Thursday - September 10, 2009

OH GREAT … MORE STRIKING BY THE POSTAL UNION.

Not bad enough my mail forwarding service in CA. which we have paid $130.00 a year for is lax and send us mail with rebate check more then A YEAR OUT OF DATE. (2007) Not bad enough that our mail forwarding service sends us a jury summons ... JAN. 2008 and mostly no doubt because the dummy never thought to write AIR MAIL on the envelope ... not bad enough all that crap.

Now there’s this.  And I haven’t a clue yet but will check, how it will affect mail leaving the country.
Like I really need the aggro at the freeken moment.

I know this bit of local news won’t interest the many here at BMEWS and so I don’t expect many if any comments. I’m just a mite frustrated and thought I’d take the angst out here. Grumble.

Oh right. That check for a refund we had was for $153.00 and we had 90 days to cash it. It is dated April of 2007. Nice, huh?  Grumble!

Millions of letters stuck in the post as unions create strike rota to keep country’s deliveries paralysed

By Sean Poulter
Last updated at 11:01 AM on 10th September 2009

Tens of millions of letters are sitting undelivered after rolling strikes brought chaos to the postal system.

Some 20,000 Royal Mail workers are on strike, paralysing parts of the network.

The backlog in London alone could run to 20million items. Some families have not received deliveries for ten days.

Millions of items are said to be sitting in sorting offices in the Bristol area, 500,000 in Peterborough and 250,000 in Leeds.

The walkouts will be stepped up over the next few days to affect a vast swathe of the country.

Union leaders claim the backlog is already bigger than in the last national strike in 2007, which cost businesses an estimated £300million.

The strikes are causing serious hardship and inconvenience to consumers and businesses.

Those waiting for credit card statements are receiving them so late they are being hit with penalty charges.

Utility bills are being delayed, bringing warnings of disconnection and legal action. Small firms are unable to complete orders and have been particularly badly hit.

Wildcat strikes have led to a build-up of mail in sorting offices

The postal workers have been going out on strike on a rota basis, with the result that at least one part of the national system is always at a standstill.

This minimises the loss of pay for those involved while maximising the disruption.

They accuse Royal Mail of provoking the action by ‘bullying’ staff over its cost-cutting modernisation plans.

But the company denies this and insists the cuts are vital to stave off losses.

It also says it is time to end a series of costly Spanish Practices dating back to the 1970s, such as allowing a postman to go home if he finishes his round early.

Also in the firing line are automatic overtime if mail volumes reach a certain level, guaranteed overtime at Christmas, and the right to refuse to work outside particular rounds or postcodes.

GREAT MAIL STRIKE OF 09 BUT STAY TUNED FOR MORE AS UNIONS BARE TEETH

Posted by peiper     on 09/10/2009 at 06:05 AM   
Filed Under: • Daily Life • UK • Unions-Labor •  
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   Wednesday - August 05, 2009

Do you recall this from a week ago?  Thousands of migrants here for handouts, says senior judge.

Some of you will I’m sure and some even commented on my post that they thought it was about time somebody woke up.

I said I hoped somebody was paying attention but ...

Stay Tuned.

This is a very politically correct socialist leaning state.

Well BMEWS ... Here’s the headline that greeted us this morning.

Top judge faces sack for speaking out about immigrants abusing benefits system

By Steve Doughty
Last updated at 7:54 AM on 05th August 2009

By Steve Doughty
Last updated at 7:54 AM on 05th August 2009

A senior judge faces the sack after saying that ‘hundreds of thousands of immigrants’ come to Britain to receive generous welfare payments.

Judge Ian Trigger was told yesterday that a disciplinary inquiry is to look at whether his criticisms of the links between crime, large-scale immigration and the welfare system were ‘too political’.

The 65-year-old Crown Court judge, who has also served on immigration tribunals for just over a decade, made his remarks as he jailed an illegal immigrant and drug runner last month.

The official investigation has been ordered by the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Judge, who has the power, along with Justice Secretary Jack Straw, to dismiss judges who speak out of turn.

But the decision to put the case before the Office for Judicial Complaints (OJC) was attacked yesterday, with some critics claiming it threatens the right of anyone to speak out about immigration.

Sir Andrew Green, chairman of the Migrationwatch pressure group, said: ‘There is a great deal of concern, privately expressed, in many parts of the judiciary,
the number of failed asylum-seekers.

‘There ought to be some way in which those concerns can be expressed without infringing judicial guidelines.’

