SteveR
Moderator Emeritus
- Joined
- Jul 1, 2005
- Messages
- 2,811
I have worked on both sides of the union and I can tell you it was pure hell to be a young supervisor in a union shop trying to make medical products. The union was the Teamsters and they were entrenched and arrogant. I was forced to spent far more time trying to comply with the union contract than I did tying to assure we met federal laws. My experience taught me to NEVER work in that environment again. After wasting 5 years of my life in that climate I got out and never went back. The plant folded up a couple of years after I left due to their inability to move fast enough to compete and because their costs were too high.
I ran into a former union steward a few years later. He was on of the most arrogant pricks you could ever meet. He used to threaten non-union laboratory chemists with trashing their cars or physical harm. I had on pretty vocal guy that worked for me that would not join the union. He had some words with the steward and when he left to go home, found that his car had been trashed. The ensuing altercation left my employee on the street without a job while the union steward walked away scott free. His new job? Wrking at the 7-11 on the night shift. I got some small amout of satisfaction from his lot in life.
I see a need to keep a balance between worker rights and running a successful business. The companies I have worked for since were very good to their employees (hourly anyway) and did a lot to avoid the kind of issues that create the desire for unions. If a company does what it can to give employees a decent work environment with employment and promotions based on performance and experience and they provide a means to resolve management issues then there is very little reason for a person to want to pay a chunck of their check to some slick talking union.
Unions are a business too. They don't provide their "sevices" for free and their officials are always looking for ways to expand the business.
I for one am very glad I don't have to manage people in a union environment. It was however, very educational for me as a young supervior right out of college. It is a shame that some industries cannot conduct themselves in a manner that prevents the need to them. It is also a shame that some union members see their membership as a ticket to cheating the company out of a fair day's work for a fair day's pay. Abuse of any system will eventually cause cracks to form and the collapse of that system. Just my 2 cents adjusted for inflation.
I ran into a former union steward a few years later. He was on of the most arrogant pricks you could ever meet. He used to threaten non-union laboratory chemists with trashing their cars or physical harm. I had on pretty vocal guy that worked for me that would not join the union. He had some words with the steward and when he left to go home, found that his car had been trashed. The ensuing altercation left my employee on the street without a job while the union steward walked away scott free. His new job? Wrking at the 7-11 on the night shift. I got some small amout of satisfaction from his lot in life.
I see a need to keep a balance between worker rights and running a successful business. The companies I have worked for since were very good to their employees (hourly anyway) and did a lot to avoid the kind of issues that create the desire for unions. If a company does what it can to give employees a decent work environment with employment and promotions based on performance and experience and they provide a means to resolve management issues then there is very little reason for a person to want to pay a chunck of their check to some slick talking union.
Unions are a business too. They don't provide their "sevices" for free and their officials are always looking for ways to expand the business.
I for one am very glad I don't have to manage people in a union environment. It was however, very educational for me as a young supervior right out of college. It is a shame that some industries cannot conduct themselves in a manner that prevents the need to them. It is also a shame that some union members see their membership as a ticket to cheating the company out of a fair day's work for a fair day's pay. Abuse of any system will eventually cause cracks to form and the collapse of that system. Just my 2 cents adjusted for inflation.
). You may want to pick up a couple Spanish/English translators while you're at it.
