None of this makes any sense to me. I’ve never been a blue collar guy (does bagging groceries as a kid count?), nor am I an expert in management-labor relations, so perhaps my view of the sanity of unions in a government agency is a little skewed. Watching the local horror that is the NWA strike only helps confirm my belief that unions have outlived their usefulness (explain to me how a strategy that drives your membership to the unemployment lines is beneficial to workers).

For the sake of decades-past fears of steamfitters and plumbers (Watch out! That seven day work week is just around the corner!) we hamstring the ability to get the right people where they need to be when they need to be there, and pay the best performers (age and tenure immaterial) what they are worth. So while we’ve managed to keep the electricians happy, the hemorrhaging of future heavy thinkers in the defense and security communities continues unabated. Nice.

As someone who will be making appointments with both a plumber and electrician in the near future let me state for the record that I have nothing but mad love and props to my peeps in the trades . . . but this isn’t the 30s.

About the Author

Michael Tanji

Michael Tanji spent nearly 20 years in the US intelligence community. Trained in both SIGINT and HUMINT disciplines he has worked at the Defense Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency, and the National Reconnaissance Office. At various points in his career he served as an expert in information warfare, computer network operations, computer forensics, and indications and warning. A veteran of the US Army, Michael has served in both strategic and tactical assignments in the Pacific Theater, the Balkans, and the Middle East.