This would have been a great thread to have been aroung last month when Motor Coach Industries only obtained the contract they wanted by treatening to take their business to the good U.S.A. Even after the members said no to the contract, MCI said that if employees do not change their mind, they are going south.
Members desperately scrambled to plead for a second vote, a rather unheard of practice. What happened in the vote. The members now accepted the union breaking contract under duress of being told that if they do ot change thier mind they will all loose their jobs. Thank you LBM for your bulling tactics. What happened to the right to vote and the right to strike?
Were these unfortunate members abducted from their lives and forced at gun point to do and say things that they otherwise would not do? Were they forced to go against the very system that they thought guaranteed them the due process to deal with managment in negotiations?
And where the hell were all the other big unions when clout was really needed to support solidarity? They were asleep all tucked in bed and not a mouse was stirring. So much for big union solidarity. Lets face it big unions only look after the big union and not the members.
Of course this is only an example of what we could do in a forum. If you wish to comment on the unfortunate demise of the members of Motor Coach Industries, you can start another thread. This was just an example.
ABOUT UNIONS 
The Inevitable Media of the Power Source
The Inevitable Media of the Power Source
Collective bargaining is a significant event for union members. It provides them with the opportunity to seek out improvements to wages and benefits, protections against workplace abuses and excesses and solutions to other workplace issues. It also provides union members with an opportuntity to exercise their greatest source of power - the right to withhold their services - in the pursuit of these improvements.
More often than not, however, bargaining is a process that is shrouded in secrecy. Members, other than those who will be at the table, have minimal involvement. They may be invited to a meeting or two to discuss proposals but that's about it. Once bargaining begins, a cone of silence descends on the proceedings. All a member can expect are some bland updates to the effect that the talks are progressing well or not. Mainstream media coverage of negotiations is limited to brief sound bites about strikes and settlements at high profile businesses and institutions. Union leaders' comments are scripted and brief, whether directed at the media or the membership. Union members themseves, seem to exist only as background props. At the end of the process, they are asked to vote on their new contract. Few have any idea how it was arrived at or whatever became of all those other issues that remain unresolved. The public understands little of what is important to workers.
Something does not seem right with this picture. The union's power at the bargaining table comes from it's power source - the members. The more that members are aware of what's going on, the more they will participate, the more supportive they will be, they more clout the union has.
Is it time to lift the shroud of secrecy?
In MFD forum this week, we suggested setting up a special section in the forum especially for news about bargaining - a place where union members can report on what's happening with their negotiations - from beginning to end. We went even further in fact, suggesting that union members themselves could get invovled in reporting on developments and issues that they or their fellow members consider important and newsworthy. As slek put it, "...it would be cool to have a quasi-reporter(s) from every local in every union bring us the info."
What do you think of this idea? Would it help empower union members? Could it help change public perceptions about workers' issues? What kinds of issues, events or activities could/should be reported? Would you like to be a part of the Power Source media? What would it take to get you involved?
BTW, you don't have to be a professional writer to become involved in this kind of reporting. MFD forum is filled with examples of workers being their own media. This one thread alone has a number of good examples.
Motor Coach, is this a Winnipeg story? I thought the company, because of the ratification, is pulling up stakes? Give us some background please.
I had heard the about the first rejection, had no idea they did it again!
Here's the story. in the Globe and mail.
I do not belong to this union, but it angers me none the less. I do no know all the details, but from what I recall the MCI contract favors the "LBM' and I use that acronym loosely. If I recall correctly, management wanted the right to regulate the number of hours worked, layed off employees to come back at a lower rate and the list goes on. Here are what a few media's have reported.
Hear is what the Winnipeg Sun had to say:
Headline reads: BUS JOBS STAY, FOR NOW
http://www.canoe.ca/WinnipegNews/03n1.html
Headline reads: Politicians breath sigh of relief http://www.canoe.ca/WinnipegNews/03n2.html
Here is what CBC Manitoba had to say.
http://winnipeg.cbc.ca/template/servlet/View?filename=mb_mcivote020322
ABOUT UNIONS
These are good examples of what's wrong with mainstream media reporting on workers' issues. Notice the subtext that runs through the three articles you linked: Bad contracts are necessary, bad contracts are acceptable, workers line up to accept bad contracts once they know what's good for them.
What about this company's callous and calculating threat of closure if it didn't get it's way? I don't see anything about that. If they made a threat like this during an organizing campaign, the LRB would be all over them like a tent. What about the impact of these concessions on these workers and their families? What about the impact of lousy agreements on local economies? What did the workers who voted in favour of the lousy deal really think about it?
You're right, "about unions", it's too bad we didn't have a Power Source media when this was happening. Let's not let any more of these go by. I think it's important that workers have a way of getting their stories out.
And to think we have a labour friendly government too who wanted the second vote.
Speaking of bargaining in bad faith by the LBM. If I recall correctly MCI even forced the union to open their contract or they would move. There was another company in Manitoba too who threatened to take his Manitoba tractor factory to the good U.S.A where unions are in my opinion much weaker.
However not all people see things the same way. Here is a letter sent to the CBC on issue.
web page
I see at the bottom of this article a March 15th story on the beginings of the story.
ABOUT UNIONS
Here's a story about another bus company in Winnipeg that was crying poor. They got some govt money as well but the workers just got a pretty decent contract. I didn't see anything in the corporate press about this, come to think of it.