The Knicks Start Work Council:Influenced By German Model Of Shared Decision Making In The Workplace

I was at this mansion(home of lap dancer for HVC hedge fund) yesterday in Dutches,Co. N.Y. talking to the Knicks about work councils and the lack of defense in the second quarters,especially Amare Stoudemire on any center he faces.Yes,he leaves his man to make weak-side blocks but his man has been scoring as much as Amare every night.I recommended that they play a triangle and two on high scoring guards for two reasons.The move will enable Amare to get additional help from teammates on the opposing center or power forward and have a continuous double team on the shooting guards.At an early point in our discussions,Landry Fields,brilliant rookie, inquired about the work councils and I proceeded to tell them that they should have one and make shared decisions with the coach and his staff so everyone should get equal  playing time to support the craft they are developing(especially anyone under 25 yrs. old...most of the Knicks).I told them that Mike D'Antoni,Herb Williams,Phil Weber and additional staff shouldn't make all the decisions and that a work council(three elected players in this employment arrangement) could and should bargain with them for the type,place and time of the practice sessions. In addition,the strategies(philosophy),starting five,bench arrangements and minutes all should be done collaboratively with decisions by both the work council and coaches.I told them that some players(7 to 8) were discriminated against because they didn't have the playing time to demonstrate their skills.This limitation of time on the court degraded their confidence and eroded their professional skills.Everyone who ever played the game knows that 75% of the game is psychological and time on the bench undermines their worth as a person and as a worker.D'Antoni started to say that it was unfair to the coaches because they needed to have a winning season to survive in management.The answer I gave to D'Antoni was that he needed to talk to the commissioner so every team would play with the same arrangement.The players had empathy for the coaches situation but it was up to them to make recommendations and tell Stern about the new working conditions for the Knicks.The players were enthusiastic and understood that the work council would bring value to their workplace and all the undermining at practice would disappear.

We watch T.V. 4.6 hrs. per day in the U.S.(I watch every Knick game) while Germany(3.5 and dropping) and ultra-left Sweden(2.7).Geoghegan(Were You Born On The Wrong Continent) states Germans still read big,fat papers everyday to remain informed because they have a stake in the workplace and need to know about the internal and global economies.78% of Germans read a newspaper every day for an average of twenty-eight minutes.Germany has 23 million in paid circulation,while the vastly larger U.S(4 times bigger). has only 34 million.Worker engagement(work councils) increases a stake in acting politically to protect their economic system.They have a stake in reading political news in depth(not just watching pro-business T.V.).For those H.S grads with no skills living outside unionized Germany,this process is meaningless and non-existent.They are totally dependent and hopeless concerning worker rights in American style capitalism(unless they are part of the weakened 11% in U.S. unions).

Germany is also very green.Only in Germany would the government buy up enough DVDs of Al Gore's"An Inconvenient Truth" to play in every classroom.Germany is in pole position in several fast-growing “green tech” areas, including renewable energy and automotive efficiency.The German government has been sending steady green signals to the market for years. It passed a trend-setting recycling law in 1991 and was a pioneer of “feed-in tariffs”, obliging utilities to buy power generated by renewable sources at prices that reflect their higher costs. Now renewables account for 15% of electricity and German manufacturers of solar cells and wind-power turbines are among the world’s leaders.

Felton to Amare to Gallinari to Chandler to Fields to Turiaf to etc. If the Knicks can do it why can't everyone have some ownership in the workplace and the stability to plan for the future with some reason. We are all in this together...lets rent a boat and sail to the Caymans and return our money for those unemployment benefits we can't afford...let's increase the income rate for those over $250,000 from 35% to 50%(they hide most of it anyway).