Unions?

[polara71]

BUT as stated UNIONS have priced themselves out of the market ...................except for Government or, "in city" jobs. Thats why things cost so much and why taxes are so high, Unions working for the government.... thats not even getting into , police, fire, teachers, public works, corrections ......


Friend of mine is in the Boilermakers union. Makes incredible money with an outrageous annuity fund. Most of that work is at refineries, tell me, where does that outrageous money come from? To add to that he is usually out of work 6 months out of a calender year, on unemployment, where is THAT money coming from?

 

[jake]

Refineries put a call out for over 1000 certified welders, they know they unions can supply them with. Dave, I understand your hatred for unions but I believe I earned every penny that I make. I understand that public unions do not operate like private unions. I just try to give you insight on what I as a union member do everyday. Whether I am overpriced or not I stay busy working at many private companys. So I must be doing something right.

BUT as stated UNIONS have priced themselves out of the market ...................except for Government or, "in city" jobs. Thats why things cost so much and why taxes are so high, Unions working for the government.... thats not even getting into , police, fire, teachers, public works, corrections ......


Friend of mine is in the Boilermakers union. Makes incredible money with an outrageous annuity fund. Most of that work is at refineries, tell me, where does that outrageous money come from? To add to that he is usually out of work 6 months out of a calender year, on unemployment, where is THAT money coming from?

 

[polara66hardtop]

The big Issue to me is, a good friend ran a local dodge dealership here in Omaha back in 2004. His Good friend owned a dealership in Michigan. The Union had the power to tell the Owner when he would open, and for how long. The owner wasn't even allowed to stand there and sell a car himself, otherwise the Union would shut him down. They dictated hours, breaks, and every other little thing. I would have closed that Dealership and fired everyone of those Union guys if I had to put up with that. Like anything else, in moderation, is good, taken to extremes then we see the results.

 

[saforwardlook]

When I worked for Chrysler Engineering in the 70s, the unions were totally out of control and definitely played a role in the Detroit 3 going bankrupt. One time I wanted to just check a part number on a calibration carburetor on one of the lab cars, but that required me to unscrew the air cleaner and raise it up to check the number. I knew I was not allowed to do that physical labor and that a union guy had to do it for me, but when I asked one of them to help me check the number, he said he was busy playing cards at the moment and would help me in about 15 minutes. I waited a half hour and finally decided to just check it myself and went ahead and did it. The next morning my boss came over to my desk and called me into his office and informed me I had a grievance from the union for what I did. That is when I decided to leave Detroit.

But having said that, I still believe there needs to be some balance in power between management and workers in order to protect their respective interests. Back in the 70s, the unions had too much power and really helped ruin the auto industry (the arrogance of management was at least equally at fault). Now it is skewed the other way where management has too much power and focus too much on profit without providing the workers with reasonable wages and benefits. I am hoping that just the threat of unionization will have a more stabilizing and ethical effect on management providing workers with good but reasonable benefits. This is an age old problem that is not easily solved. Kind of like Democrats and Republicans - we all need to get along and compromise for each others' well being instead of playing brinksmanship. Everything just works better.

 

[jake]

That does suck, you are right about taken things to extremes. Maybe in my part of town, we have a good working relationship between companies and the unions. We believe striking is a horrible display of our union, we try to promote ourselves with our skills and education, not by brute force.

The big Issue to me is, a good friend ran a local dodge dealership here in Omaha back in 2004. His Good friend owned a dealership in Michigan. The Union had the power to tell the Owner when he would open, and for how long. The owner wasn't even allowed to stand there and sell a car himself, otherwise the Union would shut him down. They dictated hours, breaks, and every other little thing. I would have closed that Dealership and fired everyone of those Union guys if I had to put up with that. Like anything else, in moderation, is good, taken to extremes then we see the results.

 

[polara66hardtop]

I don't know much about Wisconsin, do the private companes have a choice to hire Union people or not?

 

[jake]

They sure do, I have spent almost all of 2009 following a non union heating and cooling company, fixing there leaks and mistakes. I do not blame the workers, for they did not know any better, but at the time they were cheap. I work along side non union trades a lot. I have no beef with them, they are just trying to make a living and provide, but they are very limited with what education they can find, for my local has 2-3 classes a night on everything from Osha to btu calculations to welding. That is what my union dues go to, to develop our skills to make us more marketable.

 

[70NPORT]

You do not realize how much you would miss something until its gone.

I've never needed a union. Done pretty well with being in any.

 

[polara71]

For the record, i was a member of the Teamsters and the Carpenters Union. I never hear the union guy ***** about the union,usually they defend it, because they know how good they have it and how spoiled they are.
Many companies are union or have union guys to get that union contract,otherwise they wouldnt be able to bid the job.
I have experienced similar situations to what saforwardlook had experienced.....its crybaby stuff.

 

[1978 NYB]

I've never been in a union either. I was always in management. But I do see a need for unions for some companies that don't treat or pay their employee's fairly.

 

[polara71]

They dont need to work there....

 

[detmatt]

I'm pretty sure what was the beginning of big change in UAW practices here in Detroit was the import of foreign cars and the fact that they cost so much less to build, we couldn't compete and things began to crumble from there.

 

[70NPORT]

I'm pretty sure what was the beginning of big change in UAW practices here in Detroit was the import of foreign cars and the fact that they cost so much less to build, we couldn't compete and things began to crumble from there.

Yep. You nailed it. Japan kicked the big three squarely in the arse....and then that damn OPEC thing. Party over.