Why do I have to work with contractors that are union rather then non-union. What says that union electricians are better then me? I can read the National Electrical Code and understand it or given any local area and understand their standards, so what makes the "union guys better"? Why do I have to pay more for them? I can see that the "unions" did a lot of good back in the thirties and forties when employers didn't give a care if someone's arm got cut off, but this is a new management style we're living in. So tell me why "Union Yes"!
Unions are expensive, inflexible and have no guarantee that their job is better than anyone elses. My brother belonged to an electricians union and other than taking dues money, they really didn't help him much. I say ta' hell with them.
If we eliminate unions tomorrow, how long do you think that "lot of good" done the 30's and 40's would continue to exist?
My guess is less than 10 years before this country would be right back to the 1880's. The proof is simple. Look what has happened with every industry that has been "deregulated". Within 5 to 20 years we have *massive* scandals where management was gone to the limit of the law, and then gone even farther.
Just think where they'd go of "labor" was deregulated!
While in many cases I might agree with you, IBEW Local 1 electricians in St. Louis are, by far, the best trained electricians in the country! They do have some individuals, as does any group, who do not perform up to par, I would say most do an excellent job and are worth what they are paid.
Unfortunately, I can't this for every area of the country where I have run across union (or non-union) electricians!!!
I agree. The workers at my facility that are protected by a union get paid for the hours they work. The unprotected workers get called in the middle of the night to work all night, no pay. 60 and 80 hour weeks, sorry the budgets tight, no pay, maybe we'll give you comp time, but still get all your work done. You don't need OT pay, you'll get a bonus check. Except that the bonus check is two words, bone us. If there was a union vote at my plant, I'd vote union in a heartbeat. And not one of the light weight unions either. I want a union that will put the fear of God into the pricks that manage my company.
The ones I always got a kick out of were the "professionals". Lower level management and engineers fit... and made less money for more hours of work than union technicians. Plus, they had two choices every day when they got to work, and I had three or more. They could kiss ass, or quit. I had several options, and one of them was to explain to whoever didn't want to hear it exactly why I wasn't going to kiss ass.
I'll give an example that is worth noting. At a point when I had about 23 years seniority, the long time VP of operations hired a new senior manager and a new supervisor. They did things that I felt were not productive, and I was not silent about it. They then proceeded to do things that were not legal in an attempt to get rid of me. Such battles are *impossible* for non-union workers to survive. That battle went on for a few months, but they exploded (oh, the joy of calling the FBI in on a manager is just more than you can imagine). No charges were filed, but nine months later, the supervisor was gone and three months after that the manager was also gone. The VP lasted for a year after that, and he too was gone.
I retired 10 years later, safe in my belief that the *best* thing I did for the company in 30 some years was rid it of those three particular ding-a-lings.
Unions had their place as far as eliminating the slave labor type of work that was once here. But now it makes me sick to see the highest paying jobs in a city being Union jobs, and they are striking because they want more. People don't know where to stop with their greed and now Unions are pushing American jobs overseas. If an employee is worth more than what they are making, let them leave their job to get that job that is going to give them more. If they can't get a better paying job, they should be happy that they have the highest wage/benefits package that they can find. When enough isn't enough, don't go on strike and push your job out of the country.
Try and do a non-union job in Boston and you'll find out!
My first experience with a union shop was bad. I was a new, naive engineer. I didn't know that the company I had hired out to was a union shop. Union for everyone but the engineers; somehow that was not mentioned in the employment interview. At any rate, on my first project, I had the audacity to move an oscilloscope from one bench to another so I could proceed with my project. Yikes, I almost started a strike!
Unions had their place and I am greatful for what they had accomplished, but really, I can't move an 'oscope? Make-work....for sure!
"New management style"...........yeah right. If anything, many of "them" are _smarter_ at CTA (Covering _Their_ Ass). "They" require you to sign papers (CTA) stating that you will abide by the safety rules....bla, bla, bla, thus, releasing _them_ (and the _real_ beneficiary, the insurance company) from liability, yet the unwritten rule is that you're expected to break those safety rules........if you want to keep your job, don't ya know. Try asking a non-union contractor to see an MSDS sometime.......and see how long you remain employed by that contractor.
Get a clue........in order to use PPE, it has to be AVAILABLE. Go ahead, try to get a pair of HV gloves from a non-union contractor..............HAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA, ROTFLMAO. And the face shield...........you're _way_ tooooooooooo funny! Good thing I wasn't drinking coffee.
_Exactly_ the motive behind the "unwritten" rules. The ones who are willing to break the safety rules are the ones who keep their jobs.
There you have it! You just answered your original post. That kind of crap would _never_ happen in a Union shop.......nor would a union employee fear being fired for asking for one. Your "solution" is to get another job when all the rest of the non-union contractors are pulling the same crap? So, what you're _really_ telling me is to go get a _Union_ job!
Until OSHA comes along and slaps your company with a $300,000 fine. Having employees work in an unsafe manner is false economy. That doesn't even address what a lawyer could do to you. Ask Union Carbide how much they saved by ignoring safety rules.
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