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LookieNoNookie -> RE: UNION! (11/3/2012 4:07:14 PM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: slvemike4u
And were I to do so...than come here and post about Unions,based solely on that perspective I just might write as biased a post as you did.
It's no big deal,one of my best friends since childhood(we played ball,what kind depending on the season,together year round)started his own landscaping business straight out of school,I went to work for Verizon(becoming a CWA member).
We have enjoyed many an evening with the free exchange of our differing POV's...these evening rarely devolve into physical altercations [:D]
When I was 17, just starting out I was working at a hospital (got the painting contract through a bid process). Guy in a painters outfit comes out and says "are you in the union?" I said "No", he said "well then, you can't be painting here...this is a Union shop hospital".
I explained to him that I'd given a fair bid and I fully intended to complete my contract "but thanks for your info".
He then proceeded to spend the next 30 minutes explaining the benefits of being in the Union (more work, easier to obtain contracts, "closed bids" {read: "rigged" bids} etc.) and I thought "well shit, maybe this isn't such a bad gig after all...it's just me anyways, so I can pay myself whatever the heck I want, send them the dues and in the winter time when my outside work is difficult to do, if not impossible some months, I can go work for one of these guys inside, then back working for myself in the Spring and Summer.
Then he asked me "so how long have you been in business?" (what makes this a hilarious question is, I was more than clearly 17....when I was 24 I looked about 15 so, at 17 I probably looked like I still had a soft spot in my head, and my skull hadn't yet fully formed)....I said "6 months" he said "excellent....7 years, that makes you a (whatever their term for the highest on the rung is)", I said again "I'm sorry, you must have misheard me....6 months is what I said".
"Excellent" he said "that means you'll be in the top earner group".
I explained to him (my business required a painting machine whereas his required a brush, a roller and some actual skill) that I didn't know the first thing about painting with a brush or roller..."why would someone want to hire me with no skills whatsoever, over some fellow with 5 years under his belt?".
He then explained to me that they "have a school where they'll teach you every bit of this in 2 weeks".
So....all those guys who worked hard, put in years to learn everything, we're going to get screwed out of a job just so they could get me into the union, remove another non union contractor from the game and put me side by side with some fellow who actually knew what he was doing, pay me a ridiculous amount of money for no apparent skill sets (knowingly then, stealing from the client).
In the early 90's, the union, finding my now sizable company a juicy morsel, attempted to unionize my production staff.
I did some research on the local, found out that they'd lost money during each of the previous 3 years, yet the 4 top men in the union got new Cadillac's every 2 - 3 years, flew first class on a half dozen trips annually to various locations, ostensibly to do business and....in the previous 12 months they had had their offices painted.
They got 3 bids. 2 from union company's and....just so they could say they were being fair in all things, a bid from a non union company....just "to keep things honest" no doubt. The non union company had the lowest bid, understandably.
Guess who got the job (and was only allowed to paint the place after 10:30 each night until it was completed and had to be out by 4:00 a.m.)?
I'll give you a clue: It wasn't either of the 2 union companies.
When I explained all the above to my staff, and my guys realized that the only thing a union could do for them was to negotiate on their behalf and that several would make a buck or so less (plus have to pay weekly dues for the privilege of a reduction in wages), 2 would make about the same and one would make about 70 cents more an hour but....once they became unionized, they could no longer come to me directly if they grew in skills and became more valuable and seek a raise....that and the fact that we paid (and pay) 100% medical whereas the then union contract mandated that they pay 25% of the cost of same, pretty much had my staff sending them out on their ears.
Then, in late 2007 when I sat and watched the Boeing employees go out on strike demanding something like an 11% raise over their pending 4 years contract (basically 2.75% annually), hanging around burning barrels in the rain, while the rest of the world was reading headlines every day about how the world (financially) was ending, then many months later (as they got a 50 dollar check from the union each week because they don't qualify for state unemployment), as Boeing stood its ground, and the union did as well, Boeing came back with a 5 year deal for something like a 13.75% increase over those same 5 years (2.75% per year), the union stood up in front of their members and explained how they'd fought hard for their members and gotten a "vastly better deal for them and they should sign the deal".
Which they did.
So, instead of a shitty 2.75% a year increase over 4 years, they roared and stomped their feet, victorious...because their leaders had gotten them a 2.75% annual increase over 5 years instead.
A local paper (The Seattle Times) did a study on how long at a 2.75% annual increase it would take for the union members at Boeing to recapture what they lost in not receiving any income during their very long strike (exception: the 50 bucks a week they got from their leaders):
8.6 years. 3.6 longer than their new "fabulous" contract would last.
Yep, the union sure showed Boeing they were not to be trifled with....that's for sure.
That's why I hate unions.
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