TTC workers creating work-to-rule campaign against customer complaints

February 8, 2010 by PEA Blogger

Members of the Amalgamated Transit Union working for the Toronto Transit Commission start a work to rule campaign today against a public backlash. Recently, photos and videos of transit workers sleeping on the job, stopping mid-route to buy a coffee at the gas station, and other “work misdemeanours” have surfaced and become viral on the internet causing the TTC to send a “shape-up” memo to all 12,000 employees. To combat this, transit workers have started their own campaign on Facebook about abusive customers and are working to rule as of today:

TTC employees poised to work to rule after being told to shape up

Toronto Transit Commission workers, stung by rising public ire and a weekend rebuke from their boss over recent customer-service gaffes, appear poised to push back with a work-to-rule campaign starting Monday.

Talk of the job action circulated on a new Facebook page titled “Toronto Transit Operators agains public harassment,” where workers have begun posting photos of rider misdeeds in clear response to recent internet images of TTC workers sleeping on the job and stopping mid-route to get coffee. The workers’ photos include shots of transit vehicles littered with papers, trash and beer bottles and riders with their feet up on the seats.

The Facebook group has since been limited to members only, which means people have to be approved to view its content.

“Reminder to work to rule on Monday. Check out ATU site,” someone named Ruth posted on Facebook around 8 p.m. last night. The Amalgamated Transit Union’s Toronto website carried no public word of the job action, but parts of the site are accessible only to TTC workers.

A union spokesman had no comment, and a call to union president Bob Kinnear went to a voice-mail message in which the labour leader said he would be unavailable “for a number of days.”

The union action follows a blunt shape-up memo, sent Saturday from TTC chief general manager Gary Webster to all 12,000 employees.

In his missive, written after he consulted with TTC chairman and mayoral candidate Adam Giambrone, Mr. Webster told workers he is “becoming increasingly tired of defending the reputation of the TTC; tired of explaining what is acceptable and what is not; and tired of stating the obvious: that much of the behaviour being reported is, indeed, unacceptable.”

Mr. Webster wrote that “employees need to be held accountable for their poor performance” and reminded them that “this public transit agency belongs to the very people we serve.”

In nine days, frustrated transit users will find out how the TTC intends to put the brakes on what appears to be a runaway train of customer-service problems. Commission staff will report “on the start of a plan to address the customer service issues” on Feb. 17, Mr. Giambrone told The Globe and Mail last night.

“What is needed at TTC is a change in how it thinks about customer service and I believe there needs to be fundamental changes,” Mr. Giambrone wrote in an e-mail. “At a retreat in the last week, the TTC commissioners gave feedback to the TTC staff and a direction to report to the next commission meeting.”

The report will come well before the June 30 deadline Mr. Giambrone announced late last month for a new blue ribbon panel to make suggestions on service improvements, which reflects the growing urgency of the problem. The panel was set up after a photo of a subway fare collector asleep in his booth went viral on the internet.

Asked if Mr. Webster’s memo could backfire by alienating TTC workers, Mr. Giambrone answered indirectly: “The great majority of TTC workers are hard working and want to do a good job. I believe they want to see the TTC succeed as I do. As the Chair, I expect the TTC to work with its employees to improve customer service.”

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Superbowl Sunday Story: Hyundai employees to appear in Super Bowl ads

February 7, 2010 by PEA Blogger

From Montgomery Advertiser:

Hyundai plans to use Brett Favre, classical music, conspicuous consumption and a sample of more than 3,000 workers at Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama during its Super Bowl Sunday television advertising blitz.

All of that is to launch the 2011 Sonata, which began rolling off the Montgomery assembly line almost two months ago and is expected at dealerships within weeks.

Hyundai plans two in-game spots as well as several before the game and one after the game.

Two of the spots were filmed in Montgomery in December, including one that makes it clear the Sonata is made in Montgomery. That one shows dozens of plant employees who appear to be carrying an incomplete Sonata through the plant.

In each scene the car is more complete, until finally the employees set it down in the shipping parking lot as a complete car.

That spot is expected to air shortly before kickoff.

Lance Kinney, a professor of advertising at the University of Alabama, said the spot is not typical for a Super Bowl but that it will likely be effective for several reasons.

