Nasty Little Man

Wal-Mart: Exhibit A for the need for unions

So it's real easy to hate on unions these days with the NYC transit strike, and, of course, the propaganda machine has been in full gear against the striking workers. Then along comes Wal-Mart to remind us all why we need unions.

Jury backs Wal-Mart workers

These days workers often tangle with their employers over health insurance, salary, and retirement. But not Wal-Mart. W-M is so stuck in the Dark Ages its employees can't even find time to grab a bite of a PB&J. And it goes beyond lunch breaks.

(Attorney Chris Lebsock) said the employees also allege they were denied rest breaks and that Wal-Mart managers deliberately altered time-cards to keep people from earning overtime.

If someone had worked 41 hours in a week, which ordinarily would qualify for an hour of overtime, Wal-Mart would subtract an hour from the time card or move the extra hour onto the following week's pay period, Lebsock said.

Workers who forgot to punch out their time cards at the end of the day also were cheated, Lebsock said. Instead of paying them for all the hours they worked, he said, the company would mark their time cards as if they had gone home hours before they actually did.

"They do it electronically," Lebsock said. "It's unbelievable."

Nice.

Wal-Mart Watch

Back to NYC, on the first day of the strike, NBC quoted a woman who complained that the transit workers retire at age 55 and she doesn't. Let's break this down scientifically.
A. Union transit workers collect retirement at 55.
B. This lady, presumably a non-union worker, doesn't.
Solution? Go union!

And lest anyone thinks the pension issue is insignificant, here's evidence that workers have to scratch and claw for whatever they can get:
Nearly 1 in 10 pension plans said frozen

I worked in a union shop where management wanted to lower the salary for future workers. It's a classic union busting tactic. When new workers come in, resentment builds over the disparity in benefits and infighting occurs.

TWU workers make $30,000-$55,000 per year. There was a day when you could drive a bus and support a family. Try supporting a family in New York City on $30,000. Heck, try supporting a family in Harrisburg on $30,000.

I feel bad for the people of NYC who had to put up with it, but the TWU absolutely did the right thing. Come to think of it, if the economy of NYC relies so heavily on public transportation, maybe it's worth it to give the people who drive you to work every day nice benefits. Show some appreciation. You depend on them.

posted by Kinder Gentler Little Man @ 12:46 PM