What Is Your Experience With Unions?

[JSt0rm]

I'm in a trade union. They don't guarantee you work but they guarantee you a baseline of benifits and it's pretty cool.

 

[rh71]

$120k kindergarten teachers? $10k school taxes? Evidence that you aren't lying?

http://seethroughny.net/teacher-salaries/long-island

Cops here are the same way - union - gravy train. 6 figures. We pay. I love NY but hate the crooks. Irony.

 

[rh71]

I don't know if this was asked, but how are you ok with fellow workers who are lazy asses and get the same rewards you do? What's the incentive to work harder and get ahead, more reward? You just wait for the years to go by - another notch in the belt - more dollars in your pocket than years prior. How is that right?

 

[NoTine42]

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.

No the other yellow equipment maker in town, Dresser (that became Komatsu)

I never thought of the Deere difference. I wonder if Cat's Union abused the system more? I've heard Cat Union guys talking about working in the 80's making 6 figures with off shift premium, OT and holiday hours. (Yes, hard work should be properly rewarded, but that sounded quite excessive)

 

[IronWing]

Yes, because the employer owns the company. It's their property. You have the right to be selfish about your own house. Your own yard. Your own car.

A factory, office building, or storefront is private property owned by an individual or a group of individuals. You have no ownership. You are only a mechanism for their profit.

Start your own factory and you can be selfish too.

You own your own labor and can be as selfish as you'd like selling it. Unions level the playing field between capital and labor.

 

[pcgeek11]

I do not like unions. I am a grown man and do not have a need to pay a group of greedy bastards to look after me.

 

[EMPshockwave82]

Never was a part of one - no opinion (actually neutral opinion)

If employees are treated properly, compensated properly for the work they are doing, and have a safe working environment they are nearly useless.

Employers that treat their employees like crap, have unsafe working conditions, or pay poorly for the work being done they are absolutely necessary.

 

[zerocool84]

Unions for the government here in California are one of the reasons why the state is in the position it's in.

Now I agree that we definitely needed unions back in the day but nowadays most of them are just out there to make money.

I have nothing against unions picketing but when they forcibly try to deny people from doing basic things like going into a market, I don't agree with that.

 

[Ichinisan]

They make my eyes water when I cut them.

 

[BoberFett]

Unions are needed more than ever. Off-shoring is a direct result of weakening union political power. The decline of the middle class is a direct result of the decline of union clout. There is a class war raging in America and the rich are kicking ass.

Brilliant logic.

Union: "Stop shipping our jobs offshore or we'll strike!!!"

Management: "Perfect, thank you."

 

[pcgeek11]

And by shear coincidence union membership has declined by a factor of 4 and US companies continue to move factories to Asia.

Trust me, it's just a coincidence...


Brian

They are also moving to the non-union southern US states.

In South Carolina

Robert Bosch LLC
Boeing
BMW
Daimler
Cummings
Caterpillar
Volvo is building
Ford is coming

Just to name a very few.

 

[IGBT]

need to add: was / is part of one / necessary evil.

 

[88keys]

My personal experience was terrible, but like many have said there are positives and negatives.

The main positive attribute is protecting wages and benefits, but there is also alot of drama that is associated with a union workforce.

My other complaint is that seniority is EVERYTHING and it trumps things like safety, job performance, skills, knowledge, etc. This takes away the incentive to perform better because people know they will advance regardless of that just for punching a clock everyday.

I still think they are a necessary evil as I have worked for some pretty lousy companies and I could only imagine how things would be if the threat of a union were to completely disappear.

 

[mikeford]

Unions aren't good or bad, they are a tool like a gun that can defend the weak, or rob them. If there is a good union in the USA, that acts in both the short and long term benefit of members, I haven't seen it. Outside the USA, like Germany, unions seem to do fine.

 

[Kneedragger]

I've been Union and non-Union and the main reason why I got in the Union is the pay and benefits.. Plain and simple. I'm in construction so you can lose your job and seniority isn't as strong as it is in the public Union.

All those negative complaints for unions are only in the public sector and the private is a lot more like every other work place just with better work conditions and better pay.

 

[IronWing]

Brilliant logic.

Union: "Stop shipping our jobs offshore or we'll strike!!!"

Management: "Perfect, thank you."

Union: "Stop passing bad trade bills or we will vote your ass out of office."
It used to work great when workers stuck together. Union clout was at the ballot box.

 

[rudeguy]

Unions are needed more than ever. Off-shoring is a direct result of weakening union political power. The decline of the middle class is a direct result of the decline of union clout. There is a class war raging in America and the rich are kicking ass.

And here we have a prime example of the liberal mind.

"Off-shoring is a direct result of weakening union political power" No fuck nuts. Unions should have zero political power. And off-shoring is a result of all the "trade" agreements we keep signing away our jobs to.

"The decline of the middle class is a direct result of decline of union clout" No fuck nuts. First that doesn't even make sense and second the middle class are in decline because its cheaper and easier to be a part of the lower class. In the past you had to work to support your family. Now you can sit at home, which the government will pay for, eat food which the government paid for, stream TV shows on internet the government subsidized and then drive to the lake in a car the government bought for you. People have less reasons to work than ever.