“It features employees and shows the employees that you are proud of what they do,” he said.

Some employees at the plant got a preview of the finished spot on Monday. Those who were part of December’s filming watched every frame, hoping to catch a glimpse of themselves.

Lisa Hill, an administrative assistant in the plant’s public relations department, was one of the lucky ones. Her face is clearly visible in one of the ad’s early scenes.

She said she didn’t burn up the phones calling family and friends to make sure they watch on Sunday, but she did score points at home.

“My kids think I am a lot cooler now that I am going to be in a commercial,” she said.

It was hard for Hill to comprehend how the two long, cold days of filming in December boiled down to 30 seconds.

“I have a new respect for what goes into that,” she said. “When I watch a movie now, I will wonder how many takes went into filming each scene.”

Overall, Hill said the spot does a good job of showing off the Montgomery plant.

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Weekend story: Might office gossip be good for you?

February 6, 2010 by PEA Blogger

From CTV:

Pssst, did you hear that gossip in the workplace can actually be beneficial?

That’s the word from researchers at Indiana University who detail in a recent article how the rumor mill can provide insight into workplace politics and power. At the same time, gossip can subtly undermine those on the receiving end.

Talking trash is hardly a modern invention. It’s been around for ages, dating back to caveman days, when sharing information about others (Is he faithful? Is she a hard worker?) contributed to basic survival.

In ancient Egypt a hieroglyph from 1550 B.C. detailed the spread of gossip and suggested ways to curtail it. The Romans also partook: In Scorpion Tongues: The Irresistible History of Gossip in American Politics, Gail Collins notes that Mark Antony spread word that Caesar Augustus assumed the throne by bedding Julius Caesar.

Although gossip has garnered a bad reputation, various researchers have pointed out that it’s not always bad for you. It forges connections, builds trust, provides a means of learning unwritten social norms and offers a way of comparing ourselves with others.

“The fact that people automatically think gossip is bad is a bad rap,” says Frank McAndrew, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at Knox College in Galesburg, Ill. “Gossip is a social skill. Think of it less like there are people who gossip and people who don’t. There are people who are good gossipers and people who aren’t.”

Its origins can be traced to prehistoric times, when people lived in small groups and success in those groups — attracting a mate, establishing status, getting dibs on the fruits of a hunt — depended on getting the scoop on your neighbors.

“Those who weren’t good at gossip were eventually weeded out,” says McAndrew. “Those of us on this planet are descended from people who were good at it. It’s hardwired in us.”

At the office, gossip creates camaraderie. “If someone shares gossip with you, it bonds you together,” says McAndrew. “It creates trust. If you’re not in the loop, you feel ostracized.”

From a manager’s perspective, water cooler chatter can also serve a useful social function by keeping employees in line. For example, if you know your boss will start a whisper campaign every time you show up late, you’re more likely to put your nose to the grindstone.

“People get hung [up] on whether gossip is a good or bad thing,” says Timothy Hallett, Ph.D., an assistant professor of sociology at Indiana University and an expert in the dynamics of gossip in the workplace. “A lot depends on perspective.” If you’re on the receiving end, it can feel malicious and exclusionary. But idle talk can also be a valuable weapon and outlet for an already frustrated workforce.

When you’re not the leader, says Donna Eder, Hallett’s colleague and co-author of a paper, “Strategies of Adult Gossip,” you don’t have as much power to express yourself directly. “In the work setting, it can be a tool of the oppressed,” she says. Eder asserts that gossip is neither good nor bad; rather “it is complex.”

Truth is, being on the inside track is tempting, explains McAndrew, “Although everyone seems to detest a person who is known as a gossip and few people would use that label to describe themselves, it is an exceedingly unusual individual who can walk away from a juicy story about one of his or her acquaintances, and all of us have firsthand experience with the difficulty of keeping spectacular news about someone else a secret,” he wrote in Scientific American Mind.

Not everyone agrees with McAndrew’s perspective, of course. Beth Weissenberger of executive and personal coaching company The Handel Group, maintains gossip is never the way to go. “Our philosophy is ‘the truth is sexy,’ so I don’t think I’m ever going to think that gossip works in the workplace,” says Weissenberger, who coaches clients on how to be better leaders.

