Labor humor for the week of January 30, 2012

A Steep Problem

A CEO, manager and union shop steward were on their way to a meeting. They were driving down a steep mountain road when suddenly the brakes failed. The car careened down the road, bouncing off the crash barriers, until it ground to a halt. Shaken but unhurt, the car's occupants now faced the problem of being stuck halfway down a mountain in a car with no brakes. "I know," said the CEO confidently, "Let's have a meeting, propose a Vision, formulate a Mission Statement, define some Goals, and by a process of Continuous Improvement find a solution to the Critical Problems, and we can be on our way." "With all due respect, sir," said the union shop steward, "That will take far too long, and besides, that method has never worked before. I've got my Swiss Army knife with me, and in no time at all I can strip down the car's braking system, isolate the fault, fix it, and we can be on our way." "Excellent suggestion," agreed the manager, "But before we do anything too hasty I think we should push the car back up the road and see if it happens again."