UAW on strike in Detroit
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From: Iowa
The union is a one way street that only benefits the employees[/QUOTE]
Sure, as the owner of a company that employs union people, I hate the fact that our people go through apprenticeship training, attend OSHA classes, have to attend Journeyman upgrade classes, etc. Man, that would irritate any business owner. HUH?
I could sub-contract labor, and have tried that on occasion years ago. It didn't work very well for me.
Sure, as the owner of a company that employs union people, I hate the fact that our people go through apprenticeship training, attend OSHA classes, have to attend Journeyman upgrade classes, etc. Man, that would irritate any business owner. HUH?
I could sub-contract labor, and have tried that on occasion years ago. It didn't work very well for me.
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From: Houston
Originally Posted by Stealth
It's the compay who lets the union in. A company benefits by hiring union represented workers.
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From: Houston
Originally Posted by Labnerd
I have a high school bud that works for GM. He gets up everyday, Monday thru Friday, and goes to work just like you and I. But there is a difference. Wade makes close to $100,000.00 a year. All day long he plays computer games and cards with the other guys at the now closed factory. The union won't let GM fire them. He would love to find another job but there aren't any with his qualifications. Detroit is dying. Home values have dropped dramatically- my stepson just sold his house in Detroit and lost $45,000.00 which he will have to pay off. Hospitalization is grossly out of sight due to the union and the medical field knows the union is going to pay. His aunt has a brain tumor growing and her cost of just the exam tripled from Texas to Detroit. While the union was a necessary evolution it has become an evil evolution. The unions at one time were the savior of the working man but it has become the downfall of this society. It's called greed and the unions just want more. I'm glad I live in an open shop state. FWIW, line workers in San Antonio are making about $17.00 with benefits but don't miss a day or your job is gone. Toyota won't put up with any lazy slackers, as it should be.
My friend got married this weekend and his family flew in from Detroit. They were amazed at the number of people shopping in the store's and how well the Houston economy is doing. She was telling me they are in bad shape as Ford employee's are forced to stay home for sometimes 2 weeks at a time because they have no work.
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From: Iowa
These posts from all over the U.S. and Canada are very interesting. I have heard the horror stories about Chicago, and can believe they are very true. Locally the contractors that did the negotiating with the unions for many years fought hard to keep wages in line. The wage rates in Des Moines are much less than Minneapolis or Kansas City, so I have had descent experience being a union shop. It's not perfect, but it works. Could I adapt and be non union? Sure, but it isn't broken here, so I don't need to fix it.
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From: Georgia on my mind...
Originally Posted by Stealth
A company benefits by hiring union represented workers.
Unions aren't there to benefit the company. If they were, the Big Three wouldn't be trying like hell to be rid of 'em.
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From: Metro Detroit
Originally Posted by Labnerd
I have a high school bud that works for GM. He gets up everyday, Monday thru Friday, and goes to work just like you and I. But there is a difference. Wade makes close to $100,000.00 a year. All day long he plays computer games and cards with the other guys at the now closed factory. The union won't let GM fire them. He would love to find another job but there aren't any with his qualifications. Detroit is dying. Home values have dropped dramatically- my stepson just sold his house in Detroit and lost $45,000.00 which he will have to pay off. Hospitalization is grossly out of sight due to the union and the medical field knows the union is going to pay. His aunt has a brain tumor growing and her cost of just the exam tripled from Texas to Detroit. While the union was a necessary evolution it has become an evil evolution. The unions at one time were the savior of the working man but it has become the downfall of this society. It's called greed and the unions just want more. I'm glad I live in an open shop state. FWIW, line workers in San Antonio are making about $17.00 with benefits but don't miss a day or your job is gone. Toyota won't put up with any lazy slackers, as it should be.
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From: Windsor, Ont.
Originally Posted by Turbo77
Nope... comes from someone who's worked for a global non-union CNC manufacturer and has had to work with unionized customers where it takes 3hrs to change a 1.5' length of hydraulic hose. Had to wait ~45mins for the shop steward (to tell him what I was gonna do)... another hour for an electrician and a plumber (cause I had to shut the CNC down and disconnect a coolant system)... 1/2hr for the machine operator... 5mins to change the hose, and then another 20 or so mins to fill out paperwork. 