Gossiping about impending layoffs rarely serves a purpose, she insists; instead, it just ramps up the fear factor. “When there is something going on in a company, we tell bosses they should just say what’s going on.”

After all, stressful situations only power the rumor mill. A survey conducted in 2008 by the Society for Human Resource Management found that 54 per cent of human resources professionals had documented an uptick in gossip or rumors about recession-related downsizing or layoffs. The solution? Improve communication. The more employees know, the less they’ll need to speculate.

There’s no denying that gossip can serve as an outlet for frustrated workers. And it can empower the oppressed. On the other hand, it’s very easy for gossip to get out of control — and that, you might say, is when good gossip turns bad.

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Colin Hansen says it Bad time to seek new pension plan

February 5, 2010 by PEA Blogger

Colin Hansen says it’s a bad time to introduce new pensions plans since employers would be weary to contribute any differently than they currently do:

Bad time to seek new pension plan: BC finance minister:

Federal and provincial governments would be wise to hold off launching any new supplemental pension plan for Canadians until the fragile economic recovery has taken root, according to British Columbia Finance Minister Colin Hansen.

Hansen says employers are unlikely to want to contribute to any supplementary retirement savings initiative until their financial bottom lines have improved, meaning governments have breathing room to craft an effective, national plan to help those who are not saving enough for a decent retirement.

“In the launch of a plan like this, I think, the timing is going to be very important to its success,” Hansen told Canwest News Service.

“We need to proceed with getting this plan designed and ready to launch, and ideally, if that is going to take us two years or maybe even longer, that might actually just hit the economic cycle, bang on.”

Hansen said he suspects that if a voluntary pension plan to top up retirement savings was ready to roll out now, many employers would opt out on grounds they couldn’t handle the extra costs.

Hansen said, however, he hopes federal and provincial finance ministers will agree on the guts of a new national plan at their next meeting in May so the premiers will have a recommendation to consider when they gather for their annual summer retreat in Augusta in Winnipeg.

Between now and May, Ottawa and the provinces will be conducting separate consultations with pension experts and representatives of business, labour, academia and other interested parties in a bid to begin forging a consensus.

A discussion paper — prepared by a team of provincial finance ministers and released last month — focuses on two main options:

- A voluntary supplemental plan to the Canada Pension Plan. Pushed by some pension experts, the idea has won verbal support from several provinces and the federal Liberals under Michael Ignatieff.

- A mandatory hike in employer and employee contributions to the CPP to boost the annual pension well beyond the current maximum of about $9,000. The Canadian Labour Congress, the federal NDP, as well as some groups representing the elderly are among those advocating a mandatory top up to the CPP.

Other options have been tossed around, among them, increased incentives for people to invest in RRSPs and the new tax free savings account or for employers to provide workplace pensions.

Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty has refused to identify any preferences, insisting the Harper government is prepared to consider all options.

Hansen said that as long as progress is being made on a national solution, British Columbia and Alberta are prepared to park their plans to institute a regional supplementary pension.

The push for pension reform is being fuelled by concerns about the three of four workers in the private sector who do not have workplace pensions. Recent studies suggest more than one in five of those earning between $30,000 and $100,000 are not saving enough to retire in comfort.

Federal and provincial politicians say they are particularly worried about younger workers, many of whom are being hired on short-term or renewable contracts with no benefits.

Conservative MP Ted Menzies, the federal government’s designated hitter on pensions, said a national supplementary pension plan could be the answer for what he called the “contractor generation.”

“That might be the only way to fix that gap that we see coming, that frankly wasn’t there 20 years ago,” Menzies said in an interview.

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Should unions be distant from professional associations?

February 4, 2010 by PEA Blogger

A former BCTF union activist was elected to try and bring closer ties with the College of Teachers. However, he’s changed his mind and is saying the BCTF should distance itself to preserve the College as an association acting in the public interest instead of the union’s:

Former union leaders challenge BCTF over college independence:

A longtime union activist has surprised former colleagues by urging the B.C. College of Teachers to break free from the B.C. Teachers’ Federation (BCTF) and end the perception that it acts in the interest of the union rather than the public.

