Brilliant response to Union Protest

[XDCX]

So what does an enterprising manager do if he has a Union Protest taking place in front of his dealership? He take lemons and turn them into lemonade....

According to news reports the dealership, Subaru of Wichita, was in the process of completing a $1.5 Million renovation of a former Suzuki dealership and one of the sub-contractors that was doing drywall work was a non-union shop. The local union didn't approve of the private business owner's decision and decided to wage a protest in front of the dealership.

I think the response by Subaru of Wichita was brilliant and I hope their business surges as a result of the free publicity provided by the union.

[adastra]

My dealership is right next door to them. Lot's of news coverage. They got kids on spring break to hold up the other sign, and have been getting people to honk, hand out lemonade and candy, and try to make it fun.

[squish]

That is awesome!!!!

We had a drywall union doing the exact same thing out here in California a few years ago. They set up in front of our local bank.

They were there so long that I actually struck up a conversation with one of the "protesters". He was NOT a member of the union. Just a retired guy the union was paying $10/hour to sit there and read a book all day long. There was three guys every day so $30/hr or $240 a day out of the union workers dues to pay for this protest and it went on for months.

Perhaps the most ironic part was one summer day in the sweltering heat one of the "protesters" passed out. It was the workers inside the very bank they were protesting who came out and helped the guy until the paramedics showed up.

[jayhawk]

we had two union protests here in the last year.
one guy hired his brother in law to rehab a horrible [black mold] building into a 1st class brew pub, protesters out for nine months in day glo vests.
now weve got a similar "shame" banner up in front of a building rehabbed for an ob gyn clinic staffed by only female doctors.
these labor "actions" are having the opposite effect the goons think they have. wev'e only heard derisive comments about thugs, bullies, communists and etc.. that ship sailed a long time ago, and a certain segment of the population still hasnt gotten the message.
wev'e never been presented a value proposition for hiring union workers, wev'e only been threatened with blacklists, vandalism and negatives if we didnt.
God bless America!!

[XDCX]

Originally Posted by adastra

My dealership is right next door to them. Lot's of news coverage. They got kids on spring break to hold up the other sign, and have been getting people to honk, hand out lemonade and candy, and try to make it fun.

Thanks for the update.

It's great to see that the dealership is taking what could be a combative situation and making light of it. I think it's great that they're hiring kids on spring break to hold their sign and keeping the mood light and fun.

[XDCX]

Originally Posted by squish

Perhaps the most ironic part was one summer day in the sweltering heat one of the "protesters" passed out. It was the workers inside the very bank they were protesting who came out and helped the guy until the paramedics showed up.

That's really classy - props to the people who helped out a worker who was protesting their business.

As you pointed out, the people holding the sign most likely don't have any skin in the game - they're just trying to make a few bucks to get by.

[XDCX]

Originally Posted by jayhawk

wev'e never been presented a value proposition for hiring union workers, wev'e only been threatened with blacklists, vandalism and negatives if we didnt.
God bless America!!

I totally agree.

I'm not anti-union on principle and I could be compelled to use union workers if there was a solid rational based on quality, efficiency, safety, etc.

In fact, if I were hiring out for an electrical or plumbing job I'd probably be more inclined to choose a union shop over a non-union shop because I'd assume the union shop might have better hiring/training standards that could impact the quality/safety of the work performed.

That said, I consider drywall installation to be a pretty low-skill job. Hell, even I can install and tape drywall....

Back to your point, I agree that when an organization has to use threats, intimidation and bullying to sell their product - it probably isn't a very competitive product in the market.

[XDCX]

Here's the latest on the union protest - click here

Apparently the dealership's YouTube video is attracting a lot of views. Their tag line is "The more you try to shame us, the more that we get famous."