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Conversations
With Harry
By
Ian Kennedy
In
late October I flew down to San Francisco with the hopes of "killing two
birds with one stone." I knew that I wouldn't be able to get down to see
Harry at my usual time in November, as I was scheduled for surgery the end of
the month. Recovery would take several months and I was unsure when I'd be able
to return. My trip was to see an old friend who now lives in Mexico, and I
hadn't seen in several years.
Luck was with me. When I entered "Teddy's" bar, there was Harry
sitting at his usual table. I sat down, "You're alone tonight?
I asked. He looked surprised. "Just thought I'd slip over by myself
and do some thinking." he responded. "You're a couple weeks early,
what brings you into town?" I ordered us a pitcher of beer and filled our
glasses, Harry smiles.
He's
a thin man, not tall, slightly stooped. He sits back in his chair and studies
the glass in his hand. "You going to the caucus? When's it start?" he
asks. "It starts on the last Monday of January, I think that's the 29th.
Yes,
I hope I'll be able to make the trip." I responded. "Any thoughts on
what we should be looking for in these negotiations?" He looks at me.
"We've talked about this before.------Needless to say, maintenance of
benefits is topmost on the list. The employers would love to get a co-pay. And
once that door is open, it never closes."
"But," I respond, "I've had members come to me, during the
2002 negotiations and say, why not a co-pay, we can afford it." Harry
smiles. "And your response
is?" I thought about it for a couple of minutes," I would tell them
about the time I lived in a cabin out in the woods when one late summer evening
I watched a termite work it's way into the side of a 2x4. I let it go. The next
year I pushed on the 2x4, my finger went right through and instead of one
termite, there were dozens and they were working on the main structure. My
point, if the employers could get small co-pay in this contract, two or three
contracts down the road it will be a big co-pay."
Harry
nods, "I think the negotiating committee has to keep working, building up
the pensions of the old timers who have been retired for
15
and 20 years. But we've gone over this before. What about the active work force.
What concerns do they have, or should they have?' Harry
pauses. "As I remember, the employer wants utility
men,
from the hammerhead to the sweeper, any man, any job. Change at any time. Don't
they want to put computers in all the handling equipment? So that the Longies
can do the clerks input, again cutting out longshore jobs. Our brothers and
sisters have got to work together and protect each other. And the hiring hall.
The more steady jobs they get, the less the hall is needed. Our own people,
especially the clerks, are big offenders.
Sure,
sure, you're going to try and tell me, it's so that we can do a better job, thus
the employers will want to keep us on the job. But that is never a factor. The
people who call the shots don't have any real contact with us. They just see,
cut a job save a dime. We fought long and hard in 33 and 34 to win control of
the hiring hall, and those boys on the other side don't want to see anything
happen to it." Harry sighs, drains his glass and refills it.
“Well,"
I respond, “If it will let our brothers on the other side rest easier,
International President McEllrath, at a conference in Panama, informed all, that
the hiring hall will not be up for discussion, before, after, or during the 2008
negotiations. And the employers were present in force." Harry nods, refills
our glasses and waits for me to continue. "We are amongst the highest paid
blue collar workers in the world, yet it isn't enough. We have men and women who
have been, or want to be union officers, take a selfish attitude. They say,
'screw the contract and the working rules, I want mine, I want it easier, Me,
me, me.' Sometimes I get a little worked up."
Harry is
nodding and smiles, "The good and the bad.-----If you take one away, you
have no way of judging the other. So you live with them both. But when it comes
to Union, we should all be united." He drains his glass, "This
contract is as important as the last, be ready." he pushes his chair away
from the table. "Remember, your strike fund is in your pocket." He
stands, waves to the bartender and walks out. As the bartender approaches with
the tab, I sigh, "Thanks Harry." As I reach for my wallet.
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