Thom Hartmann: So we get mail, I have this very, very thoughtful email that leads, I think is a perfect segue to our next guest. It’s an email from, well I’m not going to name her actually. She didn’t ask me not to, but uh, this is about harassment she is experiencing at work. She says,
Dear Thom, I’m not sure who else to turn to. And I know you can’t help me but I thought I would write you with this information. I will be 60 years old this year and I work for Target. I’ve been with them for a year. After my divorce two years ago I could not find anyone to hire me. I had worked for Merrill-Lynch and other investment firms for many years as a registered sales assistant. And after my divorce I had a hard time finding work until Target hired me. Until recently I truly loved working there.
When I was first hired, all new hires had to listen to an employee orientation and an anti-union video. I watched it once and said nothing. Then, after working there a few months I was forced to watch it again with other employees. Unfortunately, this time I voiced my opinion. Stupid of me. And stated that the video is stupid and a lie. Thom, I’ll be 60 years old this year and when I was in my 20’s I belonged to the Teamster Union and paid very well, so I know this video is nothing by propaganda and a lie. More recently, me and several other older workers at Target have been targeted. We are constantly told we are not meeting standards, we are not working fast enough. I used to love my job, Thom, but now every day I feel put down and disrespected by my bosses.
Maybe Target has decided to get rid of all older workers for insurance costs, although my former husband pays my health insurance and Target has nothing to do with it. And also our life history, knowing the truth is so many things. I don’t expect you to reply to my email, but I thought I’d let you know what is possibly going on in the work force with older workers. Thanks for all you do. Sincerely,
You know, this person’s name. And this is just one piece of all of these problems we are facing. With us is Christine Holschlag, she is a union officer with the Teamsters, teamster.org is the website. Also a phlebotomist, one of those people who draws blood with ARC, for five years, the American Red Cross. And Christine, welcome to the show.
<?p>Christine Holschlag: Hi, actually Thom, I just wanted to correct you. I’m actually with AFSCME Local 315.
Thom Hartmann: You’re right! I’m sorry, I was reading the wrong sheet. The website is Council4.org, right? number four. And that’s AFSCME, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.
Christine Holschlag: You got it.
Thom Hartmann: Okay. So Christine, uh there is a layer battle going on at the Red Cross of all places. People think of the Red Cross as touchy-feely, they care, you know, this is, but not quite so apparently.
Christine Holschlag: No, actually, I am a Red Cross phlebotomist, I have been for five years and I'm also on the negotiating team for our union. And we’re currently in very difficult negotiations with the Red Cross. They’ve made numerous proposals which we feel will jeopardize the blood supply as well as many ??? which are clearly an attempt to bust unions. We’ve actually reached out to other locals working for the Red Cross only to find that these same issues have arisen across the country.
Thom Hartmann: So has the Red Cross hired one of these, I mean this is a two billion dollar a year industry, these companies that advise corporations, including non-profits. People think being a non-profit is enough to protect you, but the Red Cross is a non-profit corporation. But you know I remember when, I’m forgetting who it was, but anyhow. Their CEOs are very well paid at the Red Cross, let’s just leave it at that.
Christine Holschlag: Okay, well interesting that you say that because uh, you know, as you said, it’s a humanitary organization, yet it's slowly turned into this kind of big business corporation, [cross talk] all their decisions have been which used to be made regional, I’m sorry, are now being made nationally from the headquarters in DC.
Thom Hartmann: Is this going back to when Elizabeth Dole, the wife of former Presidential candidate and Senator, Republican Senator, Bob Dole, was the President and was pulling a good hefty six figure salary as President of the Red Cross?
Christine Holschlag: I think you could say that the CEO's are kind of like a rolling, a revolving door. You know, as unlikely as it sounds, the Red Cross board members consist of top corporation executives from Starbucks, Blockbuster, Caterpillar, and the list goes on. These people at the table making decisions, and you know, it’s just turned to the point where to even stand a chance as a union against this big business conglomerate we’ve had to form a national coalition consisting of unions from AFSCME, OPEIU, SEIU, TWA, UFCW and IBEW. You know, we cover Red Cross blood services across the country. And our main concern right now is actually public safety. The Red Cross has made proposals that have, you know, ‘we’ll replace the licensed professionals,’ the RNs and LPNs who, you know, make the blood supply safe. You know, they oversee the blood drive and they are replacing them with unlicensed supervisors.
Thom Hartmann: Where they pay pay less.
Christine Holschlag: Right, right. And these same supervisors have been caught falsifying documentation, mishandled donor reactions which range from fainting, seizures to anaphylactic shock. Let three donors who should have been deferred compromise worker donor safety and harassed workers.
