Nonunion Alabama crews turned away from Sandy recovery

[Matt1970]

Several utility crews from Alabama who arrived in New Jersey to help restore power following Hurricane Sandy were allegedly told to leave because they are not union workers, according to a Huntsville television station.

http://www.waff.com/story/19981857/some-nonunion-ala-crews-turned-away-from-sandy-recovery

WAFF.com reports crews from Decatur Utilities and Joe Wheeler out of Trinity made their way to Seaside Heights, New Jersey this week to help get power back on for thousands of residents left in the dark. But the groups were told by crews in New Jersey that they cannot do any work because they are non-union employees, according to the report.

Derrick Moore, one of the Decatur workers, told the station he and his crewmates will instead head to Long Island, NY to help get power on back there.

Seaside Heights suffered an estimated $1 billion dollars in damages from Hurricane Sandy. Many are expected to be without power for the next few days.

This is disgusting to say the least. You can help those in need but you better be Union.

 

[Blackjack200]

lol, I see this was part of the daily email of things to rage about. I saw this on FN this morning, but at least FN was honest enough to admit that they checked and the Alabama crews were in fact working in NJ with no issue.

Who the hell is Waff.com?

 

[nextJin]

Try harder pls

 

[skyking]

Try harder pls

Just not feeling the outrage? Maybe there is a viagra of sorts for that kind of problem.

 

[umbrella39]

I see the word allegedly used. I also use the Googlez and found more information.

A spokesman from the IBEW said the union is "checking out the source of the story and trying to ascertain the facts."
Earlier reports indicated two other Alabama utilities -- Huntsville Utilities and Joe Wheeler Cooperative -- were also turned away from New Jersey due to union discrimination. However, those utilities have since denied those reports.

http://www.foxbusiness.com/governme...ama-recovery-crew-to-head-home/#ixzz2B4y4zI4x

Though non of this would surprise me. NJ is very, very pro union.

 

[Charles Kozierok]

lol, I see this was part of the daily email of things to rage about. I saw this on FN this morning, but at least FN was honest enough to admit that they checked and the Alabama crews were in fact working in NJ with no issue.

Who the hell is Waff.com?

A TV station in Alabama. Pretty easy to figure out.

And IMO there is a legitimate complaint. Anyone turning away a crew offering to help because they're not unionized deserves to be castigated.

 

[HomerJS]

The same people bitching about the alleged turning away would turn away the rescue workers from Iran who offered to help

 

[shortylickens]

Which is funny cuz we just had a thread about people harassing workers in New York trying to fix shit.

 

[PokerGuy]

The same people bitching about the alleged turning away would turn away the rescue workers from Iran who offered to help

Yes, because Americans helping out fellow Americans is the same as taking help from a hostile foreign nation. You're such a tool.

 

[Atreus21]

Is there any other verification of this?

 

[Charles Kozierok]

The same people bitching about the alleged turning away would turn away the rescue workers from Iran who offered to help

That's a pretty dumb comparison, IMO.

 

[EagleKeeper]

More than likely the crews showed up and were told by a union crew to get lost.

The non-union crew calls home; their dispatcher gets ahold of a NJ dispatcher and gets things smoothed over; ?assigned to another grid?

 

[EagleKeeper]

The same people bitching about the alleged turning away would turn away the rescue workers from Iran who offered to help

Yes, because Americans helping out fellow Americans is the same as taking help from a hostile foreign nation. You're such a tool.

One always has to look at who a poster is to see if there is an underlying intent for such off the wall posts.

 

[sunzt]

*insert thread backfire image*

 

[Blackjack200]

A TV station in Alabama. Pretty easy to figure out.

And IMO there is a legitimate complaint. Anyone turning away a crew offering to help because they're not unionized deserves to be castigated.

Do they also deserve national attention? Between the thousands of individual crews arriving from all over the country to these very stressed out areas, I wouldn't be surprised if someone, somewhere, said something stupid.

But was the person in a position of authority to turn them away? Did it even happen, or as with the other two cases, was it completely fabricated?

If the story turns into anything substantial, my opinion may change, but for now this is just a bunch of right wing droolers doing what they do best.

 

[Jaskalas]

A six man crew from Decatur Utilities headed up there this week, but Derrick Moore, one of the Decatur workers, said they were told by crews in New Jersey that they can't do any work there since they're not union employees.

The general manager of Decatur Utilities, Ray Hardin told Fox Business they were presented documents from the International Brotherhood of Electric Workers at a staging area in Virginia. The documents stated they had to affiliate with a union to work, which the crews could not agree to

You've no right to work there, seems clear you also wouldn't have a right to help people either.

 

[HomerJS]

One always has to look at who a poster is to see if there is an underlying intent for such off the wall posts.

Even though the offer came from an Iranian rescue group not the government? Who's the tool?

 

[nehalem256]

Even though the offer came from an Iranian rescue group not the government? Who's the tool?

There would seem to be substantial practical problems with accepting help from a group half way around the world from another country. But maybe that is just me?

 

[nextJin]

What likely happened is they had a predetermined grid to work on and the crew didn't get with the people in charge prior.

You can't just show up fixing lines, you have to be assigned grids by the power companies.

At least that's my take on it, they most certainly didn't say fuck you your not union.

 

[EagleKeeper]

What likely happened is they had a predetermined grid to work on and the crew didn't get with the people in charge prior.

You can't just show up fixing lines, you have to be assigned grids by the power companies.

At least that's my take on it, they most certainly didn't say fuck you your not union.

They can not just show up to fix a line; they do not know where to start looking/working.

They would have checked in, been dispatched to a location and then told by some union crew to get lost.

 

[monovillage]

The same people bitching about the alleged turning away would turn away the rescue workers from Iran who offered to help

Only a Democrat would think that giving a terrorist Muslim nation like Iran access to our power grid in these times is a good idea.

 

[Matt1970]

What likely happened is they had a predetermined grid to work on and the crew didn't get with the people in charge prior.

You can't just show up fixing lines, you have to be assigned grids by the power companies.

At least that's my take on it, they most certainly didn't say fuck you your not union.

You missed this post.

The general manager of Decatur Utilities, Ray Hardin told Fox Business they were presented documents from the International Brotherhood of Electric Workers at a staging area in Virginia. The documents stated they had to affiliate with a union to work, which the crews could not agree to.

 

[Thump553]

*insert thread backfire image*

We really need something like that. I'd nominate the lady launching the watermelon in a slingshot but I winch everytime I see that.

 

[Matt1970]

You want to explain to me how this is a thread backfire?

 

[HomerJS]

Only a Democrat would think that giving a terrorist Muslim nation like Iran access to our power grid in these times is a good idea.

Still can't figure our the difference between the Iranian people and the government? That was one of the problems with the cold war. We thought the people of the USSR were inheriently evil.

BTW - If we were considering it, who said access to power grid? How about helping out some of the people in Staten Island?