Home
Forums
New posts
Search forums
What's new
New posts
Latest activity
Members
Current visitors
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
New posts
Search forums
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Home
Forums
Brown Cafe UPS Forum
UPS Union Issues
UPS's master strike plan???
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Undertow" data-source="post: 5657664" data-attributes="member: 4550"><p>There's similarities to the situation in '97 and where things are now, but there's also significant differences too.</p><p></p><p>The goal of the company from beginning to end of negotiations is always to find a wedge in the rank and file and try to exploit it for all it's worth. 26 years ago, Carey was coming off a very tough reelection where he barely edged out Hoffa and the company might well have thought he wouldn't have the cache to hold a far more fractured rank and file together for days let alone weeks. RPS was viewed than as a potential emerging alternative among customers with the ability to take on substantially more volume. Economy was pretty decent at the time and the possibility of UPS grinding to a near full halt, while certainly causing complications for markets, wasn't necessarily viewed as a potential catalyst for creating a potential recession.</p><p></p><p>Today? It's a good bet the boardroom still would love to cripple the union especially in a very public way if it thought there was any feasible way of pulling it off. The RPS of the late 20th century is now the clown show known as FedEx Ground and has a far worse reputation, so the odds are much greater this time that volume lost in an upcoming strike would come back far sooner than the rate it did in '97. The bulk of any layoffs ensuing due to loss of volume would hit the newest and mostly youngest hourlies which is the exact audience the company would love most to turn on the union - potentially wiping out a future pipeline of dues paying members thus "Starving the beast".</p><p></p><p>The potential problem with that strategy? First, a larger share of the public shares a negative view of big corporations than it did in '97 due in part because they've come to expect the just that kind of behavior from them. Second, if they couldn't get enough rank and file members to cross in '97 back when even the youngest generation showed up most everyday for work, there's not much reason to think they'd succeed in motivating the current youngest employees, most of whom are lucky to have one week of vacation per year let alone two, to cross when the heat index reaches triple digits in what's traditionally the hottest month of the calendar year. Three, O'Brien not only doesn't have Hoffa or close to half of the old guard locals trying to kneecap him as Ron Carey did back in '97, but has the "wind at his back" after obliterating the remaining remnants of that corrupt slate in the not too distant past. There's far less clear cracks for the company to attempt to spit in the union unless it's willing to risk inflicting real and long lasting harm on the economy in a prolonged attempt to create the chaos needed.</p><p></p><p>Would the board try to anyway? My guess is they wouldn't employ that kind of "nuclear option" at a time where the public side so much with the workers, but unless and/or until there's a TA before midnight Monday night the possibility shouldn't be ruled out.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Undertow, post: 5657664, member: 4550"] There's similarities to the situation in '97 and where things are now, but there's also significant differences too. The goal of the company from beginning to end of negotiations is always to find a wedge in the rank and file and try to exploit it for all it's worth. 26 years ago, Carey was coming off a very tough reelection where he barely edged out Hoffa and the company might well have thought he wouldn't have the cache to hold a far more fractured rank and file together for days let alone weeks. RPS was viewed than as a potential emerging alternative among customers with the ability to take on substantially more volume. Economy was pretty decent at the time and the possibility of UPS grinding to a near full halt, while certainly causing complications for markets, wasn't necessarily viewed as a potential catalyst for creating a potential recession. Today? It's a good bet the boardroom still would love to cripple the union especially in a very public way if it thought there was any feasible way of pulling it off. The RPS of the late 20th century is now the clown show known as FedEx Ground and has a far worse reputation, so the odds are much greater this time that volume lost in an upcoming strike would come back far sooner than the rate it did in '97. The bulk of any layoffs ensuing due to loss of volume would hit the newest and mostly youngest hourlies which is the exact audience the company would love most to turn on the union - potentially wiping out a future pipeline of dues paying members thus "Starving the beast". The potential problem with that strategy? First, a larger share of the public shares a negative view of big corporations than it did in '97 due in part because they've come to expect the just that kind of behavior from them. Second, if they couldn't get enough rank and file members to cross in '97 back when even the youngest generation showed up most everyday for work, there's not much reason to think they'd succeed in motivating the current youngest employees, most of whom are lucky to have one week of vacation per year let alone two, to cross when the heat index reaches triple digits in what's traditionally the hottest month of the calendar year. Three, O'Brien not only doesn't have Hoffa or close to half of the old guard locals trying to kneecap him as Ron Carey did back in '97, but has the "wind at his back" after obliterating the remaining remnants of that corrupt slate in the not too distant past. There's far less clear cracks for the company to attempt to spit in the union unless it's willing to risk inflicting real and long lasting harm on the economy in a prolonged attempt to create the chaos needed. Would the board try to anyway? My guess is they wouldn't employ that kind of "nuclear option" at a time where the public side so much with the workers, but unless and/or until there's a TA before midnight Monday night the possibility shouldn't be ruled out. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Home
Forums
Brown Cafe UPS Forum
UPS Union Issues
UPS's master strike plan???
Top