Mario in high school was not great academically and he didn’t see himself working in an office arm to arm with a row of people in headsets answering phones. He was a reasonable athlete but not good enough to be competitive at higher levels. He keeps himself in shape and loves to be outdoors and build things. He was frequently helping out his neighbors on various home construction projects.
One of Mario’s neighbors who works in construction suggested to him that he go talk to his former shop steward Joe, who now works as a Qualifier for the SFHAX Workplace Community but as an Employee of the Union. Mario was intimidated thinking about it because he didn’t consider himself a good talker. He could talk endlessly with Maria and his friends but with strangers he was retiring and quiet. He remembers his guidance counselor always telling the students they had to sell themselves and create a brand or they would never be hired. What did he have to sell? He wasn’t particularly good at anything.
His neighbor didn’t give up. He made an appointment for Mario with Joe, the former shop steward, and told him to go. Mario reluctantly agreed. Mario was sure it would be a flop and he would have embarrassed himself before his neighbor’s friend.
Joe had gray hair and looked older than Mario’s father, maybe even as old as his grandfather. The first thing Joe said to Mario after watching him walk in and sit was “do you want to work hard for good pay? I mean really work hard and smart.” Mario didn’t mind working and he certainly wanted to get good pay so he said yes. He wasn’t sure he could say he was smart but he decided to keep his mouth shut and see what happened.
Joe continued, “it took too long, but we finally convinced those a**-**** guidance teachers and their administrators that some people don’t want to go to college. They want to work with their hands and build things and that there is plenty of work that needs to get done. I want you to sign up for the construction work study program at your high school. If you complete it you will get a high school diploma and have a job “. Mario was hesitant. Joe was intimidating and he didn’t like being pressured. He just sat there.
Joe looked at Mario waited a bit then said “I know I come on strong, Let me tell you what the program is about”.
Joe went on to tell Mario that the construction work study program would be for his senior year. He would take academic courses in technical reading comprehension and writing, mathematics used in the construction trades, and workplace and household economics. He would also go to construction sites and attend Union run training classes that would teach him workplace safety, teamwork, solidarity and qualify him in various skills. When he graduates he would have qualifications listed on the SFHAX Workplace Community Labor Exchange and would have work immediately at graduation, provided he accepted the market labor payment rate for his qualifications. He would also be a registered Union member and a Union Qualifier would help him set the ask price for his labor.
It had been a contentious fight in the Union about how to pay for the training programs and more importantly did they want to become members of the SFHAX Workplace Community. By joining the SFHAX Workplace Community, they would be closing their hiring hall since the SFHAX Labor Exchange would provide a similar function. They would also no longer run their own retirement and health care programs, but would use the group plans negotiated by SFHAX. They would have a say but they wouldn’t be in total control. In their case they have the prospect that the healthcare and retirement fees would be lower as the group would be larger. They would no longer be able to dictate the dollar pay rates but would need to help their members set an asking labor payment that maximized everyone's income. Union officials and favored members would no longer have certain “perks” that we won’t discuss further and had to figure out how they can get the same income as they did before.
It took awhile and many tries by the SFHAX representatives before the Union would let them speak. When the Union finally relented, they weren’t expecting to be persuaded to join the SFHAX Workplace Community.
SFHAX came in said, “to be blunt, traditional unions are dying, but many of the functions they provide are desperately needed by your members and the larger workforce.”
SFHAX went on to outline the key things that Unions can provide such as a well trained, safety-conscious workforce dedicated to performing competently in their trade or profession. These workers show up reliably and work at a reasonable known production rate. The only thing that is to be negotiated is the labor payment. That payment will fluctuate based on market conditions, but all who want to work at the market rate will find work.
A Union needs to use its collective industry knowledge to help each of its members set their labor payment at an amount that gets them the hours they want to work and maximizes their income. SFHAX has as a fundamental principle that labor is paid by the hour and that an hour’s work gets an hour’s pay. People are human and can’t work unpredictable varying hours or continuously without rest for any long period of time. They have families and live in a community, all of whom need their time and attention in addition to work. If workers don’t have the time to spend with their families and community, society eventually incinerates and civilization crumbles. All of these basic concepts have been pioneered by Unions. Furthermore there is a fundamental conflict between management and labor. Management wants to pay less and workers want to be paid more. The one thing that they both know is that if they don’t come to an agreement, everyone loses.
What finally sold the Union was the Qualifier Membership. The Union Business Agents and Shop Stewards would become Qualifier Members of the SFHAX Workplace Community, but as Employees of the Union. The Union would be their Employer. A SFHAX Qualifier performs many of the duties that they already did, so it was not a difficult change to make. They also saw that they had the potential to earn at least as much as before, and perhaps even more if they could get more of the nonunion workers to join the Union. They also saw that the SFHAX Workplace Community Labor Exchange equalized the power balance between labor and management. They now had a negotiating tool that balanced the needs of both, giving back to labor the ability to get a fair share of the revenue generated from their economic output.
What finally convinced Mario to go with the work study plan was when Joe told him he would not have any student debt, but would have a job and be earning money when he graduated from High School. Mario had seen enough students take on debt to go to college, never graduate and end up in minimum wage jobs and with a large debt to repay. Some of them turned to drugs and despair or ended up in jail.
Copyright 2014-2020 Richard A. Cornell, PE