United We Stand

Unions. Now there’s a double-edged sword, not to mention a double-standard representation. The double whammy. The first thing that comes to my mind are the first words spoken by the actor Willem Dafoe in the film “Light Sleeper”. A critically-acclaimed film that did well at the box office, but when brought up in conversation, the usual response is ‘huh?’ The reason I remember it so well is because of the irony of the opening segment mirroring reality itself. I was the manager of The Vogue Theater at the time. A 215-seat, half-art house, half-commercial theater, as part of the mammoth United Artists chain. At least it was, back in the 90’s, until the 8-screen AMC 1000 opened a few blocks down and the 16-screen Sony Metreon at 4th & Mission, years later. The films that played there were either independent films or films that had run at other first-run theaters initially, and moved there because of continued residuals, or as an obligation to the movie studio. This was, and probably still is, a standard practice between Hollywood studios and theater chains across the country. Huge backroom stuff.

It was Labor Day weekend (celebrating labor, of course – how’s that for more irony in a paper on unions). “Light Sleeper” opened on that Friday. Got a rave review in the SF Chronicle (man out of his chair). I guess the powers-that-be at United Artists didn’t think it would do well, deciding to open it at a local 200-seat house. How could they know. Every show sold out all three days. Lines around the corner throughout the day and into the night. Taxing all the staff. Fortunately, I had experience as the House Manager at the 4-screen UA Galaxy Theater on Sutter & Van Ness. At the time, that was the premier theater in the area. We survived. Popcorn everywhere.

I know, too much information. But that’s the LaFever Way. It’s all about the story. Isn’t there something at least a tad enjoyable knowing the details leading up to the reason and/or subject matter at hand about to be discussed here? That’s what tangents are for. As long as you don’t drift onto another tangent like in “Tron”. Getting back to where we belong, which is the opening line in “Light Sleeper”.

“Labor Day Weekend. Union movement. Now there’s a contradiction in terms.”
- Willem Dafoe in “Light Sleeper”

That’s right. It’s unions, not women, that we can’t live with, or live without. Worked back in the day. But not today. While much of this may be biased, obviously, I guarantee you, it is definitely based on direct experiences (more than once), and observations (crossing lines to get to work). You may disagree, and for good reason, and you have that right. But it is pointless to argue, since it isn’t a matter of right or wrong. It’s subjective in nature, and where you stand, united or not, should not be challenged, unless you’re directly involved, and then, only vocally. Rule Number One: [karate] for defense only. Rule Number Two: first learn Rule Number One.


What follows is one man’s views, based on empirical evidence established by experience and first-hand observations, confirmed by conversations with those caught up in the whirlwind that is the “strike” and indirectly, as a result of the effects on the immediate work surroundings, that being a disruption of a number of areas relative to building services provided. So, without further ado…

My first exposure to “union labor” was indirect, but first-hand. Dad was a member of the ‘printing pressman’s union’. Running the monster printing presses at the San Francisco Chronicle. This wasn’t your average copier or printing press at your local neighborhood printer. I walked through the place many times. For a daily circulation of 500,000 papers, you had to have presses of mammoth proportions. The paper roles attached to these presses, looked like King Kong’s toilet paper, literally. The presses ran continuously. Even with ear plugs, he still went deaf in his 50’s. (Then again, he didn’t wear earplugs at home, to protect and drown out the yelling and screaming of us kids). I vaguely remember times of labor negotiations. We were too young to understand, and Mom & Dad didn’t want to worry us. It was a management thing. The only real power management has, in its daily use, is the power of information. That is, the power to withhold it until they feel you’re ready to hear it. ‘Nother story. (See the white paper titled Relatively Speaking. You won’t be disappointed.)

Fast forward to Dad’s untimely passing at the young age of 60. Product of an earlier age. When men working in blue-collar jobs, combined with the excessive drinking and smoking due to the physical and mental toll the work took on the body, resulted in an early demise. For the record, Dad didn’t drink. Mom was in charge. He was a Scorpio, she was a Taurus. Mom would never have allowed it. But the smoking was what did him in. 45 years of it. He passed at 60 years of age. Two years before retirement. Put in 30 years there. Model employee. And a union member. Common back then. Unheard of today. Except for those who started 20-30 years ago. The only exception is if you find a good employer. (A really, really good employer. And no union. Like where I’m currently at. Sweet.)

The processing of papers came next, as with all situations involving a death in the family. Maybe not as much as today, involving IRA’s, estates, investments, pensions. Back then, it was mostly about pensions. That’s what unions were mostly about. And second only to monthly dues. Mom filed for Dad’s pension benefits, as she was the beneficiary. A no-brainer. SF Chronicle denied her claim. Motherfuckers. Sorry. But you get the point. 30 years of loyalty, without incident. Dad was loved by everyone. Did the union step in to assist? No. Mom had to hire an attorney. It took only one letter to the Chron to approve the claim. Corporate America is cold. I know. I’ve been a part of it for 25 years. At the lowest level (again, see Relatively Speaking). They will deny you every time to see if they can get away with it; until they’re challenged, at which time they usually give in. If you don’t, they win. And the unions? Obviously, they weren’t going to spend any time or money defending a dead man. Not a good way to start in showing me the benefits of union labor.


