Topic: Labor Unions

[billybobobrain]

Sorry for the Generalizations, I realize there are several union, I could take a lot of space, and be very specific.But I have to say also I know my opinion is very one sided. I have fired a lot of people, the hiring process is a very slippery Slope. some of the most well spoken and well dressed interviewers turned out to be the biggest crooks. In all I have hired and fired over fifty people, included in the firing was two good friends and one brother. Money and employment seem to have there own rules for ethics. You may think you know someone, try hiring them a completely different side will come out, they may have a sense of entitlement to your money, they wont care about you or your family any more, and they will become very greedy. Over the course of my life I have hired and fired three of my brothers. The last one I caught embellishing his time card, when I asked him to explain to me why he thought he could wright down an additional 7 hours in one day and 28 extra hours over the week, (he by the way was working side by side with me) he said "well I guess that was a little excessive. It has been over a year now and I still have a hitch about going to see him, I don't know if it will ever go away.

Maybe I was just hiring the wrong people, but it has opened my eyes to the other side of the coin. I wont boycott union labor. I just wont work with them.

For all of you good hard working union people, I think the world is a better place because of you. Keep it up.

For all of you idiots who think the world owes you a living piss off I hope you get fired.

"Ask not what your country can do for you, Ask what you can do for your country." J.F.K.

[Freaky1]

I'm a truck driver here in Colorado and was a union driver. When I was in the union (Teamster 435) the drivers were the best, the screening process was very difficult to get through. The company lowered it standards and we got some poor drivers, they were outcast by the older union guys for not taking their job seriously. Other locations in the company were non union and when the company needed to cut corners they didn't lay off any management people, they cut healthcare funding and 401k contributions. I have since left for other reasons and non union driver jobs in this town pay maybe 2/3 what that job paid and the benefits are despicable. Those who think unions can go don't understand what big companies who have no idea what some of their employees jobs are WILL do to those employees when they need to cut corners.

[Caaveman82]

Caaveman- bad example, using Best Buy.  I'd like to see them go bankrupt, right after they pay me the $800. for a TV they sold me that was bad and won't except it back.  Got it home and found the LCD screen cracked, so when I tried to return it the next day, they accused me of breaking it.  In researching them, I found that they are infamous for these and other practices that leave the consumer holding the bag.  Just Google them and any other electronics chain, and you'll see there are no websites dedicated against any of the other chains, but some that are against Best Buy.

Rant over.  We now return you to the regularly scheduled thread, already in progress.

I know they are a horrible retail store, they are also a horrible employer, that is the point I was trying to make. I've also had problems with best buy, luckily I live near the corporate headquarters, so it's easy for me to go in and make a stink.

[Caaveman82]

I will say that for a lot of my recent years I have others been elf employees or a business owner, I have always worked very hard long hours without complaint. It may be that I only see the union side of things that get media attention, for example strikes. I have lived in a world were the harder and longer I worked the more money I make and I can't understand why an employee who is getting payed (my opinion) more than they are worth can go on strike for more money and actually have a job when they get back. I paid my employees very well, in return they lied to me and stole from me, complained that they needed more money! We are talking about 30.00+ an hour. It has been my experience that in a union you can make a lot more than that. But in the non union world you can work more hours not get layer off and make just as much if not more.
    Having said all that I think that the union WAS good but just like everything it can be corrupted. The union has been corrupted. Not the people who work in the union, but the organization in the union. Please don't assume that I'm naive, I have looked into unions in the past, I have worked with people in the union, I have close friends and relatives in the union, and I have interviewed people in the union. I will not ever agree withthe union. If you force wage increase you force cost increase, therefore you force price increase, and finally force inflation. Again this is how I see it. My opinion. I mean no disrespect to others especially my friends on this site. Just my opinion.

I've been at my job now for two years. The owner constantly tells me what an awesome job I am doing and how much he appreciates having me around. I put in more hours than anyone here in the shop including him. Since I have started here I have taken it upon myself to learn every job. In two years I have learned how to opperate a CNC lathe inside and out, maintain, and repair it. I've learned how to paint, powder coat, tig/mig weld, how to properly blast stuff, and how to fix every piece of equipment in the shop and I do on a regular basis. In addition I have also learned all of the office duties, which realistically I shouldn't even touch, but I do it any way because everyone here is a loafing piece of crap. Guess what?

I have no health, dental, nothing. I get 5 days UNPAID vacation a year. How much would you think I make? Fifteen bucks an hour. Some would say that's your fault for sticking around. Well guess what? Not a lot of work for a guy who repairs wheels out there. I am going to school and trying to get myself out of this mess, but I can only go as fast as the classes let me.

I've never stole a thing. I bust my @$$ harder than anyone in this shop and while everyone else is getting dollar raises, he's giving me fifty freakin cents.

My point in all of this is, not all small business owners are as fair as you say you are. I am not calling you a lair, I am just saying that for every guy like you, there is a guy like me.

[CrisPDuk]

Here in the UK, the fact that the current General Secretary of our largest general workers union will get to live, free of charge, in a £600,000+ house for the rest of his life (as will his widow if she survives him), tells me all I need to know about Unions I'm afraid

[Bob Wessner]

Bingo! I have no position one way or the other, but there are three viewpoints, the worker, the business/employer and the union and lets not forget the union is a business.

[mick750F]

Here in the UK, the fact that the current General Secretary of our largest general workers union will get to live, free of charge, in a £600,000+ house for the rest of his life (as will his widow if she survives him), tells me all I need to know about Unions I'm afraid

   Well that's just not right. Nobody should have that kind of deal...unless everybody does. I don't know much about unions outside the US, okay I know nothing about unions outside the US, but the point I was trying to make in earlier posts is that ALL unions are not the same. The union I was in earlier in my life was raft with corruption as opposed to the one I'm now in which really isn't. I DO believe that some unions have become too powerful. Too powerful to the point that they are as much of the problem as the employers they righteously fight against. Jeebers...I'll probably get hung up by my thumbs for spouting such blasphemy. 

Mike

[mick750F]

Sorry for the Generalizations, I realize there are several union, I could take a lot of space, and be very specific.But I have to say also I know my opinion is very one sided. I have fired a lot of people, the hiring process is a very slippery Slope. some of the most well spoken and well dressed interviewers turned out to be the biggest crooks. In all I have hired and fired over fifty people, included in the firing was two good friends and one brother. Money and employment seem to have there own rules for ethics. You may think you know someone, try hiring them a completely different side will come out, they may have a sense of entitlement to your money, they wont care about you or your family any more, and they will become very greedy. Over the course of my life I have hired and fired three of my brothers. The last one I caught embellishing his time card, when I asked him to explain to me why he thought he could wright down an additional 7 hours in one day and 28 extra hours over the week, (he by the way was working side by side with me) he said "well I guess that was a little excessive. It has been over a year now and I still have a hitch about going to see him, I don't know if it will ever go away.

Maybe I was just hiring the wrong people, but it has opened my eyes to the other side of the coin. I wont boycott union labor. I just wont work with them.

For all of you good hard working union people, I think the world is a better place because of you. Keep it up.

For all of you idiots who think the world owes you a living piss off I hope you get fired.

"Ask not what your country can do for you, Ask what you can do for your country." J.F.K.

  Yikes! A slippery slope indeed hiring friends and relatives. For the most part, IMO...friends, relatives and work aren't a good combination. Yes there are exceptions...I've worked for and with one of my best friends many times over the years...and we are still best of friends. There are other friends who I wouldn't even consider working with/for. A social or family relationship is a much different animal than a work relationship.

   Good luck with your business and on your relationship with your brother.

Mike