Right to Work, Chrysler Deadbeats Defended and Union Failure

In September of 2010 a news crew in Detroit, Michigan filmed more than a dozen auto workers at the Jefferson North Assembly Plant drinking beer and smoking pot on what was supposed to be their, “break” from work.  Call me hopelessly mired in the straight life, but for my working career, a break meant a hasty trip to the bathroom and a chance to catch up on paper work. 

            These wasted losers where busy getting high as kites and not the least bit worried about how their creepy behavior was going to impact their job performance.  They didn’t have to, they belong to a union.  When the tape hit the air Chrysler did the right thing and fired their asses.  Who would want to buy a Chrysler product after seeing who is putting it together?  Unfortunately, while these men deserved (needed…where begging for…had richly earned…) being fired, the union played every sleazy card in their deck and this week, two years after their dismissal, these spoiled snots were allowed back at work. 

            This sorry situation is why I am in favor of Right to Work Legislation.  Unions in this country grew out of a serious and legitimate need to equalize power between labor and management.  They are now as big and powerful as the companies that employ their membership and they abuse that power all the time.  Why would the union defend workers that are legally, morally and ethically in the wrong?  The answer, of course, is that unions don’t care about what is right, they care about power.  They have made a deal with their membership, “We don’t care if you are a good worker, an honest worker, or a deserving worker.  All we want is body count.”  Workers just turn over part of their paycheck in exchange for a, “get-out-of-jail-free” union card.  

I don’t know of a single employer that allows drinking and drug use on the job.  Nor should they.  It is the company that is going to be legally liable if the drunks produce a slip shod product.  The owner of the Chrysler lemon is going to sue the company, not the pot head that didn’t do his job.   Decades of union featherbedding, defense of the indefensible and political activism have corrupted unions to the point where even their own membership see the relationship as one of basic prostitution.  It amounts to, “I’ll give you my body; you give me the money.”   

It is truly sad to see the situation come to this, but it was inevitable.  You can not give this much power and money with no balancing responsibility to a group and expect honorable actions.  The unions should act as an equal and interested partner with management, with the consumer as a silent but ever present third side in the triangle of responsible economic decision making.  They should, but they don’t.  It is shameful.  It has also turned me sour on their whole sorry lot of union leadership.   If unions acted as an honest broker for the success of companies as well as workers they wouldn’t need to coerce membership.  Right to Work doesn’t keep anyone from joining a union.  It simply makes it an option.   Why not opt for a classy organization?

Unions must give credit to management as a worthy and creditable part of free enterprise.  They must admit that working with your mind and talent are as legitimate as working with your muscles.  They must agree that compensation should be commensurate with risk and rarity in the work place.    

Don’t defend the defenseless and keep the faith.