Union Poll

Simple question for all you union men, the true believers not the extorted.

You happy with what your union dues have bought?

To a point. I made really good money being in the pipe fitters union. But they protected the lazy SOBs that worked right along side of me. I normally ran jobs and I would have a lazy SOB on the job and I would lay him off. But the union would just send him out on some other job.

That hasn't changed.

I belong to a Operating Engineer Union and overall I'm satisfied with the ROI I receive.

I don't know how it is for other unions, but our working and yearly dues can only be used for operational and administration expenses.

PAC contributions are for the political/legislative stuff and are completely voluntary.

I do not contribute to the PAC fund, and prefer to contribute to the candidates or legislative causes on my own accord.

Worked 12 years in the Plumbers Pipefitters Union. There were good points and bad. Some very talented and hardworking tradesman. Biggest gripe, besides union dues going directly to the liberal candidates, was the major raiding of our pension fund to build a huge hotel in Tampa, Florida. The hotel ended up costing close to 600 million dollars but was only appraised at a little over 300 million dollars when completed. The National Union board members were unable to pay back the pension funds and were brought up on charges. The local union members had an additional $2.00 per hour taken from our checks to replenish the money pilfered from OUR pensions for this boondoggle. Upset a lot of members at that time and for those that remained it still holds a bitter taste.

Chris

For the most part, yes. I don't agree with some of the things they fight for/about.

I never supported or voted for who they wanted elected.

Was in the Teamsters in Chicago 701 and 731 and steel workers, neither was worth anything just glorified insurance company with poor service.

Agree with Beav

The biggest plus I see is that we make a higher wage than the non union guys that work for the same company just in different locations. Also in our contract is a limit on the amount of hours they can force us to work in a day/week. We can voluntarily work more but they can’t force it. Like Bruce said I support and vote for my candidate of choice not theres

Yes. Am retired with 38 years of UMWA. I also don't vote for who they say to. Just to be clear I'm a Republician that has trouble spelling right. You guys have a save day. I'm headed to get shoulder surgery in about 30 minutes

464 for 5 years. They stole my retirement when I quit.

Unions no longer exist for the members. They exist for the union leaders!

I have not had many instances to receive protection from My union. I have received several settlements over the years over Contract Violations some Larger than others. My Local does its best to enforce the National Contract which was either agreed on by both partys or handed down by an neutral arbitrator due to an In pass. My dues Have payed for an Arbitrator to resolve Contract issues several times and I feel I got my moneys worth on that alone.

I Vote as I want to.

No !!!

Unions never did squat for me except steal my dues money,
and use it to elect Liberal Progressive Democrats

I deployed the Supreme Court's Janus Decision,
and opted out of my last union 1st chance I got.

Unions are a carbuncle on the arse of the working man !!!

w

If It wasn't for the unions you would all be working for $8.00 an hour.

At $8 per hour we could put India and China out of business and our products and services would be affordable maybe.

Never belonged to a union. Worked for a life insurance company for 15 years before retiring. About 10% of the agents belonged to a union. Only one of them was a decent producer. The others were complainers and always negative. Low production caused most to eliminate themselves.

But we'd be able to actually buy something with that 8.00....

They have a 10$ magazine you had to buy also?

The railroad union was strong when I started out and made a lot of great gains for the workers in health and safety,hours/pay/vacation,also job security and pensions/retirements as well as benefits.
When the workforce got pared back,the union did not have the strength in numbers like before,and the company started to take advantage right away every chance they could and try to pare back the gains made by the workers over the years.
Once this started it was like a cancer and more work was contracted out,the quality of the work was poor by the contract companys and the costs to the company rose because of the inferior maintenance.The contractors had no stake in the well being of the company like the union workers did.
To give an example,when I started we had a section gang of 6 men for 25 miles of track.The track and right of way was maintained to the highest standards and track defects were rare as problems were fixed before they deteriorated,
As the workforce was reduced it was down to 2 men for 80 miles of track-no heavy work could be done by 2 men,when a defect was found a slow order was placed and trains backed up until a work crew could be called in to make repairs.
After a while the track was so bad the trains were crawling along customers were lost to trucking and the whole thing went downhill.
Once the unions were weakened and the workforce gutted,it didnt take long before the infrastructure went all to pot and everything -service-profits went with it.
Glad I got out with a decent pension when I did-the way the company was being run by incompetent yes men made me agitated whenever I had to deal with management.

At least you got a magazine from NAFA if they forced you to pay $10.00.

With forced union dues, you didn't even get that.

Funny you should draw a parallel between NAFA and unions.

