In Local 26, there is the Residential "R" program. It is a second tier work force that challenges the primacy of the JW in the workplace. Many other local unions have had the CW CE program.
For all practical purposes, the R program and the CWCE are one and the same. They do the same thing. They provide an abundant supply of cheap replaceable labor to the contractors and at the same time they are corrosive to the equality and solidarity that are the crucibles of collective bargaining.
We are not all working in Local 26 if you haven't noticed we have institutionalized chronic unemployment.
Local 26 has averaged about 800 JWs on the bench since the turn of the century.
The numbers may be a little better now, but it’s an election year. Do I have to break it down to you?
In the meantime, more and more of what work we have is being done by our low scale "R" Residential brothers. This is not trending well for the JW.
Some are enamored of the JW scale, especially the R worker who hopes to make it someday. But so many are called and oh so few are chosen.
As the R ranks swell, and the JW number decline, many R workers are chasing a fading dream. Every JW raise usually means less JWs working and more and more R workers. A grand strategy obscure to most that is working well for some but not the rank and file JW of Local 26
It could be a long hot summer for many.
If we want to take the concept, the ideology of collective bargaining seriously and make it work for all of us and not just some of us, we must not be distracted by the moment, one day, one job, one contractor, one member. It's not about that. It's about all of the jobs, all of the contractors all of the members, all of the time. We are all in this together. It's about a lifestyle, a career, a brotherhood. We need to see the big picture. If we don’t, we may be part of the problem.
Local 26 has averaged about 800 JWs on the bench since the turn of the century.
The numbers may be a little better now, but it’s an election year. Do I have to break it down to you?
In the meantime, more and more of what work we have is being done by our low scale "R" Residential brothers. This is not trending well for the JW.
Some are enamored of the JW scale, especially the R worker who hopes to make it someday. But so many are called and oh so few are chosen.
As the R ranks swell, and the JW number decline, many R workers are chasing a fading dream. Every JW raise usually means less JWs working and more and more R workers. A grand strategy obscure to most that is working well for some but not the rank and file JW of Local 26
It could be a long hot summer for many.
If we want to take the concept, the ideology of collective bargaining seriously and make it work for all of us and not just some of us, we must not be distracted by the moment, one day, one job, one contractor, one member. It's not about that. It's about all of the jobs, all of the contractors all of the members, all of the time. We are all in this together. It's about a lifestyle, a career, a brotherhood. We need to see the big picture. If we don’t, we may be part of the problem.
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