Union Troubles at 184 Kent
All is not well apparently at 184 Kent…A tipster reports some tension between the management and the doormen and handymen at the recently-opened rental building. According to a flyer being handed out on the street outside the building this morning, two workers were sacked for trying to unionize building. “With luxury rentals advertised between $2,240…
All is not well apparently at 184 Kent…A tipster reports some tension between the management and the doormen and handymen at the recently-opened rental building. According to a flyer being handed out on the street outside the building this morning, two workers were sacked for trying to unionize building. “With luxury rentals advertised between $2,240 and $4,825 for a 2br, 184 Kent can afford to treat their workers better,” says the 32BJ-sponsored flyer.
As a trade unionist…no, it is not legal to fire someone for trying to organize a Union according to the National Labor Relations Act as amended. There’s well litigated legal tests for decided who was fired for trying to organize a Union and who was fired for other legal reasons while trying to organize a Union.
However, its within management’s interests to drag out the litigation of the Unfair Labor Practice as it is called because even if the company is found guilty at the end of the process (which can take upwards of 3-5 years) they only have to re-hire the employee with back pay MINUS other wages the employee earned while he was not working for the guilty company. Which is substantially nothing. And then fire him “at will” later with better documentation and let the worker start the process all over again.
For that reason, many Unions will picket a site after the ULP is issued by the US government. The real irony is, under the NLRA and general union contract law, if the management doesn’t like the Union picketing – they can agree to allow recognition of the Union upon showing of majority interest in joining the Union and bargain a contract with the workers in which they aren’t forced to agree to any terms except for those that they voluntarily accept. At that point the Union will cease to have a legal right to be out there picketing. More realistically though, the company will be forced to admit wrongdoing and offer the worker a settlement to make it all go away.
And to the person in the hotel workers union, you have my sympathies. Local 6 is bunch of thugs…and yeah, their benefits are crappy. Plus their prez is on so many different payrolls – he makes upwards of half mill a year. Not all trade Unionists are like that, its just those ones that make us all look bad.
sorry dave, lost track while venting. Drinks, yes. Union Bar, Union pool? 😉
To add to what Pig 3 & others are stating, look at Tavern on The Green. 6 months of negotiations between the new owners & the union resulted in Tavern just re-opening as a NYC tourist center! How the hell did the union not come up with a deal to put their people back to work in this economy?? Not that I give that much of a crap about Tavern, just goes to show you how difficult it is negotiating with these selfish unions.
Just my point. Anything involving union labor will drive costs beyong what is economically viable. Using political pressure to pass legislation to enable Unions is not managements fault. The union business model is the next realestate bubble. This country cannot afford is in the public sector or private sector. Subsidies will only go so far.
This has to be a record for the most posts ever in a williamsburg thread without mentioning the “H” word.
pig three absolutely management fault. They set up the rubber room and didn’t put enough resources to get the cases heard. I worked for NY state same employment rules and literally fired scores of employees. Yes had to go through hearings. Backed up by management I rarely lost one….
Did it take time? yes an average of three months and the employees were suspended without pay when they were a threat.
The Union never stopped me from doing what was right.
thanks carroll2.
i’m sure they were ‘officially’ fired for something stupid – like using their work computer to surf the internet and post on blogs all day, or using the phone to make personal phone calls.
Smeyer,
bahahahaha.
Teachers Union? Managements fault?
What about the fair trade act that this country agree to?
It takes a 40% additional tax to make the Union business model work?
Anybody pro union Is either a member or family member.
wow boy have people become anti-Union. Most benefits you have are to keep Unions out. As Unions have become weaker so have YOUR benefits.
It is illegal against both state and federal law to fire someone for attempting to organize. They can be fired for other things. In mixed motive cases, if you can show you would have fired them anyway, you can fire them. The “penalty” for firing someone for Union activity is back wages(less money they earn elsewhere) and sometimes reinstatement-sometimes not-plus interest. Its sometimes cheaper to fire someone to avoid Unionization and pay the person off and your attorneys fees.
As for the rubber tariff, its to protect American jobs and companies not Unions per se. Many of the tire plants are in right to work states. You people need a course in Union history. Its easy to blame the Unions but its always management’s fault.