Mercy! Mercy! That Dang Nabed PERCY!

Killing the Cash Cow

Killing the Cash Cow

I have a friend who is a Union Negotiator. I have never had a dog in that Union/Management fight and have watched that issue play out going back and forth with a sort of detached interest.

On the one hand I understand that there would be no need for unions if Management had not historically abused workers. That Unions evolved as a consequence of Management exploitation of the working man. I get that.

When I got out of the service and went back to Tech school we visited a John Deer plant in Iowa. As part of the tour we were taken onto the line where engines were being manufactured and a young management fellow was explaining the process as the workers did their thing on the engines. As he tried to talk they continuously interjected comments designed to embarrass and humiliate the management representative who was explaining things to us. As I watched this malicious harassment taking place I thought….when this manager grows up and becomes a decision maker how is he going to vote on moving operations to china. Up to then I had thought that decisions to move production facilities overseas were based on economics but suddenly I realized that this isn‘t the whole story. The acrimony and malice between management and labor has grow so divisive its become personal and it isn’t just economics driving the train. The Unions have to accept some responsibility and it just isn’t just because they drove a hard bargain on wages….It’s as much a result , in my opinion, as the toxic work climate they have helped foster in the work place.

There will not be the same opportunities for the next generation of laborers that the last generation enjoyed, if any opportunity at all. Together Management and Labor have killed the goose that laid the golden egg and ironically put to rest the cash cow they were both stewards to nurture.

It’s a damn shame is what it is.