Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Being on strike sucks,butthis is worse!

Oh Boy!

I was gonna stay out of this but I guess I'll spend my .02.

Years ago when I graduated from college with my Bach. of Accountancy, jobs were scarce. The best I could do was $8.50 hr. I didn't complain (much). I figured it was a learning experience and a stepping stone to bigger and better positions.

I was out to lunch one day and stopped at a party store to buy a newspaper. As I was putting in my .35, a group of construction workers came up to me and started giving me a hard time for not supporting the News/Freepress strikes. I'm not exactly the type to hold my opinion or get bullied by anyone. I told them straight up I could care less! I asked how is it fair that an uneducated, no skill, paper delivery boy should make $18 bucks an hour or more when I could barely make ends meet? That was the end of the argument.

I eventually climbed the corporate ladder and becam a controller for a large plastice molding corp. We paid competitive wages/benefits similar to some of the union shops in the area. Promotions were based on qualifications and merit. If you couldn't do your job, well, bye-bye. We found someone that could. That's a free market economy. Competition and skills drive wages. We successfully resisted uaw/teamsters attempts to organize.

Eventually I got sick of that job and became a cop. Go figure. When I hired on, the department was/is a closed shop. My first year on the job I had to pay union dues with no benefit of representation as part of the contract with the City. How screwed up is that?

In my current profession, I don't see how a cop could survive without the protection of a union. Not from the citizens, but from the internal crap that goes down from politicking and backstabbing.

I can see the argument from both sides of the fence having been there. I can only say that each person has to do what's best for their families. Sorry guys, but my children are not gonna go without for any reason.



Mac

Apology accepted...... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

no, 8Ball, you just sound kind of silly... what do you mean "and whatever your employer has contributed"..... i got no problems with any of the companies that i work for, but they contribute nothing to my pension or benefits... i am just an employee number attatched to a qualifications and work history readout..... when they cut my paycheck we're even... they owe me nothing, and i never hear from them again unless i show up for another job...

Real union mentality here.

I tried to put him on "ignore" but some goon showed up at my house and broke my kneecaps <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />.

Jog, now I understand why the legs on my computer desk were broken this morning lol. tom

OK johnw; UNCLE! I'll leave now. Your responses leave off context in an attempt to make me look a certain way to suit your needs. I'm not gonna get in the dirt with you, but your comments are proving some points that were made in this thread. It seems there is no common(sense) ground here on which to deal with you, so adios; have a nice life; hope it all goes well for you.

I am having a hard time understanding the usefullness of most unions these days. my best friend and his father worked together at the same factory. his father has been there since he was 18 years old. he never joined the union and he is now one of the best supervisors in the building. my friend on the other hand has worked there since he got out of high school. i say he worked there, in the last 7 years he has worked a total of 3 years, and has been laid off for 4 years. he has a 7 year old son and a 18 month old daughter. where was his union when he was being laid off and out of work. the guys that are protected by the union are forcing the company to move out of our state to another because their wages are to high for the job they do. my friend says that most of the jobs these guys are doing can be completed in a day or 2, but they take around 6 days to finish them because that is what their union contract stated the time for the job was. tell me how that is helping the economy. i don't know about all unions but this one is a burden on the economy for sure...........blake

Ever go into work one morning to find that "new" management has taken over, you must re-apply for your job?



Have your pay/medical benifits cut, then the owner goes out and buys himself a new fifth-wheel?



Management runs company into the ground, files bankruptcy, after 30 years of service you find out your pension is worthless?



Boss hires his son, you get bumped off your job that you've worked hard at perfecting?



New company takes over, your concidered a new hire, your vacation time is now 1 week, when you were qualified for 3 due to your senority?



Ever have 3 different bosses tell you to work on their specific job, all at the same time?



Boss comes up to you at the end of your shift, tells you that you haven't completed your job assignment he thought you should have finished, requires you to stay over, off the clock to complete the job?