Norm Nichols, who was elected to the college’s governing council in 2007, on a promise of closer ties between the college and the BCTF, said his change of heart was one of the most difficult decisions of his long career as a teacher and union stalwart. He joins two other former union leaders who are also calling for independence so the college can regulate the profession in the public interest, as was intended when it was created in 1988.

That doesn’t sit well with the union, which is urging its members to resist any changes.

Earlier this month, Nichols said in an open letter to teachers that he has “experienced the full fury of some of my union brothers and sisters,” since he bucked the BCTF. “I knew these attacks on my credibility would come. What concerns me most, however, is that they are precisely indicative of the problem that led me to my conclusion in the first place.

“The college must assert its independence.”

Nichols, who says he’s been a union supporter since he started teaching 35 years ago, joins Kit Krieger, a former BCTF president who is now college registrar, and Richard Walker, a former Comox Valley union leader who is chair of the college’s governing council, in this recent, unexpected lobby. They’ve indicated they’re prepared to ask government for a legislative change to ensure the college’s independence.

The issue is to be discussed at a council meeting Wednesday.

In an interview Sunday, BCTF president Irene Lanzinger said teachers are concerned about “rumours” that the three former unionists are trying to limit the BCTF’s involvement in the election of 12 of the 20 college councillors (the other eight are appointed) and end the union’s practice of meeting regularly in private with elected councillors to discuss college business.

Lanzinger said she doesn’t understand the push for independence. “We don’t control the college councillors,” she said. “From my perspective, this is about a problem that doesn’t exist.”

Teachers have a democratic right to be involved in college elections and to associate in private with college councillors, she stated, and BCTF representatives will attend Wednesday’s meeting to defend those rights. Moreover, she said, teachers have the same interest as the public in maintaining high standards for teachers and decertifying anyone who mistreats children.

But Nichols insists elected councillors are perceived as being in a conflict of interest because they are endorsed by the BCTF and are required to meet BCTF executives before college council meetings.

There are more than 30 regulatory bodies in the province, but only the teachers’ college has a tight relationship with a union, Nichols said, adding that he remains loyal to the BCTF, but will not seek a union endorsement if he decides to run for a second term as councillor in the spring.

Walker is one of only a tiny number of college councillors to win election without a BCTF endorsement.

Since he made his decision, Nichols said the BCTF has tried to intimidate him and mobilize teachers against him, but he’s hoping his letter has changed some minds.

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February 3, 2010 by PEA Blogger

After much speculation, Hertz employees took job action on Tuesday over job security. Although they’re hoping for a resolution before the Olympics, they’re not guaranteeing it. If the strike lasts until the 12th, there will be picket lines at YVR and downtown during the games:

Strike Hertz employees and customers

Olympic visitors may have trouble renting a car after Hertz employees took to the picket lines Tuesday afternoon.

The union representing the 51 employees of Hertz Rental Cars says the strike could case widespread disruption at the Vancouver International Airport and at locations in downtown Vancouver as the city gears up for the Games.

“We don’t want to be here when the Olympics are starting,” said Bob Derby, spokesman for Local 378 of the Canadian Office and Professional Employees Union.

“We don’t want to put the face of the world here to show picket signs going around YVR and Hertz. We’re hoping the company will wake up, smell the roses and come back to the table with a proposal we’ll accept.”

Four locations, including two at YVR and two in downtown Vancouver, were immediately shut down Tuesday after the union members turned down a final offer from the car-rental company with a 77-per- cent vote.

Hertz and its employees have been bargaining since October when their collective agreement expired.

Derby said the disagreement has centred on job security, with Hertz aimed to replace full-time employees with part-time workers, laying off long-term employees in order of seniority.

The change would affect everyone from customer-service clerks at the counters to turnaround employees who clean the vehicles and mechanics.

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Is your boss ready for you to come to work during the Olympics?

February 2, 2010 by PEA Blogger

Apparently, half of employers in the Vancouver area have not formulated a plan for their employees to get to or stay at work during the games:

Many local employers are unprepared for the impact Games will have on workers

A quarter of Canada’s employers want their staff to enjoy the 2010 Games, with many planning to permit on-the-job access to online or television viewing, according to a recent survey.

However, the report by global human resources company Hewitt Associates also concluded that nearly half of Metro Vancouver’s employers have not yet formulated business preparedness plans to accommodate employees who commute during the Olympics.

