unions - are you a member of yours?

Been in the teachers union since I started. Have never had to use them for anything other than collective bargaining but I do like them for that.
 
I belonged to my union for 30 years and they were nothing but excellent. I've heard bad stories about a lot of unions, but ours was expressly for our one job classification and the union officers were from that same classification, not some slick suits. Retirees are given life membership at no charge after retirement, but I chose to voluntarily continue paying (optional) retiree dues to support them because of everything they do. Fortunately I never had to use them for representation in any kind of adverse action, but they were ace at collective bargaining (pay, benefits, pension, etc). They understood there were times to strategically back off and times to press forward, and even though we sometimes doubted their actions when they were taking place, we always saw the wisdom in them afterward as all the cards were played out.

You hear stories of unions who protect bad/do-nothing employees, but that definitely wasn't the case for us. Plenty of people got disciplined/fired and if you righteously had it coming, the union rep would basically straight out tell you that you were effed and better suck it up because there was nothing they could do for you. Since they were in the same job classification as we were, the actions of a bad apple reflected negatively upon them too. I saw union reps take plenty of guys out behind the woodshed for a "come to Jesus" meeting when they were out of line and headed for trouble. On the other hand, after I promoted into a supervisory position I sat across the table from them in numerous adverse action cases and they were very competent investigators and representatives - if management didn't have their procedural ducks in a row or there was some dirty dealing going on because of a personal vendetta or whatever, they would dig it out and make sure justice was done. They didn't object to appropriate discipline, but it better be done the right way and for the right reasons - as it should be.

I'm sure there are bad unions out there, but ours wasn't one of them and I was always more than happy to pay my membership dues every month. Membership was completely voluntary, yet the membership rate within our job classification was around 99% the whole time I was there.
 
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I'm still an IATSE member because some day when I retire from this career I want to get paid to see/listen to great shows again as my main occupation.

My wife was a more responsible union member and leader (ARASA) until very recently when she was forced to go over to the dark side of management. I did not envy her position in that union.
 
Was in the union 30 years. While I wasn't happy with them at all times the main fact is that I probably would be a greeter at Walmart instead of being retired 20+ years if it hadn't been for them.
 
I hesitated to post because anytime you mention "unions" a lot of people get off ranting about the time they felt the union screwed them. You have to look at the overall good unions have done for working people. People banded together in the early 1900s because they were being treated so badly by their employers. There were no labor laws and people were routinely worked six or even seven days a week, ten to twelve hours a day.

Here are some of the things unions have accomplished since their inception: 40 hour work week; overtime pay; paid holidays; vacation pay; sick pay; health insurance; workers compensation; job safety rules; and many more.

Are they perfect? No, but nothing is. They are as good as the people elected to run them.

Unions are necessary to maintain some kind of balance between workers and management. If there were no protection does anyone really believe that in this age of "I'm gonna get whatever I can" companies would treat their employees fairly?
 
I'm on the school board of a charter school. The ability to issue teachers "at will agreements" is great. We can cut them at the drop of a hat, no questions asked, no repercussions. If I were a teacher, I'd hate it. Honestly, I think "at-will employment" benefits the business much more than it benefits the worker and everyone suffers because of it. YMMV.
 
Dont get me started on Unions............
 
I have a very poor opinion of unions. The ones I worked with in NE were extremely weak and did absolutely nothing for their members except collect dues and grand stand when a union member was getting written up for anything. The union shop employees were no better off than the non union shops and frankly the non union shops had a better attitude.

In St Louis, the unions are a major PITA. I get so frustrated when an electrician or pipe fitter does their work and leaves a huge mess. They don’t clean it up because cleaning up is a laborer’s job - “don’t want to take away a good job from them”. I learned my lesson not to pick up a broom and clean up the mess.
 
I have a very poor opinion of unions. The ones I worked with in NE were extremely weak and did absolutely nothing for their members except collect dues and grand stand when a union member was getting written up for anything. The union shop employees were no better off than the non union shops and frankly the non union shops had a better attitude.

In St Louis, the unions are a major PITA. I get so frustrated when an electrician or pipe fitter does their work and leaves a huge mess. They don’t clean it up because cleaning up is a laborer’s job - “don’t want to take away a good job from them”. I learned my lesson not to pick up a broom and clean up the mess.

....I had a good friend of mine who is a conductor for the rail road. Still is. I asked him how work was going and he goes "not bad but there has been a light bulb burned out above me for a week now and its really starting to get annoying" Im like......so reach your ass up there and change it? He goes " no way! thats taking a job from someone else!"

:facepalm: x 1000000000
 
....I had a good friend of mine who is a conductor for the rail road. Still is. I asked him how work was going and he goes "not bad but there has been a light bulb burned out above r me for a week now and its really starting to get annoying" Im like......so reach your ass up there and change it? He goes " no way! thats taking a job from someone else!"

