Do you work for the union? do you like it?

It amuses me to read anti-union posts. UNIONS are the only way to work. Without organized labor it turns into a race to the bottom concerning wages and benefits. The anti-union posters enjoy their 40 hour work week with 8 hour shifts. Just cause for termination,not if we fire you for no reason and replace you with entry level wages.

 

Be amused while your employer moves your job across the border where they can make a profit. Oh, sorry, bad word, profit.

 

just look at generous motors. They had a strike one time because the company wanted them to work.

 

I don't have a union, and im paid 10 an hr (part time while in college, starting pay) and get half pay on holidays....

 

Some unions are great, others are not. Thats the simple way of life for Unions.

Im not a member but my union actually covers quite a good range of things to keep employees taken care of. We are Federal so our "contract" is just an agreement. Pretty much everything in the agreement has a "if SHTF the employer can do whatever they need to finish jobs". But the union keeps traveling fair, overtime fair, temporary promotions (ie you stand in for a higher position for two weeks...you get paid at that level).

Basically they do a good job at keeping an employee from getting screwed over. And honestly id say 75% of the work force never needs the union...ive been there almost 7 years and not once needed anything.

As for getting rid of people...we hire on 1 year temp jobs. They can be fired for most anything during that time...and quite a few have been. After that 1 year it gets harder and just takes more documentation to get rid of someone. Or if someone isnt performing at the level they are being paid...theres a system to get them demoted unless they can prove they deserve that positions pay.

So some unions can be good if set up properly.

 

My wife works for AT&T as a service rep. They're unionized. They're good for benefits, and they're good for standing up for the workers. The company can be aggressive in coming down on it's employees for things like customer surveys. The union usually stands with the worker to help ensure the company is at least fair when they discipline. On the other hand, I sometimes wonder if they would be that difficult if it wasn't for the union. To fire a union employee, everything has to be well documented. My feeling is they notate every possible infraction in case they want an excuse to get rid of someone. That said, it's very difficult to fire someone. The union negotiated that people could have paid FMLA for up to three months (family medical leave act). As a result, the average sick time for a company was 5 days. For AT&T it was 30 days per year. Just this year, they reduced the FMLA down to 10 days.

Plus, my wife switched to a merit based pay system called 60-40 where your pay was reduced by 40% in exchange for larger bonuses when you made sales. My wife is a good seller so she always makes much more than she did before (but she could theoretically make much less). A lot of the union employees don't like that she went to that pay method because it makes her different (much more pay). Out of 200 employees at her work center only 3 chose 60-40 vs the guaranteed pay.

 

I once took a job as a union welder for about 1 year. I was constantly yelled at and harrassed for doing more than my share and helpong out others that had a hard time keeping up. Not my style, will never do it again.

 

My job can't be moved!!!..Not all union jobs are in manufacturing.

 

I'm not union and I work in construction. Very successful company that has been around more than 30 years. I know a lot of guys and some very well that are union carpenters, electricians, pipe fitters, and government employees. Half of em aren't worth shit. Te company I work for gets work because we do a good job in a very timely manner and for a fair price. We have slackers just like everywhere else but they don't last long. You do your job or you don't have one.

 

I am in a union but it sounds to me like you're making the right decision. If someone wants to bring in a union, ask what their objectives are, what problem they have with what's going on now, how much it will cost you and what will be the tangible benefits to you. I have found that a lot of union people don't have good answers to all of those questions, and if they don't you don't want them.

I think if your union represents your specific trade, such as you're an electrician in the IBEW, the union is usually a good deal and often the union will get you good jobs you would not otherwise have gotten. If the union represents everyone in a specific plant or facility in a more general way, such as UAW, the union tends to be less good.

And anyone who says unions"just" prop up bad workers is no more correct than someone who claims that all companies make junk.

 

So, if you worked for $9 an hour in a factory with bad working conditions and few/no benefits you wouldn't vote for a union if they promised to work for a $2 an hour raise and benefits? Sure you would, and to do anything else would make no sense.

There are a lot of people who do work hard and don't get paid all that well.

 

This has been my experience with unions also. I was also in a union that wasn't very concerned about us. So I have mixed feelings all the way around about unions.

I wouldn't cross a picket line out of respect though. But I'm not some pro union nut.

 

Look at it this way, if you are a hard worker you won't like it. It keeps lousy ones in their jobs, and you are gone do everything.

 

That's the typical union attitude.

 

The Walton’s (Walmart) are the wealthiest family in the world their workers get substance pay and we get to fill in the blanks because they can't afford to feed their kids and keep a roof over their heads on $7.50 an hour. How does Walmart make up for it? They put donation boxes in the workers lounge so the other workers can help out those that are hungry. They do not have a union, fast food workers do not have a union and the list of the lowest paying job in the US goes on. Don’t even go there with “go find another job” or there just kids and have to start somewhere the average low pay fast food worker is 32 years old.

 

I love my Union for the MSP.

 

I disagree. Unions have their place. But there has to be some give and take on both sides. Problem is greed on both sides in most situations.

 

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm I have my own Auto Detail business on the side, and Mortgage my own house, and pay my union dues. Can a brother get some respect now?

 

Misread

 

Bad argument. Little different between a mom and pop business than a billion dollar industry. I'm not a union lover per se. I did not like my union at all.