What Is Your Experience With Unions?

[Newell Steamer]

I've never been part of a union.

But, I've worked with & managed union workers. And, they were honestly hard working. No one took long breaks. No one stole anything. No one vandalized anything. I have to say they were a pleasure to work with.

What has your experience been?

 

[IronWing]

They made great underwear.

 

[Humpy]

They picketed outside one of my dad's job sites once. Funny thing is they would all drink together after work.

I saw the inflatable rat once.

I think unions are for pussies.

Unions can be good for workers.

 

[DrPizza]

I belong to a union. There are positives and negatives to anything; I think the positives greatly outweigh the negatives.

 

[vi edit]

I lived near Peoria, IL which is home to Catepillar corporate and a huge UAW union force.

I remember growing up with classmates that had parents who were executives at Cat getting death threats. UAW workers dropping jackrocks (a welded together ball of nails) onto the driveways and streets of "scab" workers during strikes. Dogs of executives being shot or poisoned. Just all sorts of bush league shit.

Plus being in the corrupt state of IL sooooo many regulations and rules were put in place to force people into using union labor that it made so many things a lot more expensive. As I was leaving the state a year ago they were in the process of trying to kill a bill that forced all new buildings *including* residential homes to having fire prevention sprinklers installed. You can think the steam fitters for that one getting pushed in. They were the only ones allowed to do the work. Thank you jeebus that somebody finally saw the light and the cost that it would add to houses and retrofitting older buildings and started the process to kill the bill. But the scary thing is that it was *very* close to being made into law.

I did not grow up in an area that promoted a positive union image even though my Dad is a union guy.

 

[BurnItDwn]

Not in a union, wish I had a union to protect us since exempt from fair labor laws.

 

[Mai72]

I know a lot of people who are against unions. I seriously don't get it. They gave us the 40 hour work week. We get sick days, and vacation time because of unions. We would all be working for $5 an hour if it weren't for unions.

Hate unions? Take a trip to Asia to see what happens when you don't have worker rights. Asia is a wet dream for big business.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

I've never been part of a union.

But, I've worked with & managed union workers. And, they were honestly hard working

In a way, unions are a lot like religions. The people, in small groups, are fine. But the organizations are vile, corrupt and greedy and when the believers gather together to impose their will on people who don't believe in the same crap things really turn to shit.

 

[JM Aggie08]

Dad was forced into a Union. Their unwillingness to negotiate and be reasonable almost lost him and his coworkers their jobs to a much cheaper (read shit pay and no benefits) contracted sourcing solution.

Fuck'em.

 

[NoTine42]

I lived near Peoria, IL which is home to Catepillar corporate and a huge UAW union force.

I remember growing up with classmates that had parents who were executives at Cat getting death threats. UAW workers dropping jackrocks (a welded together ball of nails) onto the driveways and streets of "scab" workers during strikes. Dogs of executives being shot or poisoned. Just all sorts of bush league shit.

Plus being in the corrupt state of IL sooooo many regulations and rules were put in place to force people into using union labor that it made so many things a lot more expensive. As I was leaving the state a year ago they were in the process of trying to kill a bill that forced all new buildings *including* residential homes to having fire prevention sprinklers installed. You can think the steam fitters for that one getting pushed in. They were the only ones allowed to do the work. Thank you jeebus that somebody finally saw the light and the cost that it would add to houses and retrofitting older buildings and started the process to kill the bill. But the scary thing is that it was *very* close to being made into law.

I did not grow up in an area that promoted a positive union image even though my Dad is a union guy.

^ basically

My dad worked for Cat's competition.every night on the news you would hear Union idiots say more negative junk about Cat's products, people and company than my dad said against Cat his entire life.... It didn't take long to recognize who was a man, and who was acting like an idiot.

