As someone who has contributed to the "union bashing" tone of this list,
I apologize. I do recognize the importance of the union movement to the
present quality of life of most Americans, and my partner's salary is
directly dependent on her union's power.
However, far too much of my personal, direct experience of unions is
negative. I went to secondary school in England during the early
seventies, when the whole country could be shut down over the smallest
and most childish of issues, often involving (you guessed it) work
rules. We tend to forget, now, but Thatcher was elected for a reason --
literally, to make the trains run on time. And now, my most direct
exposure to unions is the rediculous MUNI work rules, which take all
power from the riders (customers) and give it pretty much exclusively to
MUNI workers.
Union and worker power should balance management and customer power, in
three way tension. It should not dominate an organization to the point
that the organization cares nothing for its customers and is essentially
ungovernable, as on MUNI.
-- Donald
_________________________
Donald F. Robertson
San Francisco
donaldrf@hooked.net
76217.2066@CompuServe.com
Donald's Space Exploration page:
http://www.hooked.net/~donaldrf/index.html
The known is finite, the unknown is infinite; intellectually
we stand on an islet in the midst of an illimitable ocean of
inexplicability. Our business in every generation is to
reclaim a little more land. -- Thomas Huxley.