ARE YOU PRO-UNION OR ANTI-UNION? (page 4)

brinjen

You need to be reminded that the REASON you have a job at that grocery store is THAT PAYING CUSTOMER. Businesses, whether its a grocery store or auto assembly plant, only exist because of CUSTOMERS.
It still doesn't give you or anyone else the right to be jerks and expect us to bow down to you and say salami, salami, baloney.

That's right. We have some fantastic customers who think we are the friendliest, happiest place in town. They don't do anything special, just a simple smile and a "how are you?" Not rocket science.

Where I live, a lot of people leave the job because they're sick of copping the abuse. Then the store is short-staffed. So you walk in and there's a long queue of people bitching that they have to wait so long. Then when they've served, they complain to the cashier there isn't enough staff. Wonder why.

Store doesn't get far without employees either.

FlyingHighNow

Store doesn't get far without employees either.

Very true. Very, very true.

owenfieldreams

Unions=strikes, picket lines, violence, mob(organized crime) involvement/corruption, exhorbitant union dues, adversarial management/employee relations, lazy union bosses and union hall staff that survive off the sweat of others, and profit drain/job killer on great companies.

moshe

I have worked union for most of my life, except for a job in Florida I took at a cement plant/rock quarry in 1985. On union jobs your boss makes maybe 10-20% more than you do. I found out in Florida that the supervisor of our 6 man department made about 3x more than we did. I quit when I found that out- When HR asked why I was leaving, I said, "I don't mind paying for the horse as long as I get to ride him". - The owner of that company was told by an ouside analyst that they needed to pay more money to it's workers as their turnover and accident rates were too high. He told them, " I have been making a million dollars in profit every month with this business paying $6/hr wages and I don't see any need to change anything" .

BlackSwan of Memphis

Not sure.

I see a lot of generalization going on in this thread.

Unions have and can serve a very useful purpose.

That doesn't mean that they always do.

I know stories of the laziest, most useless, spoiled workers in different sorts of shops get away with bar hopping during on the clock triple time wages. Add it up.
It runs a company into the ground.

Doesn't mean that all union worker guys are like that and that they don't appreciate their job and aren't willing to work damn hard for every penny they're being paid.

I really don't think union busting is the way to go. On the other hand, I understand very very very well the concerns that people have re them.

I honestly don't have a great answer.

I do think this:

I see companies paying crap for hard work. In many states $9-$10 hr is NOT enough for a family to live on. For a single guy working his way up, ok fine. For a man or woman looking to pay the mortgage, put food on the table and keep clothes on the backs of their kids, that is NOT enough. It would take two people working to make ends meet in many homes. That is NOT counting fun extra stuff. Two people working full time leaves how many parents at home during the day and after school?

So my suggestion to "Big Business" is this: Pay your workers an amount that allows them to live without worrying about making ends meet.
OwenFieldDreams made an excellent point:

nonunion auto workers still make union scale wages(25.00-30.00/hr, the last time i checked) and great benefits, without having to pay union dues and put up with the crap that you get with union representation.

We're currently dealing with a t shirt company (American Apparel) that is fighting to keep unions out. But they are ALSO working very hard at keeping their workers paid well and given good benefits. In the process, the unions in LA have kicked their butts to give AA a very bad name and skew the facts.

In the end, I see both sides of the coin.

OUTLAW

Mary..Hey Girl!.."Cement shoes???"..LOL!!..Thats hilarious!!..Some places don`t need a Union..Most do..........As I`ve said before your a "Smart Lady"..I have no doubt you made the right choice.............. Clint Eastwood ...OUTLAW

Mary

Mary..Hey Girl!.."Cement shoes???"..LOL!!..Thats hilarious!!..Some places don`t need a Union..Most do..........As I`ve said before your a "Smart Lady"..I have no doubt you made the right choice..............

If I ever disappear, look for me next to Jimmy Hoffa.

There are definitely places that need unions. Ironically, I feel that both of my sisters need a union where they work. One works at one of the large banks here as a Finanical Service Manager or something like that. First of all, she's been there 30 years (started when she was 18) and is an excellent worker---gives really professional customer service and works her ass off. The banks are slave-drivers: the more you do for them, the more they expect. She met her targets last year so they raised the bar so damn high that it's virtually impossible for her or anyone else to reach their targets now. This was done intentionally so the bank wouldn't have to give out bonuses or very good raises. It's really stressful and she is out of there the second she turns 55. This is another thing the bank changed: They want you slaving till you're 65 now----no more early retirements. Fortunately for my sister, she just managed to get in under the wire and thanks to the Rule of 80 (your age plus the number of years you've worked there), she can leave at 55.

I've been at my job for 9 years and make more than my sister does, and she's been there over 30 years. I'm lucky that I have a wonderful boss too. If the weather is really bad, he'll phone me at home and tell me not to come in because he doesn't want me to get in an accident. The only time he ever gave me shit was one day last year when I was sick as a dog and he phoned me at the office and said "what on earth are you doing in there?! Go home!"

If everyone had a boss like mine, you'd probably never need a union. You get alot more out of your staff when you're good to them, than when you treat them like crap.

jaguarbass

You have to judge each case and union individually.

People who were in the carpenters and electricians union in Cleveland get a very nice retirement after 25 to 30 years.

People who worked for the big 3 auto companies did well.

I worked in a union tool making shop in Cleveland and it was 100% better than anyplace I have worked at in Florida.

Unions can be very good for the workers. But in America the politicians let other countries import their goods and the other countries either dont have the same standard of living or the foreign governments subsadise the foreign companies so there is not a level playing field.

The politicians pretty much have sold the working man and working class down the river in america.

Given the current political situation what you observe is the dominant reality unions have lost their power and the american worker has lost his quality of life.

We cant buy all kinds of cheap imported junk from wallmart and have decent jobs.

The only ones who could have protected us were the politicians and they didnt.

People will for the most part buy a functional product for the cheapest price and we cant compete with china, korea, russia, Mexico.

oldflame

Like I have said and done for the last 25 years or so Go self employed that way all responsibility is on yourself and you look for no one for anything. I've done it my way !

Junction-Guy

Mostly anti-union with the exception of rural areas without alot of job opportunities,

I say if you are gonna have unions in urban areas, then everything ought to be unionized, why discriminate against the cashier at Kroger's? the pizza driver, or anyone else?

For most regions of this country there are plenty of different jobs, just pick up any newspaper. Small towns though are very limited and the workers there dont have the opportunity to job shop.

So I say unions only in smaller areas.

ARE YOU PRO-UNION OR ANTI-UNION?

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