So this decision hinges on construing his statement as a threat.
If anything makes the consortium trying to get rid of the NLRB look right, this is it.
If anything makes the consortium trying to get rid of the NLRB look right, this is it.
If anything it’s a reminder of exactly why unions are needed more than ever. Amazon of all companies is known to treat their employees like disposable cogs.
I worked as an auto parts delivery driver, and one day I delivered some parts to a machine shop. As I started opening the front door, I could hear a blaring high-pitch wining noise coming from the shop area. I got to the office and there were 4 guys just sitting with earplugs in. I asked the what was going on, and they told me that one of the machines had broken but they weren't allowed to turn off the power switch because of union rules. They had to wait until the proper union guy showed up to turn off the switch. And no, this wasn't some super special switch, it was just a 50 amp breaker. I think it's pretty clear they lost some empowerment.
I worked as an aircraft refueler in a climate that during fall would get fairly cold in the morning (20 deg F) and warm in the day (70+ deg F). One of our trucks had sensitive brakes that would often need a quarter-turn on a small screw that controlled airflow once the temperature went up (or down at night). It was trivial to do, but I wasn't allowed to even touch it because of union rules taht specified that only the mechanics union could "perform maintenance on the vehicles." So I routinely had to sit on the ramp for hours in the middle of the day waiting for maintenance to drive their truck out and turn the screw. I once suggested to our manager that we should schedule daily maintenance around noon each day since that is around when it usually stopped working, and union rules had an enumerated list of valid "scheduled maintenance" work that could be done, and that wasn't on the list, so he was powerless to do anything about it. I'm sure it didn't hurt that "unscheduled maintenance" cost us more than scheduled.
I've heard plenty more stories from friends as well. Our local plumbers union was apprently quite something. They had rules around seniority that basically fucked over everyone with less than 10 years experience and made for a sweet life for everyone over. People worked their asses off for the worst jobs with inferior pay on the hope and dream for their turn at the top end of the pyramid some day when they got their turn to sit on top and exploit the people on the bottom.
I'm not anti-union (some situations absolutely need unions to prevent extreme exploitation), but I am anti-blanket-pro-union. Some unions are really trash and should not exist.
So yeah, if you're going to say that he "lied" then I think you need to explain what evidence you have that he knew what he said was not true. If he has any experience with unions, there's a good chance he has specific situations in mind.
Would we expect the same deference given to a mob boss issuing thinly-veiled threats to witnesses? After all, it's not impossible that an accident will totally randomly happen to the witness or their loved ones that prevents them from testifying. The boss is just sayin' there's data that shows accidents sometimes happen to people who testify, that's all.
Though personally, I'd much rather know my CEOs real opinion on things, because whether they say it out loud or not they still believe it. I'd rather know where people stand than have to guess/assume.
Otherwise, is the mob boss in my example just expressing an opinion, too?
And yet with that few details, it's just as likely you completely fabricated the story as not. Exactly what machine in this machine shop was powered on and off every day with nothing but a breaker? They had to bring in a specific guy every day to turn on the machine in the morning and off at night with this breaker, but he's not there all the time? They just left it unattended for lunch breaks or had none? And there's only one guy? There was no other power switch? That passed code how? Or you're claiming the machine shop operated 24/7?
That's ignoring the part that in the average datacenter, you also can't "just flip a breaker" - it needs to be done by a licensed electrician for liability reasons, and absolutely nothing to do with unions.
>So yeah, if you're going to say that he "lied" then I think you need to explain what evidence you have that he knew what he said was not true. If he has any experience with unions, there's a good chance he has specific situations in mind.
That's not how that works, sorry. As an officer of a public company he's not allowed to make vague, generalized statements to dissuade workers from unionizing. I'm under absolutely no obligation to explain what he meant for him, I didn't say it.
Which, again, is why he got smacked down by a judge.
Oh, and yes I have worked in a union. I made about 4x minimum wage and had guaranteed leave while in college. I can say that non-union jobs at the time provided nothing close to it for a job that required little pre-existing experience.
I'm glad you made a lot of money. Were you worth that kind of money? The guy walking around plugging plugs into the wall in my example was most certainly not. I'd rather just not do business than do business in environments where bureaucracies create pointless busy work to keep people paid.
I was an auto parts guy, I didn't work for the machine shop. Also this was over 20 years ago. I have no idea exactly what machine it was. Also I specifically mentioned that the machine had broken, which most people understand to be an unusual state of operation that isn't a typical (especially daily) occurence that happens on a schedule. This is an abnormality in operation. It doesn't need this breaker flipped normally, so you could have answered several of your questions just by reading a little closer what I had already posted. I doubt it was "one guy" in total who could flip the switch (I've never heard of a union of only one person, and I specifically mentioned that it was a union who controlled ability to flip this switch, but given your question I'm guessing you have heard of one-person unions), but that day they were waiting for "one guy." Usually you don't have to send out a whole team to flip a breaker, so "one guy" is usually sufficient. Overall, I trusted that they weren't lying to me. Sure they could have been. I don't see why they would, and I saw those guys often since they ordered parts multiple times per day, so we had a somewhat friendly relationship, but if you want to believe everybody is just lying everywhere then you are free to do so. That would help keep your ideology in tact. The unfortunate side-effect that your blanket support includes defending utter absurdity need not bother you, so carry on.
Amazon in my area has literally ran media ads (not paraphrasing, direct quotes): "Need a job? Can pass a background check? No interview, start as soon as tomorrow."
That's how companies skirt the law and apply biases during job interviews.
Except in the software industry, there's too many stupid people who think they are really a "10x programmer" and fall for the Hank Hill special "SHH I'M PAYING YOU MORE BECAUSE YOU'RE A ROCKSTAR! DON'T TELL YOUR COWORKERS!"
It's like most people took a boot licking course or something lol.