Aren't Unions creatures of self interest too?

["Don Ward" <donrward@hotmail.com>]

Tim Mitchell,

I have found the recent emails and their discussions about unions and there 
roles very interesting. First of all let me briefly recap my own experience. 
As a college student I was a member of the UAW in 1949. I worked in a 
factory in Ohio which had an open shop. I was a good friend of the union 
stewart. He came to me one day and said that our friendship was at risk 
unless I joined the UAW. Other than the risk he took in befriending a non 
union person, the union was going on strike, because the company would not 
agree to it's four cent per hour wage increase demand. I argued the non 
logic of ever making up the money we lost, even if we got the amount we 
asked. However, I did join and weathered the strike. One of my early 
management jobs was in union relations as a company representative at the 
bargaining table. The company had a rather haughty attitude about unions 
which I adopted, even refusing the union's request to hook up the 
electricity in their trailer to the plant electric system during a strike. 
My predessor had allowed this hookup in prior strikes. This would have been 
in the midle 1960's. About 1973, I was able to transition to a non-union 
company where my job was to see that the employees became so convinced that 
they could represent themselves, that they would not need a union. This was 
here in Louisville at the company that I retired from last year. Despite 
several union organizing drives the Company is still non union. I also 
taught about unions at the university level. The courses were American 
History and Human Resource management. My teaching  experience plus my 
experience in keeping unions out of my own company interestingly have 
mellowed  my perspective on how American Unions can be  a force for 
change.However, as my title asks are'nt unions creatures of self interest 
too. When it comes to change, they can and do go beyond the traditional role 
of resistance. WE have a good example of that right now here in Louisville. 
General Electric at one time had about 18,000 union members here making 
major home appliances. That number is now down to about 10,000 with more 
production about to be shipped out. The company has in effect thrown the 
ball to the IUE, telling the union that it needs to find ways to reach 
certain cost levels, ot the jobs are gone. I am not close to the details, 
but from what I have read, the union is trying to find ways to reach the 
cost targets. This is something which the engineers used to fight about with 
the union. Now the union has the ball, and is running with it.

I do not know a thing about Australia. However, since you and us come from 
the same common ancestor, the Brits, I would think  that some of the same 
things hold true for you as for us. WE call it the WIIFM (What's In It For 
Me) priciple. It would seem too that until the government itsself makes the 
decision to divest itsself of some services and can avoid the risk of being 
voted out by the other side who would not want to privatise, that the union 
will have no interest in discussing the subject, rather or not they have the 
intellectual grasp of the advantages of privatising.

Tim, I think we Americans meddle too much already in matters which are none 
of our business. If I have done that here I apologise. However, I am 
beginning to sense an anti union bias in some of the e mails and being a 
Libran I feel the need to remind the writers that like every one else unions 
can behave differently when it is in their self interest and at least most 
will go along with positive change and not want to go down with the ship.


Don Ward



Others may see it differently

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