don't leave mad 8Ball,

hell, stick around and slug it out.... i gotta warn you, though, i post based on first hand knowledge and experience..... the points that you have tried to make here lead me to believe that you do not.....

i confess that it's a contract company which pays my wage... if thats of any value to you... my relationship with said company, though, ends utterly at the completion of a given job..... they cut a check and i'm down the road

the union, on the other hand, organizes training, keeps training records, and work histories which it uses internally to place workers... they collect pension and insurance money from members wages, which they invest and allocate to the benefit of all

Most of all though, the union stands together when injustice is offered...

i've told before about how a truck driver wanted to start an arguement on a job site... he was in an extremely hazardous spot (standing under a load suspended from a crane, with the wind getting it pretty good).... he was asked repeatedly to move, but he refused.... i moved him, put him in the cab of his truck ,and directed him to the office trailer... well, he went to the trailer all right,... told them he was attacked for no reason, and demanded that something be done...
the super general foreman of the job was called to the trailer and informed that the home office in sacramento had determined that i should be terminated. the job was here in illinois...
the superGF had the union steward investigate, and report back to him... upon learning the facts he returned to the office trailer, and told the site superintendant;

a) that he would fire me if directed to do so..
b) that he would get his stuff together and leave with me
c) that given the circumstances, he expected the entire crew would follow us out the gate if they didn't beat us to it... (280 men)

i went back to work and worked the job to completion... i did so with a lot of respect for a superGF with over 30 yrs in the boilermakers who stood up for a guy who only months before had been an out of work steelworker with his hat in his hand...

Big Stick would have picked up the red phone and taken the matter in his own hands... in my trade though it's unusual to see the person who hires you, and unheard of to meet or speak with the company person who would fire you... there aint' no red phone, or even a phone # to call..... baaaaa..... johnw

"Chances Will Be Taken"