End Game 2

I am reading a book entitled the Neon Metropolis. It is about the development of Las Vegas. Las Vegas is now the most unionized city in America. This is amazing considering that Nevada is a right to work state. How the culinary union became so large is an interesting story. What the union was able to do is create a situation in which unionized hotels made more money than non-union hotels. In Las Vegas money is how you keep score.

The culinary union created a blue collar work force that had a possibility to enter the middle class and create a better life for their kids. This is what the coal miners union and the auto workers did in the last century. This is what America has been missing for the past few years. The fact that the culinary union fought for high wages is not surprising. This is what unions do. The fact that these workers made hotels profitable is what is really amazing.

The culinary union realized early on that it needed to act as a hiring hall. It had a vested interest in providing high quality workers and screening out psychotics and drug addicts. It also convinced hotels that happy workers who were treated well were better employees. The union worked with and sometimes fought with hotels over working conditions. The end result is that hotels who think about bottom lines loved the union. Hotels such as the Venetian who took a "moral stand" lost money without union workers.

Today a bunch of people were late because there seemed to be a problem on the subway. The secretary who acts as our jailer came into the room and announced that if we were late because of a train delay that we needed to call 311 and get a letter from the transit authority. We then needed to attach the letter to our time sheets. This is so we can be excused from the essential work we do here.

What is wrong with the DoE. It treats employees like children and it wonders why they act like children. What is wrong with the UFT. It treats all teachers as paychecks and then it wonders why they act so self centered. If we looked at Las Vegas and started feeling as if we were all in this together we might find that the whole system worked better.

Most teachers I speak to want to live a comfortable middle class existence. Beyond that they are crying out for good working conditions. They want to be able to do their job well. They want to be respected. If they can't find a working copier, a working elevator, a bathroom with toilet paper they feel bad. Teachers who feel bad are not good teachers the same way that hotel employees who feel bad are not nice to the clients. When I first became a science AP I told everyone all I had to do was support teachers and I could raise scores 10% and I did.