Originally Posted by
porciuscato
Not a complete red herring. It's the combination of the two: union employees who can't be fired and a corporate culture that designates customers as enemies. That's what sets United apart.
The bad publicity will force them to suppress the very worst behavior. But as long as United keeps its oligopoly power, the day-to-day nastiness will not change.
I hesitate to wade into this territory, but I feel compelled.
It is a myth that Union employees cannot be fired. I have been a Union member, as well as a manager of Union employees. There are specific steps that management must follow to terminate a Union employee. If those steps are followed, it is bullet proof.
The stories that surface about having to hire back a Union member "wrongly terminated" is in the vast majority of the time a failure of management to follow the rules. Lack of documentation or not treating same situations the same way are the usual culprits.
The blame lies with leadership. Customers are not the enemy.