I hate unions! And here is why...

[ivol]

I was reading a post in here about how UPS sucks. Well they don't. I am an ex-UPS employee. First a lowly worker then worked up to managment. Why I left I'll never know. Anyway, when they swore me into the Union I had to swear that if I ever saw one of my "brothers" stealing or breaking any kind of rules I would not tell anyone. Which is total crap. The union teaches all it's members to do as little work as possible. Do only what you must to stay employed. And as I found out later in managment (Where I was no longer in the union) that it is hard as sh1t to fire a union member. And even you do fire someone it goes into a "trial" where you discuss your actions. And if one date is wrong on your paperwork, or signed in the wrong place, they get their job back. Unions, especially the Teamsters (whose president is Jimmy Hoffa Jr.) are nothing more than organized cry babies.

Now if you have a problem with your driver or service what you do is call up your nearest UPS center. Not mailboxes etc. or something like that but a UPS center. They are called "HUBS". And ask to speak to a supervisor. Trust me we try our hardest to get these guys to work, and most are great. But some workers just fall into that "union" mentality and make everyone else look bad. But the managment is great, and we will fix your problem. Especially if you get the drivers name.

Boy this sure was a one sided story....

 

[ggavinmoss]

Just as you say UPS as a whole doesn't suck (individual baddums give it a bad name), unions could be construed the same way. Unions can provide a good resource for workers, however can also (as you say) enforce policies of lying and laziness. Bad unions give all unions a bad name.

-geoff

 

[brxndxn]

I used to work for Electro Design Engineering, Bradenton... Trust me, the UPS union is not half as bad as the electricians' union people that EDE had to hire... These guys would work from 7:30-9:30, 10:00-12:00, 1:30-3:00 and then leave. They ate donuts and goofed off most of the time. Any time they spent after that was considered overtime. If one of the engineers would touch a panel (such as making a minor adjustment) the union guys would write it up and report it to the union. I borrowed one of their drills once to assemble a desk after they had gone home.. I put the battery back on the charger and I put the drill back in its place. Somehow, the union guy realized that someone touched his drill (which was purchased by EDE btw) and he wrote to the union about it. They expected EDE to have a separate set of tools for each union guy that could not be used by anyone else.

 

[Pliablemoose]

Been a loyal union member for 15 years, I don't buy into that sh1t about covering for fellow union members, I've done in my own people when I was a steward & chief steward (I'm in health care, and can't abide by incompetence), and I was respected by the members for it, they asked me to run for president 2 years running & I turned them down, cuz I don't need the headaches.

We're a long ways beyond the days of Hoffa & company, and frankly, if management is worth a crap, unions die. Get a bad management team & it's the best thing for union membership that ever happened.

BTW, I love UPS, drivers are generally friendly, and do a good job. My only problem with them was a broken item reimbursement that took forever.

While we're on the subject, how much more do the Mailboxes Etc. charge for shipping over what a UPS center charges?

 

[ShizNitz]

Unions had their time and place, when working conditions were terrible and the only way in which employees could get a livable wage was through their union representatives. Nowadays, however, unions are anti-capitalistic and allow for substandard workers to make above-average wages without any worries about their job security. Not only do strikes and minimum salaries cause profits to decrease, but it raises the prices for every consumer. Using their mobsteresque strongarm tactics, unions (I'm generallizing, I know this is not true for EVERY union) force companies to lower their productivity and raise their operation costs. I for one would never work at a job where union membership was required.

 

[Triumph]

First off, I'll say that I hate UPS too! USPS all the way!

Second, I'll say that yes, there are good unions out there, but the place I co-oped had a fairly poor one, and it soured me on them. They seemed more concerned about themselves than the company. As if they could survive if the company wasn't there in the first place! I just hate that one-against-the other mentality that they seemed to have. You get more done working together.

 

[ivol]

>If one of the engineers would touch a panel (such as making a minor adjustment) the union guys would write it up and report it to the union.

HA- That brings back so many memories. You touch a box and "Where is my steward?! You are taking work away from me!".

Pliablemoose
I think I should have named this post "I hate Teamsters". I'm sure all unions are not like this. It sounds like your's is not. But I did lot's of traveling while at UPS and every HUB I went to it was the same. And I swear on everything holy that they swore us to silence if we saw someone breaking rules. Local 396 in California. And as far as Hoffa and company, the last president of Teamsters was booted for illegal use of funds. Sounds like same old business to me. I'm not by any means saying all union members are bad, my father and brother are both in unions. Just the Teamster mentality is the worst. And they teach and encourage the new members their crappy ways.

I think ggavinmoss said it best....Bad unions give all unions a bad name.

 

[Cyberian]

<< We're a long ways beyond the days of Hoffa & company, and frankly, if management is worth a crap, unions die. Get a bad management team & it's the best thing for union membership that ever happened.
>>


Amen!

 

[mithrandir2001]

I hope they never organize IT workers because I never want to pay dues to a union. Like UHF channel tele-evangelists, modern unions exist solely as a source of revenue for the fat cats running them. They don't care about workers...they just want the dues and the political power. Unfortunately, most members are sheep who believe everything they are told from the leaders. Whatever it takes to make a buck, I guess.

 

[HowardStern]

Most places that have unions don't need them and (sadly) most places that need them never will because the places that do need them the jobs don't pay enough for the unions to care. All they really care about is lining their own pockets.

 

[UWDawg]

Unions I hate the most are teacher unions. They seem so hypocritical during a strike. They seem to forget that they are role models to children i.e. attacking "scabs", keying cars, etc.

 

[shifrbv]

"... (sadly) most places that need them never will because the places that do need them the jobs don't pay enough for the unions to care."

True, but it doesn't mean that the workers are stuck. People at Wal-Mart are fired on the spot if there's talk of unionizing. But there are always good alternatives in this day and age, namely, lawsuits. See how Wal-Mart's been clobbered this year? Where there's a will, there's always a way.

 

[sandorski]

Unions, like any other organization, tend to corrupt over time. Everyone who works in a safe environment, gets a decent wage, and isn't little more than an endentured servant should be thankful for the hard work and sacrifice of previous generation's unions. Even if your industry has never been unionized, unions gave business owners and managers a much needed slap upside the head. A slap that still keeps the upper echelons in line today.

 

[UWDawg]

Granted, unions keep the upper echelon's in line, but what keeps unions in line?

 

[KK]

I work for a telecom company that is slowly dissolving its union workforce. Heres what I dislike about the union attitute. I had only minimal amount of service compared to the average 30 years. Seeing the work ethic of most employees, it was a disgrace. Reading newspapers, going for walks lasting over an hour, lack of motivation to learn anything new. The management sees all this but yet they wont do anything. Don't get me wrong about 5% actual are valuable employees. But the other ones are terrible. Last night I got a call from a union person that kinda flipped out on me. See we took over one job function that they used to do and to say the least he was not happy. I asked him if he wanted to do it, I did not get any reply and his mouth stopped.

Yeah, back in the day unions were great. But most places now that have them would probably be better off without them, bottomline speaking.


KK

 

[Ferocious]

<< The union teaches all it's members to do as little work as possible. >>



ummm, you listen to Rush a little too much.

In the real world, this is of course absurd. And at the very least a gross generalization.

 

[DDCSpeed]

thought you meant "onions". yea the story is kinda twisted but that why people have unions back then because people used to be replaced if they didnt accept a lower pay. now the rules are just too bent in favor of union members.