Murdered Security Guard's Union Asked For Bulletproof Vests, Never Got Them
Stephen Johns, the 39-year old man who was murdered yesterday at the Holocaust Memorial Museum, wasn't just a Wackenhut-employed security officer. He was also a member of the Security, Police and Fire Professionals of America--a union.
That union approached Wackenhut about the dangers Holocaust Museum officers face, and asked them to provide their employees with bulletproof vests. You can imagine how that turned out.
[D]uring contract negotiations with Wackenhut two years ago, the union pressed for company-issued protective vests. Although Wackenhut seemed open to the idea, vests have not been issued, Faye said."I hammered this in our negotiations two years ago because of how sensitive that museum is," he said. "Our guards needed more protection." He said that one of the guards at the museum was "verbally assaulted by one guy walking by, saying anti-Semitic remarks. For that reason, I made that the center of the negotiation."
Authorities said Johns was not wearing a protective vest.
Josh
Matt
Eric
Brian
This is exactly why unions were created in the first place. Management won't do a damn thing that isn't in their own narrow, personal, and financial interests unless there's a collective bargaining unit big enough to force them to do it.
I have to listen to anti-union jackasses all day long whining about the unions, and they're too damn stupid to figure out what happens to their benefits and safety once unions have been eradicated.
I don't belong to a union, never have, and probably never will. It's just the nature of my work. But, it's not that hard to see why they're necessary and why they have to be strong.
June 11, 2009 1:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
Absolutely.
June 11, 2009 1:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's ironic how pervasive anti-union attitudes are, particularly when those most vociferously objecting to unions would probably benefit from union membership.
There's an intensity to the anti-union attitude that seems way out of proportion. It's as if people find just the idea of unions threatening somehow.
June 11, 2009 1:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
For years the Republicans have framed unions as "special interests" during campaign season...its' too bad people don't think about what unions have done for the middle class--for one things they've made "weekends" the norm, and if it were not for unions I think there could still be children working in factories. Thank unions for "over-time" pay. Union bargaining power is what has given union members a good living wage--without it we'd all be earning minimum wage. I wish more people belonged to unions--they raise our standard of living.
June 11, 2009 2:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
Good living wages, and affordable healthcare.
Why are these things so threatening? Is it because many Americans don't have either, and therefore, don't want anyone else to have them?
June 11, 2009 2:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
I ran across an interesting book by Robert Fitch called "Solidarity For Sale", which is about union corruption. Fitch is pro-union, so this tome is, if anything, a little apologetic. I've only read snippets so far, but plan on buying it soon.
One of the cogent points he makes (and with which I agree completely) is that, until the unions can wash themselves of the stigma of corruption, they will always be regarded as labor groups run by the Mob. Nobody's going to do it for them.
I'm not a union member, primarily because I'm self employed, but I empathize with the "little guys" that are doing the actual work. I hope EFCA gets passed.
June 11, 2009 7:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
Does Fitch suggest how unions can do that? Especially in the face of well-organized, well-funded anti-union propaganda efforts?
I'm just thinking about how many nominally-reputable companies over the decades have done business with organized crime, and how many less-reputable ones have served as fronts. And how yet others have been credibly accused and even convicted of bribery or fraud. But no one says things like "Until US corporations can wash themselves of the stigma of corruption, they will always be regarded as business fronts run by the Mob."
June 11, 2009 8:33 PM | Reply | Permalink