Ron and Don urge Waste Management drivers to cross the picket line

Ron and Don argue union drivers won’t win their battle with Waste Management (MyNorthwest.com image)

There’s plenty of anger towards striking Waste
Management recycling and garbage drivers and with the
company planning to hire permanent replacements, Ron and
Don are imploring the union drivers to go back to work
before it’s too late.

“I don’t think your union has the leverage they think
they have,” says Don O’Neill.

“My heart is with
the drivers. You guys got it pretty good, you don’t have
to ride around on the back of a truck anymore.”

“I think they’re really going to hire them into a
permanent position and then when you go back to say ‘OK,
we signed a deal, we’re ready to talk’, it’s like ‘Sorry
your job’s gone,'” agrees Ron Upshaw.

Both have had plenty of experience with unions. While
they’ve supported and valued them in the past, the veteran
broadcasters say times have changed. The duo was part of
a large group that successfully ousted the American
Federation of Television and Radio Artists from KIRO,
arguing the union offered them minimal benefits for the
dues they were required to pay.

“It was absolutely ridiculous. We would go over to
their offices and we would see these guys sitting around
in nicer furniture than I had at home, driving a nicer car
than I was driving,” says Don.

“You ask them ‘What are you providing for me that my
contract doesn’t?’ ‘I don’t know'(the union rep would
respond),” Ron says.

“I think in American history there definitely was a time
when unions were huge for the middle class and there were
unsafe working conditions and unreasonable wages. And it
was
unions, especially in the Midwest and the Rust Belt
states,
that really created a strong middle class in America and
they served their purpose very well,” Ron adds.

Don argues it would be a serious mistake for Waste
Management drivers to stand their ground, given the level
of anger and state of the economy. With thousands of
qualified people out of work, he argues the company has
little incentive to budge. He points out the proposed
six-year-deal that would raise average salaries from
$58,000 to $68,000 a year is far more than fair.

“I can’t find anyone on my Facebook page that feels bad
for the offer. Guys cross the picket line. I can take
my garbage to the dump, I really don’t care. I don’t want
want to see you guys and gals out of jobs,” Don says.

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