“Of the 123 organizations from across the country that responded to the survey, three-quarters have employees in Vancouver,” the survey said. “Nevertheless, as of early January when the survey was conducted, only 54 per cent had created a business preparedness plan to address the challenges the influx of athletes, spectators and media will present for commuting employees.”

Laura Williams, a consultant in Hewitt’s Vancouver office, said in an interview that she was surprised that nearly half of the Vancouver-area employers hadn’t drawn up plans, despite the advice of groups including VANOC.

“I thought it would be more like three-quarters who had prepared,” she said. “It surprised me. I thought there’d be more organizations with plans in place given the impact on business.

“But I think it’s such an unknown. Because they don’t know what to expect, they don’t know how to prepare.”

Despite that, the survey cited several ways employers are planning — and can still plan — for the Games.

They include suggesting employees use vacation time during the Games, changing work hours so that the day starts and ends earlier, allowing flexible work hours, implementing a reduced workweek or reduced workday, encouraging employees to use public transportation, facilitating car pooling for employees and enabling employees to work from home.

Williams said Hewitt Associates has about 100 employees working in downtown Vancouver.

“We’re encouraging employees to take public transit and to adjust their hours. A number are working from home.”

One company that started implementing a business preparedness plan early is Telus, B.C.’s largest private-sector employer, which among other things plans to take 1,000 vehicles off the road during the Games by promoting telecommuting options.

“It’s so far, so good,” Telus communications director Shawn Hall said in an interview. “We’re having a second trial run today.”

Hall said Telus has been planning for the Olympics for several years and their latest trial run will involve all of Telus’s 7,500 Lower Mainland employees.

“We’re hoping to catch any last minute kinks and work them out.

“We picked up some issues in the first trial and we’ve been able to resolve them.”

He also said that 50 of the company’s downtown Vancouver technicians will park their vans during the Olympics and use hand carts to take their equipment to job sites.

“They’ll walk to work. It will be faster than driving.”

Meanwhile, employers responding to the Hewitt survey cited several measures they plan to implement to help employees enjoy the Games.

They include: providing a TV or authorizing online viewing so that employees can watch the Games at work during their breaks and/or after work hours and, in some cases, during regular work hours; providing additional paid or unpaid time off to watch, attend or volunteer at the Games; providing matching paid time off to volunteer, provided employees use vacation time as well; and buying tickets that are used to entertain customers or clients, as rewards for employees, or that employees can purchase for personal use.

Williams said she was encouraged that 25 per cent of respondents said they will help employees enjoy the Games. “We [Hewitt] have a TV in our lunchroom,” she added.

The Hewitt survey also found that 65 per cent of organizations with employees in the Vancouver area think business will be about the same, with 26 per cent anticipating a positive impact and eight per cent anticipating a negative impact.

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Kitimat says goodbye to main employer

February 1, 2010 by PEA Blogger

Eurocan, the paper mill that employed 535 people in Kitimat, shut its doors yesterday, leaving a huge chunk of the population out of work:

Kitimat paper mill shuts its doors

The Eurocan paper mill in Kitimat, B.C., shut down production on Sunday after more than 40 years in operation.

West Fraser Timber announced in October the mill, the town’s second-largest employer, was losing money and that the last day of operation would be Jan. 31.

The mill’s closure leaves 535 people without work, including long-time employee Danny Viveiros.

“It’s beyond our control and we just have to sort of move on,” he said. “The maintenance people are starting to look for jobs but, all in all, they’re just sort of wondering how they’re going to move on.”

Most of the employees have not been able to find new jobs.

Kitimat Mayor Joanne Monaghan said the entire town is already suffering — many of those losing their jobs have been unable to sell their homes.

“With a stroke of a pen, West Fraser put our house prices down $350 million,” she said.

“With a stroke of a pen they will probably take one school away from us and they could even … take a lot of the services away from our hospital.”

Pastor Shawn Allen said the effects are already being felt in his church.

“Now that we’re here, the shock isn’t there anymore and people are beginning the grieving process. They’re starting to mourn,” he said.

