Has anyone seen any deals due to this pandemic?

[fried1765]

I worked for a company with a union. When it came time for contract negotiation, labor always demanded a closed meeting with management. Labor always came out of the meeting saying management was unreasonable and issued a strike order. A couple weeks later labor and management met again behind closed doors. This time everything was fine, they got a small pay increase and ok to go back to work. It was never announced what the managements original position was, but it was suspected they offered better than what was later settled for. It was felt that the union bosses had to turn it down just to show they had power and control and as a result the settlement was less because of the strike. (no proof, but that was a belief held by most of the union and non-union workers)

Having been on the union side of that issue more than once, I can absolutely guarantee that is 100% FAKE NEWS!

 

[rush389]

My mom worked for the steelworkers union. She said the union would protect people who were constantly missing work due to drugs, alcohol, falling asleep on the job, etc. She also said the company kept telling the union workers that they were going bankrupt and the union workers were convinced that the company had billions of dollars stashed away and was lying.

The company went broke, everyone lost their jobs. Lives built on that steel mill were shattered. American steelworkers definitely got the shaft due to globalism, corporation and politicians selling our country off to the lowest overseas bidder. But the unions didn't always do themselves any favors at making American workers competitive. It's one thing to pay 25 bucks an hour plus benefits to an American union worker that shows up, works hard, and does a good job. It's another thing to pay that money to someone who shows up intermittently and drinks on the job.

I had a few summer jobs at a GM plant as a union worker and my experience was completely different than my mom's. The union had very high expectations for their workers, everyone in the factory was busting their tail to try to keep their jobs.

That GM plant closed too.

Not sure what that tells you. I hope people in this country are starting to wake up. You need unions that demand fair wages for their workers but also have high expectations for their workers, and you also need politicians that actually care about bringing jobs back to this country instead of selling our country out to corporate interests that want to make billions selling junk made for cheap overseas. Maybe, just maybe, we are starting to see that realization dawn on the American people. I sure hope so.

 

[MossRoad]

I worked side-by-side with 2 unions at my last employer. The impression I got was that while most of the folks were normal, the few that constantly used the union to do as little work as possible for the most money as possible gave the entire union a bad appearance, and little was/could be done about the problem children without great difficulty.

One union got tired of it and voted themselves out so they could get better benefits from the company than the union could offer, and then they were all under the company rules, and the problems people were gone within a short while.

We automated the other union's jobs and got rid of them through attrition (retirements and not filling vacant jobs that were no longer needed). At the end, there were 4 guys sitting at a card table 6 out of 8 hours a day because they had nothing to do. That union's shop steward was so pro union, calling anyone that quit the union to work elsewhere in the plant all kinds of names, etc.... but when the company offered her a job outside the union, she jumped on it so fast her shoes smoked. What a hypocrite.

I was fortunate in that half a dozen long time former union guys came over and worked for me and they were real workers. They were all 20+ year older than me, I went to school with some of their children, and I had to teach them how to use the computerized systems that replaced their manual jobs. They loved it, took to it like ducks to water, and really cranked out the production. 6-7 people doing the work of 65 people.

On that note, my mother-in-law is retired from the UAW. At her last job, she was drilling holes under dashboards on military vehicles and mounting the hoods. She made it look easy. Too easy. Some lazy old timer tried to bump her from her position, then couldn't do the work. Then he filed a grievance against the company saying the job required 2 people. The owner of the company and the union reps came down to the line and told him to show them. He attempted and failed and they all nodded their heads. But before they left, the owner asked my mother-in-law to do the job one time. The next truck came down the line, my mother-in-law drilled all the holes, mounted the hood, sat down in a chair next to the owner and drank a can of pop before the next truck came down the line. :laughing:

She lost some union friends that day. But she was adamant that the guy was just lazy or incompetent or both. Words were had. But the guy gave up and she kept that job for several years until retirement.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Why is it so hard to have compromise and middle ground?

An old GFs mother worked at the Post Office where her co-workers would play cards and would have some choice words for her if she had anything to say about it.

And you see it in this Pandemic. Some people asserting power just because they can.

 

[shooterdon]

Having been on the union side of that issue more than once, I can absolutely guarantee that is 100% FAKE NEWS!

It is dependent on the Union and company. I was on the company side many times. Some unions are led by idiots. So are some companies.

We took a six month strike. Our employees never recovered from it. We ran the facility with management staff during the strike.

The difference in pay was .5%.....yes...about ten cents an hour. It was all the other crap and goodies the union wanted that no company would ever agree to.

 

[buck12]

My first job out of college was with a large union manufacturing company. I was in a salaried job. My experience dealing with the union was that most members were hard working folks but the union would defend the few dead beats making all members look bad. The upper union leadership was corrupt and out for themselves at the expense of the working folks.

 

[two_bit_score]

Why is it so hard to have compromise and middle ground?

An old GFs mother worked at the Post Office where her co-workers would play cards and would have some choice words for her if she had anything to say about it.

And you see it in this Pandemic. Some people asserting power just because they can.

You sure don’t have to look far to see that. It’s right under our noses.

 

[Industrial Toys]

It's actually quite interesting. Psychological studies and tests, where participants would do nasty things to other participants, for no good reason at all, but just because they could.

 

[fried1765]

My first job out of college was with a large union manufacturing company. I was in a salaried job. My experience dealing with the union was that most members were hard working folks but the union would defend the few dead beats making all members look bad. The upper union leadership was corrupt and out for themselves at the expense of the working folks.

Well,.... whatever you choose to think!
For ten years, I was an elected union representative for a local union with 6000 members, that nationwide had 50,000 members.
All were college educated.
We had 3 strikes in my 33 years there (that is 3 too many).
The issues you suggest were NEVER true!

 

[MossRoad]

Well,.... whatever you choose to think!
For ten years, I was an elected union representative for a local union with 6000 members, that nationwide had 50,000 members.
All were college educated.
We had 3 strikes in my 33 years there (that is 3 too many).
The issues you suggest were NEVER true!

The part about most member being hard working folks?