HallSlug.com

Archive for April, 2008

Well the Hallslug is on the move again. As was expected, most of the electricians who submitted safety statements as requested by Bayview Electric Management were laid off Thursday 4-24-08.

A classic move of divide and conquer since only a third of the crew stood up and did the right thing.

A little background information about the incident.

A few weeks ago a carpenter named Brandon working for Jasman Construction in Detroit at the Motor City Casino Convention Center did something on the job I have never seen before in my 21 years as an IBEW Electrician.

He was trying to move a load of drywall on the second floor of the convention center when he approached an electrician working in an elevated scissor lift. After exchanging a few words, Brandon scaled the side of the elevated rig without a safety harness, then proceeded to assault the operator of the rig by pushing him away from the controls. He then moved the rig while elevated so he could get his drywall through the area.

All because he couldn’t wait a few minutes while the electrician finished working on energized circuits. I still find it hard to believe that this behavior was tolerated on the project. Brandon was not removed from the project.

The matter was handled poorly by many.

Most companies today love to preach about safety and how much they care about their workers. In reality they are mostly concerned about their insurance rates for workmans comp.

The choice at Bayview Electric seems to be, “If your concerned about safety then here is your layoff.”

What does union brotherhood mean to you?

To some it means looking at the big picture. As individuals we stand alone against the machine. As a union of individuals we gain strength in numbers. It’s a lot harder to crush the group than the individual.

Experienced management is well aware of this fact. That’s why the wealthy have been fighting to crush unions since the industrial revolution. In the U.S. today only around 7.5% of the workers are covered by a collective bargaining agreement, the lowest percentage in a century. In Western Europe approximately 80% of the workers are currently covered by collective bargaining agreements.

It seems that we Americans have chosen to be a nation of individuals. The attitude of “as long as I have mine” is undermining our very way of life. Millions of Americans are being driven out of the middle class while multinational corporations grow richer, CEO’s laugh all the way to the bank, and the richest 1% grow even richer.

While it would be easy to blame the unions, corporations, politicians, etc. we have no one to blame but ourselves. It is much easier to stand in the background mumbling under your breath about how you have been wronged, than to stand up and take a personal risk.

The brave men that formed the labor unions in this country suffered great personal suffering and humiliation. It saddens and disillusions me to see that so many workers today cannot even write and sign a simple statement that would help to right a great wrong. It is like spitting on the graves of our brave union forefathers.

I’ve been a proud member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 58 for 21 years. We have some of the best electricians in the country, unfortunately we also have many that just want a free ride.

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GM WORKING ON NEW HYBRID VOLT FOR 2010

SACRAMENTO — General Motors Corp. has settled on a final design for the much-anticipated Chevrolet Volt, a GM executive said on Wednesday.

Larry Burns, GM’s vice president for research and development, said that aspect of the vehicle’s development is officially complete. But a group of reporters and analysts from around the country who will converge in Warren today won’t likely get to actually see the car’s design, even though they’re in town for the latest news on GM’s ambitious attempt to build an electrically driven car for the masses.