[PCWorld]

Post your comments for IBM Employees Buzzing About Layoff Rumors here

[Adama]

Hmmm... That's too bad. IBM is an old, well known company and they seem to be having problems just like the rest of the world.

[JimH443]

"Neither confirming nor denying" - Corporate speak for "It's true, but we want to spring it on them at a time of our choosing." If it were false, they wouldn't hesitate to deny it.

[number6]

I'd fire the union workers first, before they make trouble for the company.

[JimH443]

Yeah, isn't it a real pain in the butt when a corporation has to live up to its word?

[number6]

Live up to what word?

[JimH443]

As long as a corporation abides by the contract, there isn't any action that union workers can take that non-union workers couldn't also take. Therefore, if union workers pose a unique threat, it must be due to the corporation's desire to violate it.

[number6]

What I meant is that union workers pose the unique threat of going on strike, forcing pay raises, etc. That caliber of worker is dangerous to the company and, if I had anything to do with it, they would be laid off before non-union workers.

[JimH443]

While wildcat strikes do happen, they are rare and occur almost exclusively out of necessity - as in, when a company wants to move its operations overseas so they can get away with wages and/or working conditions that would be illegal in this country.



Unions are not what caused our current economic problems. Corporate greed combined with governmental incompetitence and/or corruption is. If each and every shop in this country had been unionized, there would have been much more opposition to "globalization." This would have resulted in far fewer moves overseas and therefore more jobs here in this country.

[number6]

Anything I want to say about greed is in the 20/20 report by John Stossel in my signature.

Strikes are unethical. The proper remedy is to quit the job.

Corporations are only as corupt as the people in them.

[JimH443]

So you're saying an employee should have only two choices - wait around to be laid off (and be eligible for unemployment benefits) or quit (and not be eligible). I'm sorry, I disagree completely. The board of directors and shareholders may believe that they're the only ones entitled to a say in how the company operates, and legally this may be true, but the decisions that are made effect the employees much more directly and immediately than it does any of the shareholders. To deny them input is what is truely unethical.

[number6]

Everything should be spelled out ahead of time in the contract, but when a union goes on strike and is still getting paid or forces others to go on strike, that's no good. A man should be allowed to work and when he doesn't he doesn't work he shouldn't get paid.

JimH443 said:

The board of directors and shareholders may believe that they're the only ones entitled to a say in how the company operates, and legally this may be true, but the decisions that are made effect the employees much more directly and immediately than it does any of the shareholders. To deny them input is what is truely unethical.

If an emplyee wants to give input, that should be part of the contract. If he's not satisfied with how the company recieves input, he should go somewhere else to work or work for himself.

[JimH443]

number6 said:

Everything should be spelled out ahead of time in the contract, but when a union goes on strike and is still getting paid or forces others to go on strike, that's no good. A man should be allowed to work and when he doesn't he doesn't work he shouldn't get paid.

>

I'm not saying that I agree with every aspect of all past strikes, there are things that I would like to see changed. However, to completely dismiss this course of action in every case due to its imperfection is ridiculous.

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If an employee wants to give input, that should be part of the contract. If he's not satisfied with how the company recieves input, he should go somewhere else to work or work for himself.

I don't know about you, but the only time I've ever been covered by a contract is when I belonged to a union. It's now getting to the point where I'm rarely even considered an "employee", since more and more corporations rely on temp agencies to fill positions, even on a permanent basis. Not only is there no contract to speak of, there isn't even what used to be considered standard benefits such as paid holidays and vacations (and let's not even get into health related issues).

Go somewhere else?? I've been out of work for just over a year (1 year, 3 days), and I haven't found any "somewhere else." I'm not alone, and the number is growing daily. Work for himself? Theoretically possible, assuming the person has a skill that can be marketed to the masses and has access to startup funds.