🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <4ct4c0$1sv@nntp.ucs.ubc.ca>, babbott@unixg.ubc.ca (Barrie
Abbott) wrote:

| But what would you 
| expect CUPE, or any other union to do? Voluntarily roll back our wages? 
| Throw out our pension plan? Let non-unionized workers take our jobs away? 

Would the presence of Tubesteak people in itself really cause wages to be
rolled back, or cause the union pension plan to be thrown out?  I doubt
it.  However, their presence does make it difficult for a union to argue
for a wage or benefits increase, or for maintaining their current wages
and benefits if the Tubesteak people are seen to be providing better food
at a lower price.

However, people are willing to pay more for food better than processed
animal intestines and other unspeakable body parts.  What really hurts the
union cause is when students in residence complain that the "food is
gross", or when a faculty member laments at how it takes six weeks for a
light bulb to be changed, or when a cafeteria customer finds a cockroach
in a cinnamon bun.  Students lead stressful lives, and a good diet is
important to staying on top of the stress, and if union labour can provide
food healthier and better than hot dogs and reheated burgers, it would
justify the extra cost.

Likewise with Physical Plant: if the union publicly committed itself to
working away the backlog of job orders, and actually managed to cut down
the waiting time, it would make a lot of people happy.  In fact, if the
union could do a better job of getting the university fixed up than the
administration can, I believe the Board of Governors would happily let the
union run things.  (And I speak as a former Board member -- they have a
pretty good idea of the problems and are trying to grapple with them, but
I won't get into Board politics.)

That's not to say workers don't deserve a "living wage" or that unions are
evil (as other people posting to this newsgroup may believe).  I believe
that unions to serve a useful function, as there are places on campus
where workers are treated poorly by their managers.  The root of the
problem here is that people don't like to pay for crappy service.


| Whatever you would like to happen is not going to happen in the same way 
| a government is booted out. The union is here to stay.

What happens may not be so dramatic, and the union won't likely disappear,
but their bargaining position weakens slowly.  The ultimate threat of a
strike just won't carry the weight it did.

-- 
Orvin Lau, M.Sc. Student (Advanced Technology Management)
Faculty of Commerce & Business Administration
The University of British Columbia        Internet: olau@unixg.ubc.ca

[All opinions and knowledge above are my own.  Do not expose to open
 flame.]