union

[mark4561]

give me some feed back on thought's of union's, have chance to get in and wonder the good and bad with them? thx all for your input with the trailer Idea's.

[beamwalker]

good money and benifits but stay out of the politics

[MAC702]

Funny you should mention unions this week. As mentioned, there's good and bad involved.

Read the current thread at www.millermotorsports.com/mboard.

[aametalmaster]

I am a USW union member...Bob

[Darmik]

union

Every morning dont forget to put armor on your back

[HMW]

here's my 2 cents worth. I have worked in a union and now am manegment. There is good and bad. Collective bargaining is good for benefits and pay however there are some draw backs. One, a poor worker gets paid the same as a good one, no matter how well you do your not going to make more than the slacker. Also it seems to me the unions take up for the poor performer and does very little for the excellant worker. So...If a good union job was avaliable to me with good pay and benefits, I'd do it again. Just keep in my mind the down sides. If you have a good, fair employeer you don't need a union.

[JonnyTIG]

I agree with Beamwalker, stay out of the politics. Unions have their place, and they genrally get the worker better benifits and wages, but they can protect workers that do not perform. I belong to the International Machinist's and Aerospace Workers Union, local 99. I have worked for many non-union companies, and have never had any issues, however, unions and management have their battles, and it can be hard to stay out of the bullxxxx. I went on strike two years ago supporting my union and brothers. The strike ended @ six weeks and cost me over $4000. It took over a year to make that money back, and the stupid thing is we didn't get much for the whole thing.

[Leons2003]

Many yrs. back the hands at Shell Deerpark,Tx went on strike, took, I think, two yrs to settle, I would think it would be no chance to recover from that.
L*S

[Winger Ed.]

With many of the new safety and labor laws, unions are somewhat obsolete in certain aspects. However, they still manage to get better pay & benifits also.

Here in the South, we don't really have the classic union shops/jobs. We don't have many mines, we don't have alot of companies employing thousands of people doing skilled or semi-skilled labor. So, we also don't have a real, real high percentage of our population as union members either.

We do have trade unions though. Welders, Plumbers, Pipe Fitters, Electricians, etc. The union guys tend do to get more money-- if and when they work.

The big companies that hire union tradesmen also look on the unions as a big, giant temp. labor force. They call when they have a job, the union folks are laid off when the work is done.

The employers and employees have no loyalty to each other.

No company will take a (almost) unprofitable job to keep union tradesmen working like they will for 'thier own' people when things slow down. This is done frequently to keep thier crews from moving off or finding other jobs. That way, when a good/big project comes along, they'll still have the crews they've worked with for years to do it.

Not so for a company that relies on the trade unions here.
When they get work, they call the union hall to have so many tradesmen come to work. When the job is done, they all shake hands and say 'good-bye'.

I know union guys that have gotten another job right away sometimes,,,,,
other times, its several months.

Others--
(and perhaps my big gripe with being a union member is being pigon-holed.)
Once you're in a union job somewhere,,,,, you darn near can't get out of it.
You can't get promoted, and you can't work with other crews to learn or do anything else...... even if you want to.


That solid concept/mindset of 'union good' or 'union bad'----
and don't confuse me with any facts isn't very realistic anymore.

The area and industry you're in has everything to do with if its the right place for you nowdays.


.

[sjmiller]

Unions, so******m in free enterprise

Been there - done that, won't go back. That being said - if the union shop you are thinking about joining offers a good training program to advance your skills - do it with your eyes wide open.

What I mean by eyes wide open - once in the union, people that can't strike an arc or make a weld will get paid more then you and will get better jobs - because they have seniority. The worse they are on the job the more likley they will become shop stewards or business agents.

Steve

[Bert]

Well said everyone!!!!!! I couldn't agree more!!!!
I'm still new, only been in 11/2 years in the Union. As an apprentice, I'm been doing glass work on the new high rises in Waikiki. Job is almost pau (finished), so I'm waiting to see what kind of welding company I get to work for next. I'm at step 5, so I will be expected to know a lot...NOT!!! I'm sure I'll be chewed out constantly, something you will experience yourself...all- day-long....Hard to find journeyman that CAN actually teach!! Lot of them THINK they can, but have no idea what teaching is...My goal was 1 year to experience it. I have no problem working for a private compay, less pay, but I 'll learn a lot more welding...I have friends in other unions (pipefitters) and they LOVE IT. Lucky to have great bosses....try it out and good luck,
bert