File spoon-archives/marxism-general.archive/marxism-general_1997/marxism-general.9712, message 103


Date: Tue, 9 Dec 1997 20:01:28 -0500 (EST)
From: "Liam R.Flynn" <trinity-AT-hot-shot.com>
Subject: M-G: union-busting


> =======================================================> Stop reading the Boss Press! Read the INDUSTRIAL WORKER.
> =======================================================> Monthly newspaper of the Industrial Workers of the World
> =======================================================> 
> Online at: http://parsons.iww.org/~iw
> 
> >From the December, 1997 issue of the INDUSTRIAL WORKER:
> 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
> URL: http://parsons.iww.org/~iw/dec1997/stories/friends.html
> 
> Wobs fight Quaker union-busting
> 
> Management of Philadelphia's Friends Center, a Quaker-operated office
> building which houses many Quaker and progressive organizations, has begun
> a plunge into the depths of union-busting in order to prevent four
> part-time front desk staffers from organizing with the IWW. Fortunately,
> the unbecoming attack on workers rights has not gone unchallenged - more
> supporters linked to the Friends Center come forward every day to encourage
> recognition of the union.
> 
> The four workers, who work evenings and weekends, sometimes in shifts of
> more than ten hours, decided to join the IWW and seek a binding contract
> which would secure their job and improve working conditions. They asked for
> voluntary recognition from their supervisor, Peter Rittenhouse, on
> September 2nd. Rittenhouse asked the front desk staffers to drop the union,
> but passed the final decision on to the Friends Center Board of Directors.
> 
> The Board of Directors met without being able to come up with an answer to
> the demand for voluntary recognition. A second meeting was called for
> September 25th, and front desk union member Susan Phillips asked permission
> to attend. She explained to the Board of Directors that not only had she
> and her fellow workers joined a union, but that they are the union and had
> no reason to reconsider their position. The front desk staff are organized
> and want come to the table as equals with management to negotiate a fair
> contract. Many members of the Board of Directors asked Susan questions, and
> she left the meeting with the understanding that in a few days they would
> decide their course of action.
> 
> Strangely, on October 1st our fellow workers received a letter dated
> September 17 (eight days before meeting with Susan) stating, "the Board of
> Directors of Friends Center Corporation is saddened by the realization that
> some employees feel it necessary to organize themselves as part of a larger
> labor organization in order for their concerns to be heard and to obtain
> redress for grievances. As a matter of conscience and faith, we believe
> that no persons should need an intermediary when discussing concerns, but
> rather should be able to gather `in the light' to discuss them... It is in
> the spirit of our belief in `continuing revelation' that we respectfully
> ask that you reconsider your proposal." This response, one so unfortunately
> typical of employers that have turn out to be among the most notorious
> union-busters, was somewhat unexpected after Susan's thoughtful
> explanations during the September 25th meeting. While citing Quaker
> principles of openness and free discussion, the Board totally disregarded
> the most fundamental points the union members were communicating to them.
> 
> The Philadelphia IWW filed a petition for an election with the NLRB two
> weeks after the Board of Directors issued their decision. At the hearing to
> determine an appropriate bargaining unit, management's attorney argued for
> including five more workers in the unit. One of the five isn't even an
> employee of the Friends Center - he wears a Willard uniform and works for a
> private contractor repairing heaters and air conditioning units at the
> Center. The Friends Center lawyer took exception to Wobblies' snickering at
> his absurd suggestion. Another employee management attempted to include
> supervises the front desk staff.
> 
> The Friends Center management, while claiming to be driven by a mission of
> conscience, has chosen to take full advantage of American anti-labor laws.
> They stubbornly insisted that we include workers into the unit who do
> completely different work and have clearly indicated that they have no
> desire to join the union. These workers share no community of interest with
> the evening and weekend staffers, and should not be forced to choose to
> either join the union or stand in the way of their co-workers who want to
> organize.
> 
> Having no faith in the NLRB's willingness to help us keep our unit intact,
> we tried for many hours to negotiate a settlement. The IWW and management
> decided on an unusual compromise: if the union can get five authorization
> cards (one more than the number of part-time front desk staffers) by
> mid-December, the Center would voluntarily recognize the entire unit
> management proposed, minus the private contractor.
> 
> The front desk staffers, joined by other Wobblies, have leafleted
> gatherings at the Friends Center to encourage support for voluntary
> recognition of their union. More than 700 fliers have been distributed in
> the past week generating an overwhelmingly supportive response. The
> Philadelphia Monthly Meeting called a "Threshing Session" which called for
> their representatives on the Board of Directors to reconsider their
> position. Dozens of supporters wearing bright red IWW buttons attended a
> celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the American Friends Service
> Committee's winning of the Nobel Peace Prize. Quakers and progressives in
> Philadelphia and around the country have expressed their solidarity by
> calling the Friends Center.
> 
> Your help in our effort to win recognition is appreciated. We're asking
> that the Friends Center Corporation voluntarily recognize the union of the
> four evening and weekend front desk staffers and that they stop trying to
> include workers in the unit who have clearly expressed that they have no
> interest in organizing. Contact John Blanchard, Chairman of the Board, and
> Peter Rittenhouse, Executive Director of the Friends Center, by writing
> Friends Center Corporation 15th & Cherry Streets, Phila. PA 19102, fax:
> 215/241-7028, e-mail: fco-AT-afsc.org. For more information on the campaign,
> call 215/724-1925 or e-mail phillyiww-AT-iww.org.
> 
> -- Alexis Buss


                                                       Liam R.Flynn
                                                  liam-AT-stones.com
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