Union rant

[Cleveland Metal]

Sadly, unions are why so much work is being farmed out overseas. And, it's why we pay astronomical costs for things we shouldn't.

People in some unions make so much it's ridiculous. And the way they work... Lessee, stage hand that HAS to come in to turn on stage lighting (flipping some switches) for some people to do something in a union hall. They get +4 hours for walking in and showing up to flip a switch or three. Then later that day, they another +4 to turn them off. And many are making 20-30 bucks an hour???

It's no wonder American steel or oil is not used, we price ourselves out of the market from paying these guys amazing amounts.

A friend of mine as a heavy equipment operator, tries to ONLY work weekends and holidays. They do nothing, and get paid double time or more. And they are making 30 something an hour already.

You wonder why a new pickup truck costs almost 50 grand? Unions...

They have their good points, but they are killing America at this time it seems to me.

[Shotgun]

Re: Union rant

One of those good ideas that often (or, nowdays, always?) gets fouled up in the execution. I was much more pro union around the year 1900 than I was around 2000, so to speak. Ok, I'm not that old, but you get the idea.

Good luck, guy, hope it all works out for you.
Keith

[StukaJU87]

Re: Union rant

Sorry to hear of your trouble bro. Unions can suck at times. I know, my union (PBA) has gotten us rotten contracts in the past. Give backs, plenty of zeros in contracts, co-pay for medical, loss of overlap, etc. Fortunatly though, there is a "no strike" clause that we go by.
Hopefully, the union will settle and a strike can be avoided. Good luck to you!

[Newc]

Re: Union rant

IMO Unions have served their purpose to establish safe and equal working conditions and pay rates. This bullshit of spreading ONE job over 3 or 4 people (i.e. one guy to turn the lights on, one to turn them off, one to open the door, one to close it, etc) is just fucking retarded.
Unfortunately, many companies think the only alternatives to Union labor are Overseas or Mexico. I'm not aware of any Federal laws that say any industry or facility MUST employ organized labor, and I think companies should be free to explore the non-Union workforce to fill their needs.
That doesn't mean I'm all for highly-skilled jobs paying minimum wage, but I dare you to prove to me how a janitor that mops the floors in ONE school building in New York TWICE A YEAR is earning $50,000 a year, and that's his only job. (saw that one on 60 Minutes a few years ago).

Newc

[Boxcar Willie 84]

Re: Union rant

I remember back in my construction working days, the unions were trying to get some of my more Hispanic coworkers to join, I always thought to just get dues from them, because unions in my line of work were really unneccessary...with OSHA inspectors coming every week, and a mandatory safety meeting every week I never really saw what the point in having a union here (for my old job anyway) would be. What do you guys think...are unions outdated?

[A. Pulver]

Re: Union rant

IBEW is pretty good up here.
They do a decent job negotiating the contract and taking care of the wages/benefits.
The southern boys fucked themselves with your "Right To Work" shit.
A union construction worker up here makes 2X what a union worker does in a RTW state.
From what I've seen though, we work 2X as hard. [img]graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]
Medical costs are a big concern coming up for many workers.
Hell, we pay $5.66 an HOUR for our medical plan.
You guys making 20-30 an hour and think you are doing great, need to take medical and pension/retirement into consideration.
Especially when there isn't going to be any SSI/Medicare when we retire.
If your management, FUCK OFF. [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]
IMO, unions do far more good than bad for the average worker.

[Tekky]

Re: Union rant

Well, in the communications industry, I'm not sure that your numbers fit. Even moreso to the point, it's CWA, not IBEW that we're in negotiations with.

Unions have already served their purpose. They're actually outliving their usefulness. Now they're screwing all the other working folks in the market.

