Unions never agree to lessening benefits unless the company is already going under and there’s no choice.

StoryCorps is a non-profit organization

So you’re saying it’s alright for companies to break commitments to their workers because they did not sufficiently plan in the case of a sustained sales decline. So workers who counted on pensions and healthcare have to suffer significant decline in income after they are too old to work anymore?

Of course he’s gonna complain. The unions are keeping him from doing things his way. This is his side of the story. From the Union’s side (which remember the the representative for a group of blue collar workers) it’s probably about getting paid a fair amount or not letting the state government get out a contract…

Negotiation of union contract articles can be ongoing. I don’t know where you got the idea that once it’s done, everything is set in stone and done until X years later when it’s time to renegotiate.

GM’s buyout was managerial incompetence. European automakers have much stronger unions and pay more and they somehow managed to be profitable while GM did not. GM’s management prioritized the wrong things, which was their salaries and how to increase numbers that would increase their salaries.

Sure you can. Lots of companies have re-opened contracts with unions in the middle of them - it just requires that you negotiate and agree on the changes.

It doesn’t really matter if they’re profitable or not. Even if Storycorps can’t afford compensation increases, having the union there to negotiate over working conditions and dismissal is still good for the workers.

Yes. If you sign a contract with a worker that says worker will get [x] benefits after working for [y] amounts of time, you can’t revoke [x] benefits because you didn’t plan for it appropriately. That’s bad management to not adequately plan for a known expense.

Unions don’t guarantee any outcome, however, so your…

Today, during my weekly scheduled day off, when TWO people from my work separately contacted me to ask why I wasn’t traveling 30 minutes to come in to do minor bullshit busywork in the rain for $11 a fucking hour, all I could think about was “gosh, I wish I had LESS of a voice in this company”.

Not saying I agree with or don’t agree with unions. Was pointing out why management responds the way they do, i.e. they are told to by the consultants they hire.

“As an employer, we prefer to deal with our employees on a one on one basis. And by ‘One On One’ we mean there will be our HR person, who has bosses, and who’s decisions and options to present to you have been decided by their superiors, our board, our investors, our lawyers and our accountants... And then there will…

So many organizations—especially non-profits in my experience—don’t value HR.

Sounds about right. My coworker is a part time contributor at StoryCorps (and had his story featured) and they seem to have little listening capacity or loyalty toward their employees. The recent unionization drives in journalism and media is a beautiful flame in cavernous darkness.

There is this false idea that public media, because their employees are paid less, somehow operate on higher ideals. ha

The response by the company - talk to the employees and tell why unions are not the way to go.. is an old anti-union tactic that is still sold/presented to corporations by anti-union companies that sell their wares to HR departments all across corp america. It’s the oldest in the book. Tell why you’re so great and…

Also... legally required. So, ya know, just baseline business ethics.

both cited a desire to standardize basic things like job titles, severance pay, and layoff procedures, and to improve communication within the company and create formal channels for internal feedback as motivating factors.

I used to have a bit of a phobia towards rats. My first husband insisted that we go see the movie that came out in the 80s (?). I said I really wasn’t interested, but went along. The rat scene started, and suddenly, I was outside, sitting on the curb, with my head between my knees, trying not to vomit. This was a…

Look, to this day this was the one book that physically bothered me in a very real way while and after reading it, and I’ve read quite a few thriller and horror novels. I was legit dejected when I finished the book.