"There is a class war raging in American and the rich are kicking ass" Well guess what fuck nuts, your liberal leaders ignited the war and then fanned the flames. When your whole ideology is to steal from one person to give to another person so that person doesn't have to work for it, that is going to create some tension. Then when you point to that person and call him evil because he won't let you steal any more from him, that makes things worse.

If we let people like you actually control the economy and the workforce, the country would rack up trillions of dollars in debt per year while we watched the number of people work drop like a rock. Oh wait...

 

[IronWing]

And here we have a prime example of the liberal mind.

"Off-shoring is a direct result of weakening union political power" No fuck nuts. Unions should have zero political power. And off-shoring is a result of all the "trade" agreements we keep signing away our jobs to.

"The decline of the middle class is a direct result of decline of union clout" No fuck nuts. First that doesn't even make sense and second the middle class are in decline because its cheaper and easier to be a part of the lower class. In the past you had to work to support your family. Now you can sit at home, which the government will pay for, eat food which the government paid for, stream TV shows on internet the government subsidized and then drive to the lake in a car the government bought for you. People have less reasons to work than ever.

"There is a class war raging in American and the rich are kicking ass" Well guess what fuck nuts, your liberal leaders ignited the war and then fanned the flames. When your whole ideology is to steal from one person to give to another person so that person doesn't have to work for it, that is going to create some tension. Then when you point to that person and call him evil because he won't let you steal any more from him, that makes things worse.

If we let people like you actually control the economy and the workforce, the country would rack up trillions of dollars in debt per year while we watched the number of people work drop like a rock. Oh wait...

You make no sense. Union politcal power protected American jobs, period. Dumbass workers followed Reagan's flute music and politically sided with the rich to their own destruction.

 

[rudeguy]

You make no sense. Union politcal power protected American jobs, period. Dumbass workers followed Reagan's flute music and politically sided with the rich to their own destruction.

When presented with facts, you liberals always go back to fairy tales, hyperbole and fear mongering.

Union political power destroyed the Big 3. Union political power bankrupted Detroit. Union political power force car makers and parts suppliers to move out of state and out of country.

Now if you would like to provide some actual facts, figures and examples, please do. Otherwise its just more of you puking out what Dear Leader spoon fed you. After all: "YOU DIDN'T BUILD THAT!"

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

Wife's first nursing job out of college was union. It was really depressing to see how her pay was all laid out before her. At year 2 she'd make X, at year 3 she'd make Y, and so on. All the other nurses with more seniority took all the days off surrounding holidays and some that had been there 10+ years had so much time off they'd take EVERY Friday off during the summer meaning no one else could take the entire week off.

Since it was hard to fire people, many simply slid by giving minimal effort. No matter how hard my wife worked, she would always make X, then Y, then Z as the years went on.

Everyone else is saying: Why work hard? The outcome is inevitable.

Pretty much the reason I would NEVER go for a union. Along with the fact that there will be union dues that I suspect would go way above what they should be paid.

 

[IronWing]

When presented with facts, you liberals always go back to fairy tales, hyperbole and fear mongering.

Union political power destroyed the Big 3. Union political power bankrupted Detroit. Union political power force car makers and parts suppliers to move out of state and out of country.

Now if you would like to provide some actual facts, figures and examples, please do. Otherwise its just more of you puking out what Dear Leader spoon fed you. After all: "YOU DIDN'T BUILD THAT!"

You certainly have bought into the conservative fantasy. Keep fucking yourself over.

 

[highland145]

They are also moving to the non-union southern US states.

In South Carolina

Boeing
BMW
Daimler
Cummings
Caterpillar
Volvo is building
Ford is coming

Just to name a very few.

:thumbsup:

Nearby Autoneum plant makes product for BMW/Mercedes. The union has/is trying to get into the plant. The last vote was 60/40 against. That was after BMW and Mercedes said that if the union is approved, they'll do business elsewhere.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

:thumbsup:

Nearby Autoneum plant makes product for BMW/Mercedes. The union has/is trying to get into the plant. The last vote was 60/40 against. That was after BMW and Mercedes said that if the union is approved, they'll do business elsewhere.

Rightfully so.

I wouldn't deal with that shit either. It just becomes a bunch of pissants pissing everywhere instead of working.

 

[rudeguy]

You certainly have bought into the conservative fantasy. Keep fucking yourself over.

Keep on spewing your ignorance. Meanwhile those of us who actually have facts on our side will keep laughing at you.

Meanwhile here is a big huge empty lot:

https://www.google.com/maps/@42.8948976,-85.6732684,779m/data=!3m1!1e3

Used to be hundreds of jobs in that lot, thousands of jobs that supported that lot, hundreds of thousands of dollars that lot used to bring to the local economy. Now they can't even sell the lot.

That lot is the future of America if you liberals get your way.

 

[rh71]

Union political power destroyed the Big 3. Union political power bankrupted Detroit. Union political power force car makers and parts suppliers to move out of state and out of country.

It's always sad to see what's happened to Detroit but you know when it comes down to it - these workers did it to themselves by being greedy. I don't care if you were forced into it or if you were a small pea. If you reaped the benefits, you could fall right down with them too.

The only way for things to change here with ridiculous salaries causing ludicrous taxes is if the unions were disbanded. They would eat their young before cutting salaries to rates that the rest of the country gets (plus a little more for location). So much for protecting working conditions... it's all about the money.