Or how about someone who's worked numerous times with the plumbers, electricians, carpenters and riggers at major places like McCormick Place in Chicago (IMTS & NPE)... you know... where the lead man yells "Riggers... LUNCH" and they literally drop what they're doing. Or in my case, left a 15k lb., $90k IMM robot sitting ~20' in the air for an hour as I sat watching it slowly creep to the floor cause the fork truck had a "small leak"...
I may not understand the in's and out's of your precious unions, but I've worked with enough union guys to have a bad taste permanently left in my mouth. Don't get me wrong, most union guys themselves are really cool (went out drinking with the bunch from Chicago... they paid!), it's the unions I dislike.
Or how about someone who's worked numerous times with the plumbers, electricians, carpenters and riggers at major places like McCormick Place in Chicago (IMTS & NPE)... you know... where the lead man yells "Riggers... LUNCH" and they literally drop what they're doing. Or in my case, left a 15k lb., $90k IMM robot sitting ~20' in the air for an hour as I sat watching it slowly creep to the floor cause the fork truck had a "small leak"...
I may not understand the in's and out's of your precious unions, but I've worked with enough union guys to have a bad taste permanently left in my mouth. Don't get me wrong, most union guys themselves are really cool (went out drinking with the bunch from Chicago... they paid!), it's the unions I dislike.
Tell me Ford doesn't have money to **** away when h-mo's like Taylor Hicks are in their ads? They coulda paid me to "work" another year with what they paid him to do that crappy ad, this bieng one example. How about weekly flights ol' Mark Fields was taking to FL to see his family, company paid of course. He looked like a fu<king deer in the headlights when called on that trick, move the fam here to Michigan, or is it too cold? B O O- H O O.
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Originally Posted by BLUE20004X4
This is what I mean, one instance gives us all bad names. Ya, the stupid asses who will bitch to hear themselves ruin it for everyone however, this is the case everywhere, not just unions. It's called "people". The actual "union" is a sound idea, how it's carried out and ideals that were constructed can go either way. Like anything else, you gotta weed out the good from the bad, no?
Tell me Ford doesn't have money to **** away when h-mo's like Taylor Hicks are in their ads? They coulda paid me to "work" another year with what they paid him to do that crappy ad, this bieng one example. How about weekly flights ol' Mark Fields was taking to FL to see his family, company paid of course. He looked like a fu<king deer in the headlights when called on that trick, move the fam here to Michigan, or is it too cold? B O O- H O O.
Tell me Ford doesn't have money to **** away when h-mo's like Taylor Hicks are in their ads? They coulda paid me to "work" another year with what they paid him to do that crappy ad, this bieng one example. How about weekly flights ol' Mark Fields was taking to FL to see his family, company paid of course. He looked like a fu<king deer in the headlights when called on that trick, move the fam here to Michigan, or is it too cold? B O O- H O O.
Of course Unions are a good idea, but in the case of the UAW it is ruining the auto industry. Correction... the US auto industry! Get and keep a job based on your merits and experience, not because it is "your right" or because "I've put in my time". We are past those days.
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From: Lansdale, PA
Originally Posted by Labnerd
workers in San Antonio are making about $17.00 with benefits but don't miss a day or your job is gone. Toyota won't put up with any lazy slackers, as it should be.
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From: Houston, TX
Originally Posted by Turbo77
Or how about someone who's worked numerous times with the plumbers, electricians, carpenters and riggers at major places like McCormick Place in Chicago (IMTS & NPE)....
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From: Burleson, Texas
Originally Posted by Quintin
Dowhat? Wanna explain that in a little more detail?
Unions aren't there to benefit the company. If they were, the Big Three wouldn't be trying like hell to be rid of 'em.
Unions aren't there to benefit the company. If they were, the Big Three wouldn't be trying like hell to be rid of 'em.
The company is only as good as who's running it. No wonder the big 3 are suffering. Their CEO's are crooks. That's why they're in the red, not the unions.
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From: Georgia on my mind...
Originally Posted by Stealth
Yeah, right, where I work, Lockheed Martin, is really suffering because of the union.
The company is only as good as who's running it. No wonder the big 3 are suffering. Their CEO's are crooks. That's why they're in the red, not the unions.
The company is only as good as who's running it. No wonder the big 3 are suffering. Their CEO's are crooks. That's why they're in the red, not the unions.
However, if you think that it's just the company and its execs to blame for the shape the Big 3 are in, you're sadly mistaken. The execs in the glass office ain't innocent, the low lifes on the line inserting part "A" into slot "B" ain't innocent, and the UAW ain't innocent either.