Another example of the games unions play in maximizing their leverage to get their way occurred Hawaii. HECO executives said the strike would slow efforts to restore service to about 8,000 Oahu homes and businesses, mostly in the Ewa Beach area, that were without power last night. It reminds me of the games Fox plays with different cable and satellite providers just prior to the Super Bowl. Fox had done the same thing in the past with Time Warner and Comcast. The crisis is created when the most customers will be in trouble. Whether or not the raises are justified are inconsequential, people get very upset when their lights don’t come on with a flip of a switch. If you get enough people to yell and scream, who don’t actually know or understand the facts, who are inconvenienced by your strike, they will support you to end it as quickly as possible. People who do this are despicable, dishonest, and should just be terminated from their jobs. This is nothing more than leveraging a crisis for extortion and using it to get their way. Continue reading →