Robert Whelan, of the Civitas think-tank, said: ‘This reinforces the view that there are certain things that may not be expressed in this country any more. There are great fears for freedom of speech.’

Judge Trigger made his remarks last week as he jailed a Jamaican man, Lucien McClearley, for two years for drugs offences at Liverpool Crown Court.

Judge Trigger said the case illustrated how a ‘lax’ immigration policy had led to ‘hundreds and hundreds of thousands’ of immigrants arriving in Britain to claim generous welfare benefits.

And he warned that wasted welfare payments had helped double the national debt, with the burden falling on decent hard-working citizens.

READ MORE AND SEE PHOTOS HERE

My posts might be light today ... a few minor problems.

Posted by peiper     on 08/05/2009 at 03:23 AM   
Filed Under: • Illegal-Aliens and Immigration • Unions-Labor •  
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   Friday - January 16, 2009

A REALLY HUGE AND MAJOR MOONBAT ALERT AND AWARD. WHERE DO THEY FIND PPL LIKE THIS?

They have to live someplace. 

What brain thinks up this dumb and even embarrassing sort of nonsense?

Granted it’s funny but how can something so stupid and over the top not be funny.

You’ll want to remember this one.

Strike threat as librarian title changed to ‘audience development officer’

By Andrew Picken
IT would be difficult to find a more appropriate title for someone who works in a library.

But city council chiefs appear to have decided the term “librarian” does not fit the bill any more.

As part of a major shake-up of the city’s library service, staff are set to be re-branded as “audience development officers”.

It is one of many changes which have infuriated staff and led to the prospect of strike action.

LINK FOR MORE

Source: Edinburgh Evening News
Location: Edinburgh, Scotland

MOONBAT AWARD TO:  City Council Chiefs, Edinburgh.

Posted by peiper     on 01/16/2009 at 10:00 AM   
Filed Under: • Stoopid-People • UK • Unions-Labor • work and the workplace •  
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   Saturday - December 13, 2008

22 pounds of innefficiency

Ever wonder what the efficient UAW contract looks like?  LaborPains went to the bench and got himself a copy.

22 Pounds of UAW Rules and Regulations

Ever wondered what a UAW contract looks like? Here is all 22 pounds of it (in this case, Ford’s 2,215 page 2007 master contract; Coke can is for scale and because I was thirsty).

I’ll tell you this much, those 2,215 pages don’t include much regarding efficiency and competitiveness. What you’ll find are hundreds of rules, regulations, and letters of understanding that have hamstrung the auto companies for years.

At his site, he’s got a link to the contract if you’d like some light reading.  Eeeesh, and they wonder why ther’re out of money.

Posted by Drew458     on 12/13/2008 at 06:24 PM   
Filed Under: • Unions-Labor •  
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ONE MORE GOOD REASON TO CRUSH BY ANY MEANS …. UNIONS ….

Which doesn’t mean I would let off greedy management.  They aren’t pure as driven snow either.

But this isn’t the first time unions here have disrupted the country.  I’m all for the hard working stiffs who are out in all sorts of weather and deliver mail under trying circumstances.  But remembering my own sorry and disagreeable experiences with unions, I have no use for them.

They have outlived their time.  They are also the cause (though not the only one) of higher and higher prices at the consumer level. 
I never tried looking it up and only just thought about it.
What is the percentage of cost say on a new car, that’s directly related to union demands?

Back in Nashville many years ago while working with union musicians, I discovered something that to this day I find unreasonable. Of course, it doesn’t mean anything to me now but.

There’s something called “cartage” which meant that we had to pay extra for the drummer who brought in his own set of drums. OK it’s a small item I admit. But it’s one small item among many small items that drive up costs.  You have to pay someone to bring the equipment he earns his living by, extra money because he has to tote it with him?  I wonder if that’s one reason many producers started using drum machines. 

How about extra pay for a plumber because he brings his tools to your house?  Oh right.  You already do.

I worked with a lot of non-union guys as well and guess what?  They were just as good!  Just not as well known outside the recording studio.

So what has me so worked up on a cold Dec. day?

This.

Postmen sabotage Christmas: ‘Cynical’ union orders strike on the busiest day of the year

By Becky Barrow
Last updated at 12:44 AM on 13th December 2008

Millions of cards and presents could arrive too late for Christmas because of plans by postal workers to strike next Friday.

The cynical decision to walk out at the peak of the festive postal rush was condemned by Royal Mail and consumer groups yesterday.

