An Ol' Broad's Ramblings
A Game of Chicken
Questions swirl around Mercury decision to hold firm to vote deadline
While union officials blame Mercury Marine for killing an 11th hour vote that might have kept more than 800 manufacturing jobs in Fond du Lac, many union workers say union leadership did too little, too late.
“Why did the union wait so long to call a vote? They knew last Thursday that there was great interest among members in having a re-vote, so why didn’t they call for a vote on Friday,” said union worker Fred Toth Jr. “The union leaders dragged their feet on the whole thing, and in my opinion, alienated their members.”
Toth, along with fellow workers Rick Schmidt and Felipe Rodriguez, began circulating a petition last week calling for a second vote on contract changes proposed by company management. During the first vote on Aug. 23, more than 800 members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Lodge 1947 “overwhelmingly” rejected contract changes company officials at Fond du Lac’s largest manufacturer said were needed to keep Mercury manufacturing jobs in the city.
“We were told by District 10 union officials that there was a bylaw preventing workers from voting on a contract without at least three significant changes in it. Now we find out there wasn’t any bylaw. It was just an unwritten policy with the IAM. Policies are rewritten every day,” Toth said.
It’s no secret I’m no fan of unions. This is one reason why. Let’s face it, the union “leadership” don’t give a flying flip about the rank and file. Mercury Marine stated their intentions. The union members listened to the leadership, and said “Oh no, they won’t do that. They’ll cave to us, they NEED us!” Well, guess what? They DON’T need you! There are many areas in this country that WANT the jobs the Mercury have to offer.
Then, Mercury gave the members another chance. Vote again, for or against, but this time, make sure you KNOW what you’re doing. The leadership LIED to the members, and told them they couldn’t vote again. It was a done deal, and Mercury would back down. Way to go SFB. You shafted your members, you shafted the community.
It would be my suggestion, that if you are lucky enough to get another job, tell whoever approaches you to ‘join the union’, to tell them to take their suggestion and shove it where the sun don’t shine!