Of course, that would change in high school. American History. At least in regards to the original motivation and reasoning behind the creation, foundation and purpose of unions. But hey, that’s what schools are for – education. It was a film shown in class as part of American History’s part on unions. It starred actor Sylvestor Stallone – “F.I.S.T.”, one of his earliest endeavors. Stood for ‘federation of interstate truckers’. A story loosely based on Jimmy Hoffa and the Teamsters, that began in the 50’s. Two decades later, actor Jack Nicholson was tapped to reprise the role as Hoffa in the film of the same name (Hoffa), a variation of the same theme, rather than a reprisal as previously mentioned. It was on a grander scale, mostly sensationalizing the triumphs and pitfalls of Hoffa himself, with excellent performances by Nicholson, Danny DeVito as his lifelong sidekick, and Armand Assante as the partner representing the ‘mafia’ influence. I liked it. But at the same time, I preferred “F.I.S.T.” It was more realistic, especially after I saw it again last year, and after I had seen “Hoffa”. Nothing had changed. “F.I.S.T.” still rules. Recommended viewing, for sure.

What these two films did, in all their glory and in spite of certain inconsistencies and exaggerations, was deliver on why, and in some ways how, the necessity for organized labor came to be. Upper-class (white-collar) and lower-class (blue-collar) have been separated for centuries. They are simply a civilized term to represent the ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’. Plain and simple. Somewhere along the way, the ‘have-nots’ realized their numbers were greater than the ‘haves’. Long before the official ‘union’ came to be, the ‘have-nots’ organized to overthrow the ‘haves’. Happened all the time. Kingdoms and governments fell on a regular basis. And always when the ‘haves’ ruled by fear. History lesson for today.

Back to the present. The 50’s were a tumultuous time. The Depression that started in 1929, was still affecting the economy all the way up until the 50’s, and was about to come to a head. Riots occurred just trying to find work. One of the largest groups of blue-collar workers were the truckers. Certain individuals realized the strength, not just in the shear number of workers, but of the work itself – that being the transportation of everything, down the street and across the country. If someone were to have the resources, charisma, and of course, the balls, to organize this group, they would have a certain level of bargaining power for better pay and benefits. If not, a work stoppage would occur, costing the company a shitload of money. Even more so if they were publicly-traded on the stock exchange, which wasn’t exactly in the best of shape at that time.

Hoffa may not have started the ‘union’ juggernaut, but he was obviously responsible for organizing all of the local union outlets that were already in place, but had no power to negotiate effectively. Besides, if a local went on strike, there were plenty of others to take their place. If all were organized, the companies were ‘up the creek without a paddle’. Hoffa knew this. Unfortunately, there will always be others who want to get in on the profits. The illegal entities (organized crime). They know what they’re doing. If they have the muscle, they move in. In this case, they didn’t. So they used a different tactic. Support. And worked their way in that way. This area is obviously way over my head, so anything more would be speculation, so I won’t go there, continuing on as it refers to my world. Funny how poetic ‘organized labor’ and ‘organized crime’ are when mentioned in the same sentence.

The creation and consolidation of union labor during the 50’s served a purpose. It guaranteed a decent wage on which the worker could live, benefits during a time of misfortune, and support from the union in crisis situations. It was all about the family. And unions embraced that. (It wouldn’t happen until decades later that the family foundation would ultimately be exploited, or ignored outright.) Terms were determined and agreed-upon for a certain period of time, in the form of a contract, with an expiration date, at which time a new contract would be negotiated, upgrading wages and benefits to keep in line with the economy’s rising costs of goods and services, or what is commonly-referred-to-today as, ‘inflation’.

It worked, and worked well, with other industries following suit. But only worked in certain industries that were responsible for the overall economic infrastructure. ‘White-collar’ was out of the question. They were ‘a-dime-a-dozen’. And the ones in charge. No, if you look around, the majority of your unions are primarily ‘blue-collar’. Why? Because the work is ‘lower- to middle-class’. Support and infrastructure work, by nature. First, you have the Teamsters, the largest of them all, representing the trucker, shipping everything from gasoline to teddy bears to materials used by other workers represented by unions. Perfect synergy. If they strike, nothing gets delivered. The Longshoremen, the second largest, running the docks in every port in the country. If they strike, nothing gets loaded on or off the ships that carry everything not shipped by truck. More synergy. And smart thinking. Power in numbers. Then there’s the service industry. This one today may not have the highest numbers, but wield the most leverage when it’s time for negotiations. They cover the country’s hotels, restaurants, transportation, police and fire services, sanitation, schools, airlines, electrical and mechanical contractors, and even non-profits (go figure). It’s the non-profit sector that I had my direct experience with. We’ll come back this for general purposes later on, as this is where unions fail in their purpose and tactics in the economy today.


Which brings us to my direct connection to the ‘union’ establishment and my involvement. The Jewish Community Center network. Let me start by saying this has to do with unions, not employers. So this is not a knock on the Jewish Community Center. All evidence to the contrary. It was one of my more respectable employers and fun places to work. I lived five blocks away so the commute was a moot point. It was the largest of all the community centers in the Bay Area, so they kept me busy. And most importantly, they respected me and my skills, hiring me even though I was not Jewish. How’s that for an equal opportunity employer.