Around 120million letters and parcels are sent every day in December. The strike organisers, the Communication Workers’ Union, could not have chosen a more damaging date in the entire calendar.

December 19 is the day after the deadline for posting second- class letters in time for Christmas and the day before the first-class post deadline.

The 24-hour strike involves five sorting offices in the North West but will inevitably have serious knock-on effects around the country, and action could spread.

The union warned that the walkout may turn into a rolling programme of crippling strike action. Yesterday the Royal Mail said it was ‘disappointed’ by its workers’ decision to go on strike at such a crucial time.

A spokesman said: ‘We are clearly disappointed that the union would urge strike action at this important and busy time of year.

UNIONS

Posted by peiper     on 12/13/2008 at 09:59 AM   
Filed Under: • UK • Unions-Labor •  
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   Wednesday - July 30, 2008

Dustmen refuse to empty ‘too-full’ bin - despite it overflowing because they were on strike.

Quite right too.  We’re union men and we’ll get paid regardless and the public can just go to hell.

All is normal here in the nanny state.  All together now folks.  S o m a - S o m a -

By James Tozer

Last updated at 12:05 PM on 30th July 2008

Overflow: Steve Walton has had no rubbish collection for almost three weeks
As the dustmen were striking on collection day, it was no surprise that by the next week Stephen Walton’s wheelie bin was full to bursting.

However, the father of four was taken aback when council staff returned to work - and wouldn’t collect his rubbish because the bin was too full.

The two- day walkout by refuse staff had prevented a collection planned for July 17.

So last Thursday, Mr Walton was looking forward to getting rid of the rubbish accumulating outside his home in Mirfield, Kirklees, West Yorkshire.

But when the binmen came round, they left his bin untouched - the only one in his street.

He called Kirklees Council to find out why, and was told that as the lid would not close, binmen were under orders not to empty it.

‘It’s ridiculous,’ the 37-year- old accountant said. ‘I completely admit that my bin lid wouldn’t shut properly, but that is purely because of the strike.’

Yesterday, three weeks’ worth of refuse was still piling up near his home. ‘It’s a mountain of rubbish - it’s probably 21/2ft clear of the rim now - and with all the hot weather we’re probably going to end up with rats,’ said Mr Walton, who lives with his wife Jane, also 37, and their children, Charlotte, 11, Laura, nine, Amy, seven, and 18-month- old Zachary.

‘There are a lot of us so we probably produce more waste than the average home, but that is not why the bin was overfilled.

‘It’s a total farce that the council workers can go on strike and then blame you for having too much rubbish. If they did what they are paid to do, then we wouldn’t be in this situation.’

Mr Walton, who pays £1,600 a year council tax, hopes the rubbish will be removed when the binmen return tomorrow for the usual weekly collection.

But Councillor Kath Pinnock, leader of the Liberal Democrat group on the council, fears things will get worse before they got better.

‘I’d bet anything that there will be more people expecting to have their bins collected this week for the first time in a month only to be told theirs are too full as well,’ she said.

‘The council should have organised additional collections - it’s been a complete disaster.’

Many parts of the Kirklees area have fortnightly collections, and there alone, 20,000 homes could face going a month without a bin collection.

The council, like many authorities, does not empty wheelie bins if they are too full for the lid to close.

Officials say that the machinery at the back of dustcarts can become blocked if bins swing open while being unloaded.

But the Conservative-controlled council said it had agreed a deal with the striking workers’ unions to clear the backlog.

Under the arrangement, the bins were left until the next scheduled collection and there was the option that bags of rubbish left next to bins could be picked up during an extra collection at the weekend.

Although this would largely apply to householders with fortnightly collections, if Mr Walton had requested that extra rubbish bags be removed, it is thought he may have been able to take advantage of the extra collection.

However, Mr Walton said he had not been told of the policy. He would have placed extra rubbish in separate bags if he had known this, he added.

A council spokesman said: ‘The joint trade unions would not give any concessions for catching up missed wheeled bins due to strike action, hence we have not responded to any such requests.’

The Daily Mail’s Great Bin Revolt campaign has highlighted widespread public anger at the growing number of councils introducing fortnightly collections, ostensibly to increase recycling.

