Union Gets its Figurative Head out of its Ass - too late

[DGS49]

Post-Gazette Staffers Mount Effort To Save Doomed Newspaper

Dozens of Pittsburgh Post-Gazette editorial employees believe that one key change can keep the newspaper in business.

patch.com

I have written in this space before about the sad demise of Pittsburgh's only remaining "broadsheet" newspaper, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. That publication has been fighting with its unions about one thing after another for as long as I can remember. Another Pittsburgh paper, the Press, went under many years ago and it was theoretically taken over by the P-G when it finally failed.

I once worked for a large industrial company in Luxembourg, Paul Wurth S.A. They had unions for almost their entire workforce, factories, engineers, office workers, and so on. I had several conversations with members and non-members about their unions and how they operated. They all emphasized that their relationship with management was nothing like what they read about American unions. They were not adversaries, they did not antagonize, insult, or make accusations about one another. They sat down, union & management, and negotiated contracts and working conditions that made sense for the organization, recognizing that everyone had the same objective. Unlike the U.S., of course, the government compelled the company to provide great benefits to their employees, but wages and working conditions were worked out together in a cooperative way. They never had strikes or walkouts. If there was a business downturn, the worked it out so that the affected employees got the best deal possible.

You have to wonder if the Post Gazette could have been saved if their unions had taken a similar approach. The final nail in the coffin for that company was a final court decision (the USSC denied cert) that compelled them to pay for a "Cadillac" health insurance program retroactively for many years, when they were forced to downgrade their coverage by the exploding insurance costs of the last decade. The union contract, of course, prohibited them from downgrading the coverage, even after their labor contract had expired.

Is it any wonder why fewer than 10% of private sector workers are covered by a union contract these days? If you were a Starbuck's franchisee confronted with SEIU bullshit, why would you not just close down? Your chances of remaining profitable would be crushed by their bullshit. And the workers? They would inevitably be well-paid but unemployed.

Not smart.

 

[80zephyr]

Nothing will save newspapers. They are modern day buggy whips.

 

[odanny]

it was a sad day when my local paper got bought by Gannett and the news staff went from 50 to around 5 or 10 writers. It is absolute trash now, with little actual local news and mainly national news off the wire. They do reviews of restaurants and local sports, just meaningless pap, when the city council and local stories regarding crime and goverment mismanagment got serious attention.

The opinion page was the best part, now it is basically dead. I have not bought this paper since.

 

[Mr Natural]

Do people still read newspapers?

 

[Anathema]

The OP mentions the biggest issue with Unions today - the fact that many unions feel they can have a contrarian relationship with the company or companies their members work for.

I work in the electric utility industry, in a union position. My Local is part of a five Local brotherhood that covers all the unionized employees employed by the company I work for. This gives us the power of being able to walk out as a group if necessary, but also provides the company the ability to negotiate a common contract between all five locals. This means a lineman works under the same requirements regardless of which line barn he’s working out of. We work WITH the Company rather than against it. We haven’t had a work stoppage in more than 50 years because both sides realize that a strike/lockout only hurts both of us.

 

[1srelluc]

You can dam near see through my local daily paper except on coupon day.

 

[1srelluc]

The OP mentions the biggest issue with Unions today - the fact that many unions feel they can have a contrarian relationship with the company or companies their members work for.

I work in the electric utility industry, in a union position. My Local is part of a five Local brotherhood that covers all the unionized employees employed by the company I work for. This gives us the power of being able to walk out as a group if necessary, but also provides the company the ability to negotiate a common contract between all five locals. This means a lineman works under the same requirements regardless of which line barn he’s working out of. We work WITH the Company rather than against it. We haven’t had a work stoppage in more than 50 years because both sides realize that a strike/lockout only hurts both of us.

That's because they pass on increased union labor costs to the customer. I don't think I've ever seen a utility rate increase that was not approved by and by.

It's always proposed, politicians are "aghast", then the rate increase is knocked back a couple tenths of a percent and approved.

Rince and repeat.

 

[wamose]

Maybe newspaper jobs will fall victim to AI.

 

[80zephyr]

Do people still read newspapers?

My local paper is online, and I do read it. But it has become pretty much worthless. They can;t afford to pay reporters so they publish mostly bullshit.