9/13/2005

ANGLING FOR A PERSONAL E-MAIL FROM VIN PETRINI

My op-ed in today's YDN on the need for a neutrality agreement at Yale - New Haven Hospital is on-line here:
There are some anti-union tactics that remain technically illegal, like firing employees for speaking positively about the union to their co-workers, or having managers forcibly tear union stickers off of employees' clothing. But when anti-union administrators here at Yale-New Haven Hospital have trotted out these and other tried-and-true union-busting tactics, hospital workers have found little recourse in the NLRB. That's partly because of the difficulty of proving guilt to the NLRB; smart anti-union managers always have an alibi for why someone needed to be let go (lateness is a popular one). It's also because, if the NLRB should decide to pursue your case, it becomes empowered to agree to a settlement on your behalf. Typical settlement for a case of wrongly firing an outspoken union supporter? Reinstatement of the employee, sometimes with back pay, and usually long after the fate of the union drive has been decided. Not to mention temporarily having to post some signs that are the legalese equivalent of scrawling "I will not union-bust again" on the chalkboard. In other words, union-busting pays. That's why YNHH keeps doing it.

1 Comments:

Blogger Zach said...

the whole point of writing on the chalkboard is the drill, the agony of repetition. The signs YNHH had to put up were not handwritten. Hell, i'd be surprised if Zaccagnino or Borgstrom ever had to look at any of them, although i'm sure the labor relations department wrangled with the board over the legalese. I don't think the analogy works. Does Vin Petrini actually send you personal emails?

Great column, by the way.

9/13/2005 02:48:00 AM  

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