Bouchard Insanity?

I was listening to some prop wash today and happened to hear that all the dispatchers were fired today at Bouchard. Perhaps a thread titled “The Evil Empire” stories of misery and despair.

So what you’re saying is there’s some job openings for dispatchers. :wink:

It used to happen pretty regularly. I think mass firings are less frequent now.

[QUOTE=z-drive;187506]It used to happen pretty regularly. I think mass firings are less frequent now.[/QUOTE]
For many years I have often wondered why Bouchard is not unionized. If ever there was a company whose employees needed some sort of representation Bouchard seems to be one.

Firings, mass and individual are still quite common. Bouchard was Union until 1999 or 2000. It was the end of June when Morty lost his lawsuit against local 333. All employees at that time had to join the union. The contract expired the end of July and was never resigned. I find the biggest issue with the evil empire is there is no short or long term disability. I know some fine people over there and I know of many that I wouldn’t piss on. It is that culture of fear and apathy that causes major marine incidents.

[QUOTE=bigtugguy;187519]Firings, mass and individual are still quite common. Bouchard was Union until 1999 or 2000. It was the end of June when Morty lost his lawsuit against local 333. All employees at that time had to join the union. The contract expired the end of July and was never resigned. I find the biggest issue with the evil empire is there is no short or long term disability. I know some fine people over there and I know of many that I wouldn’t piss on. It is that culture of fear and apathy that causes major marine incidents.[/QUOTE]
It is perfectly legal to form or join a union. Takes a bit of courage which is in short supply now in the USA but it can be done,
Most other 1st world countries not only have union representation but they also have union membership on their board of directors or corporate management committee. Been working pretty good for them for 50-75 years.

I’m all for unions. But they, in m opinion, could be so so so much better in this country. They could demand representation on boards as a contractual condition.

If the union’s represented their membership better and didn’t walk around like strutting peacocks and make political donations to politicians that half their membership didn’t support they would be looked upon much more favorably.

[QUOTE=bigtugguy;187495]I was listening to some prop wash today and happened to hear that all the dispatchers were fired today at Bouchard. Perhaps a thread titled “The Evil Empire” stories of misery and despair.[/QUOTE]

I had a friend who lasted a couple weeks in that office not that long after graduation. The scuttlebutt was that the boss was a total hot head and would frequently fire whole departments and then hire them back the next day. Most people with any self respect or feeling of worth, like my friend, moved on in short order. I believe dispatchers were frequent flyers in that regard.

While a union would give a seaman recourse or whatever if fired because they have a tooth ache. The issue at the time was the Union could not provide properly trained wheelhouse personnel. I remember once they went through 3 HR people in one week. They would go to lunch and not return. I wonder if employees are still banned from going to the office?

It might still be “legal” to form a union in the USA, but it is certainly is almost impossible. You are correct when you say that most 1st world countries have union representation but that is not the case in the USA. Let’s compare what happens when workers organize in our neighbor to the north Canada when they try and organize in our country.

The following if from the Center for Economic Policy and Research:
“While Canada and the U.S. both have elections as one route to forming unions, Canadian workers in several provinces also have the much faster option of card-check certification. Under card check, once a majority of employees signs cards in support of unionizing, an employer is required by law to recognize their union. In the United States, however, unless an employer voluntarily recognizes a union, workers must first file a petition showing support for unionizing and then vote to unionize in an election before an employer is required to recognize their union. (This process can and often does drag on for months if not years! Seago) …During this time, U.S. employers usually engage in anti-union campaigns, often committing illegal acts – such as threatening to close the workplace or threatening to fire workers – to discourage them from voting to form a union. In fact, workers were illegally fired in about 30 percent of certification elections in 2007. Unfortunately, the legal response to such practices is slow and ineffective.” It is well documented that when the illegally fired workers are re-instated and with the rest of the workplace cowed into submission, the company deemed “union agitators” are fired for good within six months.

Name an organizing drive in the maritime industry that has succeeded in the last 30 years? By and large the maritime unions, the SIU and the employment agency AMO come to mind, are comfortable with the status quo. The two previously mentioned entities get new contracts by offering “sweetheart contracts” and representation in name only to employers. Ask any old timer boatman who was working on the east coast before the union busting of 1987, how wages, benefits and working conditions compared between then and now.

In this election year, with many of the candidates decrying “income inequality”, it cannot be overstated that this is due in large part to the decline of unions in our country.

Seago