Passenger Trains > Environmentalists, union send railcar plant, jobs packi

Union demands send Japanese firm, jobs packing from California town
FoxNews.com
October 23, 2014

> The California city of Palmdale was ready to roll out the red carpet
> this summer when a Japanese company agreed to build a $60 million
> factory on a city-owned, vacant parcel on the southwest side of town
> -- but now the company is taking its project out of state and critics
> say union greed is to blame.
>
> As many as 300 people were slated to work at the 400,000-square-foot
> plant, painting and wiring light rail cars under a huge contract with
> the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority. It was a coup
> for Palmdale Mayor Jim Ledford, and a plan that seemed to suit
> Kinki Sharyo International, which last year moved its U.S.
> headquarters from Boston to El Segundo, Calif.
>
> "I believe this is just the beginning of a manufacturing renaissance
> here in the Antelope Valley,” crowed Ledford in June.
>
> “We’ve been waiting for this day for a long time,” added Palmdale
> Economic Development Director Dave Walter. “So many people and
> organizations played huge roles in making this a reality."
>
> But a newly formed environmental group -- which critics say is a
> front for a local union -- had other ideas.
>
> The "Antelope Valley Residents for Responsible Development," a group
> backed by the International Brotherhood Workers Union Local 11,
> produced a 588-page appeal claiming that construction of the proposed
> factory would violate state environmental laws, by, among other
> things, kicking up spores. What the union really wanted, according to
> Kinki Sharyo officials, was clearance to organize the plant without
> any interference from the company. When Kinki Sharyo officials balked,
> the project suddenly became a potential environmental hazard.
>
> “They are using California’s environmental laws as a pretense to put
> leverage on the company to get what they want,” Kinki Sharyo spokesman
> Coby King told FoxNews.com. “It’s unfortunate when groups that don’t
> care about the well-being of the environment use the laws to delay,
> and even kill, good business development.”
>
> Kinki Sharyo, the El Segundo-based U.S. subsidiary of Kinki Sharyo
> Co., is currently assembling 78 light rail cars for Metro, with
> delivery of the first car expected this month. The company has
> exercised an option to build an additional 97 cars under a 10-year,
> $891 million contract with the MTA. For now, the company is doing the
> work from a hangar in Palmdale. But after delays the company has said
> have cost it $2 million, Kinkisharyo is looking out of state for a
> site to build its plant.
>
> “The company is disappointed," King said. "They would have liked to
> stay in Palmdale.”

Full story:

Union demands send Japanese firm, jobs packing from California town

Maybe they can move next door to competitor Nippon Sahryo's plant in Rochelle IL.

And for those who prefer receiving their news from another source:

http://www.latimes.com/local/countygovernment/la-me-rail-car-factory-20141021-story.html

Sounds to me like the laws they apparently didn't look into are what's putting them out. Blame the unions! Blame the tree huggers! Uhh I'll blame the company for not doing their due diligence...

Posted from Android

Several days ago...

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?4,3553306

Bring those jobs and that new plant to any "right-to-work" state near you.

Marty Harrison
Knob Noster, MO

livesteamer Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Bring those jobs and that new plant to any
> "right-to-work" state near you.

I've never understood the rationale for so-called "right-to-work" laws.

1) The vast majority of jobs are non-union. If someone does not want to work be in union, there are many, many options available to him or her.

2) For those who want the benefits of union work site such as pay rates, health plans, pensions, etc., but not pay union dues, that seems to be like insisting the webmaster allow anyone to join Trainorders without having to pay membership fees.


Disclaimer: I am not now a union member, but I have worked 4 1/2 years in a unionized worksite. I do not always agree with the positions taken by many unions, but I believe that, overall, unions have been a positive movement in the United States.

Sweet misleading title!

It seems that the company rejected even the idea of a possible future with unionized labor...

"The appeal that has disrupted plans for the plant came about after IBEW Local No. 11 and Kinkisharyo could not agree on using card check at the proposed facility. Card check is a process by which a workplace can unionize if 50 percent or more of workers sign cards stating they want to be represented for collective bargaining."

http://www.sfvbj.com/news/2014/oct/13/labor-dispute-kills-kinkisharyos-av-plant/

It's old news but I had not seen the Enviro angle before, pretty messy:

> But a newly formed environmental group -- which critics say is a
> front for a local union -- had other ideas.
>
> The "Antelope Valley Residents for Responsible Development," a group
> backed by the International Brotherhood Workers Union Local 11,
> produced a 588-page appeal claiming that construction of the proposed
> factory would violate state environmental laws, by, among other
> things, kicking up spores...
“They are using California’s environmental laws as a pretense to put
> leverage on the company to get what they want,” Kinki Sharyo spokesman
> Coby King told FoxNews.com.
...

-------------------------------------------------------
> Sweet misleading title!
>

So the company couldn't fathom the idea of having a unionized workforce where the workers might make a liveable wage and have a chance at some decent working conditions.

Yeah, for a Company that probably offers its CEO a compensation package that embarrasses even Warren Buffett, I guess such a prospect would be a fate worse than death.

