NSTG8R
Elio Addict
I hear ya Earl, I hear ya! My union sent propoganda to my house, for a "certain political party", telling me which way I should vote! Set a record for the fastest a piece of 'junk mail' went from my hand to the trash can.
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Union Shop
- Thread starter Music Man
- Start date
Okay, let me tell you about my union job experience. I was hired by a large package carrier company, I didn't have a choice but to join the union on day one. The first 3 days were spent in a class room learning the ropes. Days 4-5 in training with another driver. Day 6 out on my own, delivered 80% of packages. I had to be back at the terminal by 6pm as I would not be paid for a minute of OT. Day 7 about a mile from the terminal my truck broke down, these were the days before cell phones, you could not leave your truck unattended, so waited for someone else who took that road out. About 10 minutes later another driver came by, he went back to the terminal to get help. 15 minutes later someone came and got my early delivery packages. An hour after that another truck arrived and we moved everything into the other truck. I was now 2 hours behind schedule but at the end of the day still got 80% off my truck. Day 8 I got in my truck and it was piled to the roof! I couldn't get in the aisle to get my first delivery package unless I unloaded a dozen packages first. Tried to complain, tried to find union shop rep, no where to be found, I left. Still delivered 80% of what was on my truck. When I got back to the terminal, a supervisor came over to my truck and proceeded to read me the riot act on slow delivery. Now this was not a pep talk but a verbal attack, which I realized was common when all the drivers turned their backs to us. In the middle of the attack she said something about stupid people. I said, "Excuse Me!" She replied, "There's no excuse for you!" At that point I walked away with her screaming, " You can't walk away from me!" To which I replied, " Watch me!" I went over to the other drivers and ask who and where was the union rep. He goes home at 4. I went over to the phone and called the union office, it closes at 4:30. I left a message. Day 9 called union office, no answer, no voice mail. Went to work asked for union rep, he wasn't there. Gave the supervisor a box, which contained my uniforms and walked out. A month later I got a letter from the union, I owed them money, called the union office, no answer, left a very nasty message, never heard from them again. I'm all for no union shop!
wayne kemp
Elio Addict
- Joined
- Aug 11, 2014
- Messages
- 611
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- 1,203
If the union runs Elio look for a PC. OF JUNK to be made. They spend all their time worrying about their benefits, overpaid job and being able to force higher prices on the public.
I agree, but Unions may be neccessary to protect the employees working for the many not so great companies that have no repect for them at all. I'm neither pro or con Union but wouldn't trust employers much more than Unions to do the right thing. If I was anti union I certainly would not work in a union environment. If I did I would support whatever their philosophy regarding their policies and politics to improve the workplace. I suspect there are a few good employers and a few good unions.
goldwing06
Elio Addict
- Joined
- Aug 22, 2014
- Messages
- 175
- Reaction score
- 409
with todays technology, unions seem like a great inticement for owners and management to want to go robotic at every possible level of production.
#491
Elio Addict
Russia tried redistribution of wealth and socialism and it didn't work. The top complaint I see about unions is a poor work ethic and sense of entitlement fully backed by union contracts that endorse this behavior. The scale is tipped in favor of the top 1% but there is nothing stopping you in America to become that 1% if you try hard enough and have some luck as well. The video advocates redistribution of wealth but does nothing to address applying ones self, a strong work ethic, getting an education and working your way to the top. There are way too many people in this country that think their entitled to a handout just because they wake up and breath air in America every day and nothing else. From what I can see, unions love redistribution because it means they don't have to have a good work ethic or apply themselves, they just need a signed union contract. Another solution would be to become a stock holder in your company and have a vested interest in its success. Union contracts don't advocate this, they want to be rewarded no matter how good or poorly the company is doing and threaten to strike if they have to pay anything toward their health care benefits. My solution would be to make every employee an equal stockholder and "share" in both the good (profit) times and bad (loses) times. Let’s see ANY union advocate this. JMHO
NSTG8R
Elio Addict
"The trouble with Socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money." ~ Margaret Thatcher
sorry for the offense .... I'm offended by unions who have no concern for the company, quality of the product produced, or the customers who buy the products .... the only functions for a union are to protect and get all it can get for its members .... the only members it usually has to protect are the ones who perform poorly
Jim
Not all unions are good ones, but I am a part of CWA which I consider to be a good union.
Aside from thinks like wages/benefits negotiation (and we don't get paid a lot, $25-$33k/yr depending on experience as compared to $50k/yr national average) the main benefit is providing procedures for actions to be taken. It doesn't prevent discipline or firings, but it does mean that things can't be done at a manager's whim and evidence for the cause has to be provided. The overwhelming majority is of course justified - everything we do is measured and if you don't perform you're out, but it has put the brakes on the handful of managers that I've seen be abusive.
One big plus is during the recession the 300 or so who had declined union membership were all fired for various non-causes within the space of a week instead of being laid off, while the union members were laid off according to the law and received the legally required benefits for this. As part of the workforce reduction the union members were offered the opportunity to transfer to our then-new Uverse department in another state if they were willing to pay to move, but the non-union members were simply gone.
