Thank you to Brother MJ for the video, it makes the case perfectly on what we can be doing as unions once properly trained, and why the regulators are limited even if they are interested in doing anything at all.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDmJGY7JVC0&feature=youtu.be
This would be an example of a Compression Zone contractor that is anti-union/anti-worker in our Blog from Monday, the 23rd. Link below.
In the Labor Rising/Labor Combat model we do not talk or have any type of unprotected conversations with in this case the developers and/or any others that hire the anti-union/anti-worker contractor; or are even remotely connected with them. In this case it is New York Developers JDS, L&M & BFC.
No unprotected conversations, make the bad boys put it in writing and give it to our attorneys, or use intermediaries acceptable to labor. Freeze them out, and don’t give me the BS we have to talk to them – really – what has that done to increase total market share “NET”? Hell they know what we want, we want that job being done UNION! What the hell is there to discuss anyway?
Our Unions, Building Trades, District Councils and Internationals in talking to them WOULD take us down the path of either Recognitional intent or once that has been established lead to Secondary 8 (b) 4 (B) activities. We are in a “BOX” either way. We play with a very limited playbook from that point on and the bad boys know exactly the limited plays we can use and can readily defeat them.
Talking to others involved, regardless of message may then be coercion in the eyes of the law and NLRB, and then we are done in the courts. Talking to anyone even to collaborate or educate or to show our skills and training is precisely a ruse used by those involved with anti-non/union construction companies to en-trap unions and limit their activities.
Zoom out to 35,000 feet and if you reverse engineer this you can clearly see the end-users, developers, construction managers & GC’s looking like they are interested in OUR message and even throwing us a bone now and then when it is in there interest to do so. However it comes with strings attached and many give backs and then that relationship is eroded over a fairly short period of time and we have “NET” less and less work. Don’t let the bad boys see you coming and how we will come at it; and as importantly give ground because we tripped up on legal issues?
Talking to the employees is Recognition and LIMITS a union’s ability to put this company down unless they can win an organizing drive and also get a contract/CBA. Not happening 85% of the time and you need veteran organizers to have any chance on top of it. It is why they have a class action lawsuit. The bad companies treat this like a cost of doing business.
With discipline of message and NO CONTACT for a period of time that a labor attorney should help you understand, then and only then can we use the extensive information found thru Opposition Research and develop tactics that can win if served up cold to both public and private entities with skin in the game and positions to protect.
Union costs are then a BUSINESS Decision.
Why we lose is simple, trapped in a legal box. Those using anti/non-union can keep the union and the Internationals IN FRONT OF THEM. Understand this – kept in front of them. Value on Display is used by the bad boys to keep us in front of them – known! Not hard to defeat. It is used against us. There are no surprises for them, no uncertainty past maybe a minuscule cost of doing business.
The title of the You Tube above is correct and applies everywhere in North America – Value on Display is not built to handle this and in fact is used against the trades in these types and many other types of situations.
Why our Internationals and union attorneys will not train us on what recognition and secondary activity is, and how it limits us tremendously is of a very big concern! The answer appears to be that the Internationals does NOT want this to be trained and acted upon – it is contrary to the value centric model of Value on Display!
Learn to be disciplined and shut-up and we open up a playing field legally and lawfully of market share increases and better lives for workers, especially in the 21st century.
As we said in our Blog, this is only the tip of the iceberg of what we can do if we change the status quo.
Another brief example is look at the number of total views of the You Tube attached, under 2,000 since February of 2015 in NYC – pathetic! Connecting all of NYC labor and even the state with a simple internal communications platform is the single highest priority. Put this You Tube link in a mass text (truly a tiny cost) and it now is seen by hundreds of thousands and when shared maybe millions with extended family and public.
Now that can put pressure on the companies involved bottom lines and change their business practices and now that class action lawsuit has an entirely different meaning. But we sit on developing inexpensive internal communications platforms already built for this exact purpose. And we wonder why we are getting our butts kicked. Get rid of the “old guys blocking this” or dragging their feet. They are literally killing us!
If we continue to do the same old tired BS that has done nothing but lose ground, then we can be expected to LOSE!
“if you see a good fight – get in it”
Danny L Caliendo
Organizer
Labor Rising/Labor Combat