Do I need to go on? Cr*p like this occurs every day. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

WHY,would anyone,stand for any one of those things?

I find it difficult to fathom,that anybody would need someone else to clue them in,to simply walk away?

I learned lonngggg ago,I speak better for ME,than anyone else does,as nothing can be miscommunicated even if intentions were helpful.

My suprise at the numbers that need coddled,is difficult to convey concisely. Doesn't anyone know the words,"stick it in your azz,I quit"?............................

Amen stick. tom

everyone puts up with different crap at work. i told my friend when he first started to check out the union because it may help him keep a job. he joined and worked like a whore on dollar day, for what 1 year later he got laid off. when they called him back he didn't get to keep his seniority, luckily he kept his pay rate although he had to fight for that himself. at one point in time unions were a great thing, they kept companies from working children, and set hours and breaks. now i have no idea what they do other than run companies in the ground or out of the country. i am with stick i would rather speak for myself......blake

Not going to get into any kind of discussion with anybody, just gonna speak my mind and be done with it.

I've never been a member of a union and never, ever will. If I can't earn my own way in life, I'll be damned if I'm going to let someone else do it for me.

Stick, it ain't that easy. There are things like medical insurance you might need for your kids. Most jobs around here don't cover you the minute you walk in the door. Jobs are limited in some fields, there aren't many job opportunities.
At times you never see it comming. When I company I worked for went bankrupt we contacted the state to check on help for vacation pay owed/pension plan, they told us they couldn't help us because we weren't unionized. If it were only that simple to walk away <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />

Blake simple choice for me. When I went from a job shop to a unionized auto plant my wages doubled, as with my benifits. Although under a union contract my wages are set, but a good boss can take care of his best people in other ways!

It has ALWAYS been that easy and always will.

Worst case scenario,you go COBRA on your coverage,until the new outfit picks you up. BFD,if I gotta pay my own insurance,to better my opportunities. That's a good trade.

The best first step(my opinion)is to choose a field in which there is demand for good help,then become a good hand within that trade. Skilled labor ain't a bad thing.

I've worked for outfits big and small,some were a treat to boot up for,others were a [bleep] joke. I never lingered with an outfit I couldn't like,or lit in a local not suited to my tastes. The obvious conclusions,for those initial decisions,should be readily apparent.

It hadn't ever crossed my mind,that I should stomach all things I deemed as unfit and sit by and wait for someone else to come by and wipe my helpless azz for me.

Few things as satisfying as waking up on a bluebird day and deciding,"this is my last day" and moving along to the next adventure. Tramping is an art and the man afeared of bettering things,gets to suck hind tit forever.

The only times I've ever been without work,was when I wished to. None of this is difficult.....................

Don't you see something wrong in your words? Double the money for the same work? Then people wonder why jobs are going overseas. tom

Was reminded of a true Tramp.

I worked with a guy(he was killed on the saw,a coupla years ago),that quit what was certainly the best paying job in all of SE at the time.

He walked away one morning from a $100K+ job in the early 80's,because there were no bananas in the cookshack for his morning cereal.

I thought it beautiful!.................

When I was in high school I worked very hard, nearly full time for a couple of years for a company. I was never late, sick, nor did I steal. The full time workers were union, and us part time guys were not. I told my boss to shove it and i walked because he wouldn't let me have a day off to fish a bass tournament I thought I could win... He couldn't believe I called him out on being a jackazz and tried to lure me back, but I refused and got a better job after taking a few weeks off.

That's purdy good....
As to the Union issue, whatever floats your boat...I prefer to let my skills be the factor, not seniority.

C'mon....I am good at what I do. You want me to work for you, you're gonna pay for it. And I am worth it.
Me working for someone is a mutual relationship. It's based on needs. I need money, my employer needs able bodies.
That's what I am : An able body. If I don't like it, I move on. I have confidence that I am able and skilled enough to find another employer that needs me.
I make my own luck...no need to get a union involved.