Aside from thinks like wages/benefits negotiation (and we don't get paid a lot, $25-$33k/yr depending on experience as compared to $50k/yr national average) the main benefit is providing procedures for actions to be taken. It doesn't prevent discipline or firings, but it does mean that things can't be done at a manager's whim and evidence for the cause has to be provided. The overwhelming majority is of course justified - everything we do is measured and if you don't perform you're out, but it has put the brakes on the handful of managers that I've seen be abusive.
One big plus is during the recession the 300 or so who had declined union membership were all fired for various non-causes within the space of a week instead of being laid off, while the union members were laid off according to the law and received the legally required benefits for this. As part of the workforce reduction the union members were offered the opportunity to transfer to our then-new Uverse department in another state if they were willing to pay to move, but the non-union members were simply gone.
Lil4X
Elio Addict
It's sad but true - we did this to ourselves. Where once labor unions policed the quality of workers, guaranteeing an bricklayer or a carpenter was not only competent but skilled at his craft, during the post-war period they became corrupt. Draining cash from member's paychecks, they were self-serving, no longer looking out for their membership, but in many cases, undermining their members' careers. I've been a member of two unions in my life - for extremely short periods of time. In both, I paid out far more than I ever received.
Eventually compulsory membership was struck down in Texas - as a "right to work" state. Our economy is booming, as it is throughout the South, Central, and Intermountain West. If you're looking for the reason for the failure of the US heavy manufacturing industry, you need look no farther that a map of states that demand union membership (shown in gray).
Indiana and Michigan became the first Rust Belt states to repeal mandatory union membership only two years ago - most likely as the result of the crumbling employment climate around them that has rendered some of our formerly-great manufacturing states non-competitive with areas like the South which now hosts most of the nation's new automotive plants.
But the collapse of our manufacturing base is not solely the fault of the unions, it is largely due to weak-kneed management who signed deferred benefits into new wage guarantees through the late '60's and well into the '80's. Every time a union threatened a strike, management negotiators would sign away incremental wage increases over time, and immense retirement packages that would kick in with as little as 20 years on the job. While they were propping up major manufacturing and transportation industries with these contracts, you knew the fall had to come. When it did - when for example, the auto industry was paying workers three and four times the national minimum wage as a starting salary - along with huge benefit packages, there had to be a day of reckoning.
When it came, it brought down the Big 3 and forever changed the leadership role America had held in manufacturing for well over fifty years. Today, we are a nation of service companies, no longer recognized as the forge of liberty. We are a nation of shopping malls and insurance companies.
It is into this business climate that Paul Elio has brought the greatest market change since the Model T. Inexpensive, reliable transportation - engineered and manufactured to meet the market. Any wonder he's located it's manufacturing facility in Louisiana? A few other automakers have recently made the same decision, to locate major plants in the South:
Volkswagen - Chattanooga, TN
Toyota (Prius) - Tupelo, MS
BMW - Spartanburg SC, 3 Assembly Plants in AL
Kia - West Point, GA
Nissan - Nashville TN and Smyrna, GA
What with skilled and motivated work forces, excellent relations with major colleges and universities in the region, a reasonable cost of living index, and tax-friendly states who recognize growing the base is far superior to soaking established industries, the South as an economic power has already risen.
Eventually compulsory membership was struck down in Texas - as a "right to work" state. Our economy is booming, as it is throughout the South, Central, and Intermountain West. If you're looking for the reason for the failure of the US heavy manufacturing industry, you need look no farther that a map of states that demand union membership (shown in gray).
Indiana and Michigan became the first Rust Belt states to repeal mandatory union membership only two years ago - most likely as the result of the crumbling employment climate around them that has rendered some of our formerly-great manufacturing states non-competitive with areas like the South which now hosts most of the nation's new automotive plants.
But the collapse of our manufacturing base is not solely the fault of the unions, it is largely due to weak-kneed management who signed deferred benefits into new wage guarantees through the late '60's and well into the '80's. Every time a union threatened a strike, management negotiators would sign away incremental wage increases over time, and immense retirement packages that would kick in with as little as 20 years on the job. While they were propping up major manufacturing and transportation industries with these contracts, you knew the fall had to come. When it did - when for example, the auto industry was paying workers three and four times the national minimum wage as a starting salary - along with huge benefit packages, there had to be a day of reckoning.
When it came, it brought down the Big 3 and forever changed the leadership role America had held in manufacturing for well over fifty years. Today, we are a nation of service companies, no longer recognized as the forge of liberty. We are a nation of shopping malls and insurance companies.
It is into this business climate that Paul Elio has brought the greatest market change since the Model T. Inexpensive, reliable transportation - engineered and manufactured to meet the market. Any wonder he's located it's manufacturing facility in Louisiana? A few other automakers have recently made the same decision, to locate major plants in the South:
Volkswagen - Chattanooga, TN
Toyota (Prius) - Tupelo, MS
BMW - Spartanburg SC, 3 Assembly Plants in AL
Kia - West Point, GA
Nissan - Nashville TN and Smyrna, GA
What with skilled and motivated work forces, excellent relations with major colleges and universities in the region, a reasonable cost of living index, and tax-friendly states who recognize growing the base is far superior to soaking established industries, the South as an economic power has already risen.