UNIONS vs. NON-UNION

[sistuhchey]

your thoughts, opinions???...for or aganist???..something we haven't touched on before.....

[ERinger]

Unions can be a great thing. I personally know a few teachers in one. Does a lot of advocating on their behalf, and offers them a place of support with their grievances.

[Admin]

I have never had a good experience with them. They took my dues and when I had to contact my rep, dude was never in, never returned my calls, etc. I felt robbed...seeing the union due deducted, but no live person on the other end. I ened up leaving the gig and have worked non-union from then on.
Holla

[tenor1]

Unions can be a good thing...BUT

They are only as strong as their members make it. Your local has to be strong, not behind you, with you that is the key. Your stewards can't be flunkies for management, they have to be available each time a member needs them. I was a union steward and locked horns with "The Man" lots of times, got quite a few people out of jams they put themselves in and some "The Man" brought against them.

You win some cases, you lose some cases but the key is to fight for the members and let "The Man" know you are not going to just stand by and take it dry.

So...unions can be a good thing.

[Melotic]

It don't matter in this day and age... you have to look out for yourself... no one else will...

[Andre98]

Weighing the good and the bad, I'd have to go with the union, because what most legit unions provide is many times the only protection against some of these corporations being able to really exploit workers.

[Melotic]

Weighing the good and the bad, I'd have to go with the union, because what most legit unions provide is many times the only protection against some of these corporations being able to really exploit workers.
Wasn't the people at Enron in a union... no protection there...

[Admin]

Weighing the good and the bad, I'd have to go with the union, because what most legit unions provide is many times the only protection against some of these corporations being able to really exploit workers.

:eek: Not in my case. I now look at my check and se NO UNION DUES deducted.. Awww, now I can keep my money. Our HR dept, is very good about handling shyt.

Yesterday, my manager called us all in the office and told us about an employee that was put on leave and if we see dude, not to let him in the building and to call secutirty or HR ASAP.

Whatever dude did was not told to us, but the entire company is on alert. :eek:

Holla

[sistuhchey]

:eek: Not in my case. I now look at my check and se NO UNION DUES deducted.. Awww, now I can keep my money. Our HR dept, is very good about handling shyt.

Yesterday, my manager called us all in the office and told us about an employee that was put on leave and if we see dude, not to let him in the building and to call secutirty or HR ASAP.

Whatever dude did was not told to us, but the entire company is on alert. :eek:

Holla

Having worked private industry....most of the time...but have enough years in another industry to be a teamster's vested member...and now working for an actual union....I see things a lil different...

Admin, I'm sure it's sweet to see that extra change..back in your pocket...but union is not about just a member and dues,a pissed off employee,and a shop steward.......organizing and field reps is truly is truly the real deal....

A union can bring "mo money & better benefits"... if private industry had their way...you the employee would have no say so..and when you look at some of companies benefits...it's like WTF???...what the hell can I do with that...so those dues help a lot.......Most companies have health insurance brokers trying to get you to switch up..promising a cheaper package.....having sat in on a few of these "sell pitches" in the past..and now working for SEIU...let's just say I see a few things differently...

Also understand...your dues is split up % wise as a member you can opt to have your dues go to a charity..if you choose, and to take a peice and use for political backing.....which has "The Terminator"...bent out of shape...lol,lol..I hope we're strong enough to get his ass out of office....

Most public and health sectors are union...it's the big-business that really want's to change things....and not for the better....

Since when is admirable jobs, like teachers, firemen, healthcare workers,...the enemy...and not deserve represenation...there'a a whole lot of admin/clerical staff...that are strong becuase of union representation...

Sadly the Hoffa era did do some damage...and the auto industry in the states went belly up...but..hell, there's a whole lot of working folks...that don't have Eron cushy jobs...and truly need and benefit from union jobs......

[Andre98]

Wasn't the people at Enron in a union... no protection there...
Now I know Mel, you know there are exceptions all the time. Enron and companies like that were not management versus labor events, they were the results of white collar fraud. Do you feel a labor union should or could have stopped an Enron fiasco from happening? If the executives are going to steal outright, any company is in trouble.

And Admin, of course, how it affects the individual shapes the opinion about a
subject. We've had debates about companies like Wal-mart on here, and dammit as long as some of us can get detergent for a fair price, they are sorry, but they pretty much shrug their shoulders at the workers' plight. That's human nature - how it affects/affected us is our main focus.

I am trying to consider the effect of all unions everywhere, after you average the good and the bad, and I still feel that by and large, they are the last defense against the corporations turning us all into minimum wage workers, if such a thing could be done. And if the Republicans had not faltered, it is possible to methodically make the laws more and more corporation friendly.

*sarcasm alert*
Don't despair though, the corporations still have the upper hand when they force a union to strike, and let the hardship tax its workers until they crumble, and have to lay off a certain number to find a compromise. *alert off*

On a day to day basis, around the nation in the boardrooms like the one I used to sit in the back projection booth of and eavesdrop on the brain trust, having a union in place, potentially heads off a wellspring of ideas about wringing more from less personnel.

And here's the real trip:
It can never be measured how the existence of unions in general might be affecting your NON union job, simply because your company knows that if they don't treat you with some minimum decency, they will be in danger of allowing the idea of unionizing at that company to seem more palatable, especially if your occupation exists as a unionized entity in similar companies. Maybe that's why ( okay, I'm being silly to stretch the point...) that's why your boss hasn't walked up to you with a bucket of soapy water and a squegee and said, "okay, Admin, today you wash the windows"....

[Admin]

LOL@Chey...alrighty. Well IMO.........I'm cool without em. That one ime when I needed my rep and the nigga was dodging me, left bitter taste. Hell, I felt he might be at Morton's Steak house eating with my dues money or some shyt.

I dont know, but what I do know is I had to resolve my own shyt at work and that was me vs. a manager who was fucking another manager, so who had more clout?

To use a hip hop term, I felt dissed by the union! Now that I do not have a union at my current job, I do not feel this way and I can buy my own steak at Morton's.

Union Bitches!

IMO..
Holla