UAW workers launch unprecedented strike against all Big Three automakers

There you have it folks, no need to discuss this any further.

 

they used to have those floaty key chains for boats that said “im not always right, but im never wrong” haha

 

Best post so far........

 

I was playing a show at the Beacon Theater in NYC several years ago. When we arrived, I apparently offended the stage hands (unionized) by carrying one of my vintage guitars myself to soundcheck. "Trying to take my job, I guess!" is what one guy kept saying, to which the others nodded affirmation and said, "Mmm hmmm." I had no idea what he was talking about and thought it was just a very odd joke, like he was wanting to be the guitar player in the band.

After soundcheck, we headed catering for lunch. I realized I left my phone backstage by my gear and went back to retrieve it. A different stage hand heard me open the door and went apoplectic, screaming at me about "dark stage". "YOU CAN'T BE HERE! WE'RE ON BREAK!" This was well before doors opened for the show. Apparently no one is allowed to be onstage during the union break. Doesn't matter that I'm not pushing cases around (which is what they were hired to do). In their eyes, if you're onstage, that means you're doing something. And if you're doing something, that could mean you're working. And if you're demonstrating the ability to do any kind of work, it could mean you're trying to take a union job out from under the union stage hands who are on their mandatory negotiated break. Can't even retrieve a personal cell phone while the union hands are on break. Unreal.

Are unions useful to some extent? Sure.
But also, many are So. Incredibly. Stupid.

 

Because people seek power, and one of the quickest paths to power is convincing others that you're defending them from some other power that seeks to harm or take advantage of them. I am skeptical of the idea that any union even started out with purely altruistic motives.

I'm sure there are some decent ones out there, but I haven't had any good experiences with them. I come from a long line of Midwest laborers who worked in factories. I was first to go to grad school, let alone college. My grandpa was a union foreman at a factory. My stepdad and a few others in my extended family were non-union laborers at the same factory. None of them liked the union at all. Union guys were often lazy and had near total immunity. (You had to break some major piece of equipment or something to actually get fired.) Both union and non-union workers in my family confirmed this. During a strike, non-union guys going to work were constantly harassed and would come out to their vehicles keyed. Fights in the parking lot were not rare. My stepdad was fresh out of the army reserves at the time and didn't have enough savings to not work during a union strike. Many days, he took his safety into his own hands just going to work. My grandpa felt stuck and hated the way everyone around him was either lazy or corrupt or both.

I'm in a union, and I HATE it. It is nearly worthless and rife with corruption. Pension has been horribly mismanaged (to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars lost), and those responsible for the poor investment decisions are free from any culpability. My local grossly overproduces (and therefore grossly overpays into the pension fund) compared to every other local except maybe Los Angeles, and the fine print of our bylaws is written in such a way that our back-end pay for work is taken from us to dump into the pension fund for everyone's benefit. This STILL happens even though the union successfully lobbied Congress to prop up the fund. WTF!!

Anyway, thanks taxpayers. You get the bill for my pension. I hate this as much as I hate corporate bailouts.

I'm in a right to work state, and these days the majority of my work is done outside the union.

 

All of them but mine, right?? Right??

 

One other thing I'll say is this... There's a huge difference between unions on the east coast, unions that are more mid-west (east of the rockies), and unions that are more west coast based. Even unions that have national branches or whatever the fuck you call them, such as Teamsters, operate different in the further west you get. Some of those nuances that folks have talked about are still there, but not to the degree or strength that they are on the east coast. I've never lived on the east coast, and therefore have never any involvement or dealings w/east coast unions... but, my understanding is that they are so ingrained and 'hardheaded' about policies that they are perceived to be almost racketeering and coercive in nature rather than protective and businesslike; this is where the strong negative perceptions of unions come from.

 

So, no dog in the fight.... just

 

They may be assholes but they pay better and provide me more benefits than the non-union assholes.

 

You sir, are clearly too angry right now; please go drink some union made beer....

Dude... seriously though, you've gotta check out this irony

Miller Lite is UAW union made

 

Years ago, my landlord's son was a union driver for Warner Bros. His job was to drive a box truck with props and such to a shoot. He used to brag about not doing anything once he got to the shoot. He didn't have to unload his truck. That was for another union hack to do. He did mention that Stallone wore platform shoes.

 

I'm down for that! Side bar. I hope the KP folks get the raise they truly deserve and hire more employees to help with the workload saving lives and helping people.

 

Miller Lite isn't beer...

 

When it rains, it pours.

https://www.wsj.com/business/autos/gm-vehicles-affected-air-bag-inflators-e7614a7e

 

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I'm quite surprised that no one here has suggested Googling the 60 Minutes expose' several years ago that caught numerous UAW workers at a Dodge truck plant smoking weed, drinking beer, and taking shots of something on their lunch break out in the parking lot. Every day of the week. If I saw that going on at my work....I have immediate power to fire on the spot. Those UAW guys prolly got sent to another plant and told to behave and be more discrete. (And not get caught on camera.)

 

Reasonable, but they need the 7% at least. More OT would be good too, but not mandatory.

 

At 43 years in the calibration world, I've had a lot of exposure with the IBEW union guys and gals. I'm not going to even bother going there. Lots of very great workers. Lots of slackers too. The truth hurts. It is was it is.............slackers not allowed where I work.

 

Yeah, I'm in a utility union. Low overhead, low dues, almost no bullshit to deal with.
I was non-union for 12 years prior