In April, Gareth Corkhill, 26, from Whitehaven, West Cumbria, was given a criminal record after the lid of his jam-packed wheelie bin was left 4in ajar.

http://tinyurl.com/6rmzpo

Posted by Drew458     on 07/30/2008 at 11:13 AM   
Filed Under: • Nanny State • UK • Unions-Labor •  
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   Tuesday - July 15, 2008

Firms must promote union membership to win government contracts

Excellent strategy Comradeski. Today England, tomorrow ? Who knows.  Looks like more union bs. They failed to totally ruin the country in the past. (but came close enuff) Well you know the old saying, if at first you don’t swindle, cajole, threaten and succeed ...  lie and browbeat some more til ya do.

By Rupert Neate
Last Updated: 7:42AM BST 15/07/2008

Companies will be told they must promote trade union membership if they want to win government contracts.

Businesses will today be told that they must demonstrate how they will “build good relations” with unions if they are to win a share of the £115 billion worth of public service contracts on offer.

Employees working on government projects in the private sector must also be given literacy and numeracy training if they lack basic skills. The new rules will apply to public-service delivery contracts awarded by central government but not to suppliers of equipment or other goods.

The announcement comes after Unite, Britain’s biggest union, gave guarantees underwriting Labour’s accounts.

Tom Watson, Parliamentary Under Secretary at the Cabinet office, will outline the rules in joint statement between ministers, trade unions and business leaders at Downing Street this morning, before submitting a written statement to parliament.

Mr Watson said: “We all have a challenge to increase the skills of British workers.

“This will help us to improve the employability of British workers in organisations that receive government contracts and deliver on the government’s skills agenda.”

(No Comrade fish breath. It’ll allow unions to force ppl to become members even if they don’t want to. The usual union ploy.)

Public-sector contracts account for nearly 6 per cent of the gross domestic product and employ more than 1.2 million people.

Union membership has halved over the past 25 years. Many large firms that undertake government contracts do deal with unions but the staff of smaller contractors, such as those who operate care homes, are not unionised.

The new rules come as Britain faces a summer of strikes over below-inflation pay increases. Thousands of schools are set to close tomorrow and up to 600,000 council workers will go on strike for 48 hours.

Gordon Brown insisted the government was not bowing to union pressure. The Prime Minister said. “I have made it absolutely clear we are not returning to the 70s or the 80s, we are not returning to the days of secondary picketing, we are not returning to trade union legislation which is written by trade unions themselves.”

http://tinyurl.com/67fhmf

Posted by Drew458     on 07/15/2008 at 01:33 PM   
Filed Under: • Commies • UK • Unions-Labor •  
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   Wednesday - June 18, 2008

Union official is branded a racist in row over ‘wise monkeys’ leaflet

Well here we damn go again with the ism crap.  Racism. Of course. The great bug-a-boo of the late 20th and 21st centuries.

Here’s a case where another idiot, or a group of idiots who obviously have zero education and quite possibly have never been acquainted with the Three Wise Monkeys, has decided to become “offended” by them. 

Read all about it.

http://tinyurl.com/66vgzv

Union official is branded a racist in row over ‘wise monkeys’ leaflet

By Andrew Levy
Last updated at 9:55 PM on 17th June 2008

It is an ancient proverb that seemed to sum up Onay Kasab’s modern grievance perfectly.

So he used ‘see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil’ in the leaflet he circulated about union bosses ignoring members’ concerns.

He even included a sketch of the three wise monkeys which commonly illustrate the phrase.

Unfortunately, those he targeted read the message a little differently - and accused him of a racist slur against a black member of their standing orders committee. Mr Kasab, secretary of Greenwich Unison, in Greater London, is now under investigation and facing expulsion from the public sector union Unison, along with three other members of local branches.

Onay Kasab of Greenwich Unison is threatened with expulsion over his involvement with an alleged racist leaflet

The 40-year-old activist, from Bexley, South East London, said: ‘It’s upsetting that I am accused of racism by my own union.

‘We felt it was an apt image to illustrate our point that the committee were refusing to listen to members’ concerns over issues such as the funding of the Labour Party, the election of full-time officialand control over strike action.

‘But in the conference hall, the Unison president denounced it as racist and when we went to respond the microphone was switched off. We have been gagged and subjected to a witchhunt.

‘I am Turkish-Cypriot and have faced racism, so to be accused of being something I despise is terrible.’

The leaflet was circulated at last year’s June conference in Brighton.

Mr Kasab’s co-accused are Glenn Kelly, secretary of Bromley Unison, Suzanne Muna, secretary of the Housing Corporation Unison branch and Brian Debus, chairman of Hackney Unison.

