Can we talk about unions?

[Deleted]

Especially in the public sector?

I've had a really tiring day dealing with my agency's union. They recently doubled our dues, have done jack shit with the recent (legitimate) complaints and allow the meetings to turn into a total free-for-all complete with torch wielding crowds.

Oh and to top it all off? Today I was informed that people were complaining specifically about my associate and I "not pulling our weight" when we are doing the jobs of four people.

I feel like unions are beneficial in a lot of sectors, but they also cause a lot of hassle. Oh, and our local spends almost $5000 a year on pizza for meetings.

[Deleted]

Don't worry guys, we can talk about it later.

[pantsparty]

My dad was part of a union when he worked for AT&T. He didn't have good things to say about the union. He felt they didn't do much overall.

Growing up in Michigan I heard about unions constantly. I knew, for instance, people who worked for Ford and were out on some bullshit infinite medical leave just because. But I also knew hard workers.

I don't know much about public sector unions.

[medicmommy]

Um... ours sucks. Our rep is chummy with two people. Of course its the two biggest drama llamas. During negotiations, he kept trying to talk us into settling with us losing a bunch of shit and not gaining anything.

[thinkofthesoldiers]

so have you tried to take on a leadership role to change what you dont agree with?

[Deleted]

I would never get a leadership position. It's very cliquey and they pick people who share their pointless complaints and bitching.

There's a man at our office who has actually done no work in the past 3 months, but we're unable to let him go.

ETA- I wouldn't want one. The whole thing seems so sketchy and poorly managed.

[glassofsyrah]

Butting in: I thought this was a post about unicorns when I first read the title.

[TemperanceBrennan]

The union I am in is small. We don't have a lot of people in our building that are in it, because we don't have a lot of people. but, they do what they can do for us. We will be negotiating a new contract soon. I'm sure that will be a lot of fun.

Our managers don't like the union. But, if we didn't have it, they would treat us worse than they do. So, I think it is a good thing. Even if I end up getting "punished" for being the steward.

[fuckyourcouch]

I didn't even read your post because I thought this said "unicorns".

Lol

[Deleted]

May 15, 2013 18:17:42 GMT -5 glassofsyrah said:

Butting in: I thought this was a post about unicorns when I first read the title.

+1

[Deleted]

May 15, 2013 18:17:42 GMT -5 glassofsyrah said:

Butting in: I thought this was a post about unicorns when I first read the title.

Me too. 

[Deleted]

I have nothing good to say about unions. Not one good thing at all.

[flex]

I belong to and work for an amazing union. In fact that's why I'm here in Portland. It's a progress meeting of the district my Local is in.

my standard of living is amazing because I've been a member of the same local for 28 years. I feel blessed to have been able to participate in it as well as take a leadership role within it.

[Deleted]

May 15, 2013 18:22:02 GMT -5 @t2j said:

May 15, 2013 18:17:42 GMT -5 glassofsyrah said:

Butting in: I thought this was a post about unicorns when I first read the title.

Me too. 

I was just coming in to say the same thing. Unicorns are so much more exciting. 

[TemperanceBrennan]

May 15, 2013 18:21:20 GMT -5 @pnkbride said:

My opinion will probably be unpopular, but I think unions have run their course in the U.S. Yes, they helped many get satisfactory working conditions and pay that they could actually live on and that was a great thing! Now however, most are run by thieves (read up on the Central States Teamsters). There have been so many cases of the unions mismanaging and out right stealing their members money. They continually drive up wages and while yes, that can be a good thing. It can get out of hand and ruin companies. I am definitely not a fan.

Maybe some unions are bad, but not all of them. Many are small and do what they can for the members. Plus, if there are no unions anymore, employers will go back to treating everyone just as bad as they used to. You can see this in a lot of areas that are right to work. They get lower wages, they get fired for no reason, etc.

I know where I work, if we didn't have a union, the managers would take advantage of everyone. They already take advantage as much as they can and it would be worse if there was no recourse.

[flex]

May 15, 2013 18:17:00 GMT -5 @amoosed said:

I would never get a leadership position. It's very cliquey and they pick people who share their pointless complaints and bitching.

There's a man at our office who has actually done no work in the past 3 months, but we're unable to let him go.

ETA- I wouldn't want one. The whole thing seems so sketchy and poorly managed.

I can understand why you are frustrated with that, but things won't change unless good people get involved to make that change.  It can take awhile, but it's worth it in the end. 