Time for a right-to-work state or a third-world country with cheap, exploitable labor to rise up and come to the rescue.

RuleG Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> livesteamer Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Bring those jobs and that new plant to any
> > "right-to-work" state near you.
>
> I've never understood the rationale for so-called
> "right-to-work" laws.
>
> 1) The vast majority of jobs are non-union. If
> someone does not want to work be in union, there
> are many, many options available to him or her.
>
> 2) For those who want the benefits of union work
> site such as pay rates, health plans, pensions,
> etc., but not pay union dues, that seems to be
> like insisting the webmaster allow anyone to join
> Trainorders without having to pay membership
> fees.
>
>
> Disclaimer: I am not now a union member, but I
> have worked 4 1/2 years in a unionized worksite.
> I do not always agree with the positions taken by
> many unions, but I believe that, overall, unions
> have been a positive movement in the United
> States.

I'd agree that unions have been, and some continue to be good for the US.

But the real contrast is "right to work" versus "agency shop" states. In an agency shop state, you must join a union as a condition of employment. Period. In some states, you're required to pay the union dues, minus whatever small portion the union says is used for political purposes. You get the negotiated benefits, you get the work conditions etc that the union obtained for its members, so you ought to pay for them.

When I was in my teens, I worked for Acme Markets and was a member of RCIA 1245, which represented all ShopRite, Acme, Kings, Grand Union, etc grocery workers. Pretty much every grocery chain in NJ. The union was always diligent in getting the part timers a 5 cent raise just before the minimum wage went up, so we'd always be 5 cents over the minimum.

I was fired by Acme when I actually read the contract and found out that about a dozen part timers were entitled to vacation time. It had never been paid to high school part timers, and the manager, steward, and business agent all told me I was wrong. The day after I called the union business agent, I was handed my pay to date plus the rest of the scheduled pay period, my vacation pay, and my pink slip. [EDIT] The union definitely didn't have my interests on their priority list.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/23/14 15:35 by Lackawanna484.

I believe the law provides for closed ballot elections as to the question of whether to unionize. Card check is very coercive, especially when a goon is looking over your shoulder.

The company probably knew that eventually it might be a union shop, but the issue of card check probably set the tone for what else to expect in the area.

According to an L.A. Times article, and the article quoted in the previous thread, the union wanted a signed card count. Get enough cards, the union gets in. Kinkysharyo wanted a vote, the legal way to install a union. The union played hardball, and the jobs walked. It's a darn shame, too, good manufacturing jobs would be helpful in the desert.

Jim Montague
IRVINE, CA
Train and Nature photo Art

Actually, the long, drawn out NLRA process of a ballot is where the employer can harass, coerce, and intimidate an employee until the company gets its way. Often, people are illegally discharged for exercising their federal right to organize. It happens over and over. The facts are out there.


ts1457 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I believe the law provides for closed ballot
> elections as to the question of whether to
> unionize. Card check is very coercive, especially
> when a goon is looking over your shoulder.
>
> The company probably knew that eventually it might
> be a union shop, but the issue of card check
> probably set the tone for what else to expect in
> the area.

We're gradually getting there.


CA_Sou_MA_Agent Wrote:
> Time for a right-to-work state or a third-world
> country with cheap, exploitable labor to rise up
> and come to the rescue.

There was a recent case in the SF Area where a 'Shop' was paying it's workers in the Currency of India and making good hourly wages...for India. The Owner was charged for violation of Federal Labor Laws, namely Minimum hourly Wage Standard and also the requirement to pay in US Currency.

The story was on the morning TV news and also in the San Jose Mercury News Website, but the web page has some sort of nasty ad-ware pop-up causing multiple new windows. Maybe it will calm down later.

...
>Time for a right-to-work state or a third-world country with cheap, exploitable labor to rise up and come to the rescue.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/23/14 17:22 by TCnR.

How many rail workers would agree that their union looks out for their safety, health and well being, and fights for rest time, balance in family/work time, etc?

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> How many rail workers would agree that their union
> looks out for their safety, health and well being,
> and fights for rest time, balance in family/work
> time, etc?

Not all of us want more rest just more money.

Posted from Mobile Safari

TCnR Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> There was a recent case in the SF Area where a
> 'Shop' was paying it's workers in the Currency of
> India and making good hourly wages...for India.
> The Owner was charged for violation of Federal
> Labor Laws, namely Minimum hourly Wage Standard
> and also the requirement to pay in US Currency.
>
> The story was on the morning TV news and also in
> the San Jose Mercury News Website, but the web
> page has some sort of nasty ad-ware pop-up causing
> multiple new windows. Maybe it will calm down
> later.
>
> ...
> >Time for a right-to-work state or a third-world
> country with cheap, exploitable labor to rise up
> and come to the rescue.

Electronics for Imaging

http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_26778017/tech-company-paid-employees-from-india-little-1

UNIONS, What is the first concern of any and all unions? LOOK AFTER THE UNION! Members come a much distance forth or fifth if at all. I know first hand. The union will throw you under the bus if it will help the union.