Is It or Isn't It? To "b" or Not to "b"?

It didn't take long. Less than 1 week after the initial post in the co book--and only 3 days of actually adhering to it--apparently the B clause is out. History. Gone. No more. The OEMC has apparently and officially gone back to hiring for voluntary overtime by seniority as it has been done for several years. A new memo, dated 25 January 08 in the co book attests to this fact.

Blogmaster, relying upon a bevy of always reliable sources, is able to definitively say that this appears to be a case of management screw up (and really, there is no surpise there)and NOT union malaise (this time). It appears that the union, having been taken off guard, flexed its considerable muscle and called the city on the carpet for violating its previous agreement of non enforcement that was signed off on by its own suits. In short, the city tried to circumvent the labor/management agreement it agreed to only a scant few months ago, used a long holiday weekend to insert the notice of intent in the co book, and also apparently tried to blame the union for this whole fiasco. No surprise there. The suits at OEMC are notorious for being shifty, disrespectful, untrustworthy, and wholly incompetent (mostly).

So love it or hate it, the B clause is gone--for now at least. Love it or hate it, it appears to be a major victory for the union who forced the city to honor its previous agreement--said agreeement brokered with/by one of the very top level suits in the building.

To Blogmaster, the lesson here is twofold: the union, when pressed and under certain circumstances, does appear to be effective. One can only imagine what might actually be accomplished under some real (different) union leadership at the top levels. Second, this episode exposes how the OEMC does business and it is not a model in best practices or efficiencies. If the suits at the top can't even communicate with one another and learn SOMETHING about their underlings and the operations in which they manage, there is scant hope for improvement or betterment. And finally, to any pcos who still harbor benevolent feelings toward the suits, Blogmaster urges one to really consider what happened here and the track record of this particular regime. Enough said on that one.