Former employee Danny Viveiros says most workers are still trying to figure out how to move on. Former employee Danny Viveiros says most workers are still trying to figure out how to move on. (CBC)”For example, in our own church the Sunday after next, we’ll say goodbye to the first four families from our church and there will probably be six or seven more.”

The Olympic torch rolls into Kitimat on Monday — one day after the mill’s closure and the irony isn’t lost on local residents.

“It’s really not the time and there really has not been enough support for people here in this community,” one resident told CBC News.

Another said the torch’s arrival is “not going to make people very happy.”

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Weekend story: Big Banks Cutting Loans to Employees With “Hardship”

January 31, 2010 by PEA Blogger

From Reuters:

The big banks are inventing creative ways around the executive compensation limits, reports the Wall Street Journal today. “Bank of America Corp. and Citigroup Inc. are doling out shares that employees can sell within months—much sooner than normally allowed. Other giant banks, including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC, let certain employees borrow money to relieve personal cash crunches. And some U.K. banks have considered raising base, or cash salaries—funds that won’t be subject to the country’s new 50% tax on bonuses.” The banks, one industry expert seems to be saying, aren’t out to purposely annoy regulators or the public. It’s just that they have to: “I know it sounds ridiculous to Main Street, but it’s a hardship,” Gary Goldstein, who runs Whitney Group, a financial-services job-search firm in New York, told the paper. What with multiple residences, private school tuitions, domestic employees, and various membership fees, a banker’s expenses can demand a lot of cash. That means bankers are increasingly doing something previously reserved for the rest of the public: going into debt. “Loans are the most popular form of financial aid for traders and investment bankers. Gustavo Dolfino, a senior managing director at recruiting firm Accretive Solutions, says loans ‘are happening all over’ Wall Street. They include a type of bridge loan made to tide over employees whose fixed expenses outstrip available cash resources,” the paper says.

One Swiss bank, meanwhile, is temporarily reneging on its promise to provide the IRS with the names of 4,450 account holders who may be evading taxes, reports the Washington Post. Its excuse is that the government made it. “The announcement came days after a Swiss court ruled that it would be illegal for Switzerland to comply with the August accord. The court essentially declared that long-standing secrecy protections trumped the agreement. The decision came in a test case involving a UBS account holder who was fighting to stay in the shadows,” the paper reported. The move appears to be a surmountable hurdle to the IRS, but, “If Switzerland fails to deliver the information, the IRS could resume the civil suit against UBS. What’s more, following through on the criminal prosecution of the bank ‘cannot be excluded,’ the Swiss Justice spokesman said.”

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner was on Capitol Hill yesterday, testifying in a contentious hearing about his role in the AIG bailout. The Post and New York Times both carry some of the acrimonious exchanges, starting with Rep. Edolphus Towns saying, “The taxpayers were propping up the hollow shell of AIG by stuffing it with money, and the rest of Wall Street came by and looted the corpse.” Representatives alternately yelled and groused about Geithner’s actions as the chairman of the New York Fed, the role he had during the AIG bailout, immediately before he became Treasury secretary. But none was as effective in showing how Geithner and his counterparts seemed to hold themselves to a different standard than everyone else, as Rep. Marcy Kaputer of Ohio, who asked Mr. Geithner for the letter giving his now famous recusal in AIG matters: “Mr. Geithner said he did not have one. Instead, he said, he had simply made sure everyone at the New York Fed knew that he had withdrawn from day-to-day management decisions. ‘This was very important to do,’ he started, but Ms. Kaptur cut him off. ‘A lot of people think the president of the New York Fed works for the government, but in fact he works for the banks on the board that elected you,’ she said.” Geithner then disagreed with her characterization.

Toyota halted the sale of eight models in the United States at the request of the Ray LaHood, secretary of the Department of Transportation, after concerns over their safety continued to surface, even after two recalls, reports the Times. One expert “said Toyota was also paying for taking its eye off the message that has been central to its marketing. ‘When your whole deal was quality, every mistake is a big deal.’ “ Meanwhile, the paper also reports that other carmakers are taking advantage of Toyota’s public relations nightmare to try to poach customers, as even car rental agencies began removing the make from their fleets.

