Lightning strikes are unpredictable. Labor union strikes…not so much. Both, however, can be damaging.
When I was growing up in Enid, Okla., a small northwest Oklahoma town of 47,000, lightning was a normal part of life, especially in the spring. Labor strikes, on the other hand, happened only on very rare occasions. Why? Because the area’s largest employer was — and still is — Vance Air Force Base.
Today, however, I learned that conditions in Enid are much like they are in many locations across the United States: ripe for labor-related storm clouds.
It appears those clouds showed up on the radar screen in Enid Friday when, according to this article on the web site of the Enid (Okla.) News & Eagle Friday, members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers who work at the base voted, 666-28, to go on strike today if better contract terms failed to surface over the weekend.
An article appearing today on the front page of the newspaper’s web site confirms that better terms failed to surface: Vance civilian workers start strike.
Why is this such a big deal? Because, with base closure discussions popping up every few years, labor strife at a prospective closure location can cost a community “points” with members of commissions assigned to evaluate whether bases should remain open or remain closed. And there are other pilot training bases across the country where the Department of Defense might opt to relocate the Vance mission if things get too disruptive.
Perhaps the IAMAW workers, employed by CSC Applied Technologies and its subcontractors at the base, think they are indispensable or that they can just get jobs in the oil patch until their employers come to their senses? If that’s what they’re thinking, then it’s painfully obvious to me they didn’t read an article published Saturday on the web site of the state’s largest newspaper. Among other things, it contained this disturbing news:
The number of rigs drilling for oil and natural gas in Oklahoma has plunged from 219 in September to 76, according to the latest Baker Hughes rig count. That’s a 65 percent drop.
Here’s to hoping Vance’s union workers come to their senses — and soon! Economic storm clouds are forming.
* * *
UPDATE 6/13/09 at 9:13 p.m. Central: The strike continues! Details at Labor Strike Continues at Vance Air Force Base.
5 responses so far ↓
1 Ferguson Braithwaite // Jun 8, 2009 at 11:09 am
Let’s keep free speech free. I learned a lot at: freedomtolisten.org
2 hotoffthepress2 // Jun 8, 2009 at 11:26 am
Fergie — What the heck does free speech have to do with this post? I think you’re spamming. Please don’t do it again.
3 » Things Are ‘Stormy’ When Labor Strikes Hit Enid NoisyRoom.net: “Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. Moderation in the face of tyranny is no virtue.” Barry Goldwater // Jun 8, 2009 at 11:36 am
[...] By: Bob McCarty Bob McCarty Writes [...]
4 MOM // Jun 19, 2009 at 2:14 pm
OK, let me get this straight. It is ok for a HUGE company to lay off over 100 workers at one location, only give a 3% raise in income, and then raise the insurance rate for families 5 times the amount, i.e.: $180 a month to “$900? a month. HELLO, are you missing the facts??? These people don’t make Hundreds of Thousands a year so an increase of this much is a HOUSE PAYMENT or a CAR PAYMENT, or FOOD for your family, or even CHILD CARE so they can go to work. They may not be working to stand up for their rights but they still have these expenses.
What I have read on YOUR BLOG is so one sided. Well, THIS is my part of the OTHER SIDE! Why don’t you get ALL THE FACTS BEFORE YOU START SHOOTING OFF YOUR FACE.
5 hotoffthepress2 // Jun 19, 2009 at 2:37 pm
Wow, you know how to copy and past! Here’s my reply to your previous comment on another Vance strike-related post: Oh please, Bageant, save your whining for someone who appreciates it. I know some of the workers at Vance, and I’ve been in the position before of seeing my health insurance costs rise. Instead of blindly following the union leaders in Enid and elsewhere, why don’t you help folks who do get it fight the real problem (i.e., tort-happy lawyers who help people file lawsuits that are without merit and, in doing so, drive up the costs of goods and services, including health insurance, for everyone)? As for your last comment (i.e., “shooting off your face”), please know that I’m not Dick Cheney or I might just shoot off yours — accidentally, of course!
Leave a Comment