- May 18, 2001
- 7,883
- 380
- 126
I'm not going to go into details a whole lot, because its not official yet. Basically, the union voted to give the negotiating committee full authority to accept or reject the company's offer without a union vote. Last night the negotiating period ended, and the union committee served official notice that they rejected the offer.
The union is going to have a general meeting later this afternoon. The only thing that might prevent a strike is if the committee allows a vote and the union at large votes to accept the offer, which would basically overrule the committee. Speculation is running high about whether or not the committee will allow a vote. Even if it does, I would be very surprised if the union would vote to overrule them.
This is the pinnacle of suckdom.
UPDATE 5/16/2006:
Text
So today I have the day off, and tomorrow I'll ride the bus to work. I haven't ridden the bus since 7th grade...
UPDATE 5/17/2006:
I guess this is kind of becoming like a strike blog. Today was my first day at work since the strike began. I had to get up about an hour earlier than normal, drive to a field close to the plant, and park my car in a guarded area. When I first drove up the gravel road to the field, I could see a whole bunch of people standing around, and IDs were being checked. I didn't recognize anyone who I thought was salaried, so I figured that there was a somewhat decent chance that I was driving to my death in union central. Anyway, I parked and stood in the wet grass for a while, waiting on the busses to arrive. They did, half an hour late, and we were driven into the facility. Everyone seemed to be in an ok mood on the bus. There were not a lot of picketers - maybe 10-15. It really turned out to be different from what I expected - there were city police and media crews everywhere, and the company had a large number of guys on company property videotaping the arrival of the busses from every angle. I assume this was to catch any violence on film so the offenders could be prosecuted. So here I am at work, and the only real difference so far is that managment has decided to play extremely calm lullaby-type music on the intercom.
5/18/2006
My life at the office has become a little too surreal. See the line above where I said that managment was playing calm lullaby-type music on the intercom? Yesterday when I wrote that, they were playing classical orchestra music that was very relaxing. Today - no joke - they are playing children's lullabys. Specifically, they have a cd that has multiple versions of that damned "the wheels on the bus" song. I've heard that crappy song three (3) times in the last ten (10) minutes. For the love of all that is good and holy - WHY??? WHY TORTURE US??? WE'RE THE EMPLOYEES THAT ARE BEING LOYAL!!!
5/18/2006 update #2:
Ok - it turns out it was all a big joke. The president thought the "wheels on the bus" song would be sort of funny if they played it a few times on the intercom. Must relax.
The union is going to have a general meeting later this afternoon. The only thing that might prevent a strike is if the committee allows a vote and the union at large votes to accept the offer, which would basically overrule the committee. Speculation is running high about whether or not the committee will allow a vote. Even if it does, I would be very surprised if the union would vote to overrule them.
This is the pinnacle of suckdom.
UPDATE 5/16/2006:
Text
So today I have the day off, and tomorrow I'll ride the bus to work. I haven't ridden the bus since 7th grade...
UPDATE 5/17/2006:
I guess this is kind of becoming like a strike blog. Today was my first day at work since the strike began. I had to get up about an hour earlier than normal, drive to a field close to the plant, and park my car in a guarded area. When I first drove up the gravel road to the field, I could see a whole bunch of people standing around, and IDs were being checked. I didn't recognize anyone who I thought was salaried, so I figured that there was a somewhat decent chance that I was driving to my death in union central. Anyway, I parked and stood in the wet grass for a while, waiting on the busses to arrive. They did, half an hour late, and we were driven into the facility. Everyone seemed to be in an ok mood on the bus. There were not a lot of picketers - maybe 10-15. It really turned out to be different from what I expected - there were city police and media crews everywhere, and the company had a large number of guys on company property videotaping the arrival of the busses from every angle. I assume this was to catch any violence on film so the offenders could be prosecuted. So here I am at work, and the only real difference so far is that managment has decided to play extremely calm lullaby-type music on the intercom.
5/18/2006
My life at the office has become a little too surreal. See the line above where I said that managment was playing calm lullaby-type music on the intercom? Yesterday when I wrote that, they were playing classical orchestra music that was very relaxing. Today - no joke - they are playing children's lullabys. Specifically, they have a cd that has multiple versions of that damned "the wheels on the bus" song. I've heard that crappy song three (3) times in the last ten (10) minutes. For the love of all that is good and holy - WHY??? WHY TORTURE US??? WE'RE THE EMPLOYEES THAT ARE BEING LOYAL!!!
5/18/2006 update #2:
Ok - it turns out it was all a big joke. The president thought the "wheels on the bus" song would be sort of funny if they played it a few times on the intercom. Must relax.
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