Vic Smith wrote:
On Fri, 8 May 2009 09:50:25 -0700 (PDT), wrote:
You guys don't want what's best for the country, you want failure
because of who is in office. That's sad. It was sad when Harry felt
that way about Bush, and it's sad when you guys feel that way about
Obama.
Good point. Gets dangerous when we don't pull together.
That's why strong leaders are required. Obama might have the right
stuff. We'll see.
I just got off the phone with my brother. He's an IT security guy at
a huge University/Medical complex here in Illinois.
Management leadership asked for volunteers to take unpaid time off
to avoid layoffs.
Not enough volunteers, so management just laid out the unpaid days off
for everybody.
Brother didn't volunteer, because he wants to work every day.
But he has no problem losing the pay, because he knows the
alternative.
Leadership made the difference.
OTOH, he talks with the union guys there, mostly maintenance.
He's been in unions himself, as I have.
They had a vote to reduce hours and avoid layoffs.
The vote failed, and a bunch got laid off.
****es him off, because he's friendly with a couple of them that got
laid off. Of course they got laid off according to seniority.
But you'd figure there wouldn't be enough senior guys to sway the
vote.
Anyway, leadership here would have worked best in keeping everybody
working.
I'm a bit surprised Obama hasn't used his bully pulpit to encourage
business leaders to look at salary and work reduction as a preferred
alternative over lay offs.
But carrying health costs are a big part of the equation.
Things are really going to hell in a handbasket.
Kenny Rogers said it best. You got to know when to hold them, and
know when to fold them
--Vic
I was on the actual staff of several unions in my "illustrious" career.
Once during a recession, one of the unions was fairly hard hit, so at
the behest of the union president, management decided to vote itself a
20% pay cut so that non-management staff would only have to endure a 5%
pay cut. No one had to be laid off.
When the economic turnaround came, salaries were restored and everyone
who had taken a pay cut got that money paid back over six pay periods.