Any Town, USA

All union organizers, myself included, believed that we made a difference in the lives of the workers. I believed I helped, and most importantly, the worker believed it too. My promises were sincere. I knew the issues and knew how to make the worker feel included in the organizing process. The union was the workers, not me or the other unionofficials.

My job was to give them ownership and control over their campaign. Again, the illusion was that they would have a “voice”, they would meet with management and get what they wanted. Management was the workers’ enemy, and therefore became my enemy. The union campaign became the battleground, a chess game, and I never lost. My job was to do whatever it took to win, which was a simple task when I won over the trust of theworkers. The workers looked to me for the answers. I never really had any, but always provided them with the ability to hope. Read More “Setting: Union Hall”

In January of this year, Hostess filed for bankruptcy, just three years after emerging from their previous bankruptcy with ninety-three billion dollars in sales. This is compelling news, especially since the Teamsters are threatening to strike Hostess while in their weakened condition. The union is refusing to accept concessions as the company is trying to negotiate to maintain the ability to operate and show profitability. In essence, the Teamstersare willing to take Hostess to the brink of destruction and beyond if they don’t get what they want. Read More “Redemption through Pain”

Rise to Power… Fall from Power – The Union Sell Out

As the debate about public sectorunions heats up we are hearing more stories about the abuse of power within the unions and how it affects the communities they serve and how this affects the people who these unions represent. Most organizers and local union officers start off with good intent. In the beginning, they truly feel they are doing a service for their coworkers and the community. Most local union officers never get to rub shoulders with international union bigwigs but for those who do start to move up, it can be a dramatic experience. Read More “Public Sector Union Leaders and Their Agenda”

In my past, I worked as a high-ranking union official and National Organizing Director within the union machine. Back then; we would set our sights on the easiest targets to quickly raise our membership levels. There were many circumstances that factored into our decision ofwhether or not to accept an organizing request from the employees. It could have been an issue involving layoffs in a facility, changes in benefits, regional politics, and safety issues.Sometimes these issues were a concern throughout an entire industry. Then the whole industry became the “low hanging fruit”. Read More “Organizing on the Killing Floor”

Taking Advantage of Exposed Pressure Points

For those who have read Confessions before, you already know that I spent many years serving as an Organizing Director with the Teamsters and Steelworkers and have writtenabout how I was the conductor in an orchestra of chaos during campaigns. The campaigns that were the most fun (before I was on your side) were organizing workers in a hospital environment. There were so many sensitive pressure points that we would make jokes behind closed doors about how we would get hospital leadership to bow down to our demands. Read More “Organizing in Healthcare”

It Really Was This Easy

EMS companies are all very vulnerable to organization, because public opinion and perception of them is critical to their success and ridiculously easy to attack. Read More “Organizing Emergency Medical Services”

All of the tactics used to sway the employees to unionize were based on deception, but there were specific times in my career when that deception reached levels that weremost shocking.
Read More “Immigrant Workforce; An Easy Target”

As a Hispanic professional, I have been paying close attention to the mix of labor news and immigration news recently. I have realized that unions are making immigration reform part of their platform for “a better workforce” in America. Having worked as a union organizer early in my move to the U.S., I know exactly what the unions think about immigrant workers. To the union’s, immigrant workers are a “low hanging fruit” in their organizing efforts. They use immigration status as a tool to coerce and intimidate workers into signing cards.They may not do it directly (in some cases they do it directly, but this is not theirfirst choice), but they have become masters at using government agencies to do it for them indirectly. This tactic involves the sacrifice of many workers who are trying to support their families. Thisis why I am compelled to write this “Confession” of a real life incident that caused me to leave the union permanently. Read More “How Unions Indirectly Coerce Immigrant Workers Through The Federal Government”

Holding meetings was and always will be a essential task for a effective union organizer. For me these meetings were mandatory in order to be effective and a requirement for all the employees who wanted unions. They may not have known that the meetings were “required” initially, but learned quickly that it was easier to attend than to get a visit from my team. These meetings were my way of gathering the masses with one objection. My goal was to get them to sign a petition or check cards to organize. Read More “How An Organizer Gets Signatures”

Living’ it up at the Hotel, bringing their alibis and stabbing with their steely knives. Once unions are in, you can checkout, but they will never leave.

Unions historically had a difficult time organizing hotel- and associated service-workers, despite the fact that they are generally paid lower wages and work with higher demands than most other workers. They have a lower level of sophistication when it comes to fighting management without union assistance, but they comprise one of the most resourceful and ready-to-fight categories of non-unionized workers. Bad management have no one but themselves to blame in many situations as they have become complacent in their mistreatment of employees. The ample supply of low-skilled workers feed both of these issues as managers can quickly and easily replace any employee who even appears to be organizing. Read More “Hotel California”