All four, who are members of the Socialist Party, are awaiting a disciplinary hearing after the end of this year’s conference, which is being held in Bournemouth this week.

The group are now considering legal action, such as an employment tribunal, over their treatment.

A fifth person, Matthew Waterfall, who does not belong to the Socialist Party, was investigated but not charged.

Mr Kasab said: ‘The fact they cleared Mr Waterfall shows that this is motivated by the New Labour supporters in Unison against the Socialist Party.’

He added that thousands of members have signed a petition against their treatment.

The Socialist Party said the reaction was ‘crazy’.

A spokesman said: ‘The leaflet was about the fact that the standing orders committee ruled out something like a third of all resolutions on various grounds.

‘The proverb has no racial connotations and was used by the “No” campaign in the Irish referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. It is about being ignorant of the facts.’

Unison, which represents more than a million public sector workers, yesterday refused to discuss the case in detail.

A spokesman claimed the charges against the members had been ‘ misrepresented’.

She added: ‘There has been an investigation according to union rules and that’s completed. We are in the process of going through the rest of the disciplinary process.

‘We will not go into details of what allegations have been made until the process is completed.’

A BRIEF HISTORY OF A PROVERB
The phrase ‘see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil’ probably came to Japan from Buddhist legend in India and China in the 8th century.
The three wise monkeys are thought to have been used in Japan because of the similarity in Japanese of the negative suffix ‘zaru’ to ‘saru’, meaning monkey.

The proverb acts as a reminder not to be nosy or gossipy but is also used today to refer to someone who turns a blind eye to the immorality of an act in which they are involved.

Posted by Drew458     on 06/18/2008 at 01:42 PM   
Filed Under: • Stoopid-People • UK • Unions-Labor •  
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   Monday - June 16, 2008

Fuel shortages spread as tanker drivers’ strike, gas stations running dry.

Due to past and VERY bitter experiences with unions, I am not too quick to defend them and simply wish they’d go away.
But ... I’m not 100% certain they are to blame for this crises.  More research needed to refute or back up what I’m hearing, so will not make personal comments on this topic.

In our area, there are gas petrol stations with signs out saying that the pumps aren’t working. In other words, they haven’t anything to sell anymore as ppl topped up just before the strike or just after it started.  So far no lines as there isn’t anything to line up for in some areas.

Fuel shortages spread as tanker drivers’ strike enters fourth day
By David Millward, Transport Editor
Last Updated: 3:44PM BST 16/06/2008

Motorists are facing increasing fuel shortages with queuing spreading to several parts of the country as the strike by Shell’s tanker drivers entered its fourth day.

Fuel rationing was imposed by some garages in the South West, while drivers were facing difficulties filling up in parts of Wales, Worcestershire and in the South East.

Alarmingly Shell was not the only retailer to see its pumps running dry. Esso’s garage in Barry, south Wales, was completely out of fuel.

There were long queues reported at the service station at Junction 30 of the M5 near Exeter. 

According to the AA there was also confusion with some garages running out of diesel, while others were unable to supply unleaded petrol.

Elsewhere, a garage in the Gorton area of Manchester has raised prices by 14 pence a litre, charging motorists 129.9 pence for unleaded.

Its prices were on a par with half a dozen remote forecourts on Shetland and the Isle of Wight, which have traditionally charged far more than the national average.

“The impact of the strike is really being felt today particularly in Wales and the South West. In some localised areas motorists are struggling to find fuel,” said Edmund King, the AA’s president.

In the South West the fuel situation was described as “dire” by Ray Holloway, president of the Petrol Retailers Association.

This led several independent retailers to impose limits as low as £10 as they wait for new stocks to arrive, according to the UK Petroleum Industry Association.

“It’s been happening at rural areas,” said a spokesman. “Supplies have been getting quite low away from major centres like Truro.”

The problem had been caused by picketing at a Plymouth refinery which meant that supplies were not only being blocked to Shell forecourts, but other garages were getting embroiled in the dispute.

According to the latest Government figures 647 garages – including 249 Shell outlets – have either run dry completely or had to turn away motorists looking for diesel or petrol.

That number is expected to rise today as the strike by 641 drivers hits home.

Next weekend could be even worse unless a deal is reached between the drivers’ union, Unite and the Shell’s contractors: Hoyer UK and Suckling Transport.

The two sides have restarted talks raising hopes that the dispute, in which the union has submitted a 13 per cent pay claim, could be settled before the next four-day walkout on Friday.

