What do you think would happen if you did this at work..?

Guess I wasn't paying attention earlier. Just realized this first response was from you.

I know I was "lmao" after I read your initial post. Stop dreaming of this grand scheme to walk out and make your voice heard. As others have said, nothing will happen, and you likely don't have near the support you fantasize about. Even at Union shops, it's tough to gain a lot of popular support.

Fact is, management types think we're already pretty expendable. And with the market like it is now, with many fewer jobs than people willing to do them, they may well be right.

Just quietly look for another opportunity elsewhere, if things are so bad.

 

If they ever outlaw cigarettes, you'll see some shit fly then

 

That potential management comment was bleeding with sarcasm.

I didn't have a preset agenda, and I wasn't targeting a particular place. I was just wondering with all the banter and bitching here at times, how much would one take before considering such an action?

 

No one will ever do anything, so it really doesn't matter.

 

Ah, so we sort of had the same point, I suppose.

Or are YOU running scared now?

Anyway, people say a lot of things here about the business. And I think we're all aware that the type of action you mention is what happens in TV movies and such. In the real world, we simply look for other jobs and/or professions.

 

norma ray lives.

 

And they are right. Everyone is expendable.

Hmmm ... Don't know that I'd say that. Maybe among ownership, but I don't get a huge republican vibe from much of anyone in journalism that I interact with. But perhaps that's just me. And the whole union thing ... that's been a subject of some fairly nasty debates in these parts.

 

You don't need to walk out to do this. Find an organized labor rep (you're a journalist) and talk to him/her about the process.

What essentially happens is:

The union will announce to the company its intention to organize.

Then there is a certain period in which, like an election, both sides can present their view. Depending on the legalities of your jurisdiction (and this isn't turn of the century Pittsburgh anymore) the union will have certain rights within the newsroom.

The union will need people inside the newsroom to step forward and be organizers, thus risking putting your head on the chopping block if the union vote fails, but if your work place is that bad, doesn't sound like it will happen.

You don't have to pull any Norma Rae stunts. Talk to some labour organizers, they will have been through it hundreds of times and will know all the pitfalls (including dealing with the Dyepacks of the world who would have died at the bow of the USS Poseiden)

 

Oh, and mind your p's and q's while talking to the union reps and beyond. Your company will terminate your employment if given any opportunity.

 

And EE94 makes a strong bid for idiot of the day.

 

wow - why would anyone be stupid enough to think dye was anti-union? i think dye is more anti-stupid (something i'm sure you wouldn't comprehend) and not so much anti-union.

 

Yeah, I'm the idiot of the day.

I guess my view on what our young protaganist should do comes from personal experience of actually effecting change.
The difference between you and me is I have risen up off my ass at various times in my life and achieved, rather than comforting myself with my own lies of how clever I am, all the while sucking off a bong in my basement.

I wasn't telling the guy to organize a union. I was merely telling him that he's not as alone as he might think and there are people who can help him should he choose that route.

You can now return to patting yourself on the back for your highly honed sense of cynicism.

What a fucking loser.