Yes, it is a question of leadership

There are two models when it comes to employee/employer relations. One dates back to the origins of organized labor in the mid 19th century — the bad old days — when employees were treated and abused like serfs, working long hours for little pay and with no recourse if injured while working in unsafe conditions. Along came organized labor in the 20th century, and there was a natural adversarial relationship between employee and employer. As time wore on the pendulum swung to a point where it was hard to tell which was worse — the plant bosses or the union bosses.

But times began to change, particularly after devastating strikes that not only hurt employers but employees as well — in fact entire industries. In the early 1970s, almost 25 percent of employees were members of a union. In 2015, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, only 11.1 percent of workers were members of a union.

The adversarial approach has given way to a more collaborative style between unions and industry. Nowhere was that more apparent than at Local 987 of the American Federation of Government Employees union at Robins Air Force Base. Think back almost three years ago to Oct. 15, 2013. New leadership had just been elected, headed by Robert Tidwell. At the time Robins had more employee grievances than competing bases in Oklahoma City and Ogden, Utah — combined. But, as you remember, that October election didn’t settle it.

The administration of Tom Scott charged there were 39 election irregularities and filed a protest with the AFGE 5th District office. The national vice president, Everett Kelley (remember that name), in a letter dated Nov. 26, 2013, said 38 of the issues were not violations. However, seven ballots were found in the trash that demonstrated to Kelley “a lack of proper security measures.” Kelly ordered a new election, even though that number of ballots would not have affected the election.

Aside from the out-of-proportion number of grievances, the accounting firm of Clifton, Lipford, Hardison & Parker LLC raised a number of issues about how $266,888 in union funds was spent from Jan. 1, 2011, through Nov. 5, 2013. The local didn’t have policies or guidelines delineating who was authorized to use union credit cards, how those cards were used or a policy requiring documentation of any expenditures, nor were there approved board minutes during that period.

There were also shredded records, vandalism and instances where law enforcement had to get involved. This newspaper reported at the time that a cellphone and digital camera had been stolen from the union office. There was also a weird scene where Wilbert Ray Wessels was found hiding in a union office closet eavesdropping on a meeting he was not authorized to attend. Add to that, Tidwell’s wife’s car was also vandalized at their home along with Tidwell reportedly receiving death threats.

We remind you, dear reader, of all that history because of the news of the national AFGE taking over Local 987. David Cox, the national president, approved the move at the recommendation of — guess who — national Vice President Everett Kelley, that same Everett Kelley who ordered a new election over seven ballots supposedly found in a trash bin.

The present dispute is over financial records, apparently not copies, but originals, being taken from the local by the national union — and a possible assault by a union officer on another officer.

We don’t know how this will all work itself out. Obviously there is no love lost between Local 987’s new leadership and national leadership, who says local membership has dropped 800 members since the new team took over.

What we do know is that employee/management relations — formerly contentious — are no longer strained and that Tidwell and his team set out to be a “21st century union” that uses pre-decisional involvement and other tools to resolve problems before they rise to the grievance stage. That approach by all accounts is working for both employee and employer, and it has to work if Robins is going to maintain its position as the No. 1 industrial complex in Georgia and the engine that drives the Middle Georgia economy.

We also know that any news of labor unrest at the base is devoured deep in the long, wide halls of the Pentagon. Now is not the time to raise the specter of labor uncertainty that could lead to lower productivity, particularly when the Air Force has excess capacity of 32 percent.

As former Sen. Saxby Chambliss recently said at a House Study Committee on Military Affairs hearing held at the Museum of Aviation, “It’s coming, and it’s coming sooner rather than later. … There’s an awful lot of excess capacity out there, and there’s going to have to be a downsizing.”

This story was originally published August 17, 2016 at 9:00 PM with the headline "Yes, it is a question of leadership."