The Federal Reserve, one day ahead of the confirmation vote on Chairman Ben Bernanke, left interest rates alone and confirmed its intent to exit several of the special programs it had set up to stabilize the economy during the crisis, reports the Times. The Journal reports some private investors are quite pleased about that decision.  And finally, the Times, and seemingly every other news outlet in the world, reported that Apple (AAPL) showed off its new iPad, which will hit the market in 60 days.

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Weekend story: Most U.S. Union Members Are Working for the Government, New Data Shows

January 30, 2010 by PEA Blogger

From The New York Times:

For the first time in American history, a majority of union members are government workers rather than private-sector employees, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced on Friday.

In its annual report on union membership, the bureau undercut the longstanding notion that union members are overwhelmingly blue-collar factory workers. It found that membership fell so fast in the private sector in 2009 that the 7.9 million unionized public-sector workers easily outnumbered those in the private sector, where labor’s ranks shrank to 7.4 million, from 8.2 million in 2008.

“There has been steady growth among union members in the public sector, but I’m a little bit shocked to see that the lines have actually crossed,” said Randel K. Johnson, senior vice president for labor at the United States Chamber of Commerce.

According to the labor bureau, 7.2 percent of private-sector workers were union members last year, down from 7.6 percent the previous year. That, labor historians said, was the lowest percentage of private-sector workers in unions since 1900.

Among government workers, union membership grew to 37.4 percent last year, from 36.8 percent in 2008.

Gerald W. McEntee, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, voiced dismay that government employees now represented a majority of union members.

“It’s a very bad sign,” he said. “We’ve been banged around some, but when you see what’s been happening to the industrial base of this country, to the steelworkers, to the autoworkers, they’re been hammered much more.”

After rising the two previous years, overall union membership fell by 771,000 in 2009, to 15.3 million, largely because employment declined over all. But the rate of private-sector unionization fell because two sectors where unions are especially strong — manufacturing and construction — suffered especially large job losses. Construction lost more than 900,000 jobs last year, falling to 5.9 million, while 1.3 million factory jobs were lost, declining to 11.6 million.

The overall unionization rate edged lower, to 12.3 percent last year from 12.4 percent in 2008.

Damon A. Silvers, the A.F.L.-C.I.O.’s policy director, said the decline in private-sector unionization “tells us that good jobs are disappearing faster than bad jobs.”

According to the labor bureau, median weekly earnings for full-time unionized workers were $908 last year, compared with $710 for workers not represented by unions. The bureau attributed this difference not just to unionization but also to variations by occupation, industry and company size.

Notwithstanding the recession, government employment grew last year, inching up 16,000, to 22,516,000, according to the bureau.

Fred Siegel, a visiting professor of history at St. Francis College in Brooklyn and a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a conservative research organization, said, “There were enormous political ramifications” to the fact that public-sector workers are now the majority in organized labor.

“At the same time the country is being squeezed, public-sector unions are a rising political force in the Democratic Party,” he said. “They depend on extra money for the public sector, and that puts the Democrats in a difficult position. In four big states — New York, New Jersey, Illinois and California — the public-sector unions have largely been untouched by the economic downturn. In those states, you have an impeding clash between the public-sector unions and the public at large.”

Several labor officials and scholars said private-sector workers could regain their majority in a year or two because of potential large-scale layoffs of government workers in the face of the budget squeeze faced by so many cities and states.

Assessing the drop in private-sector unionization, Paula B. Voos, a labor relations professor at Rutgers, said, “It’s a sad commentary on the ability of private-sector workers to unionize.”

“Unions have less strength when they represent a lower percentage of workers,” she said. “Nonetheless, unions have strength in those sectors of the economy where they are organized. Workers who are in the entertainment industry, workers who are on the docks of the Port of New York and New Jersey still have the strength of their labor organizations.”

Noting that union members generally have higher earnings, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis said in a statement: “As workers across the country have seen their real and nominal wages decline as a result of the recession, these numbers show a need for Congress to pass legislation to level the playing field to enable more American workers to access the benefits of union membership. This report makes clear why the administration supports the Employee Free Choice Act,” a bill that would make it easier to unionize.”

But J. Justin Wilson, managing director of the Center for Union Facts, a corporate-backed group opposing that legislation, had a different response to the report.

“Labor union membership is an outdated concept for most working Americans,” he said. “It is a relic of Depression-era labor-management relations.”

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