 

[Scarpozzi]

I work in an industry that has a union... The problem is that the union is full of idiots...they believe they are making government wheels turn and basically brainwash the hippies that join into thinking they have a voice. I met a few of the local union leaders and they were loud and vicious in Emails. In real life, the main guy was in a wheelchair and the main female had a very low job in the organization. They both used the union as their soap box.


In another organization, there was a practice to cut costs every 2-3 years and cycle workers out to replace them with contractors to save benefits pay. I had a friend that lost his job because of these kinds of cuts. The unions had him placed back in another job with the company within 3 weeks.

There are some organizations where unions make sense. In others, they are just hot air...and even worse, in many cases the unions siphon money from the workers and do nothing. You'll see the union leaders paying themselves hundreds of thousands of dollars salary and contributing very little.

Unions did more in the 1970s, but now we have OSHA, minimum wage, and all the other government ADA regulations...they are somewhat obsolete except for wage bargaining (which can be a bad thing for industry too).

 

[vi edit]

My dad worked for Cat's competition.every night on the news you would hear Union idiots say more negative junk about Cat's products, people and company than my dad said against Cat his entire life.... It didn't take long to recognize who was a man, and who was acting like an idiot.

Deere? Odd thing is that I also lived in/near two cities that had major Deere factories and never heard a peep about union issues there. Cat just had some terrible union relations.

 

[wabbitslayer]

Against the Union ever since they refused to peacefully leave Fort Sumter.

 

[Humpy]

I lived near Peoria, IL which is home to Catepillar corporate and a huge UAW union force.

I remember growing up with classmates that had parents who were executives at Cat getting death threats. UAW workers dropping jackrocks (a welded together ball of nails) onto the driveways and streets of "scab" workers during strikes. Dogs of executives being shot or poisoned. Just all sorts of bush league shit.

Plus being in the corrupt state of IL sooooo many regulations and rules were put in place to force people into using union labor that it made so many things a lot more expensive. As I was leaving the state a year ago they were in the process of trying to kill a bill that forced all new buildings *including* residential homes to having fire prevention sprinklers installed. You can think the steam fitters for that one getting pushed in. They were the only ones allowed to do the work. Thank you jeebus that somebody finally saw the light and the cost that it would add to houses and retrofitting older buildings and started the process to kill the bill. But the scary thing is that it was *very* close to being made into law.

I did not grow up in an area that promoted a positive union image even though my Dad is a union guy.

I grew up in Peoria and remember sometime in the 80's the UAW went on strike and some Cat employees picketed all winter up on North University in the Pioneer Park area.

Driving by I always thought those guys were badass standing out in the cold by their barrel fires.

I guess I don't really think Unions are for pussies and why I chose raging moron in the poal.

 

[DesiPower]

I voted #5

I can't believe I was the only one

 

[Red Squirrel]

In general it's better to be in a union than not. They arn't perfect, but they at least add an obstacle for the company to take stuff away from you and they also keep certain order like seniority, pay etc. Without unions employers can do 100% whatever the hell they want, such as forcing you to work overtime, or firing at will. Unions require a due process for termination, it has to be legit and documented etc. Of course unions differ between companies so some may or may not actually protect you.

My company is so big that in all reality they can pretty much do what they want and the union does not have much say. When it comes time for contract renewal they usually take stuff away from us, and if we were to oppose it by striking, they'd just close us down, so they kind of have us by the throat even though we have a union. We lost our bonus and cost of living pay increase so far, along a lot of benefit related stuff that affects new people. Pretty sure this next agreement they're getting rid of the retirement plan. What are we suppose to do, apply for a different company? *south park scene where guy rubs nipples* "What other company?" When the job market sucks employers can do what they want union or not, but union at least makes it slightly harder for them.

One thing I hate about non unionized places is that your pay is not based on the department you work in, but is based on your negotiation skills during the interview. With a union there will normally be some kind of step program and once everyone reaches the cap they make the same, with exceptions of people who might be grandfathered into a previous agreement. Though I guess this can differ from company to company.