The way I see it is this:  I never thought I'd see the Berlin Wall come down in my lifetime, but it eventually did.

[flex]

May 15, 2013 18:26:48 GMT -5 TemperanceBrennan said:

May 15, 2013 18:21:20 GMT -5 @pnkbride said:

My opinion will probably be unpopular, but I think unions have run their course in the U.S. Yes, they helped many get satisfactory working conditions and pay that they could actually live on and that was a great thing! Now however, most are run by thieves (read up on the Central States Teamsters). There have been so many cases of the unions mismanaging and out right stealing their members money. They continually drive up wages and while yes, that can be a good thing. It can get out of hand and ruin companies. I am definitely not a fan.

Maybe some unions are bad, but not all of them. Many are small and do what they can for the members. Plus, if there are no unions anymore, employers will go back to treating everyone just as bad as they used to. You can see this in a lot of areas that are right to work. They get lower wages, they get fired for no reason, etc.

I know where I work, if we didn't have a union, the managers would take advantage of everyone. They already take advantage as much as they can and it would be worse if there was no recourse.

RIGHT ON!! I tell the people I represent that when you work under a collective bargaining agreement THE biggest benefit is not a good wage or good health insurance: it's that you become a "just cause" employee, not an at-will or a "just cuz" employee. 

[rugbywife]

I love my union and I would never be a teacher without one. I have also been very involved in my union, both in my local (I have chaired committees, sat on the executive and I was a member of our collective agreement table team - my name is on our last contract!) and at the provincial level where I have chaired a committee as well.

If I get a call tonight telling me I am a VP for next year I will no longer be in our teacher's union and that sucks. I will still have legal protection through my admin group but it isn't a union, which is fine, because it isn't as necessary for admin.

I agree with PP who said get involved. It was genuinely the best thing I ever did. I was very anti-union until I was involved. Once I was participating in it, especially when it came to negotiating a contract, I had a whole new understanding of it all, from both perspectives...I hate hearing teachers say that their union (here at least) hasn't fought hard enough for them...trust me, up at 5am at the Holiday Inn arguing over the finer details of collective agreements...the union does the best they can to defend the working conditions of their members, but compromise has to happen at some point.

[Deleted]

@pnkbride and fields

I'm right there with you both

[flex]

May 15, 2013 18:34:10 GMT -5 rugbywife said:

I love my union and I would never be a teacher without one. I have also been very involved in my union, both in my local (I have chaired committees, sat on the executive and I was a member of our collective agreement table team - my name is on our last contract!) and at the provincial level where I have chaired a committee as well.

If I get a call tonight telling me I am a VP for next year I will no longer be in our teacher's union and that sucks. I will still have legal protection through my admin group but it isn't a union, which is fine, because it isn't as necessary for admin.

I agree with PP who said get involved. It was genuinely the best thing I ever did. I was very anti-union until I was involved. Once I was participating in it, especially when it came to negotiating a contract, I had a whole new understanding of it all, from both perspectives...I hate hearing teachers say that their union (here at least) hasn't fought hard enough for them...trust me, up at 5am at the Holiday Inn arguing over the finer details of collective agreements...the union does the best they can to defend the working conditions of their members, but compromise has to happen at some point.

I feel ya.  I've negotiated 11 different CBA's, and many of the members do not understand what it takes to get the benefits they deserve.  It's called "negotiating"--not "demanding".  Both parties have to agree to it.  It's not until you're a business rep or a shop steward or a part of a bargaining team that you truly understand what a hard job it is to negotiate.

[daisybuchannan]

Just checking in to admit I read the title and clicked, thinking "sure, I'll talk about onions..."

Hello sleep deprivation!

[rugbywife]

May 15, 2013 18:38:42 GMT -5 flex said:

May 15, 2013 18:34:10 GMT -5 rugbywife said:

I love my union and I would never be a teacher without one. I have also been very involved in my union, both in my local (I have chaired committees, sat on the executive and I was a member of our collective agreement table team - my name is on our last contract!) and at the provincial level where I have chaired a committee as well.

If I get a call tonight telling me I am a VP for next year I will no longer be in our teacher's union and that sucks. I will still have legal protection through my admin group but it isn't a union, which is fine, because it isn't as necessary for admin.