NAFA finally ran themselves out of business,

and unions are well on their way to self-destructing as well !!! LOL

w

My Teamsters rep came in for years he went and talked to the boss who was non union but never the union guys Did not know who he was we had words when I figured that.

When the mechanics were on strike we were told not to cross the picket line when asked if they would give us strike pay (was not much) they said no. We asked what we paid dews for then, they said you pay dues to work there!

Really? This high school dropout averages 75/hr. But then again I am management, and labor.

And bread would be a nickel a loaf.

Don't bet on It.

There are very few if any union meat cutters left i havnt noticed any reduction in cost there

At one time, Unions were needed and they saved the workin man. On both sides of my family, they was all coal Miners. My Great Gpa struck in the 20's and thirties and my kin is still striking as of last year anyhow and helped give bloody Harlan it's name.

But, Unions, just like most things, wavered from truth and got corrupt and greedy. Why, human nature I reckon and putting Democrats in office. Unions today imo, are nothing more then another arm for the Democratic party to stay in office. Keepin p*** poor Teachers teachin our youngin's and p*** poor cops on the job that give the good ones a bad name.

Baloney

Had a buddy that worked a non union railroad job for a mine.
His wages were good,a little better than union,but he had to work when they said.
He did not have the choice to refuse work above and beyond his regular hours.The company used their workforce to make up for not hiring as many people.He was working on the trains up to 80 hours a week-the money was good-that was not the issue-he could not get hardly any time off.His marriage failed,he wound up losing the job thru the divorce,and was on the skids for a while.Once he got straightened out he came back to the union RR job he left years before and did very well for himself.
He always felt he was used by the non union mining company and felt like a slave-even though the money was good-he had no life.

I can clearly see where capitalism and the free market was the demise of true family values and structure in Canada, some don't see it.

Cause of the unions many aren't working at all.
I know lots of mfg. places that left cause the unions wouldn't bargain. Now there is no work for any wage.

If unions would work with management they would add value to having a union. As it is having a union is a downside for management.

If unions were smart they would offer to handle all the employee issues from hiring to firing. They should work on training employees, hiring good people, firing bad employees. This would let management wash their hands of employee issues. Something they would rather not deal with. In this scenario the unions would be adding value to a company and could get away with even higher wages for qualified hard working employees instead of fighting to keep the bad.

I put 40 years in the Steelworkers Union.We needed Unions back in the day.Its because of Unions that there is safety in the work place today,weekends,time off with pay.etc.The shop I worked at,,my Dad actualy got the Union in there back in 1946.He was fresh out of the Marines.Company would pay no overtime no matter how many hours worked.Would tell a guy don't show up for work Friday,,but we need you here all day Saturday or sunday.for straight pay.No time off for illness or a sick child.No vacation ,zero concerne for the safety of the worker.Unions battled to remedy all that.BUT,,there came a time later in my working years when the Unions started to NOT fight for the rank and file working man.Union Staff became lazy and didn't want to make waves as long as their Union Staff retirement was stable.I had it out with several staff "leaders" towards the end.I was shop steward in our mill for the last 35 of my 40 years there,,and several times had to straighten things out with our headquarters in Pittsburgh because of local Staff not willing to fight for the workers.They got lazy and were more concerned with themselves.All in all,,I have a lot to thank the union for.I made a decent living and have a good pension.

TRUE STORY!

I had a foreman who once told me the only thing worse than a union was not having a union.In my work experiences that was very,very true.

The president of the barbers union was living well in South America off of the Union money he robbed from the workers.

I have worked for a few unions and along side more than I care to count. I didn't mind the pay but the benefits and such weren't the best. Working with guys who didn't want to work was terrible. Did work with some really good guys and hard working as well. Working along side many in the nuke plants I realized very fast why the cost of electricity is so (This word is unacceptable on Trapperman) high. I had to rely on them to get work done. Always had to work along side a plant employee while in the plant. What I found was that I usually got about 3 hours worth of work done if it were and 8 hours shift. Example: Get to work at 630. Go to the morning brief at 7 which usually last a half hour or more. Wouldn't go to the floor because break was at 915 and lasted until 945. Got the the floor about 1015 and would have to leave at 1130 because of lunch. 1245 get back up to the floor and have to come down again at 230 so the guys could finish any little paperwork ( which I normally did while working) and take a shower. Out the door at 330. Now if I did that I would be fired and their bosses would have a fit. But that's the contract. Some Union stewards are the worst because they go through the contracts with a fine tooth come and figure out every little loophole. That's just some of my experiences

That was every day at every plant across the country.

