Enterprise Rent-A-Car boycott

[welshTerrier2]

source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/wcvb/20070711/lo_wcvb/13665154

A boycott is in the works against a local Enterprise Rent-A-Car.

Team 5 Investigates' Rhondella Richardson reported that labor groups, employees and Sen. Edward Kennedy and Sen. John Kerry would join a boycott of the company on Thursday. They said workers have put up with unsafe working conditions at the Logan International Airport location for too long.

Two weeks after workers signed union cards, the company announced it would be outsourcing their positions. The company said that the plan has been in the works for two years and that the timing is a coincidence. Workers said that it is retaliation for unionizing. <skip>

Kennedy and Kerry signed a letter that supports the boycott.

[MADem]

1. I have a relative in the thick of that business. Well, not the thick, but involved.

It's not just the Logan site that is at issue, FWIW.

[welshTerrier2]

2. does your relative condone the boycott?

can you provide more details about whether it's a good idea?

[MADem]

3. Well, the odds are probably even the kid will lose his job.

He might not, as plenty of vacationers are idiots and don't pay attention to workers rights issues, but it's a concern. He's one of us, so he's a "Union Yes" type. That outfit treats their workers like shit--really, so I'd say it is a good idea. Individuals might have a tough time over the short term, but over the long term it will hopefully improve conditions.

Our lad is sharp; a good worker, he'll find another job if need be. He's been saving, had a sense this might happen. He works full time and goes to school, if things go to shit he'll find something part time and plus-up the school time.

[welshTerrier2]

4. empowering workers

As i'm sure you know, union membership is way, way down in the US. I just started reading a book that was highly recommended by Noam Chomsky in an interview he recently did. It's called "America Beyond Capitalism" and it's written by a guy named Gar Alperovitz.

I've only read the first couple of chapters so far but he made a point about unions that I'd never really focused on before. Alperovitz argued that, not only are workers (and unions) much weaker now when they enter collective bargaining with employers, but a hidden, perhaps more significant aspect of union decline has hurt the entire middle class. Unions used to play a major role in lobbying for legislation that would create at least some balance between the wealthy and the rest of us. When you look at all the "rich get richer" ratios since the 1960's, we've seen radical changes. We see it reflected in out-of-control CEO salaries, reduced top tax rates, corporate tax reductions, and the explosion of corporate welfare programs.

Anyway, I'm with the workers. No more Enterprise Rent-A-Car for me. And good luck to your "sharp lad". There are lots of jobs on Craigslist.com fwiw.