Teamsters Win Big at Continental

[Detroitnerd]

The Teamsters Union February 12 election victory to represent 7600 ground workers at Continental Airlines shows that good old-fashioned hard work might be making a comeback.

Several hundred union organizers fanned out across the country and knocked on doors in 24 cities in preparation for the vote. This time, Teamster volunteers did not limit themselves to the large Continental hubs in Cleveland, Houston and Newark as other unions had done in failed organizing efforts over the last 12 years.

“We’ve been through this five times and I can say hands down that this is the best campaign, the strongest campaign we’ve had,� Gary Welsch accurately predicted to Teamster Magazine several months before the election in September 2009.

http://www.counterpunch.com/finamore02162010.html

[Retroit]

Move to Texas.

Continental Airlines
PO Box 4607
Houston, TX 77210-4607

[MoparDan]

Move to Texas.

Continental Airlines
PO Box 4607
Houston, TX 77210-4607

Please don't.
Congrats to the Teamsters. On the flipside, one can observe that with a shaky employment situation, people will band together. We'll see how that unity holds up once the economy rebounds.

[Mikeg]

"Teamsters Win Big"

One would think that the real story here is about the airline employees who have just won the right to collectively bargain with their employer, not about a specific group of union employees who won an election victory. But that's not the way it works, the story is always about the perception of power and it clearly resides in the hands of the "victors", not the rank and file. Now that they are "organized", the rank and file will have to select representatives who will hopefully wield that power in their best interests.

I wish them well trying to negotiate pay increases from a company that has been bleeding red ink since the 3rd quarter of 2007.

[Papasito]

95% of Americans lucky enough to have a job who ask for a raise pretty much are telling thier employer to replace them with someone cheaper.

In a downturned economy employees just don't have the advantage to negotiate when there are a hundred people in line to take your job from you

[MoparDan]

95% of Americans lucky enough to have a job who ask for a raise pretty much are telling thier employer to replace them with someone cheaper.

In a downturned economy employees just don't have the advantage to negotiate when there are a hundred people in line to take your job from you

That's one reason myself & others don't want any more unemployed people moving down here. Granted, I'm not in a job where my head is on the chopping block continously like some people I know. But if your employer knows someone is willing to take your job for lower pay, despite less experience & knowledge, it becomes attractive for them to let you go without warning.
Being in a "right-to-work" state is not as attractive as many of you believe it is. After getting out of the AF in '92 I went to work for a local computer company. A co-worker & I car pooled everyday; we were always the first to arrive at 6:30am. One morning we walked in & went to our stations as usual; a manager walked up & said we were being let go. The reason? Because we were the first ones through the door. Turns out a lot of the guys who came in at 8 & 9 were kept on, even the worst workers. So much for being punctual, as most of the early birds were given the heave ho. In any case, my experience is nothing unusual, as companies such as Dell, AMD & Motorola do the exact same thing. How do I know? I work with some of those people who got pink slips without warning. Being a diligent, good worker is no guarantee your employer will keep you while they hang onto a slacker. If pay & benefits enter the picture, they'll take the cheap way out, despite losing the experience & knowledge.
I see being in a union as both good & bad: strength in numbers but the real possibilty that "deadwood" can never be gotten rid of.