Now my grandfather worked for the railroad and made a very good living. Very good pension and benefits. But I also know that the railroad always got their monies worth out of him and his crews as well.

I'm In MEBA (Marine Engineers Beneficial Association). We get pretty good insurance and good wages, slightly less than others in the marine industry but that is normal for the great lakes My company can hire directly, not thru the union hall so we get pretty good people. The union's politics are left of most of the members that I know they will not hesitate to support or endorse a Republican who supports the Merchant Marine and Jones Act. Over all I'm pretty happy with the union and feel I get a better deal then I would at the few non-union companies in this industry.

I worked in the UMWA for 7 years, then in non union mines for the next 30 years. The big selling point for union organizers for many years was the UMWA pension fund and health card for retirees. Both funds ran out of money, and they ran to the Feds to bail them out. I retired from the non union mines at age 54, with plenty of money saved as well a million dollars in a 401 k. The UMWA pension benefits would have been a fraction of what my 401 k was worth.

The UMWA is dying on the vine.

Sheet metal union here. The lazy slobs in our trade couldn't find steady employment once they went through enough contractors. They wind up leaving the trade and looking for a new line of work. No protection. Union only gave us school, a good wage, and insurance. The rest is up to us. Kinda like the NFL. Only as good as your last day of work.

Lol

Was in the teamsters for a bit while working for UPS. This was back during the time of the strike in the 90's as a part time worker the UPs offer would have helped much more then what the union wanted. I was injured on the job ( blew out l4 & L5 disks) at 24 years old, when I went to the union the guy who couldn't even see his shoes ( ever notice that union boss couldn't ever do any of the work that the folks they represent do? ) Looked me rite in the eyes and told me to make sure my dues were up to date each month and wished me good luck dealing with the company because the union didn't involve it"s self it workers comp issues. I told him not to hold his breath waiting on my dues.

My grandfather was a sawer in the lumber mills and was never union although my uncles all were, Gpa made more then they did and his non union mill is the only one still in operation. My uncles would go on strike and loose $$ and when it was finally settled they would work the whole contract to make back the money they lost while out on strike. Could never figure out that way of thinking

I have had several friends who worked for various unions. They all had impressive collections of power tools. I am relatively certain they would not have been able to produce even one sales receipt. They were also profligate scrappers. The most egregious thing I ever saw was a truckload of new stainless flanges headed for the scrapyard.

Admittedly it is a pitifully small sample size. I am sure there are honest union members too. My observations would explain why it would cost 600 million to build a 300 million dollar hotel and why a new pickup costs as much as a house.

I worked in the construction industry 32 years as a union Ironworker. Retired comfortably with great health insurance benefits that included my wife, before I turned 58. In the unionized construction industry you soon find out if you got any sense, you show up sober, on time, and ready to work. If you aren't able to do that, then you soon find yourself unemployed. A union is only as good or strong as the members want it to be. These facts are drilled into our apprentice 's and journeyman for the reason that the contractor that you work for has to make money on the job he bid or he goes out of business. If he goes out of business,it's one less contractor you're able to go to work for. As far as the local " union bosses " go, they are elected every 3 years by the membership and make the same wages per hour as the members working in the field.
There is a big difference between unions at the local level and the particular crafts International level,that supposedly directs them what to do as far as backing a political candidate. This particular point has become very heated when the democratic candidates started leening towards restricting firearms,and illegal immigration. Our local bucked our International and would not endorse or give money to candidates that didn't support our views on these 2 subjects. To say the least, we weren't exactly the most popular kids on the block when they found out. Wonder if any of you saw the episode when sleezy Joe was sticking a finger in the construction workers chest in Michigan when he was confronted about taking people's guns. Must of been a millwright or laborer. If it had been a ironworker the fight would have been on and rightly so.
There is a big difference between construction unions and closed shop unions. Construction work is only 7% unionized in this country now days. Unionized plants probably don't represent much more than that either. The political clout they once enjoyed is long gone.
As far as a union backing a political candidate, you can suggest to a member how to vote, but that member is the only one in the polling booth at the time. Enough of this. Did you know safe drivers save 40% ?

Well said White Trash 88.

Seen many show up and end up carrying their lunchbox back out the gate for lack of performance over the years.

Lol, I've never known one "union member" who ever got gone after they got into the union for lack of performance. Heck, look at teachers lol. You and 88 have them there rose colored glasses. Bucking the international lol.

Sure dum#$ lol.

Ive never seen the union save someone job, by the time they get fired no one wants to sail with them anyway.