If agreement is not reached, there are fears that next weekend could be even more difficult because of an overtime ban which will run between the walkouts.

http://tinyurl.com/3l82f3

Posted by Drew458     on 06/16/2008 at 11:04 AM   
Filed Under: • Economics • Oil, Alternative Energy, and Gas Prices • UK • Unions-Labor •  
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   Tuesday - November 28, 2006

Union Games At TSA

If the Democrats can’t destroy this country all by themselves they can always count on the unions to help. The AFGE has been fighting to get TS screeners unionized ever since the group was created - in spite of the fact that Congress decided it was not in national security interests to give them the right to walk off the job or strike.

So the AFGE went to Europe and the Swiss-based ILO seeking assistance. Didn’t work. Now, they’re waiting for the Donks to descend on Washington in January and give them the right to unionize TSA screeners. It will probably happen and the TSA screeners will be protected by union bosses and outrageous contracts and if they decide to walk out during a holiday season we’re all screwed.

Isn’t that just a fine mess we’ll be in then? All flights will be grounded ... except those carrying critical members of Congress back and forth between their district and DC. Count on it.

Union Looks to Democrats on TSA Screener Rights
_{(WASHINGTON POST) - Tuesday, November 28, 2006}

Baggage and passenger screeners at the Transportation Security Administration are not allowed to bargain over the terms and conditions of their employment, but the largest federal union hopes to get the Democratic majority in the next Congress to take another look at whether that ban is justified.

The American Federation of Government Employees, headed by John Gage, won a favorable opinion from a Geneva-based, U.N. agency, the International Labor Organization, on the issue of screener rights.

The ILO’s Committee on Freedom of Association, in an opinion this month, said that it was concerned that the TSA’s decision in 2003 to invoke national security considerations to block union representation “may impede unduly upon the rights of these federal employees.”

Screeners, the committee said, are not engaged in “making national policy that may affect security” and are not engaged “in the administration of the state.” Under those criteria, the committee said, TSA’s 45,000 screeners should have collective bargaining rights.

The United States is a member of the ILO, which seeks to set worldwide labor standards. But ILO committee opinions are not binding, and the TSA said that the opinion will not change the agency’s stance toward union representation.

In a statement, the TSA said Congress left it to the agency to decide whether to grant bargaining rights. The leeway to ban unions is contained in the 2001 Aviation Transportation Security Act, which created the agency after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

“Given the critical national security mission of our security officers, collective bargaining is not appropriate, and would reduce TSA’s ability to make changes rapidly in response to threats,” the TSA statement said.

Proposals to allow TSA screeners to unionize have not gained traction in Congress, but AFGE officials hope that will change when Democrats take control of the House and Senate next year. Rep. Nita M. Lowey (D-N.Y.), who lost a vote on an amendment that would have let screeners engage in bargaining, plans to push the issue, her spokeswoman said.

Efforts by the AFGE to overturn the TSA ban through litigation also have been rebuffed by the government and in U.S. courts. A key ruling came in 2003, when a regional director for the Federal Labor Relations Authority, which hears labor-management disputes inside the government, found that screeners were not entitled to a vote on union representation and that “Congress intended to treat security screeners differently than other employees of the agency.”

Posted by The Skipper     on 11/28/2006 at 11:47 AM   
Filed Under: • Democrats-Liberals-Moonbat Leftists • Unions-Labor •  
• Comments (3) • Trackbacks(1)  Permalink •  

   Saturday - April 08, 2006

Flight Plan

_{Mike Lester—Rome (GA) News-Tribune}

Posted by The Skipper     on 04/08/2006 at 10:29 AM   
Filed Under: • Illegal-Aliens and Immigration • Unions-Labor •  
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   Tuesday - February 28, 2006

Collective Bargaining

Question: How many underpaid, overworked government employees does it take to change a light bulb?

Answer: Both of them.

In all seriousness, there has never been a more pampered, benefit-laden job in history. It takes an Act Of Congress to fire a government employee. Their retirement and medical benefits package is something ordinary Americans can only dream of. They don’t need collective bargaining. What they need is a swift kick in the ass like Ronald Reagan did to the air traffic controllers union.

What’s wrong with pay-per-performance or merit-based promotion? In the civilian world that is the rule, not the exception. Why should the “servants of the people” be any different? Who, in their almighty wisdom, decided they should be protected from their own lazy work habits and promoted annually for just showing up every day and keeping a chair warm?

