Do I assume these union employees are AFSCME from the union that repreents so many of the gubment workers?? What this union is doing will give a black eye to all their employees, makes the good ones look bad to the benefit of others.
In a time of absolute crisis their true colors show loud and clear. How disgusting. Instead of filing a grievance because they didn't get called, let's ask how many of them came and donated their time like hundred of other people?
As a professional (union) firefighter, perhaps I can shed some light on this debate.
First, I didn't see any mention of city workers interfering with the sandbagging, so it appears there was no delay in providing the service.
Second, filing a grievance is nothing extraordinary -- it's simply the formal means by which a contract violation is alleged.
Third, the union will only win its grievance if the City did indeed violate the contract it freely negotiated.
Finally, it is true that public sector jobs are much more likely unionized than private sector jobs, and it's no coincidence that public sector wages and benefits haven't lost ground against inflation the way private sector wages have -- so perhaps the real question that private sector workers should be asking themselves is "Why aren't I in a union?"...
Why am I not in a union hmmmm because I am not a lazy thug pretty simple when you come right down to it.
Unions exist to do a few things protect drunks and drug addicts and to give worthless union officials a pay check. The minute union reps started to just be union reps and stopped working their normal "jobs"
Funny all those people in right to work states seem to be doing all right.
Funny is is all the gubberment jobs that are still unionized the public sector has figured out unions are a death sentence ask Ford and GM
All decent points, firelawyer, although your last one sounds like a partial truth to me - some jobs have lost ground to inflation, but hardly all.
But none of that makes this particular union's action any more palatable. You should see the letters to the editor in my local paper.
I should add: the one actual city worker quoted in the story didn't like it, either.
Actually, unions exist so the boss can't fire the squeaky wheels (about pay, benefits, job safety, etc).
The fact that they sometimes protect weaker workers is a side-effect of their purpose -- not their purpose itself.
They also exist so the employer must fairly negotiate the value of their work, and not simply engage in a race to the bottom.
And Ford and GM might be doing better if they began focusing on fuel-efficient vehicles back in the 80's, when everyone else in the world figured out they'd be popular, instead of being surprised when they have an inventory of big SUVs that they can't sell...
Firelawyer: 20/20 hindsight is wonderful. No one wanted to buy fuel efficient vehicles in the 1980's.
Most of those tin cans are not very safe in an accident at highway speeds.
Generally, public (government) unions do more harm than good. Politicians, unlike businessmen, will not shut down a plant or curtail a service if they can't make a profit. Government just keeps demanding that taxpayers pay more to feed the union members.
And then there are the teachers unions whose members (or family) dominate most school boards, so it's tax, tax, tax. Avery symbiotic relationship that doesn't help the poor taxpayer.
Fire Lawyer put down your copy of the Jungle Upton Sinclair is dead ok
If you are a productive worker with any drive a union will only hold you back and try to force you to conform to the union work standard you would not want to make your lazy union brothers look bad would you.
I grew up in a union house hold so I got to see this madness from the inside.
Funny Toyota put an awful lot of effort in bringing out a full size pick up truck because that is what people were buying
And I will believe to the end that the Unions will destroy Ford and GM before it is all done.
I've driven a Toyota Prius for 4 years now -- safe, efficient, and 95% owner satisfaction.
I would have liked to buy an American hybrid but - you guessed it - there were none at the time.
Now the American automakers are trying to play catch-up with hybrid technology, as they offer $10,000 rebates on their pickups and SUVs.
And, to the poster who argued that politicians never curtail a service, you obviously haven't noticed that - with the latest round of staffing cuts - Milwaukee will be protected by 10% fewer firefighters and paramedics than on Sept 11, 2001.
For all you commuters who work in Milwaukee but don't pay any taxes to support its services, please try to ignore that crushing chest pain at your desk, and wait until you get back to the 'burbs to have your heart attack.
Thanks!
"please try to ignore that crushing chest pain at your desk, and wait until you get back to the 'burbs to have your heart attack."
Hmmmmm, wishing that those who disagree with him/her to have a heart attack and die, sounds exactly like a tolerant compassionate liberal union lawyer. Way to represent. Want my addy so you can send a gang over and rough me up for not thinking how I'm told?
Wishing that someone has a heart attack?
That's plain goofy...
As a paramedic, I KNOW that people will have heart attacks.
I just wish our City leaders would have the courage to stand up for adequate funding of the EMS system required to save those peoples' lives.
And, perhaps, to explore things like a wheel tax, so non-residents who use our services can help pay for them...
Unions do have a legitimate useful purpose, but like any primarily self interested organization, they often overstep their bounds and put themselves ahead of society. That is how our individualistic society works, each striving for their own. The system is supposed to make sure things get somewhat balanced. The thing is, unions have a lot of power and when they get greedy, the results are ugly. I grew up in a union town, so I appreciate the good they do for the workplace, but I've also seen undeniably despicable ugliness.
Maybe the unions are trying to make a point here, but they really should suck it up and let this one go.
Good column Lance.
Its called a CONTRACT. Somebody had to pick up the phone to call the fire department. Who in the chain of command failed to call the Dept of Public Works as well (for FIVE days)? Five days of filling sand bags may still constitute an "emergency" situation, but its also a significant amount of time and wages lost. And as a volunteer firefighter, I can say that in a flood situation, there are other matters they probably should have been attending to, and even if not, they should have been SUPPLEMENTAL to the Dept of Public Works, and not a REPLACEMENT.
The Union WORKERS are demanding their pay based on a breach of contract. The UNION has filed a grievance based on that. Whether or not anybody can fill sandbags, when you have a CONTRACT, it is supposed to be honored. When its not, you take it up the right way.
Do I think the union workers should be paid (especially overtime) for work they didn't do? NO.
Do I think they have a valid grievance if they feel their contract has been violated? Since its their legal right, YES.
Do I think there should be implications and fallout based on the findings of that grievance? YES.
They're not suing the city in civil court (yet); they're not picketing or striking to get their way. They filed a grievance. They have every legal right to do so.
And 3 paragraphs cloned from a news article and not the original filing itself, with no link to the original, just so you can take the parts you want to make your ill-conceived point and ignore the rest, is a lot more shady than a Union filing a grievance over their contract.
And wow did i not look at date stamps...stupid twitter links....
This is precisely why I hate labor unions and will never join one!
RIGHT TO WORK!!
...and to add one more (well maybe two) point(s); the most idiotic and depraved person I ever had the displeasure of serving with as a mobilized Army Reservist was a union steward (my God) and the brightest and best people I've met who've had the unfortunate experience of belonging to a union tell me that they would never ever join one again...nuff said.
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