Union Troubles

In the winter of 1998, one of America's most powerful unions was celebrating a wonderful business year. They were enjoying unparalleled success and popularity. It was a good time to be a part of this organization.

Or was it?

There was a problem brewing. A member of the union stood up at their winter meetings and said, "There is a problem, a major problem, with what's going on in our organization." The problem was an exploitation of loopholes in their basic CBA that, while somewhat hazy legally, could undermine the public faith in their organization. The name of this maverick was Rick Helling.

Well, that loophole exploitation wasn't ever discussed by management, so they'd be damned if they brought it up in discussions with their opposition. This point wasn't lost on Helling even if he disagreed. "This problem is so prevalent that those who don't do it are feeling pressure to do it," he declared.

He was ignored.

The next year at these meetings, 1999, it was the same situation. He complained. They ignored. The same thing in 2000, and in 2001. He told them by not facing it and fixing it it would blow up in their face. He was right.

Rick Helling was a pitcher for the Texas Rangers, and the problem he spoke of was steroids. For four years nobody in his union listened. The Player's Association, still one of the most powerful unions in America, does not hold all the blame on the steroids issue, but it definitely dropped the ball on something that it could have used for its own benefit and moral high-ground in the long run.

Now, I am a union guy on the whole...a supporter of the Proletariat. I, though, do respect intelligence and far-reaching vision, and the Player's Association certainly had neither of those working those times. Doesn't the good of your members in the long-run benefit more from enhanced integrity that the turning-a-blind-eye-and-raking-in-cash approach used for too many years? 

Is this a fundamental characteristic of "American"?