bitmap@ucbtopaz.CC.Berkeley.ARPA (04/14/84)
<....> Here is a tale of large labor unions, based upon personal experience. A few years ago, the mine & smelter of my home town in Kellogg, Idaho, where I worked summers, was about to be closed. As it is (was) a mostly 'one company town', employing about 2000 workers, the financial and psychological effects were large. A group of 3 or 4 local investors was considering purchasing the property, and keeping the mine and smelter in operation, but they asked the workers to take a 10% pay cut. The Steelworkers local had a vote, at which the workers approved, by a large margin, the 10% wage cut. Subsequently, they (and the rest of the town, which was holding its breath) were informed that the vote was "advisory" (sp?), meaning that only the national headquarters of the Steelworkers Union could change the contract. This was certainly not understood by the workers (or the rest of the town), who thought that they had saved their jobs. Tensions were high: extra state police were brought in, but, fortunately (perhaps) actions were subdued. The national leaders of the Steelworkers Union were cautious about showing their faces, although they carefully transferred the monies of the union local to out-of-town banks. The end result was that the mine & smelter closed. None of the national Union leaders was affected, of course (beyond perhaps getting a few hate letters); they kept their nice, high paying jobs and perks. Many of my high-school friends and their parents lost their jobs, as well as most of the equity in their homes (housing prices plunged, with so many people moving elsewhere in search of jobs). My own father, who didn't work for the company, but whose business depended upon the town economy, was adversely affected, financially. Fortunately, he was close to retirement: he was one of the lucky ones. So tell me, Mondale supporters, how do you expect these (former) workers to react to the national leaders of the Steelworkers Union endorsing a Presidential candidate? Sam Hall ucbvax!ucbtopaz!bitmap