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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 5, 2012)
Opinion Labor Unions and Workplace Favoritism I have many discussions with people who claim that they do not need the help of a labor union in their workplace. These individuals will even go so far as to suggest that they can get ahead on their own and that a union will get in their way. It is difficult to argue with some- one who is intent on believing a myth. It is sort of like those peo- ple who continue to believe that the world is flat or that the Iraqis had weapons of mass destruction at the time of the 2003 U.S. inva- sion. No matter what sort of proof you put up, they have an “answer.” But for the rest of us, it is worth considering a common workplace problem: favoritism. If we are honest, we all know that if some- one is personally close to a supervisor or manager they can frequently count on better treat- ment. Most of us expect that to happen and take it for granted. Still, that does not make it right. In fact, favoritism in the work- place is a major source of demoralization for the workers. T RANS A FRICA Bill Fletcher Jr. You work hard and expect to be rewarded, only to find out that someone else who just hap- pens to be friendly with management is being treated better than you. Perhaps you are lucky and there is a human resources department at your work- place. Maybe it is just one person, but in any case, you can go and speak with them. If you do, I am sure that they will offer you coffee or tea, and an opportunity to share your pain. At the end of the discussion, however, nothing has changed. Absent a labor union, a work- place has only the rules that are demanded by government or cre- ated by management. The thing about management’s rules – and this is the kicker – is that they do not have to go by them. That’s right. They can set up a “person- nel policy” that says that promotions are based on the best qualified person and, presto, the best friend of the manager gets the promotion and there is not one Another, and very ironic side to all of this, is that someone who was playing footsy with a supervi- sor could find themselves in a very different situation if a new super- visor appears on the scene. The conditions that supervisor X set up can be changed by the new super- visor Y. The person who was the recipient of favoritism, in other words, can find that they are on the “outs” with no explanation or objected to legislation to create health and safety protections for workers. The owners simply did not want to be accountable to any- one. The most consistent answer to such lawlessness, then, ends up being a labor union. A union can negotiate a contract/collective bar- gaining agreement with an employer that emphasizes fairness in personnel decisions, including promotions. None of this is onerous. It is just ensur- ing that workers are treated with respect. This is what always makes it so odd when you hear politi- cians attacking unions. Why are they afraid of workplace fairness? Absent a labor union, a workplace has only the rules that are demanded by government or created by management. The thing about management’s rules – and this is the kicker – is that they do not have to go by them thing that you can do about it unless you can show that there was some sort of discrimination based on race, sex, religion, national origin or disability. apology. In the U.S.A. , many if not most owners of companies do not want to be obligated to follow any rules. This is why so many companies Bill Fletcher, Jr. is a Senior Scholar with the Institute for Policy Stud- ies, the immediate past president of TransAfrica Forum and the author of the new book “They’re Bankrupting Us” – And Twenty Other Myths about Unions. Obama Needs to Project More Than ‘Hope’ T he primary goal of the Dem- ocratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C. this week is to highlight the sharp contrast between the policies of President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, his Republican opponent. In the past, political conventions were used to count delegates to determine each party’s respective presidential nominee. That has changed in recent years, with the ballot outcome already determined by the time thousands of delegates roll into a city for the convention. Today, the speeches are directed at millions watching on television, the Internet or a mobile device, not the people sitting in the conven- tion hall. Republicans concluded their T HE C URRY R EPORT George E. Curry who couldn’t carry his own precinct in his bid for governor, Team Romney made a major appeal to its base. And the selec- tion of Paul Ryan as his running mate served to underscore that point. The problem for Republicans is that the election will largely be decided by undecided independ- With shifting U.S. demographics, the Tampa gathering may be the last national political convention that Republicans or any other party can make a race-based appeal to White voters national convention in Tampa and for the first time in 60 years, the GOP nominee didn’t make the argument that his party will do a better job in foreign affairs. Presi- dent Obama took that issue away from Republicans by ending U.S. involvement in the war in Iran, bringing troops back from Afghanistan and approving a mis- sion that resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden. With shifting U.S. demograph- ics, the Tampa gathering may be the last national political conven- tion that Republicans or any other party can make a race-based appeal to White voters. Despite token appearances by former Sec- retary of State Condoleezza Rice and Artur Davis, a former Demo- cratic congressman from Alabama ent voters. And Romney, a Massachusetts moderate-turned- conservative, can’t afford to appeal directly to that group with- out alienating ardent conservatives already suspicious of him. Except for a speech to the NAACP annual convention in Houston, Romney has done little to appeal to African-American voters. Not that it would do him much good. A recent NBC News/ Wall Street Journal poll showed Romney getting zero percent of the Black vote. Of course, that does not mean no Black person in America will vote for him. Instead, the zero was in a poll with a margin of error of 3.1 per- cent. That means that Romney probably will not match John McCain’s unimpressive 4 percent in 2008. By comparison, George W. Bush captured 11 percent of the Black vote in 2004. Both Obama and Bill Clinton were elected president without receiving a majority of the White vote. And Obama can do it again this year. Look at how this plays out in the battleground state of North Car- olina, which Obama carried by only 4,177 votes – or 0.3 percent – in 2008. Blacks make up 22 percent of North Carolina’s population. Over the past decade, 1.5 million people migrated to North Carolina – 61.9 percent of them non-White. According to demographers quot- ed by the Charlotte Observer, Obama can carry the state by win- ning just 36 percent to 37 percent of the White vote. Obama’s larger problem is that after campaigning four years ago on a theme of hope and change, there is not much of either today. His severest critics note that after promising change – that’s about all they have left in their pockets after nearly four years of his lead- ership. The test this week for Obama is to demonstrate that he isn’t the same naïve former U.S. Senator he was four years ago in Denver. With Republicans hell-bent on not seeing Obama return to the White House, he needs to show that he has more than just the audacity of hope. George E. Curry, former editor- in-chief of Emerge magazine, is editor-in-chief of the National Newspaper Publishers Associa- tion News Service. Week on the Web Live coverage of the Democratic National Conven- tion … in USA News For The Skanner News on your smart phone go to www. theskannermobile.com or scan this QR code with your app. Obama Campaign Voter Registration Depot Opens on Northeast Killingsworth On Sept. 9 the office hosts a grand opening celebra- tion from 3 to 6 p.m., with refreshments and sign-up sheets … in NW News Focus Group at Jefferson High School Looks for Solutions to Youth Violence Students have seen fights, drugs and guns as part of their every- day life. They say it’s not rare, for example, for someone to show you a gun … in NW News Kali Thorne Ladd Will Replace Harold Williams on the PCC Board Mayor Adams' education advisor will represent Zone 2 until next election in May 2013 … in NW News www. September 5, 2012 The Portland Skanner Page 5