 

[TheSlamma]

I know a lot of people who are against unions. I seriously don't get it. They gave us the 40 hour work week. We get sick days, and vacation time because of unions. We would all be working for $5 an hour if it weren't for unions.

Hate unions? Take a trip to Asia to see what happens when you don't have worker rights. Asia is a wet dream for big business.

Like most things in life, they might start off with great intentions but they always get exploited by people who need to be buried in concrete (see what I did there)

But just like the 13th Amendment there is always someone/something waiting there to abuse the system and sometimes not even use it for what it's intended for. What usually happens is the people who suck at the job figure out loopholes to take tons of time off, barely get by on their duties, still keep their job and get a raise every year then when a RIF comes along the quality employee right next to them loses their job based on something dumb like seniority and not based on performance. Real morale booster for people who tend to "exceed expectations" on reviews.

 

[vi edit]

One thing I hate about non unionized places is that your pay is not based on the department you work in, but is based on your negotiation skills during the interview. With a union there will normally be some kind of step program and once everyone reaches the cap they make the same, with exceptions of people who might be grandfathered into a previous agreement. Though I guess this can differ from company to company.

Last couple places I worked for had no salary negotiation. It was all formula driven based upon experience and the position. Took the offer or left it. That's what the hiring managers were allowed to offer. Jobs they needed filled bad would get a bump up to higher level (say II vs I) and the pay scaled up that way.

 

[Squisher]

I was in auto unions for 30 years. I've seen the bad and the good. Luckily most of the good was at the end. If the bad had continued there probably would be much less people in them than even now.

 

[PingviN]

Never been a member of a union and I hate Swedish unions thoroughly. All they ever do is fighting for the most incompetent, dipshit retards that should've been fired before they even were born. And call a strike, fucking over commuting, construction sites or whatever they feel like.

And we already have some of the best low-level salaries in the world. And fucking iron-clad contracts making it more or less impossible to fire someone that is not up to par in order to replace them with someone that wants to work hard.

Almost every single workplace is under a union contract, holding back salaries for the skilled, the competent or the hard working.

Fuck them. Fuck all of them. I fucking hate Swedish unions with a passion.

 

[TheSlamma]

In general it's better to be in a union than not. They arn't perfect, but they at least add an obstacle for the company to take stuff away from you and they also keep certain order like seniority, pay etc. Without unions employers can do 100% whatever the hell they want, such as forcing you to work overtime, or firing at will. Unions require a due process for termination, it has to be legit and documented etc. Of course unions differ between companies so some may or may not actually protect you.

Worked in "At Will" states all my life. While yes this seems like how it can be.. employers are not like Cosmo G. Spacely and out to fire people all the time. Hiring, training and getting employees setup with benefits is very expensive. Never once seen a person fired for "no reason at all"

 

[poofyhairguy]

I like PBR. It says Union Made on the bottle.

I am a Texan so that is the extent of my experience with unions. Right to work state and all.

 

[Imp]

I was in one... Overall, I found it pretty good, no major complaints. My office union guy was cool.

 

[clamum]

I've never been part of one but my Dad was for decades (he worked at a paper mill, was a boiler operator for most of the time). If you asked him, he might say one or two things positive about them (maybe) but his stories are otherwise negative. Useless people, idiots whining about how the company is just out to get them (pffft lol), etc. And he's (my dad) got no reason to lie or make up anything so I certainly take what he says with some weight.

In general, I would think your experience could differ widely from job-to-job and area-to-area.

 

[rudeguy]

I've never been in a union.

However I've lived in Michigan all my life and have seen what they did to our economy. They killed Detroit and damn near killed our state. I watched the rest of the state suffer so our leaders could kiss the unions' asses and give them every thing they wanted.

Unions served their purpose when we had to stop 10 year olds from being full time coal miners. They serve no purpose now except to extort money from businesses and prevent proper treatment of wrongdoers.