Posted by machine_easy2 on February 19, 2013, 3:24 am, in reply to "machine_easy2"
One could argue that Unions had their place at one point in history. That place was about 100 years ago. Since then, the union members themselves have become the greedy, lazy, largely incompetent oafs they fought so hard to free themselves from. You see this in car industry, where the workers that puts the wheels on a Cadillac gets paid more than that of an average skilled American. Thats what lead to foreign car makers taking such a large scale of the car market. You see it in the manufacturing sector at large. Jobs being shipped over seas, for the cheeper labor. The companies would most likely prefer to hire fewer, yet more skilled American workers, than an army of unskilled ones overseas, but with the extra cost even beyond mere wages that even semi-skilled workers demand, it's more cost effective to build overseas.
Unions aren't what the once were. They are no longer a group of workers, acting as brothers, to protect their members from a tyrannical workplace. In large part, the training they used give in form of apprenticeships is gone. It is no longer necessary for the Union to step up, to ensure a safe work place, we have OSHA now (love them or hate them). We no longer have need for them to ensure that workers are well enough paid, We have minimum wage, and a huge shortage of talented hard working people, this ensures higher wages, for those who have earned them. (Not to mention many companies pride themselves in taking good care of their workers.)
Inefficiency, the modern union shop has huge flexibility problems. ie..
"I'm not the janitor, I'm the plumber!" said Bill, refusing to sweep the floor on a week with no plumbing issues.
I'm not the plumber, I'm the janitor" said Ted, refusing to help with a toilette fix, latter resulting in in a flooded mess Ted had to help clean up"
I had this one occur to me, in the one Union shop I worked in as a professional.
"Hey you can't run two machines at the same time, it's against our contract." said the shop stewart. "What?" I said, "That one is going to run for four hours, it does not need me at all, I can get some work done hear".
"NO!" he exclaimed "If your that bored you'll have to find something else to do. //this was before the day of the iPhone
"Ok", I thought to myself, as looked around, finding a broom a dirty floor, and MacGyvering something to keep me busy. Only to be interrupted 5 minute later.
"You can't do that either" I hear the steward yell as he see's me cleaning the floor, "Thats the porters job"
I went back to setting up machine_B. He come's over, pissed, about an hour later, "If you don't stop running that machine I'm going to Union office to complain"
"Great" I remarked "this ones good for next 2 hours now, I run your's while you're gone"
For 3 hours, I did his job, the Porters, and someone else's, all at the same time. You can't do that everyday, but on the days you can, you should. (needless to say the Union called for my termination a week later.)
Right To Work
I find no bigger grievance with Unions that, IN MOST STATES, if your job is represented by a Union, you must be a member of that Union, as a condition of your employment. That shop would have been glad to keep me. I'm good at what I do, I work hard, show up on time, I'm great at problem solving, Improving efficiency. I'm creative, flexible and honest, all thing that Employers want. (O yeah, that and I realllllllllllyyyy hate giving money to the corrupt politicians that Unions support)
Who is any man to tell me I must join his club to apply my trade? Especially when those clubs are rank with vile power mongers, the very ones they claim to stand against?
There are Unions I don't mind so much, Like Carpenter or Brick Layer Unions. Where a person seldom works for any given company, for any substantial length of time. So long as these Unions serve as hubs to provide High Quality, well trained workers to job sites. ( And, not require the members to contribute to crooks in Washington.) I Think they are Great!
But I excluded public sector unions as acceptable. I hate the corruption that has lead the Union world, (Not so much in the rank and file, but in the rank that is leading the file)
on February 19, 2013, 3:24 am, in reply to "