Let's have an intelligent discussion about unions
Anyone got any good Labor Union Posters? Both old & new would be nice. Need some for my collection.
I wholeheartedly support unions on a national level befcause they are one of the few tools we have to fight against capitalists, but it is true that unions vary wildly from state to state and county to county.
Some unions are genuinely good and try to help their workers by constantly pushing for new deals and not being afraid to strike (like my local union which has been going strong for a long time now), but other unions I know of in nearby counties are massive good ole boys club that are very cliquey/exclusionary and will bend over for corporate interests at the drop of a hat.
Was about to make a thread like this. Right now I work an unionized asbestos job when not attending college. I'd like to join the asbestos removal branch of the local insulation union just because I'm a. majoring in Philosophy so would only be able to teach and dont want to get jerked around for like 15 years before getting a stable job with any kind of decent pay and benefits b. would rather work a trade than in the cesspit of academia c. would probably be able to do more to advance the cause of poor and workers in a union than in a classroom. But I dont know yet, of course people will tell me I'm wasting my time since I'm le ebin college graduate but it seems liks a union job is the better option by far.
I met a Canadian plumber while I was studying in Ghana and he said every few years he would just take off a year to travel and tho the union wasnt required to take him back when he returned they always had. Idk if thats an exceptional situation he had set up but it sounded really incredible. $50/hour, full benefits, and being able to leave for long periods with a reasonable expectation of being rehired sounds too good to be true for this burger that gets $10 an hour doing miserable labor and acquiring mesothelioma
I'd love to, please peg me with any and all questions.
Largely my gripe is that they don't seem to have much for work and consistently lie to their member base about what they have so won't jump ship during slow periods. My local has a bad reputation tho it's possible things are better in other parts of the country.
Among other things they seem incapable of negotiating with their contractors, there's zero reciprocity on that end, we man their jobs, work half the year, aren't eligible for pension benefits and these guys make off with millions. It's a broken system.
I think the pay rate for journeymen where I am is like 28, the full package is 46. Most jobs don't give full rate however our contractors like to dick us around.
mine literally told me that they exist to make money for their contractors.
A few questions:
1. How racially integrated is your union? Historically, a lot of unions have had trouble with this.
2. How political are the union's members? I assume the leadership is almost exclusively liberal, but do the rank and file adhere to that line?
3. What do you think could feasibly be changed within the union to improve it?
you'll like this user
1. racist af and getting sued for sexual harrassment. they make an effort to bring in some diversity but these guys get harrassed and exposed to harsher, differential treatment for sure. to be clear electricians are good in terms that they're fairly rational and the focus is to get the job done but there's still a lot of bullshit.
2. full of trump supporters, so they are shit. the leadership makes a nod here and there towards idpol issues but it's largely nominal, because of the closed incestuous work environment bad attitudes seem to get amplified.
3. everything, burn it to the ground and start over, complete cesspit, literally the reason unions get a bad name.
this man is a fucking hero and his presence in this life gives me some hope for this world.
How does that work, just normal price of service negotiations and the union agrees to charge less?
Sorry user im retarded, is the full package just what gets paid into pension and union dues and taxes? Whats the difference between pay rate and package?