Union Members Unite!

Just wanted to stop by and say congrats to you guys. From everything I've seen about the US you're very lucky people to have a union. Its too bad the labour laws down there make it necessary but c'est la vie.

 

We are lucky to have right to work states. I for one worked a union job. Paying dues to some fat cat criminal was one reason I quit. Also I made more money working non union. Now I own my business. Unions had their place but now in my mind are outdated.

 

Depends. Here in Ontario unions are pointless. The labour laws here protect the employee so well that unions are completely useless.

 

All those things exist in non union too, don't they?

 

Work union live better. Plain and simple. I'm in local 11 IBEW. Best benefits you can get. I'll pay dues anytime because union takes care of us

 

What contractor do you work for?

Also, prevailing wage is set by the union pay standards. Without it, non union trades wouldn't get what they do on a prevailing wage job.

 

I work for a small non union shop.

I don't agree with such a blanket statement as "work union live better"

 

That's fine if you wish to work non-union, but there's no need for comments that try to stir the pot either.

 

Hollywood Teamsters local 399 - I.B.E.W local 40
Motion picture industry driver and generator operator.

The production companies would rape everyone if it weren't for our unions.

 

union has better pay, benefits, job security, pension all the good stuff most non union doesnt have

 

Stating facts is stirring the pot?

Another untrue blanket statement.

 

A lot of butthurt in this thread. Both sides.

 

I agree with Selleck

 

lol. Yes, that's meant to stir the pot.

 

L.U.1598 Philadelphia Carpenters here!!!

 

I was going to chime in to, but some people will never be pro labor. I see first hand on my job the difference in non union and union work. Night and day. If you do well with out a union that's great. But for some us, our unions provide a better quality of life than without.

 

In my opinion unions support the lazy. I worked for UPS and it seems only the poor employees are pro union.

 

This is my only issue with people in unions , the whole " union labour is skilled labour and non union labour is crap " BS , I've seen shitty union carpenters and great non union carpenters and the other way around .

 

100% agree with you. Just being union doesn't make you a master of your trade. You're going to have greats and lazy people in any job.

 

I am non-union because in my area its not required. The CEO of my company in a news article(ill see if I can find it) said and I quote "Its not my job to worry about the happiness of my customers, its my job to keep my employees happy because they'll do the rest for me" and he puts money where his mouth is.

We make good money for our job, all our training for certifcations are paid for(this year I've done a CompTIA and a Microsoft cert), Beer/Pizza on fridays, nobody hassles you about a few minutes late due to traffic, company get togethers almost monthly fully paid for(Paintball, water park, dinners), Hell, they even went out and bought a brand new 20 000$ server for the techs to practice setting up entire environments all in hyperV or VMware.

No union required here. However I've worked for companies in the same industry where a union is sorely needed. Long hours, little pay, no benefits, shitty management, etc, etc.


For the most part though here in Ontario Unions are RARELY needed and usually just end up in inflated labour costs for the same quality of work on average. Some companies just dont get it the way our owner does, if you keep employees happy, you don't need to manage them. They manage themselves.