Thom Hartmann: Hm. We’re talking with Christine Holschlag. She’s with AFSCME and the website is Council4.org. Union officer, a phlebotomist for the American Red Cross for the past five years, and on the negotiating team. Do you think that the Red Cross is trying to just totally bust the union? Or are they just playing hardball in their negotiations?
Christine Holschlag: Um, I do feel that they are out to bust the union. They’ve actually, um started placing the issues aside, the Red Cross demand that we give up our bargaining power over mandatory issues such as healthcare. And you know, we feel that we are the watchdogs of this corporation and we will not leave decisions that affect our public blood supply or our livelihoods entirely up to our employer. And with all these corporations recently being exposed for their greed and corruption, you know, we cannot think of a more significant time to stand up to the American Red Cross.
Thom Hartmann: The note that I read earlier, from the woman working at Target, that they’re being forced to watch anti-union videos. Has the Red Cross gotten into that yet?
Christine Holschlag: No, but there's definitely been some issues with intimidation. Our CEOs sent out memos more or less siding with, or making the union look like the bad guy, as far as negotiations go.
Thom Hartmann: Right. And this is such a tragedy, because in order to have democracy in the workplace, workplaces are little kingdoms basically, they are modeled on kingdoms. With the king or queen and then the lords and ladies and then the serfs, you know. And to have democracy in the workplace where everybody has a say, the only way to do that is to have a union. Unions are democracy in the workplace. And to hear that the Red Cross is trying to bust the unions, I mean this is just, it’s like discovering Santa Claus isn’t real. It’s so tragic. What can, what can people do? What can our listeners do, Christine Holschlag?
Christine Holschlag: Um, well, now basically we’re asking that, you know, the donors and the recipients and the general public let the American Red Cross know that safety must come before profits and that they stand by their front line workers and they stand by these union members who are ensuring that there is a safe blood supply. Um, and you know, the only thing that is going to impact this business is, you know, the donors who come and give freely of their blood and their time. And it’s just, the American Red Cross medical services mission is that they will fulfill the needs of the American people for the safest, most reliable, most cost effective, blood, plasma, and tissue services through voluntary donations. And we feel that the Red Cross may have strayed from that mission. You know, how can we say that we are ensuring the safest product when there is a push to get rid of the RNs and the LPNs? How can we say we are putting out the safest products when staff are unable to get seven to nine hours before they return to work? I mean these are proposals.
Thom Hartmann: Right.
Christine Holschlag: How can we say we’re ensuring a safe experience when people who are hired to drive trucks and pack the blood are now pulling needles out of donors arms? I mean, again, these are proposals, um of, you know, cross-training workers. And you know, with that said, how can they say we’re cost effective when they have top executives and managers who are making lucrative bonuses off of the donors who come in to make a voluntary donation? I mean if is it really ethical to have blood consignment?
Thom Hartmann: Yeah, this is really wrong. Red Cross frontline blood drive workers in Michigan, Connecticut, West Virginia, New York, Washington, Missouri, represented by a variety of unions, SEIU, Teamsters, OPEIU, AFCSME, CWA, currently in negotiations with American Red Cross management, none of them are making any progress. This looks like this is a concerted effort from the top down on the part of the Red Cross. And these are people who are working sometimes 14 hours a day, six days a week when the blood drives are happening. And this is really important work, and this has to do with the quality of the blood that YOU may get when you show up in the hospital if you have a car accident or something and you’re bleeding badly and the Red Cross, created by an act of Congress in 1905, over the last 15 years has been actually operating under a federal court order to improve the way they collect and process blood and now management wants to further cut the oversight of these. This just blows my mind. This just blows my mind. So Christine Holschlag, I think it is so important that people contact the Red Cross and say, you know, many of us donated for example during hurricane Katrina, you know, I’m a donor to the Red Cross and you need to be operating, you need to be negotiating in good faith with your workers, with your union. And stop this.
Christine Holschlag: I mean, these are issues that everyone should care about because as you said before, you never know when you’re going to need blood, and you know, these unions, these frontline workers, are the people, you know, we’re proud of the work we do, we want to ensure that we’re putting out a good product and that, you know, we’re insuring a safe experience for the people who want to contribute.
Thom Hartmann: Right. Christine Holschlag, she’s with Council4, council4.org of AFCSME. Working for the American Red Cross as a phlebotomist, council number 4, the digit 4, dot org. Christine, thanks for dropping by. And keep up the great work.
Christine Holschlag: Thank you.
Thom Hartmann: Good hearing from you.
Transcribed by Suzanne Roberts, Portland Psychology Clinic.