:facepalm: x 1000000000
I can’t even tell you the number of times I’ve been on a job site being billed at $150+ per hour doing nothing because I’m waiting on a union electrician to do something that I could have done in a few seconds. I engineered, built and tested the freaking panel. I think I can close the 0.25 amp fuse holder so we can move forward.
Then an hour later the client asks me why we aren’t moving yet - I suggest that he talks to the foreman.
 
I have a very poor opinion of unions. The ones I worked with in NE were extremely weak and did absolutely nothing for their members except collect dues and grand stand when a union member was getting written up for anything. The union shop employees were no better off than the non union shops and frankly the non union shops had a better attitude.

In St Louis, the unions are a major PITA. I get so frustrated when an electrician or pipe fitter does their work and leaves a huge mess. They don’t clean it up because cleaning up is a laborer’s job - “don’t want to take away a good job from them”. I learned my lesson not to pick up a broom and clean up the mess.

Like I said, I am no longer in the union here at work since I took a salaried position. I have always had a total disdain for this union, even when I was in it. A while ago, I told the union rep to stuff it, when he started barking at me for moving an aircraft duct that one of his members left on a desk where I was trying to deploy a new pc. He got in my face, saying that I was doing a union job by moving that duct off of the desk. I told him that his union member was not following company procedures and left a manufactured part where it shouldn't have been and it was interfering with my job. If he wanted to go with me, we could go right to the plant manager's office, and discuss it, or he could STFU.
He chose the latter over the former.
 
I hesitated to post because anytime you mention "unions" a lot of people get off ranting about the time they felt the union screwed them. You have to look at the overall good unions have done for working people. People banded together in the early 1900s because they were being treated so badly by their employers. There were no labor laws and people were routinely worked six or even seven days a week, ten to twelve hours a day.

Here are some of the things unions have accomplished since their inception: 40 hour work week; overtime pay; paid holidays; vacation pay; sick pay; health insurance; workers compensation; job safety rules; and many more.

Are they perfect? No, but nothing is. They are as good as the people elected to run them.

Unions are necessary to maintain some kind of balance between workers and management. If there were no protection does anyone really believe that in this age of "I'm gonna get whatever I can" companies would treat their employees fairly?
I'm not disagreeing with your post as unions were very instrumental in bringing about safety and decent wages in the early part of last century. I would challenge you though to look at more recent history.

In the last 40 years have unions done more positives for their members or more negatives? How have unions like the USW, UAW helped the industries they serve? I was a union member for 9 of the 14 years that I sailed. The union that I was in is the number one Mariners union. They worked hand in hand with companies to secure work for their members. But they also kept bad people in jobs because they were a member.

What's most troubling to me is that a majority of the unions now represent public sector employees. So government employees unionizing and lobbying basically their own employer. And not to get over political but the lobbying and donations that these unions do are increasingly to folks that support socialist and anti-American agendas in general. None of this is a big secret it's just commonly overlooked.

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I'm not disagreeing with your post as unions were very instrumental in bringing about safety and decent wages in the early part of last century. I would challenge you though to look at more recent history.

But they also kept bad people in jobs because they were a member.

.........this. SO this

Also another reason why jobs leave the country.......
 
I've not had to join a union nor have I dealt with one. I've heard good and bad things about unions.
 
I am a member of the International Cinematographers Guild (IATSE Local 600,) the Directors Guild of America, the Screen Actors Guild, and the Producers Guild of America

They are all crafts guilds, and I have never really viewed them as traditional unions. It's not like they actively find you work, or anything like that. They do manage all of the benefits though.

Aside from the PGA, which is more of a voluntary club that doesn't serve a purpose, other than attempting to keep unwanted people out of the profession, the others act as a collective bargaining unit for their respective members. For the most part this is good for the people who work as day players, and lower level crew members and otherwise don't have their own representation (agent or manager.)

There are a lot of things I dislike about the unions in my industry. First being the exclusivity involved. These unions are very difficult to join (except for SAG, they'll pretty much give a card to anyone,) and you must be a member if you wish to break into the industry at any level where you might make any money. The restrictions involved are a bit ridiculous. One of the things that sticks out is the require number of hours you must work to maintain your health benefits - there are so many people who miss that number by one or two hours and the unions do nothing to help them.

The benefits have been crashing hard for the last 20 years, with members getting eaten alive by "new media" contracts - where companies like Netflix came along and negotiated for lower wages and less benefits on account that they were new and didn't make as much money as the studios, and now that they do, the unions have done nothing to re-negotiate the contracts. This is especially angering considering that a vast majority of the available work for a lot of people falls into these "new media" deals. Netflix and the like are ruthless as well...

Have you noticed in the last year or two that your favorite streaming shows now call seasons 1 & 2, etc. "part 1" and "part 2?" This is because Netflix figured out that they don't need to pay (namely cast members) their contractual pay bumps as shows continue from season to season if they simply declare that each "part" is all one season, despite spanning years of production. The unions have done nothing to stop this.