I’m sorry but this is a sore subject with me. I have done an awful lot of government contracting for the Department Of Defense over the years and our work was delayed and pushed into cost overruns on nearly every project by some “Silly Service” creep jerking everybody around, either on requirements or design. Nepotism is rampant and the infighting between various government employees on any project was a sight most mortals should not have to endure.

Collective bargaining is nothing more than an excuse to keep them organized to protect their utterly useless jobs. What they really need is a collective smack up side of their pointy little heads. Grrrrr ....

Court Blocks DOD’s New Rules for Workers
Collective Bargaining Hurt, Judge Says
Tuesday, February 28, 2006

(WASHINGTON POST)

A federal judge blocked the Defense Department from implementing much of its new personnel system yesterday, handing the Bush administration a major setback in its efforts to streamline work rules and install pay-for-performance systems in federal workplaces. In a 77-page decision, U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan ruled that the Pentagon’s National Security Personnel System (NSPS) fails to ensure collective bargaining rights, does not provide an independent third-party review of labor relations decisions and would leave employees without a fair process for appealing disciplinary actions.

“Taken as a whole, the design of these regulations appears to rest on the mistaken premise that Congress intended flexibility to trump collective bargaining rights,” wrote Sullivan, who noted that the new regulations “entirely eviscerate collective bargaining.” The ruling marked the second time in six months that a federal judge has stiff-armed the Bush administration in its ambitious plans to rewrite federal personnel rules to curtail the power of labor unions, more strongly tie pay raises to job performance, and make it easier to hire, promote and discipline federal employees.

The two court decisions mean the new systems at Defense and the Department of Homeland Security—each more than two years in the making, and affecting nearly 800,000 civilian employees—appear destined either for lengthy court appeals or time-consuming revisions. Also in limbo are the administration’s plans to overhaul federal pay at agencies government-wide.

The American Federation of Government Employees and 12 other unions representing more than 350,000 defense employees sued in November challenging the new system. The unions argued it would gut collective bargaining and that Pentagon officials did not meet their obligation, spelled out in the 2003 law that paved the way for the changes, to consult with employees’ representatives in crafting a new labor management system.

“This is a big win,” said AFGE President John Gage. “I think the judge very clearly showed in his decision that this was not collective bargaining by anybody’s definition.” AFGE Assistant General Counsel Joseph Goldberg said the ruling “eviscerates the core of NSPS, leaving but a hollow shell of provisions that simply cannot stand on their own.” It was unclear yesterday whether the Pentagon would appeal, or how the decision would affect the department’s long-term plans to change its pay system, which was not addressed in the lawsuit or the ruling.

“Our attorneys are reviewing Judge Sullivan’s decision at this stage to determine what our next steps will be,” said Joyce Frank, a Pentagon spokeswoman. In August, U.S. District Judge Rosemary M. Collyer ruled against a similar system at the Homeland Security Department, faulting it for undermining employees’ rights to collective bargaining. Collyer blocked implementation of new rules on labor relations and employee appeals, which led DHS officials to delay a new pay system as well. Sullivan cited Collyer’s ruling throughout his decision. DHS has appealed.

Meanwhile, the administration has urged Congress to consider legislation to replace the 15-grade General Schedule pay system government-wide with one that sets broader pay ranges and relies on more stringent annual job evaluations in handing out raises. Bush officials say such changes are necessary to make agencies more effective, and that new personnel systems at Defense and Homeland Security are essential to making both more nimble in the struggle against terrorism. Unions have contended that the changes are about gutting the power of unions, not improving national security.

- More on this story here ...

Posted by The Skipper     on 02/28/2006 at 09:54 AM   
Filed Under: • Judges-Courts-Lawyers • Unions-Labor •  
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   Saturday - December 24, 2005

More Union Madness

This time it’s in Britain. Again, it is transit workers. What’s up with these people? They pick the busiest time of the year to throw a monkey wrench into the whole holiday season? And for what? The buttheads want a 35-hour work week! The tube workers in London are planning to walk off the job on New Years Eve, which will probably increase the number of drunk drivers on the streets. How freaking stupid can a union get ...

Drunk-driver Fear Over Tube strike
LONDON (BBC)

Drunk-driving could increase if a Tube strike goes ahead on New Year’s Eve, the chairman of London Assembly’s transport committee has warned. Roger Evans also called for a no-strike agreement to keep London Underground (LU) running. Rail Maritime and Transport (RMT) union members voted five to one for strike in a dispute over staffing levels.

