I like working in a union shop, that is my preference, as i have worked in union and non union shops....you seem to think it is a sign of weakness, but yet admit that employers do take advantage of employees...???? The company has lawyers and accountants working for them, by pooling my resources with my co-workers, and by belonging to a union, i'm in a better posistion to better my pay and benefits when negotiating, as we have access to lawyers and accountants...i believe a couple of other posters have already gone over this...so, why is it bad for me to belong to a union? why is it so wrong to like having a contract, spelling out exactly what i can expect in pay and benefits? why are you ok with company execs having contracts, but not me? seems to me my production manager, my plant manager, my process techs, like having a contract with the company, that spells out what is expected from them, and what in return they can expect from the company...why is it so wrong if i want the same for me and my co-workers?
Excuse me for butting in, but I wanted to put in my two cents. IMO, there is
nothing wrong with belonging to a
private sector union. Unions are held in check with their demands by the profitability of the company itself. No sense in killing the goose that lays the golden eggs, so to speak.
Do they serve a useful purpose? I think many times they do. Do they often go overboard? I think many times they do.
But! What I think it does is encourage mediocrity. That's an
awful thing to encourage! Just do your job, put in your time, and you'll get your raise. Put in any extra? You're liable to actually make
enemies of your co-workers. Is that not true? It certainly was when I belonged to the IBEW for a short time in Chicago. That from personal experience. Then they've got this gol-darned work rules. Maybe they all don't have them, but my union did.
I was an Information Operator for about 8 months. I was eager to be promoted. Best damned operator they had, if I don't say so myself.
Personnel called me into the office and told me that I was destined for the business office...
but I had to be with the company for two years before I could be promoted...union rules. I quit.
Making enemies of co-workers is what would happen to my mom when she worked on piece work for Sunbeam Corporation. They had this gimmick that you had a quota -- let's say 100 pieces an hour -- and for that you made a "base rate." You could make 150 pieces an hour and get paid base rate times 1.5. If you made
more than 150 pieces, even though my mom found it easy to do, co-workers shunned her for getting the job re-rated. What??? Why was the job rated at all, you ask. Union rules.
Chicago lost a significant % of its trade shows/exhibitors several years ago because..why? Ridiculous union rules. Have a display that needs to be plugged into an electrical outlet?
You can't plug it in -- You need two electricians, minimum charge $200. That's just one ridiculous example. Here are some concessions recently agreed to by the unions involved because so many of their workers were layed off:
"Work begun from 6 to 8 a.m. will be billed as straight time (not time-and-a-half or double time as previously) across all union jurisdictions.
" Exhibitors of all sizes will be allowed to hang signs and plug in equipment without hiring union labor.
" Union crew sizes will be determined on a job-by-job basis, eliminating the required minimum of three union workers.
When you read posters' harranging about unions, ridiculous examples like this are the reason. IMO, unions have gone overboard. And management's let them. When unions go overboard, jobs are lost. Pure and simple.
