Nonunion crews turned away from Sandy recovery

[Rickster71]

Typical, yet sad to hear.
Decatur Utilities: Nonunion AL crews turned away from Sandy - WAFF-TV: News, Weather and Sports for Huntsville, AL

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

couldn't agree more with top comment:

I think the areas receiving non-union help will recover MUCH sooner than those controlled by unions.

 

[Irvrobinson]

It goes beyond sad, it's immoral. Every union leader in the country who knows what's good for them should be vocally and publically denouncing this stupidity. This is no time for behavior like this, and it should be punished quickly and decisively.

 

[markw]

Screw the poor, powerless, shivering, people of the state. It's preserving job security.

Glad to see you got power, Rick.

 

[GO-NAD!]

From CBC.ca:

Canadian utility crews pitch in
Utility workers from several provinces are helping to restore power in parts of the U.S., including:

25 workers from Nova Scotia Power in Connecticut.
40 workers from NB Power in northeast U.S.
145 workers from Ontario's Hydro One heading to Massachusetts.
200 workers from Hydro Quebec sent to Vermont and New Hampshire.

I think these guys are all union.

 

[Adam]

It goes beyond sad, it's immoral. Every union leader in the country who knows what's good for them should be vocally and publically denouncing this stupidity. This is no time for behavior like this, and it should be punished quickly and decisively.

I absolutely agree. I have no firm opinion on unions or their place in this world, but those particular individuals who turned away help were so far on the side of wrong that they need to be dealt with. I'm sure that, as they were working somewhere on some street and talking with folks that showed up from out of state, they had no idea that it would hit the media - but it's what you do when you think that no one is watching that shows your real character.

 

[KEW]

Hard to believe this is the first time something like this has happened and made the media, but God willing, it might be the last!

 

[slipperybidness]

Unions have gotten way too powerful. I'm sure they started as a good thing but have take a downward spiral quick.

I have worked in a union chemical plant as a contractor, and it sucks.

In a union plant, each group has specific jobs, and only that group can do that job.

I was working in a union plant collecting air emissions data from smoke stacks. Friday afternoon rolls around and we are finished with our job, time to pack up and go home for the weekend. The union guy that worked with us for the EPA regs had to call another team to go up the stack and get our probe out etc. Well, the foreman of that team was pissed off at the EPA reg guy for some reason and refused to come get our probe out. Which in theory would stick us out of town for the weekend and make us charge the company for that.

I had plans that weekend. I told the boss "I'm going up to get everything else and disconnecting the sample line from the probe and leaving the probe in there for the union guys to deal with on Monday". Boss says "Do it". We left behind a $500 stainless steel alloy probe due to their BS and never looked back. Of course we charged that to them.

 

[majorloser]

I hate union. But let's not get me started on that subject.

EDIT: it looks like the story may be false

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2012/11/non-union_utility_crews_welcom.html

 

[Irvrobinson]

Unions have gotten way too powerful.

This unfortunate incident aside, private sector unions are actually less powerful now than they have been in decades. (Public sector unions are another story altogether.) As a former AFL-CIO member myself, I've been of a mind that you can't really appreciate unions until you've experienced a union's fostering of anti-company attitudes, walked a picket line, been laid off solely due to lack of seniority, or seen first-hand the anti-meritocracy we're-all-the-same attitude in full force.

It's too bad, because unions could be a positive force for improving the employee population, maximizing the employee voice in company decision-making, and be a positive partner in a company's success. Instead unions have become more often forces of inefficiency, higher costs, and adversarial to the company's success.

 

[Irvrobinson]

I hate union. But let's not get me started on that subject.

EDIT: it looks like the story may be false

Non-union utility crews from out of state can work in N.J., power companies say | NJ.com

Exactly the butt-covering I predicted...

 

[markw]

I hate union. But let's not get me started on that subject.

EDIT: it looks like the story may be false

Non-union utility crews from out of state can work in N.J., power companies say | NJ.com

Not according to the original story in the Newark Star Ledger. I read it earlier and it was as initially reported by Rick. The Star Ledger echoed the facts as reported in the Alabama newspaper.

The Star Ledger changed it.

Please note that the original story was edited within the last hour.

The Newark Star Ledger is not most impartial, trustworthy, or ethical, newspaper on the market and have an exceedingly liberal bent and are not adverse to altering facts as suits their needs.

 

[Rickster71]

I hate union. But let's not get me started on that subject.

EDIT: it looks like the story may be false

Non-union utility crews from out of state can work in N.J., power companies say | NJ.com

As was mention earlier, it's the company covering it's butt.

There is no possible way the management would know if a few union crews threatened non-union crews while out in the field.
I've worked non-union in the electronics and electrical professions long enough to know how it works.

 

[Rickster71]

I'm laughing so hard I had to wait a few minutes before I posted this line from that article:
“The reason we’re not working with the New Jersey system is that they had all the crews they could handle,” he said.

It's total BS

Long story short.
I helped deliver and install a 200 Kva generator yesterday. I saw with my own eyes, there are towns that haven't had any assistance yet.

That (second, cover their butt) news story wants people to believe the crews drove past almost 1,800 miles of devastated NJ coastline. (Because they weren't needed)

 

[JerryLove]

1. There's no indication it's "typical". Please resist such inflammatory a comment without support.

2. There's indication that the article isn't even particularly true in this case.

3. Unions are like companies. There are good ones and bad ones.

4. Many people who are anti-union (as opposed to opposing specific unions or specific union actions), I think, fail to appreciate the atrocities from which unions arose. It feels like opposing police over-reach by wanting to get rid of all law enforcement.

 

[markw]

1. There's no indication it's "typical". Please resist such inflammatory a comment without support.

2. There's indication that the article isn't even particularly true in this case.

3. Unions are like companies. There are good ones and bad ones.

4. Many people who are anti-union (as opposed to opposing specific unions or specific union actions), I think, fail to appreciate the atrocities from which unions arose. It feels like opposing police over-reach by wanting to get rid of all law enforcement.

You haven't worked in the New Jersey area in union-related fields, have you?

You hould try setting up displays for shows in the Jacob Javitz center in NYC. You can't even lay out an extention cord. You have to call a union guy to do it. ...no joke.

 

[JerryLove]

You haven't worked in the New Jersey area in union-related fields, have you?

You hould try setting up displays for shows in the Jacob Javitz center in NYC. You can't even lay out an extention cord. You have to call a union guy to do it. ...no joke.

As I said: Some unions are good and some are bad; just like companies, people, and everything else.

I've seen some of the excesses, greed, and stupidity of unions on visits north. I've also seen unions doing exactly what they are supposed to do. (Mom's a teacher and in the teacher's union; dad's never in my life been in a union, and though some of my employers have unionized employees; I've never been in one either.

 

[Rickster71]

1. There's no indication it's "typical". Please resist such inflammatory a comment without support.

Pedanticism aside.
Seems to me, you'd have to know my life's experiences to know what I know, as to what's "typical."

 

[Rickster71]

1. There's no indication it's "typical". Please resist such inflammatory a comment without support.

Really?
Can you direct us to links or examples to where unions have taken a liking to "Scabs?"

 

[bikemig]

I doubt we'll resolve this issue until the election is held this Tuesday and maybe not even then the way things are going,