The 24-hour walkout by 4,000 staff is set to start at noon. Last minute talks on Friday between RMT officials and Tube chiefs failed to reach a deal through the conciliation service Acas. LU station staff have also voted for another 24-hour walkout starting on 8 January.

But speaking to the BBC, Nigel Holness, LU service director, said there are plans for further talks on Thursday - two days ahead of the proposed industrial action. Speaking to Radio Four’s Today programme, Mr Evans said the strike posed a real danger to Londoners.

“There may be an increase in the amount of drinking and driving,” he said. “There will certainly be an increase in the number of illegal minicabs which are a problem we have in London. It just seems irresponsible for the union to call a strike for New Year’s Eve.”

London mayor Ken Livingstone condemned the RMT for “trying to ruin New Year’s Eve for thousands of Londoners” after the peace talks broke down. The RMT fears LU plans, which include closing ticket offices, could lead to job losses and compromise safety. Last December the RMT agreed a deal which would effectively create a 35-hour week for Tube station staff but RMT’s General Secretary Bob Crow said LU was using the deal to “displace hundreds of safety-critical station staff”.

The deal was something the RMT had campaigned for. LU said there were no plans to cut any jobs on the Tube. Transport for London had already announced the continuous running of the Tube with it being free from 2345 GMT on New Year’s Eve until 0430 GMT on New Year’s Day.

Posted by The Skipper     on 12/24/2005 at 07:07 AM   
Filed Under: • Unions-Labor •  
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   Thursday - December 22, 2005

NYC Transit Strike: The Naked City

This is the Naked City. There are seven million stories in the naked city. Our story tonight is only one of them and concerns a one-legged man and an evil, despicable, hateful, mean-spirited, greedy, shameless, criminal ... transit union. So grab your crutches and let’s hop into this story ...

ONE-LEGGED MAN:
‘IT’S NOT THE WAY I WANT TO GET TO WORK’
December 22, 2005
(NEW YORK POST)

Jim Meek has only one leg. But he has a wife and a son to support, so he walked three miles to work yesterday. Using crutches, the determined 52-year-old TV engineer trudged over the Brooklyn Bridge from his home in Park Slope to a free-lance job at 14th Street and Fifth Avenue. “The cold wasn’t pleasant,” he said. He downplayed his torturous trek by saying he wore “long underwear and good winter clothes” to keep warm.

“I’m comfortable walking — I’m used to it,” said the native Midwesterner, who walked across the bridge for the first time yesterday. “I do it to keep myself in shape. But it’s not the way I want to get to work.” Meek, who lost his left leg in an electrical accident 30 years ago, said he usually takes the F train. Although he’s not the type to complain about his handicap, he was happy to gripe about the transit union’s decision.

“What’s the point of this strike?” Meek asked. “Elderly people can’t get home care. Their nurses can’t get to them. Meek, who took two hours to get to work yesterday, said he’s also disturbed by the union’s insistence that workers be permitted to retire at 55. The strapping 53-year-old said that would mean he’d be close to retirement — and he’d never consider throwing in the towel so young. Another commuter, Jason Gibbs of The Bronx, griped about his “horrendous” 6 hour and 15 minute trek to work in Jamaica, Queens.

The 29-year-old social worker left his home on Gun Hill Road in The Bronx at 5:45 a.m., met a friend and shared a cab to the Metro North station at 125th Street in Harlem. After catching a train to Grand Central Terminal, he took PATH trains to the World Trade Center. Then he walked across the Brooklyn Bridge and took the Long Island Rail Road to Jamaica ($4), where he caught a Green Line bus ($2) to his office.

“It was a real headache,” he said. Ginger Ware spent hours in traffic — atop a tour bus with 20 relatives, all of them from hurricane-ravaged Biloxi, Miss. “We had traffic problems from Hurricane Katrina, but nothing like this,” she said. “It’s a circus here.” Ware, 48, said she and her family “came to New York to get away from the mess at home. We had seen as much devastation as we could stand.”

But after sightseeing in Chinatown, they boarded a tour bus heading back to Midtown and spent two hours stuck in traffic. “And then one of the children had to go to the bathroom,” she said. “It’s been an unbelievable journey — it would be a wonderful experience, if not for the strike,” she said.

Posted by The Skipper     on 12/22/2005 at 02:03 PM   
Filed Under: • Unions-Labor •  
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