tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11363027.post4490777558185997400..comments2024-03-29T05:00:41.967-05:00Comments on driftglass: What Making Has To Teach Thinking driftglasshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09379167083253389153noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11363027.post-10701936518944884312013-02-05T22:35:54.404-06:002013-02-05T22:35:54.404-06:00C'mon. This is surely something from the Onion...C'mon. This is surely something from the Onion. I can't imagine that the nation's premier journal of business management could possibly print such a fatuous piece of crap! Or, do these people really think this way?Paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04457840137546321485noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11363027.post-85491785617776302392013-02-05T15:41:56.538-06:002013-02-05T15:41:56.538-06:00My understanding about the Mob-Union connection wa...My understanding about the Mob-Union connection was that J.Edgar was so busy driving the socialists out of the unions that he left an opening for organized crime to move in.<br />workworkworkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04924031131998889105noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11363027.post-45347009774738290442013-02-05T09:02:14.518-06:002013-02-05T09:02:14.518-06:00I worked at the Des Moines Firestone tire plant in...I worked at the Des Moines Firestone tire plant in the '70s, and it was remarkably efficient. But I hired on right after significant labor gains and plant administration adopted an incredibly hostile view of labor and stopped accepting worker input. <br /><br />Oh, they still did a suggestions box and once in a while accepted a suggestion, but mostly they told us to shut up, fuck off and get back to work.<br /><br />From '71 to '82 the plant began to drive up its costs due to management errors. New equipment was installed in places where the workers would never get up to speed. Piecework rates were cut until corners got cut and rejected tires became common (remember the Firestone 500 recall?).<br /><br />We went on a long national strike followed by a brutal local strike. No one had any respect for anyone. Management said we were overpaid, we thought management routinely held us back from being more productive. <br /><br />That plant has been sold and resold and sold again. Tire making is now highly automated so smaller, scab shops can get the work done, but the original process was remarkably labor intensive and require incredible skill and knowledge at each step of the manufacturing process. Firestone developed a world-class work force, then pissed all over them and got mad when the workers fought back.<br /><br />I'm sure there have been bad, Mob-tainted unions. But mostly unions are groups of men and women who take pride in their work, even when their owners don't take pride in them.<br /><br />When management respects its workers, you don't even need a union. Unions are born from abuse, and right now every working American should be in a union.Mark Gislesonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05264508885194574116noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11363027.post-91716587645539673302013-02-05T08:39:43.067-06:002013-02-05T08:39:43.067-06:00That's some uncommonly beautiful and relevant ...That's some uncommonly beautiful and relevant prose. Thanks for running it.Yastreblyanskyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08335868257729063363noreply@blogger.com