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From: miket@brspyr1.brs.com (Mike Trout)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: More About NJ Sabotage
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Date: 8 Aug 89 18:37:44 GMT
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X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 9, issue 283, message 2 of 6

In article , msmith@topaz.rutgers.edu
(Mark Robert Smith) writes:

> Well, the strike has started. [...]
> Also, the sabotage has continued.  About a dozen subscriber lines were cut in
> Leonia, NJ's central office.  United Telephone/com? (the local telephone
> company for NW NJ) has reported about 20 incidents per day of vandalism,
> mostly subscriber lines cut in CO's, and fiber cables cut with hatchets.
> Once again I ask - what are the unions trying to prove here?  I can't see any
> judge or arbitrator taking the union side on anything after all of this.

Don't confuse the unions' desires with the semi-rational actions of a few
saboteurs.  I would suggest "vandalism" is a more accurate description than
"sabotage."  The union leaders, as well as the rank-and-file, have no desire to
have their case soiled by a handful of violent malcontents.

Of course, it is the responsibility of the union leadership to control (and
preferably prevent) violence and vandalism.  The leaders may be guilty of not
adequately exercising such control.  On the other hand, there is only so much
union leaders can do--if some boneheads absolutely want to cut cables, they're
going to do it regardless.

Most judges and arbitrators know all this and take it into account.  When you
deal with human beings, a certain amount of nonsense is inevitable.

This is not to suggest that officially sanctioned union (or management)
violence and sabotage never happens.  Sometimes it does, but there's no
evidence to suggest that is the case here.

--
NSA food:  Iran sells Nicaraguan drugs to White House through CIA, SOD & NRO.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Michael Trout (miket@brspyr1)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BRS Information Technologies, 1200 Rt. 7, Latham, N.Y. 12110  (518) 783-1161
"God forbid we should ever be 20 years without...a rebellion." Thomas Jefferson