gamewell45

They should also consider reading John Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath". Part of the book details during the Great Depression how people who wanted to unionize were murdered by business owners in order to keep unions out of the workplace. When I was in high school it was required reading, but i'm not sure if it is anymore.

I notice you put a negative spin on this. You could also make the claim that for two years the company was prevented by law of reducing your benefits/salary since under federal law, once the union is elected, the company cannot change the terms and conditions of employment (meaning they cannot reduce your benefits nor cut your salary) until you have a labor agreement in place.. Furthermore, during that period of time, I personally had the opportunity to speak with some employees of Sloper who complained that most of the employees were content to sit back and let the union do most of the work and very few of the employees showed much support towards the negotiating committee when it came time for solidarity. While it was only 5 or 6 employees i spoke with but all of them had the same thing to say so to me its very telling about the lack of support the negotiating committee received from the rank and file.

Thats very true. I recall a department in Westchester where a career firefighter was an acting chief for close to a year; he was supposed to be appointed Chief; well when it came to the meeting to officially appoint him, the Board of Fire Commissioners having been influenced by others ended up appointing someone else to the position with no advance notice to the acting chief.

Might also be a good idea to remove the sirens and air horns off the apparatus so we don't disturb anyone's sleep.

I'm sure the rift will heal in a short amount of time as its in the best interests of the police & media to work together.

the union organizer should have an "Excelsior" list which is a list of all eligble voters.

If charges are preferred, the station will no doubt hire high-powered attorney's and they'll deal with it in a court of law. In the meantime, they got the story material they wanted at the time they wanted it and in the news business thats all that counts. I agree that it will be interesting nonetheless to see how it does play out.

Each side has 5 days to challenge the conduct of the election. If the company threatened or coerced or made promises to the employees as a condition to vote no on the election, that would be a violation of the NLRA of 1934 and the NLRB could set aside the election and either order a new election or rule immediate recognition of the union by the employer. If the so-called "Free Choice Act" goes through, it will eliminate most of the issues involved with elections as all you'll need for recognition is a majority of signed cards thus removing the need for an election in most cases.

It happens; some are afraid or too lazy to vote. While it wasn't exactly a close vote, at least a year from now if things haven't improved or if they've gotten worse, then the union can re-visit and if enough support is present, then they can petition for another election. I"ve seen that happen before and the union came back and won the second time around.

I wonder if it was sloppy work by the prosecutors office? Or if he fell though the cracks in the system; I'm surprised that Mike Huckabee would grant clemency to someone with a rap sheet as long as this character has. Either way if he's convicted, he should pay the ultimate price.

I think there is more to this then meets the eye; I find it hard to believe that Sloper would agree to pay raises in a contract that they could not afford nor forced practices what would drive up the cost of overtime; Obviously they agreed to the various clauses in the contract or if not they would not be in the contract. You can't blame the union for that; if the union proposed and the company accepted, then they have only themselves to blame. Bargaining is supposed to be done rationally; why in the world would any union make demands that would guarantee putting the employer out of business; why put your members out of work?? Its out of the realm of reality. You know that the employer had attorney's sitting in on all sessions to look after the company's best interests. As mentioned elsewhere, I suspect they are correct in that Sloper had existing problems. As far as being neither for or against unions, that's like saying your for motherhood but against children (thank you Harry S. Truman). Unions in most aspects are like having an insurance policy; you hope you never need to use it but if you do its there for you. There's certainly no reason why labor and management can't form a working partnership and work together; just as long as you have a union to look after your best interests. As a side note, all executives of major corporations have Personal Service Agreements (PSA's) which are labor agreements, detailing their terms and conditions of employment, pay raises, benefits, stock options, severance parachute, perks, etc. So my question to you is: How come they need a labor contract and rank and file does not? Food for thought.

Agreed. If the union tries to get more then the market will support, then they are doing their members a dis-service. While monetary compensation is a primary concern for most members, likeswise, job security, benefits, a greivence procedure, training, safety and quality of life issues should also be a concern. These are benefits that a union can bring you if thats what the membership desires and some of them are of little cost to the employer. While the IAFF and various PBA's have done a good job moving the fire service forward, they like any other organization had to start off small and work towards what they are today. I don't think there is any reason why EMS unions cannot become a strong enitity in their field and give close to if not the same advantages that their counterparts in the Fire & Police enjoy today.

You hit the nail right on the head. The union will only be as strong as the membership who are part of it. A strong membership base will result in a strong contract; a weak one will also be reflected in the contract. Either way your better off with a union; at least you know what the rules are and they can't change them in mid-stream like many of them like to do when it comes to benefits or disciplinary measures.

I think thats a fair statement.

i read in the paper that the father first tried to put out the fire with water in pots from his kitchen. Perhaps if he'd just gotten the kids and left the apartment, it would have had a happier ending.

Thanks for your response. I don't think I ever said this wasnt' the proper forum to express opinions, what i did say is that nothing is to be accomplished here by blaming political groups for their policies/decisions and if someone is really unhappy (as Goose obviously is) rather then complain about how bad things are, get involved and run for office; thats a pro-active step towards fixing the problems that exist in this country. Now, while your entitled to your opinion, please tell me, how does your post go towards resolving your issue at hand with our government? Are you willing to write a letter to the President expressing your views? Are you willing to run for public office? or is this forum as far as it goes? the thrust of my post to Goose was to encourage him to get involved with the process and make a positive difference, not to opine about how bad decisions are being made and leaving it at that with no resolution.

Goose, You need to relax. Its quite easy to blame a political group for all the worlds ills as opposed to being part of the solution. If your unhappy with the job the government is doing, get involved, run for office and make a positive difference. I'm sure you've got some good ideas that the American people will have in common with you. Coming on EMTBravo.net and whining how bad things are accomplishes absolutely nothing.

Try Belize. The cost of living is a lot cheaper then it is in the USA.

Just goes to show that there is strength in numbers!

There are plenty of things you can do; if they do informational picketing, you can join them on the line as a show of solidarity; you can deluge the City Manager's office with letters objecting to the proposed closings/layoffs, you can inform the elected officials of the possible political ramifications at the next election when their terms are up. you can camp out in front of the City Managers house and let his neighbors know that he's putting them and their families at risk, you can assist the paid guys in getting petitions signed by the citizens of Beacon condemning the city's actions, etc. There's all kinds of legally permissible activities you can do without withholding your services as a volunteer.

I don't know if they are closing the house completely or just removing the career staff because i know they still have a volunteer force there, but either way, If I were the people of Beacon, I'd make sure that my fire insurance is paid up.

Congrats to PVVAC; best of luck with your new rig.

Bring it to joe and might not get fixed; bring it to the dealership and after you pay the bill, you can't afford to drive it.

If your unhappy with your current politicians, vote them out of office when their terms expire.

Mutual Aid is probably what they'll end up doing then; to attempt to create a volunteer force in Newburgh might create more problems then its worth.