Re: New profanity about the Richmond Pacific
Author: Dr Zarkoff
Date: 06-26-2011 - 09:53
>Uncle Ronny Reagan did away with the ability to hold an effective strike about the same time he shoved it up the Air Traffic Controllers.
It's an all too common misconception that any president, Ronnie Popular or Obama, can play mighty mouse and "do" anything which is outside the law when it comes to domestic situations, particularly labor affairs. The air controllers had a no-strike clause in their contract, but they went on strike anyway.
They screwed themselves, meaning Ronnie Baby didn't have to shove anything anywhere. In other words, Ronnie didn't "do away with" labor's capabilites of holding an effective strike. Had a Dem been in the White House at the time, the result would have been essentially the same. The rest of the unionized labor world was unaffected by the air controllers strike (and Ronnie's reaction) aside from becoming more prudent when calling their own strikes.
As for striking on railroads, the process is all clearly defined in the Railway Labor Act, which puts railroad labor affairs completely separate from the rest of labor law. It specifies an involved set of procedures, so Ronnie Baby, or any other president for that matter, can't "do" anything about it, provided both the unions and management follow the procedures laid out in the law (which procedures eventually lead to Congressional and/or Presidential action if contractural negotiations aren't satisfactorily concluded beforehand).
Congress, on the other hand, can change the law, not the Pres (who has to endorse it), but that's a long drawn out process.