I agree with PP who said get involved. It was genuinely the best thing I ever did. I was very anti-union until I was involved. Once I was participating in it, especially when it came to negotiating a contract, I had a whole new understanding of it all, from both perspectives...I hate hearing teachers say that their union (here at least) hasn't fought hard enough for them...trust me, up at 5am at the Holiday Inn arguing over the finer details of collective agreements...the union does the best they can to defend the working conditions of their members, but compromise has to happen at some point.

I feel ya.  I've negotiated 11 different CBA's, and many of the members do not understand what it takes to get the benefits they deserve.  It's called "negotiating"--not "demanding".  Both parties have to agree to it.  It's not until you're a business rep or a shop steward or a part of a bargaining team that you truly understand what a hard job it is to negotiate.

I would say after eating three meals in a row from a take-out restaurant, sitting in a boardroom chair for 16 hours and being up at 2am, when the head of HR showed up so that we could go over numbers that involved debating the TENTH of a student (we were negotiating for smaller class sizes and they had agreed to lowering it by a certain number of students on average each year...we wanted to make sure our current numbers were accurate...they had a class size average of like 26.4 students and our papers said 26.2...TENTHS!!!)..that's when I realized how much energy and time goes into the collective agreement and negotiating.  That moment, and then when a co-worker made a comment about how we hadn't fought for something and I explained to her that we had, but that we had to give it up in order to get something else.  But she was anti-union so of course she presumed we hadn't done our job. 

[flex]

It's part of human nature to assume things if you haven't actively participated in the process. One of my biggest jobs is educating people, and letting them know that the "union" is not a bunch of thugs, but it's made up of hard-working people just trying to make a decent living. I tell them "YOU are the union!!"

[TemperanceBrennan]

May 15, 2013 18:27:51 GMT -5 flex said:

May 15, 2013 18:17:00 GMT -5 @amoosed said:

I would never get a leadership position. It's very cliquey and they pick people who share their pointless complaints and bitching.

There's a man at our office who has actually done no work in the past 3 months, but we're unable to let him go.

ETA- I wouldn't want one. The whole thing seems so sketchy and poorly managed.

I can understand why you are frustrated with that, but things won't change unless good people get involved to make that change.  It can take awhile, but it's worth it in the end. 

The way I see it is this:  I never thought I'd see the Berlin Wall come down in my lifetime, but it eventually did.

I agree with Flexie. If you want it to change, the best way to do that is from the inside out. 

Our local got a new president this last year. The one before had been the president for, something like, 25 years. The former president is still part of the union, just in a different roll, but we now have a new president. All the members (not just the ones from the business I work in, but all of them from all of the businesses that are represented by this local) got a vote. I bet a lot of people who weren't happy with that president didn't think anything would ever change in the union but different people ran to be president and someone new won. My point is, it can change. If there are enough people who don't like the head of your union and you get someone new to run for the leader positions, it can change. 

[ProfessorArtNerd]

I love my union, I have so many (basic, no big deal if you're not one of academia's indentured servants) benefits at my community college with a union(4 years) than I do at my private uni (7 years). I do wish they'd be more effective in negotiating our contract, but I fully admit that I don't have any idea about the finer points of these things.

[purrbox]

May 15, 2013 18:21:20 GMT -5 @pnkbride said:

My opinion will probably be unpopular, but I think unions have run their course in the U.S. Yes, they helped many get satisfactory working conditions and pay that they could actually live on and that was a great thing! Now however, most are run by thieves (read up on the Central States Teamsters) and don't even get me started on the cliques. There have been so many cases of the unions mismanaging and out right stealing their members money. They continually drive up wages and while yes, that can be a good thing. It can get out of hand and ruin companies. I am definitely not a fan.

In general, I don't like unions either. Especially in the public sector.

[papie]

I just want to say that I love my union. I work at a big university and it would be horrible trying to negotiate anything with management without the power of the union.

[W.T.Faulkner]

We just won an election two weeks ago for a union. It was a highly contentious process, and our admin has already told us that bargaining will not be fruitful or easy either.

[marshmallow]

I'm a part of the only group of employees at my university without a union. To cut costs this year, they yanked our stellar insurance and replaced it with a drastically worse one, with no communication until it was completely done (this will probably cost me an additional $6000+ next year alone). Have any one else's benefits been touched? No, because they actually get a say.

Unions are still valuable and it is incredibly short sighted to ignore how drastically working conditions will change without them.

[Deleted]

Confession. I thought this post was about onions.

FAIL