I sort of view unions as pay to play, and in return for your quarterly dues, you get some benefits and the feeling that somehow you have it better than others.
 
I'm still an IATSE member because some day when I retire from this career I want to get paid to see/listen to great shows again as my main occupation.

My wife was a more responsible union member and leader (ARASA) until very recently when she was forced to go over to the dark side of management. I did not envy her position in that union.
What local?
 
My (granted limited) exposure and knowledge of unions over here, is that they are a complete joke! That said, some of the unions back home think it’s still 1975!!!!!
 
....I had a good friend of mine who is a conductor for the rail road. Still is. I asked him how work was going and he goes "not bad but there has been a light bulb burned out above me for a week now and its really starting to get annoying" Im like......so reach your ass up there and change it? He goes " no way! thats taking a job from someone else!"

:facepalm: x 1000000000
I remember those days as I worked for rail road for a short period. That was the only union I was ever in & it has not bothered me to not be one because of that type of attitude.
 
I’ve been in a union for a couple of years and I have an overall positive opinion of it. The pay is pretty solid for the area and having health insurance covered by my dues is awesome. I haven’t been very involved in meetings and the local’s politics and I imagine that I would be frustrated by them.
 
What local?
Me? 151 Started with 48 in Akron. If you meant her (I didn't check if you mentioned what you work in), I have no idea. I should though. Her union bought me a lot of dinners. And the night of Topgolf that got me playing again. It's basically been obliterated this year, sadly. That's why she had to take a management job.
 
Me? 151 Started with 48 in Akron. If you meant her (I didn't check if you mentioned what you work in), I have no idea. I should though. Her union bought me a lot of dinners. And the night of Topgolf that got me playing again. It's basically been obliterated this year, sadly. That's why she had to take a management job.
Is 151 a studio mechanics local, or are you more theater based?
 
I've not had to join a union nor have I dealt with one. I've heard good and bad things about unions.
There can be both good and bad things about them - and more importantly, there are definitely good and bad unions. I've seen some that do virtually nothing for their members other than collect dues from them, and some that are very proactive and run with a lot of integrity. Which unions a person deals with will shape their opinions of them.
 
Is 151 a studio mechanics local, or are you more theater based?
Technically it's 'mixed', but almost all of district 9 outside of chicago is theater/venue work, in my experience. I was a roadie back in the day and was in a relationship for a long time with a very good ballet dancer, so it was a way for us to kind of be in the same places at the same time, sort of. And it's always handy to be able to pick up decent paying and interesting work quickly when you move somewhere new. Do you work in music/entertainment/performing arts?
 
Technically it's 'mixed', but almost all of district 9 outside of chicago is theater/venue work, in my experience. I was a roadie back in the day and was in a relationship for a long time with a very good ballet dancer, so it was a way for us to kind of be in the same places at the same time, sort of. And it's always handy to be able to pick up decent paying and interesting work quickly when you move somewhere new. Do you work in music/entertainment/performing arts?
I'm in film. ICG (IA local 600,) DGA, PGA and SAG
 
Was a member of the PBA for my entire career with the NYPD and I elected to continue to pay dues while in retirement (it's a very small amount for retirees).

I was also a union delegate for my last 10 years. I say all this yet I am NOT a rah-rah union guy. I generally acknowledge the downside to unions.

But the PBA is a bit different in that we cannot wield the weight of many unions simply because it was/is illegal for us to strike. In the interest of public safety and all.

So the PBA is more for collective "bargaining" and defending the contractual rights of its members. I put it in quotes because NYC rarely bargains in good faith, instead stalling things until the precipice of a PERB board.

Zeros or lowball offers until the 11th hour and then it could be anything from more zeros to laughable to fairly reasonable. I literally worked half my career out of contract because nothing was ever settled even remotely on time.

I only became a delegate for the street level need for representation in the event an officer was involved in a shooting/other serious incident or any other issue where they may need representation.

Sounds very cynical but the typical city cop thinks, "the second they hire you, they're looking to fire you."

It's actually not that far off, sorry to say. I did in fact represent officers where the city was absolutely trying to railroad them over nonsense. Some truly disgusting behavior by the brass. Not at all frequent but when it would happen, it was a stunner.

Also had a Chief at HQ literally admit the same to me during a casual conversation. Just met the guy, they were doing construction in the building and suffering sporadic power outages due to it. I got stuck in an elevator with the chief.

After some small talk, he asked if I planned to retire after 20 as I was only a few years away at the time. Told him that I sure was and God as my witness, he said, "that's good, kid. I'll tell ya, you don't get to where I am without loving the job. 35 years and I still do love it. But I've sure seen change over the years and not all of it is for the best. Something you may get jammed up for in your 11th or 12th year, no big deal. But same incident when you're beyond 20 and they'll look to take your pension away."

Since, protections have been instituted to protect officers' pensions. Basically, short of a crime, they keep it when staying on beyond 20 now.

But that wasn't the case then, when I was still on, so I sure as heck heeded the chief's warning.
 
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