http://tinyurl.com/uavc Some of you may have noticed that the employees at the Downtown Borders store (Store #1) have gone on strike. I have been thinking about this quite a bit since I am employed by this company and because the field of labor relations holds a lot of interest for me. I totally support these workers right to unionize and I believe strongly that having unions CAN make labor relations better for both labor and management. I am very interested in seeing if this strike helps them at all. I am not sure that all of their demands are very realistic, especially their demands of higher wages and better benefits. Retail is a very highly competitive business with pretty low profit margins. If this union were to win on the higher wages portion of the contract, it is possible that Borders might not find that store profitable enough to keep it open. This is especially true since other booksellers in the area with non-union workers would be hiring at the market wage which very well might give them a competitive advantage. On the other hand, it is possible that if Borders employees were to win higher wages and better benefits, it could end up being good for that particular store. I mean, if Borders were paying better than other retail outlets in the area, they could attract better employees. They certainly would retain employees longer which is something that can be a real benefit to a place like Borders. It is possible that the higher wages could lead ultimately to better service which might work in a place like Ann Arbor. I hear people complaining about how much they miss the good service of the old non-corporate Borders. Borders as a large firm has some pretty good reasons not to want the employees to win. They have been sending email and issuing statements to all of us non-union employees that say that the reason wages and benefits are not being negotiated is that they dont think it would be fair to pay the employees of one store better than the employees of another store. (Never mind that they pay based on *local* labor markets so they already pay the staff at some stores more than they pay the staff at other stores). The thing is...if the Borders employees at the Ann Arbor store win on the point of wages and/or benefits, it will give a powerful incentive for the employees at other stores.21 responses total.
The employees are on strike and you still go to work every day? SCAB!
Hey man. I support them but I dont support them *that* much. ;) How would I be able to afford my double espresso mocha lattes if I didnt go to work? Seriously though, my financial situation is such that I have to continue to work. The most I am willing to do is to not cross their picket line downtown. I have not volunteered to work at that store for that reason. I will admit though that if I was told to cross the picket line and work there, I probably would because I cant really afford not to have an income right now.
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I know. Collective bargaining can actually *help* management if they know what they are doing.
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I have to admit my first reaction is, 'Damn, now where am I going to get my parking validated when I go downtown?' ;> I wouldn't cross a picket line just to get a half hour of free parking, though, at any rate.
borders fired tpryan for 'someting' that they refused to 'reveal' and such nazism (reinforced by this strike, btw) prohibits me from contributing *any* of my dollars to bordrs' coffers - ever again.
*cuddle puddles*
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Hey - md - if you read, you'll see that Lynne was describing a strike by Borders employees. She's a Waldenbooks employee. So lay off scab girl, already. Scab girl doesn't need it. I really liked the "old" Borders - the one that existed in Ann Arbor in the pre-K-Mart days, when you could find amazingly obscure books on the shelves, and could probably find an employee who had read most of them.... Part of the reason that the current set of employees makes less is that they are employed as "warm bodies" and the books are a commodity to be moved in large quantities. Quite a shift in corporate culture....
Doesn't Borders own Waldenbooks? Anyhow, stalwart union types tend to think that crossing any picket line is wrong. I miss the "old" Borders as well. Ten years ago, the head guy in the computer books department at the downtown Ann Arbor store was also a computer science student at EMU. Now, there's someone with a real committment to understanding what he sells.
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I doubt that the labor practices of the old pre-corporate Borders have anything to do with the current union or strike.
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re #13 .. you are correct .. and that is the problem! unionism is teh manifest indictment of management failure.
of course, thsoe with tiwt flitters ... never get smart.
People with twit filters don't have to get smart because it is a fait accompli.
TS. Why are you talking about twit filters? That doesnt have anything to do with a strike at Borders.
(sorry, slynne .. it was russbait <g>) and now back to the credits of bor=ycaotting borders.
whore-gait.
re resp:11 --- yes, Borders does own Waldenbooks.
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