Custom is a practice or belief that has gained acceptance and legitimacy simply because it has been followed for a long time. It is an example of sociological influence on the labor market. Some economists argue that custom has a strong influence on wages particularly relative wage differences between groups of workers. For example pay differences between fire fighters and police officers or between train operators and conductors. Those instances are regarded by the blue collar to be as much a matter of social standing and equity as economics and often become a major criteria in the wage determination process.
Most economists would readily agree that each of the market, institutional and sociological forces have some role in shaping labor market outcomes. One wonders why the blue collar would accept the wages to be dictated by custom? The other side of the coin is why would the union agree to this practice?
If the firms objective is to extract the most profit from the customer while suppressing the wages to a minimum production cost of goods then why are there differences between the labor market for day laborers or migrant workers and the market for teachers or pilots? What are these differences and how do they affect the pricing and allocation of labor?
To: John Samuelsen, President TWU, Local 100
ReplyDeleteLocal 100 Executive Board and Local 100 Reps
From: Roger Toussaint, President TWU, Local 100 (2001-2009)
Date: Tuesday April 24th, 2012
Subject: Memorials and The Widows & Orphans Fund
As you know, I have written to you in the past when your administration failed to send annual stipends from the TWU, Local 100 Widows and Orphans Fund to the families of members who gave their lives in the course of performing their duties for the MTA, as well as about other failures related to the duties of the Fund.
It still seems to be the case that critical obligations which the Local owes to these members and their families continue to be neglected.
As you know, today is the 5th anniversary of Danny Boggs passing. No notice has yet appeared on the Local 100 web site. In fact, the Local had to be reminded of the anniversary by his family. Marvin Franklyn's 5th anniversary passing is coming up in a few days, his loved ones will have similar concerns.
It has also been brought to my attention that the MTA has not paid the fees for the 2009 PERB Arbitration (valued at tens of thousands of $) which was due to Arbitrator Zuccotti. As you know, Arbitrator Zuccotti had graciously committed his fees
as a contribution to the TWU Widows & Orphans Fund, of which you are the principal trustee. The MTA evidently paid the full fees of Arbitrator Foryste but not its share (50%) of the fees owed Arbitrator Zuccotti. The TWU Local 100 W&O Fund has been deprived of these monies for over two years now.
Finally, as I have clarified to you before, when the W&O Fund was established several years ago with voluntary automatic charitable contributions from members paychecks, fundraising drives including annual dinner events, it was with the declared intention of acquiring funds sufficient to accomplish two fundamental objectives:
1) to continue the medical coverage of these families to the same extent enjoyed by the families of active members and,
2) to assist the children of members killed in-the-line-of-duty with their College Education by the time the became college bound.
We initiated the medical coverage several years ago. We began issuing annual stipends for pre-college age children in the interim, as a small and modest gesture to ease the burden on these families. It seems that despite the fact that, several years into fundraising activities, and now that time has arrived the families are still only receiving annual stipends established several years ago and are not being offered or provided assistance to help defray the cost of college. Again, the objective was to use the Fund to provide what these deceased members could no longer provide their families. That's what we told active members to motivate their contributing to the Fund and that's what we promised the families.
I write to request that the TWU Local 100 Executive Board take appropriate action to ensure that the Local's commitments to these families are fulfilled and to end this neglect of fiduciary obligations to the Fund.