[~K~]

Re: Union rant

IBEW is pretty good up here.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">While I tend to favor unions the IBEW SUCKED up here. The IBEW stole money from us .. embezzlement .. plain and simple ..on top of that instead of remained strong against the co I worked for they recommended to us that we just accept the contract offered cause the company could just close the doors .. the IBEW has none of my respect

Unions have already served their purpose. They're actually outliving their usefulness. Now they're screwing all the other working folks in the market.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Not always true ..the fact is that unions even help set the pay scales for non union companies. Those companies have to remain competitive to draw quality workers, and workers are drawn to money ..typically unionized jobs pay higher wages ..

2 years ago I had my wages frozen and my pay cut 4% and while it was across the whole company it wasn't done in a fair manner. This upset me as my wage went back to 1999 wages while the kid sitting next to me reamained where he was at 2000 wages.. instead of losing his raise and a paycut ..he lost his raise.. When I complained about this it showed up in my review "Kevin is too sensitive to unpopular company policies" .. I fought it .. The fact was that by cutting our wage and freezing oays.. (BTW it was frozen/cut on a monday and we were not notified until thursday... It was illegal but what can you do unless you have everyone risking their necks .. what happened next? ..they went to reduced work schedules ... and required people to take either vacation or take it unpaid .. and while they were doing this they forced certain areas to work .. FREE OF CHARGE TO THE CO ... so you took a vacation day to show up at work ..there were also areas that were allowed to skip the days off altogether because they were too important to the company ..so while I lost 90 days of pay over 2 1/2 yrs those people lost nothing ..


Bottom line.. if it had been a union shop it would have never happened ...

[ April 21, 2004, 04:30 PM: Message edited by: KMaynard ]

[YetAnotherOne]

Re: Union rant

Originally posted by TEKKY:
They're actually outliving their usefulness.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">You misspelled "have already outlived."

[Tekky]

Re: Union rant

Originally posted by YetAnotherOne:
</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by TEKKY:
They're actually outliving their usefulness.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">You misspelled "have already outlived." </font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">#1 pet peeve - petty corrections. I'm asking you as a member, not as an admin, please don't.

When you're correcting someone's grammar, you're showing disrespect by not listening to what's being said. I corrected my father's grammar once, it took about a week before both of my eyes faced forward after he backhanded me.

Now back to the topic. This is my rant for my particular situation. I'm sure others benefit from the union, as I probably currently do to an extent. But right now my rant is about the fact that I'm on the verge of having to work 12 hours a day, 7 days a week without pay until the strike is over because the union doesn't want to pony up a couple more percent for their healthcare. I am personally on the verge of getting screwed by CWA.

I apologize, some of my comments are too broad because of the anger that I am feeling for this situation. I defy anyone to be forced into this situation (unless they have a job as a performer in the sex industry) to be happy about it.

[A. Pulver]

Re: Union rant

.

[Tekky]

Re: Union rant

Originally posted by A.Pulverizer:
If you were in the union Todd, they would have to pay you time and 1/2 for anything over 8 and double time for anything over 12 + on weekends. [img]graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]
(Sorry, I just couldn't help it) [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Actually, that's not correct. Consider the situation, everyone who's in the union will be sitting on a picket line somewhere making a fraction of their salary.

That might be my only consolation. [img]graemlins/images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

[Newc]

Re: Union rant

I think Brad's post was actually to say that the Unions aren't outliving their usefulness, but they already have outlived their usefulness.

Newc

[RacerX]

Re: Union rant

Originally posted by TEKKY:
</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by YetAnotherOne:
</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by TEKKY:
They're actually outliving their usefulness.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">You misspelled "have already outlived." </font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">#1 pet peeve - petty corrections. I'm asking you as a member, not as an admin, please don't.

</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Tekky, I'm pretty sure YetAnotherOne was not correcting your grammar, rather he was trying to make the point that unions have already outlived their usefulness (PAST tense). It was unfortunate that he used the phrase "You misspelled" - that was probably the point where your eyes clouded over with fury! [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[RacerX]

Re: Union rant

Hi Newc! [img]images/icons/tongue.gif[/img]