No post today. Call it a sympathy strike (yes, I know that sympathy strikes are illegal – take it up with the NLRB). Well, better yet, call it a holiday hiatus as the truth is that I’m blowing off my responsibilities this morning and heading for the mall to finish up my Christmas shopping. In the meantime, check out my friend John Phillips’ blog entry about a sexually harassed mall Santa.

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season and a safe new year.

It is not that I don’t support the writers of The Office.  I do.  But I also think their situation is different than most other industries in the private sector.  When I look at the issue of unionization from a more global perspective, I firmly believe that most employees and companies are better off without a union.  Not to say that there aren’t some workplaces out there were a union isn’t the right choice.  It is just that those instances are few and far between.

Some have commented that employees need unions to obtain better pay.  This is a fallacy which is easily dispelled.  A union cannot guarantee better pay: it can simply try to negotiate for it  (much like employees can do without a union – and without paying union dues).  And when the union and the company do negotiate there are three possibilities:  (1) wages and benefits go up; (2) wages and benefits go down; and (3) wages and benefits could stay the same.

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The strike continues and it doesn’t look like it is going to end any time soon. Indeed, one blog reported yesterday that negotiations are actually going backwards! To make matters worse, it looks like several actors are honoring the picket line. I think we might be going without our beloved “Office” for several more weeks. I’m not sure that I can take it.

Some big names, such as Carson Daly, crossed the picket line and went back to work this week. Other big names have begun personally paying their staff’s salaries during the strike. But the reality is that many staffers have lost – and will continue to lose – their paychecks. I’m not talking about the fat cats who can afford to do so. I’m talking about those folks who work for them. At Christmas time. I can’t think of a better lesson for why companies should work hard to remain union-free. And I think its time that we started giving some tips on how they can do so. I’ve asked some experts in the area to chime in and give us some real-life guidance. So stay tuned.