the company's so-called "open door" policy would disappear. In other words, don't piss off Dad or you won't get to borrow the car keys. Those company guys were pros and words like "collective bargaining" don't exist in those meetings.
The scare tactics ultimately worked and the employees proved tough to organize (it's hard as hell to organize single moms when you threaten that their jobs may disappear, but it's also tough to organize our other large segment of employees- part-time college students and young people just out of school- who aren't interested in the long-term advantages of organizing.)
Most people, I found, are more interested in scraping by, not rocking the boat, having two-for-one margaritas with the gals at 5 o'clock on Friday, singing karaoke to that song "Bitch", and pissing and moaning about their job, their boss, how they can't afford child care and how now their mother can't watch the kids because she had to get a second job cleaning houses.
I originally wrote "UNFURLED a wild pitch" but convinced myself that I was misusing the word.
un-furl' v.- To spread or open (something) out or become spread or open out.
I stand by my decision.
I usually think of "unfurled" as something you do with a flag. It shows up in song lyrics sometimes because it rhymes with "world".
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