Imagine being hired as a strikebreaker
Large corporations show their true colors in many ways, but when employees express a desire to be treated even halfway decently, corporations really show their dirty colors. If the Las Vegas rumors are true, then MGM is about to show the world how little it thinks of the people who run the company.
Local insider Twitter account Las Vegas Locally posted Monday, citing “multiple sources,” that MGM is “actively preparing for a Culinary Union strike in the next two weeks.” One of its sources added that the company will pay “politically connected ‘strike-fighting experts'” to try to pressure striking or potential striking union members.
That anyone would want to be a “scab” is crazy, but I assume they get paid enough to sleep well at night. They are typically hired by large companies to either convince employees not to strike (and not through honest discussions) or to develop tactics to make the strike as unpleasant as possible for workers beyond the loss of income .
None of this should be a surprise. It happens all the time. The television and film studios have pulled all sorts of tricks against the Writers Guild and Screen Actors Guild in their recent strikes, but both unions have stood firm. The writers finally got what they wanted and get back to work while the film actors are still on strike.
Company employees are put under pressure
What’s even more disturbing, if true, is the second statement from a Las Vegas Locally source. According to this insider, MGM’s human resources department is “requiring” that employees at corporate headquarters give them times when they are willing to step in and take the place of the striking workers. If they refuse, they could be released before Christmas.
And corporate headquarters employees aren’t expected to do both their jobs and the jobs of the striking workers, which is good in a way. The bad thing, however, is that they wouldn’t be able to do their own corporate tasks, which could have “cascading effects on technical systems as no one will be there to monitor them.”
A risky gamble for a company that just lost millions upon millions of dollars due to a system hack.
Again, we don’t know for sure if these reports are true, but Las Vegas Locally is a reputable source, so we’ll stick with it for now. So not only would MGM use all sorts of tactics to avoid negotiating in good faith with the Culinary Union at a time when the Las Vegas Strip is making record profits, but it would also jeopardize the livelihoods of employees who don’t strike.
If you are an MGM corporate employee and want to show solidarity with your Culinary Union colleagues by not stepping in and doing their job, you could find yourself unemployed. If you’re an MGM corporate employee who doesn’t want to do someone else’s job because you don’t know how and don’t want to give up your own position, tough shit, wish the unemployment office a Merry Christmas.