I share the same experience as these two.^^^

When you get it through your head that as long as the boss makes money you do too... You send non-hackers packing. You want those wages and benefits? Earn them.

Mike

Tool

On the railroad you had 120 days to prove yourself to the company before you got in the union.
During that 120 days you could be fired for any or even no reason,and the union agreed to that.
Any slackers on a section gang would be taken care of by the men on the gang.It just wasn't tolerated.You pulled your weight or you wouldnt like working there.

Great band. I really like their song 46 and 2.

I bet 88 can relate lol.

You getting enough fiber in your diet? Iol

You getting enough forced nonsense in yours, lol. Tool??? A hee hee a haw haw haw.....

Sheetmetal union. X2 what he stated

I was a Teamster before I retired. Never did much as far as I was concerned. Oh wait they gave me a fake diamond pin when I retired. I do not think that local even exists anymore.

over the years I have seen good an bad union's , I have witness first hand where a boss pick out one man an tried to make a example out of him , a good worker ,steady worker ,never cause any problem's , an if it wasn't for myself ,the man would have been fired , now my wife's union is terrible , they don't even have meeting ,the last 6 years they got a Nickle raise total

Unions like to demonize business owners. When given the chance to run a business of there own they have no clue what there doing.

One place where I worked elected me to represent the Dept.where I was stationed.The previous guy had moved and nobody wanted it,I was new and didn't want it either.When the union official started laying out the proposals for the up coming contract one of them was for the elimination of a couple of positions.He explained that the unions position was eliminating them would mean extra dollars per hour for everybody.One of those positions was mine!I listened,amazed,as he explained these jobs would probably be eliminated sooner or later anyway and the goal was to see that the money saved boosted the existing workers earnings.I couldn't believe I was paying dues for a union that was fast tracking the elimination of my job.

Now...YES. Some unions in the past...NO Unions aren't all created the same.

The worst was the Ford plant. Like Beav said..and worse.

UAW member but real tempted to withdraw. Like others have said, they protect the worthless, and benefit the leaders. The good workers they sacrifice.

i am disappointed. i didn't even get a nibble.

That's because union or not, we all know those guys.

So you just gave an example of unions not protecting useless jobs/workers.

I can tell you that the teacher's unions have been terrible for education; they've made our public school system into a liberal indoctrination.

And on a personal note, one of my sons was a college flight instructor and of course a member of the union. He ran for state representative as a republican and the union took his union dues and gave them to his opponent's campaign.

The major problem with unions, (I have retired from one been in 2) is that there is no way they can run YOUR union / business. Union members elect leaders from the membership. They are members that lobby for the position while being on the EMPLOYERS payroll. From my experience they are the ones that can't cut it working but have the silver tongues They don't have business experience or accounting or any other trained management skills. They spend money like a drunk sailor, new pick ups, fancy offices and on and on. Much more benefits than any other union member gets. They also are usually on a lot OF OVERTIME! When there isn't enough of YOUR money for the earned retirement fund they go to Uncle Sam and passes laws making the signatory employers responsible for their mis management of YOUR MONEY!

I know of 2 second generation construction related businesses that have closed their doors and a couple more still operating that cant sell because the withdrawal liability owed the union (MILLIONS) is more than what they could get in a sale for their businesses. Even though each month each one of them paid the benefit dollars to the retirement fund.

The big question that needs to be answered.... WHO CAME FIRST...THE EMPLOYER OR THE UNION...AND WHO DO YOU WORK FOR....AND WHO NEEDS TO MAKE A PROFIT?

It cost me dearly to pay to withdraw and was the best thing I ever did before I was like others companies here!!!!!

I believe Unions of the past brought about the fair labor laws we have today. But, I wouldn’t belong to a Union now if they paid me. We have lost a little something every year I’ve been with the company. All my unions dues bought me was a Chic-Fil-A sandwich the first Tuesday of every month. Unions now are just a money making scheme. I have to work with our local president. He is “allowed” off 180 days for union time, plus his regular vacation, and this year due to virus, the company allowed 4 weeks paid time off. He takes advantage of it all. So basically 8 months out of the year we have to cover for him. He “claims” it’s not his work, but the companies, even though he was hired for that specific job. I wouldn’t urinate on him if he was on fire. Even our “union” members can’t stand him. He was “elected” by the women downtown instead of the actual workers.

[


So you just gave an example of unions not protecting useless jobs/workers.[/quote]
Nobody brought up the Canadian Railway System

The other thing I noticed about union workers was their near universal belief that they could "run" the company without management. That is as nonsensical as management claiming that a labor force is superfluous. Surely I will get a nibble now.