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

This.


There are shitty unions and there are shitty companies. People have been saying you don't need unions since they first came into existence.

 

yep, my last job paid me less, and cost me my paycheck. I was a builders assistant, and was paid 9an hr. but I always paying for gas driving 70 miles a day for the company and always hauling stuff around. (part time while in school too). I had a surveying class in school, and told my current company to start paying for my truck whenever I had to use it, and they denyed me that and basically said screw off, so I made a few phone calls and now im a surveyor for more pay.... you don't NEED a union.... if you don't like your job, do something about it!

 

One thing to consider is how competitive is the box industry. My experience with unions is the work rules are often more costly than the wages and benefits. They typically define jobs with a vary narrow scope so that several people are required to do what may be done by one person. The union usually says that it's a safety issue, but where I worked the non-union plants had better safety records than the union plants. The union likes this because it creates more jobs hence more union members, but this is very costly to the employer. You can call this greed, but in most cases, it is survival. If it costs your company more to build boxes than his competitor sooner or later they will go out of business (or close the plant if it is a large company). It's not a very effective argument to go into your customer and say our boxes cost more because we are a union plant.

 

I'm union and in my local area, something like 85% of our work is done by union companies. We are the highest compensated trade and local in the entire country. Our union and the nature of the work itself is generally very good at "weeding out" those who don't work hard and put in a perfect product.

We do a lot of work on jobs that have other non union trades, and there is a big difference in the quality of work and safety practices. In my experience, I've been far more impressed with the quality of work performed by union tradesmen in the building trades.

 

The Fraternal Order of Police is a labor union. Would you say they are part of the downfall of the United States?

 

International Association of Fire Fighters is a union.

 

My employer, the Defense Commissary Agency, rules & regulations have nothing to do with the union. DeCA rules state an employee gets 15 minutes of rest break for every 3 hours of shift & an unpaid meal break during a 6 hour shift (most of us take the minimum 30 min. break). Just like the rules that don't allow weapons on DeCA property. Rules are to be followed by management as well as workers. I can't bring my pistol in the store, they can't make me work through my break, even if we're busy. Rules are rules and they are to be followed from the top down. My union shouldn't have to threaten legal action to get management to toe the line.
Our managers turn over every two - three years so it's hard to take them seriously. I've been here before all of them, I'll be here after they're gone. Follow the rules, enforce them equally & don't make shit up as you go along. Then we wouldn't need a union.

 

Unions need to stick to safe working conditions and good pay for a day's work. In some cases ( in some unions) promotions go to the person who was hired first. CRAZY! I had a union member being defended for time card violations, even when I had her on video.

So to the OP. I would ask as many questions as possible as to their policy's around what others have said. Seniority is ridicules. Because someone has one day on you and has a poor work history he will be promoted above you!! Ask about dues. Ask how your pension is if formulated. Ask about Insurance. Compare to what your company is offering and make your decision.

 

Paid for overtime? I'm salaried. I put in the hours that I need to in order to get the job done. No comp time either.

And you know what, I wouldn't change that for a second. It's all give and take, and I get some flexibility out of it. If I feel I didn't get as much done as I needed to (or wanted to), I am there on the weekend or at night.

Granted, I'm 23 and have no family to take care of and love my job, but I honestly think that not enough people look for a job they enjoy. Plus, my position is funded by tax dollars so I think it'd be unethical to say "I'm done" at the end of 40 hours when there's more to accomplish.

 

As you can read there are many opinions about unions. Your situation would determine my advise. Do you feel like your are being taken advantage of by management or are you basically happy with how things are and management listens? If you don't feel that you have a voice unionization maybe a away to at least feel that you have a way to present to management.

I was happily union when I retired and my union with other state police officers was very instrumental in protecting its members from an abusive and arrogant governor and his administration. A governor who defied the courts decisions in our pleadings up until the states Supreme Court.

So thank you STATE POLICE OFFICERS COUNCIL.

 

I don't know if your comment were directed at me or not, I'm not anti union, but in a manufacturing facility they tend to add significant cost to the operation. The OP asked what to consider in an organizing election, and that is one thing to consider. Working in industry is tough these days, seems like someone wants to take away your customers every day.

In the case of the OP, it depends on the situation at the plant in which he is working. If he is working in a unsafe environment, or the management is not dealing with the employees fairly, then a union vote may be the way to go.

Also in the case of the OP, he said he works in a box plant, I'm making some assumptions here, but I think a box plant takes corrugated papers products and turns them into boxes of specific sizes. If this is where he works, then the cost of entry is quite low and if their selling prices get too high, expect competitors to jump in.

 

You better believe my friend, not the downfall of the United States but, one of the stupidest people in the good old USA are cops now a day. Not everyone, but a good part of it. Uneducated and with a big head after been equipped with a gun. I should of know,
I been retired from such a department after 23 years of service.

 

my brother was fired from one of his police jobs for cussing out his boss after they never sent backup as he was shot at yet claimed it was on the way....not all cops are bad like him, but with shit like this happening it makes it harder to keep the good ones. lucky he just got hired elsewhere.

 

That's my point though. If your a member of a union, that doesn't make you a part of the downfall of the US.

 

The union sure as hell protects the bad officers that do exist.

 

Sure. Unions aren't perfect. It also protects the decent officers.

 

IBEW outside line ... wouldnt have it any other way

 

Workers have a 5-day 40 hour work week because Organized Labor got that for their members. I guess some people do not realize before this happened work weeks were 6-days a week and 12-16 hours per day.Workers were paid slave labor wages.I also know of plenty of non-union employees that have a terrible work ethic. Their are bad employees both union and non-union.Unions protect the middle class,otherwise it will only be the rich and the poor.

 

The place I work has pretty good benefits and pretty nice managers. They told me when I first got hired They won't have a dick supervisor and try to give decent benefits just so that is doesn't go union.

 

I know there is a place for unions and all that, but look at Detroit. It's alsowhat organized labor did. In the 50's and 60's it had the highest standard of living in the world. Now look at it.

I'm glad for what they did for safety in the workplace and some places still need a union for issuses about safety and other things. But now there is osha and each state has a dept of labor.