December 15, 2014 5:34 AM

Land of the free...except in the workplace, where your future is no longer your own

So here’s a little reminder of Why Unions Matter: they give employees at least a fighting chance against bullshit like this: Kip Hedges, a baggage handler at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport who had worked for Delta Airlines for 26 years, was fired by the airline after he spoke in favor of increasing Minnesota’s minimum wage to $15 an hour. Delta said that he had been canned for “disparaging” the airline.

Unions are quickly falling out of fashion these days, particularly in “Right to Work” (or more accurately, “Right to be Oppressed by Your Employer” or “Right to Work for Less”) states. Somewhere along the line, we’ve forgotten (actually, propagandized into ignoring) that of the things we take for granted came from the efforts of labor unions. Things like health care benefits, vacation time, the 40-hour work week, the eight-hour work day, and many others weren’t bestowed on us because employers suddenly were overwhelmed with a sense of benevolence towards their workers. No, there were won by unions as employers kicked and screamed every inch of the way.

With the decline of unions, we’re beginning to see the crumbling of worker protections that have been in place for years. If Hedges had been represented by a union, he could have spoken freely about a $15 minimum under the protection of federal law. Not that Hedges really disparaged his employer, mind you; he was simply stating his opinion in a very careful and understated manner.

I suppose you’re wondering how he managed to disparage Delta so egregiously that the airline felt it had no choice but to kick him to the curb. Funny you should ask:

A lot of the Delta workers make under $15 an hour… As a matter of fact, I would say probably close to half make under $15 an hour. So there’s a lot of them that understand how important this is. And a lot of the better-paid workers also understand that the bottom has to be raised otherwise the top is going to fall, as well.

Uh…that’s it? Delta fired him for that? Well, yes, because without the protection of a union, Delta could fire him for failure to properly trim his nose hairs if it saw fit…and that’s essentially what they did. Stating the truth was enough for Delta to accuse Hedges of “disparaging” his employer. A reasonable person might think that Delta would struggle to explain the cold and dismissive way in which it terminated Hedges. Au contraire:

Delta regrets any instance where a longtime employee is terminated. This includes upholding our core values of respect and honesty in any communications regarding Delta. Delta invites healthy, constructive discussion across all areas of its business.

“Respect” and “honesty”…two “core values” which seem to be incumbent only upon the employee, with the employer free to determine what constitutes a breach of either. “Healthy, constructive discussion?” I’d be interested in hearing someone from Delta attempt to define that given the manner in which they canned a 26-year employee who was in no way being unhealthy or unconstructive in his speech. There was absolutely nothing disrespectful or disparaging in Hedges’ words. Evidently, his crime was in thinking he had the freedom to say what was on his mind. It seems the truth is more than Delta is willing to hear.

It appears Delta’s strategy is to cow employees into being mute automatons ready, willing, and able to do the airline’s bidding without question or fair recompense. By creating a hostile work environment in which employees know that their job security is roughly zero, Delta will be able to minimize costs as they continue to squeeze employees.

Keep ‘em scared and stupid, eh?

So…do you STILL think that unions are outdated and no longer relevant to the modern workplace??

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About this Entry

This page contains a single entry by Jack Cluth published on December 15, 2014 5:34 AM.

The more things change.... was the previous entry in this blog.

It's not what Jesus said, it's how you can twist what he said to support your fears and prejudices is the next entry in this blog.

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