Is the Tacoma union made?

TACOS

Y

BURRITOS

 

SI (As long as they don't come from Taco Bell)

 

Well said.

 

Not to stir the pot here but the basic concept of a for-profit business is to maximize profits for its shareholders.

 

Fuck it.

Taquitos for all!

 

This.

I am not anti-union. I was in a union at Shaw's Supermarket and they did nothing for me but take an hour's pay every week. The problem was, the union stewards were department managers, so they would do what was good for them and other managers while saying "screw you" to the rank and file.

Other stores who were in my same union under different stewards were very different though.

Unions also help set safe working conditions. If I have someone doing a job at my home, I don't want them getting hurt or killed there even if it is no fault of my own.

 

I'll agree with one thing you said... Def Leppard does indeed suck. \m/

 

This is embodies everything wrong with Unions. At least you admit you don't deserve the level of compensation you're given.

 

That has more to do with low tariffs and a globalized economy along with many countries lacking worker protections. You could pay someone minimum wage and not match the labor costs of only having to pay someone a few dollars, if that, a day. Shipping is getting more efficient and cheaper by the day lowering what was once an equalizer.

There are still industries that need them. Not all, but some. Primarily oil, metal foundry, major manufacturing. High risk industries with multi-billion dollar conglomerates.

 

IMHO unions were great at one time, and occasionally still have their uses.
But, it's gotten ridiculously to the point where now the unions tend to keep under qualified, lazy, or incompetent workers employed instead of better quality workers.
In Japan less than 20% of ALL laborers are union, a number that's been decreasing exponentially since the 1950's. Why? Because they treat their workers, suppliers, banks, dealers, truckers, etc... as part of a successful team.
Instead of increasing management, they use a more efficient manufacturing system that allows the worker to produce a better quality product without excessive quality checks.

All of you Toyota guys here should read the book "The Machine That Changed The World"
Basically talks about why Japanese manufacturing overtook the US in the 1980's.

 

As expensive as tacomas are you would think they were made by union hands. Unions drive the price of goods up. Look what happened to GM. Quality was horrible while union workers were demanding more and more and more. When finally GM realized they can't pay lazy workers $32.00 bucks an hour to build an inferior vehicle. I once saw a union head for GM on tv he was so fat that it was obvious he knew nothing about working.

 

Why don't any of the anti union people realize that union contracts have to be agreed upon by the company on a regular basis. If the company no longer agrees to the TIME LIMITED union contract, all they have to do is let it expire and the union goes away, fire all the union members and stop bitching about how "oh the union is killing our company". It's all lies. If the company signs a contract promising ridiculous wages to lazy workers, then by god live up to it and don't bitch about it after the fact. Otherwise don't agree to the contract in the first place. If there wasn't a need for the union and a definite need for the skilled workers then the company wouldn't sign a union contract.

It's been my experience that people don't realize how unions work until they've been in one. There are good and there are bad and what's said about them in is usually filled with unqualified emotions.

There are many jobs where it's next to impossible to rank people according to productivity and that's where unions protect workers from arbitrary, unfair, and capricious personnel actions.

 

Exactly.

Sometimes it can be that simple. Or sometimes the business actually NEEDS those workers more than they think they do, and should compensate them accordingly.

 

crazy talk!

 

I have been in a union and I've audited large companies who have unions. In my experience, what you describe is not realistic. Yes, union contracts are generally revised and agreed upon in set term lengths, but it is very unrealistic to think that a company, usually large and manual labor driven, can simply fire its entire workforce because it doesn't agree with the terms of the contract. The reputational hit alone would be enough to severely impact most large, highly visible companies.

 

I have seen/read it before where a large company and the unioned employees know they aren't going to reach an agreement before the end of their current contract. So the company forces the union employees to train non unioned employees a couple weeks before the contract expires, then the Monday after the expiration, locks out the unioned employees.

It a pretty brutal tactic but in the end it allows the company to hold more power over the union. At the end of the day, everyone needs to earn a paycheck so the union ends up caving in and settling for way less than they promised the employees.

 

Exactly. That's part of the point is that if a company CAN'T do that then they actually do need their workers more than they think they do. And the workers should be compensated accordingly and the company should stop bitching about how the union is killing them. The cost of doing business is the cost of doing business.

 

Indeed.
Like when you are setting up for a trade show and are not allowed to plug in a fixture. And must wait three hours for 2 union electricians to show up and plug in a cable to the receptacle.

 

Just out of interest, I'd like to know which of those who are responding are or have been in a union or have worked on the company side of labor relations. Or are people just sharing an opinion...???