The problem here, well, at least, not in the beginning, was that the non-exempt staff were required to join the local union of service employees. ‘Exempt’ is a more recent term, representing management, also known as white-collar, and upper-class, due to position status, compensation, and decision-making powers that go with it. At the same time, and for good reason, it also has to do with Accounting and HR standards and practices as it relates to budgeting, and the number of hours performed on-the-job. Management tend to spend more than the standard 40-hour workweek in the office. Overtime would cripple the bottom line, considering their overall annual salary, so as compromise to this, compensation is classified as ‘exempt’, meaning additional income is not earned in the event of overtime. Their higher salaries make up for this discrepancy. And, of course, they are not, or required to, join any union as it pertains to their industry or profession. Everyone else? If you want the job, you join the union.

When this happened, back in 1988, I realized for the first time, after what I had seen before, that the reason and purpose of the ‘union’ had become nothing more than a way to profit from its heritage, at the expense of the employer AND the worker. More on that later. So, here I was. Joining the union to get the job. Didn’t matter. Even though I knew I would never see the dues being deducted from my check. Hey, I didn’t interview with the union. I interviewed with the SFJCC. The union probably was responsible for the compensation structure for the position, based on market rates. But any employer can figure that out. Even me. For a mailroom position, architects and engineers pay the worse, at the bottom of the scale. In the middle, insurance, accounting, and attorneys, with investment houses paying the best. I know. I’ve worked for all of them. Attorneys are the worst because, even though they pay in the middle, the workload is more than any other industry, also requiring more overtime than any other industry. No thank you. What I couldn’t figure out was why a non-profit community center was represented by a union.

Six months later, I would be enlightened, but not surprised, and unchallenged when I stood my ground. Contracts were up and in the negotiation process. I was approached as part of a standard practice by union delegates to ascertain my intentions in regards to a possible strike, if negotiations broke down. Uh, no. Why, they asked. I said I was required to join to get the job. I have no love for unions. They don’t serve their purpose today as they did when they came to be back in the day. If you go on strike, I will continue to come to work. You cannot stop me. If you try to when I approach the line to gain entrance to my job, I won’t be responsible for my actions. Obviously, they were shocked, but weren’t about to test me. All that could be done was use the matter of ‘support’ at a later date; that being lack of in any situation involving me. So be it. I worked alone. They needed me more than I needed them. And I told them this. Even more, management loved me. Nothing happened, though. After that, the others feared me. For no good reason. Nonetheless, this showed exactly how unions operate in society today. Turning one another against each other. Wasn’t fair. And they didn’t care.


And now for today’s unions. First of all, Teamsters and Longshoremen are a moot point. They are so strong and powerful, they get whatever they want, no matter what. Then there’s the police and fire unions. While that’s all in good, the issue isn’t their compensation and benefits, but their services they perform. These are the most vital of services to the economic infrastructure that should never be allowed to strike. Never. No exception. Then there are the areas that are low-paying across the board, that necessitated the formation of a union. Airlines, restaurants, schools, hotels, etc. And this is where the problems begin, and the demise of the reason and purpose unions were created in the first place.

The problem is not with the workers not getting paid enough, or not receiving enough benefits. The contracts are signed semi-annually, annually, and bi-annually. Everyone who has a job, applied for that job, and accepted that job, knowing the salary and benefits before starting that job. Everyone goes to work everyday, putting in their time, without question. All they know is what they know. And everything’s cool. Until the time comes for contract negotiations and renewal.

It is only at that time the workers are told by the union what they aren’t getting, what they are entitled to, and what they should be getting, and the only wait to get it is to strike. The union bargains for more, and when the employer rejects the offer as too high, for good reason, the unions tell the workers they are being treated unfairly. Did they do so anytime during the year while everyone was going to work everyday without any knowledge of unfairness on the part of the employer? No. Unions wait right up until contracts are about to expire, garner support from all of the workers, and use the threat of a strike as leverage to secure their demands from the employers. A cheap ploy practiced by all unions today. Defeats every purpose designed by the original union blueprint.

Out on the line, workers are led by union reps like sheep. Once the contract is signed, everything is back to normal. Work as usual. Did anyone quit their job? No. Did anyone on the strike line receive full pay from the dues they’ve been paying all this time? No. They receive a percentage. Certainly not enough to live on for an extended period of time. The rest goes to the union officials’ pay. And that’s the bottom line, folks. Unions using the workers in a deceptive and manipulative way to raise their own income at the expense of the workers, knowing full well the workers just want to work, but will follow them without pause.

LaFever says this: you interviewed for the job. You received the employee kit, outlining pay, benefits, and policies. If it’s union, whatever. But you know what you’re getting into. That’s what the ‘hire packet’ is for. If you have a complaint, step up now, not at negotiation time. If you wait until the contract is expiring, you have no one else to blame but yourself. If I were the employer during a strike, I would hire anyone who applied, and qualified, and let all the union people go.