Union Busters.

My buddy Fred told me he saw an interesting notice on the bulletin board the other day.

It was an anouncement demanding the presence of all the team leads at training classes held at the district office. They were going to be told how to deal with unions, and how to keep union organizers out of the stores and the company.

Ah, yes. It's union busting season again.

Here's what cracks me up. Fred's company brags all the day long about the zillion-bejillion-gozillion dollars they donate to charity. But when it comes to giving their floor associates a few measly cents an hour in extra pay, it's major heresy.

Fred's company spends millions of dollars on P.R. about how they're a socially responsible company. Then they spend God knows how much paying lawyers to help them keep unions out. The cashiers and stockers are paid less than the garbage collectors and janitors in this town, hell--even the convenience store clerks earn five more dollars an hour than they do at Fred's company.

Fred tells me the cashier line at his company is a revolving door of people leaving the company right after they start. Why? Because his company won't pay. When people can get better money by walking, they'll do it in a heartbeat. Then the managers at his company scratch their heads and wonder why their customers aren't satisfied well, and they can't keep employees.

Yep, I tell ya. It's real rocket science, folks. I don't gots me an ed-ya-muh-cay-shen with a fancy M.B.A., so I doesn't know what I'm talkst 'bout.