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Well, this definitely wasn't an "isolated incident." In 2004, Bloom delivered a controversial speech where he said:
We do not seek confrontation and we never start a fight, but we cannot do our job if we retreat when challenged. If we conclude that your concerns are purely about personal aggrandizement, about making a quick hit and leaving holding the bag... we will fight to protect ourselves with every weapon at our disposal. We may forgive, but we never forget, and it's always personal. The choice is yours.He also urged companies to stop trying to reduce their costs, saying that if every company succeeded in lowering prices, they would do "nothing but make your customers rich." Oh yeah, that sounds like a brilliant idea coming from the manufacturing czar--forget about trying to improve your cost-efficiency because the consumer doesn't need their money! After all, that free market is just "nonsense."
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Bloom told executives that the union workers are the "glue" that holds the industry together, and bluntly told them: "These mills are ours." Bloom claimed the steelworkers' union is much more committed to the industry than any other stakeholders who "have no memory and no future." These "other stakeholders" include industry leaders who Bloom says have "genuine mobility and can usually be expected to depart for greener pastures if the price is right." Workers, however, "are truly the one constant in the life of an enterprise."
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He concluded in saying that the union has "significant negative power and we are not afraid to use that power."
In 2006 he made another speech, saying:
Aaaand now I think I'm starting to get a better picture of why this guy likes Mao so much...Our union is extremely diverse. Our members are generally either immigrants or the children or grand-children of immigrants and we work hard to take the best from all of their cultures.
While there are too many to innumerate, the wisdom of three in particular are worth mentioning.
From the Irish we have learned: “don’t get mad, get even.”
From the Italians we take the lesson that revenge is a dish best served cold.
And from the Serbs, many of us, as we get older, have become afflicted with what is called Serbian Alzheimer’s – you forget everything but the grudges.
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