I hate the union mentality...

[SpeedTriple44444]

Wow... this thread is still going? I thought our union members would be on break by now.

[that dude]

Wow... this thread is still going? I thought our union members would be on break by now.

sitting at home while me fellow brothers punch me out at 430

[dorifto240]

^^^^^unions are not even close to blame for Americas problem

Oh sure, holding out for ridiculously overpriced contracts for what is nothing more than unskilled labor, and then going on strike when you don't get your way, and then forcing two of the Big Three to go into bankruptcy and request federal assistance. Nope, the UAW and similar unions are just squeaky clean, defenders of the working man.

Except with every negotiated pay increase, the UAW also negotiated a fair amount of lay-offs. So while they're defending the "working man" they're also laying him off. Meanwhile, while you hold fast to a strict 40 hour work week with overtime, the poor slob who's been classified as "management" has to take up your slack. Meaning he puts in fifty or sixty hours a week, with no overtime, and no union to defend him because he's the "bad guy" AKA "management."

Prior to that, while the economy was booming, the UAW negotiated higher and higher wages, creating a huge cost disparity between imported cars and those made in the US. Which fueled outsourcing. Which accelerated the job loss, and exacerbated the situation. Instead of doing the prudent thing (which would be putting a temporary hold on pay raises) the UAW kept negotiating for higher and higher rates; which made the situation even worse!

Think about it: It's cheaper to build a brand new factory, hire and train new workers, load all the cars onto a ship, ship them halfway across the world, unload them, and then ship them out to dealers. After all that, it's still more cost effective than paying union wages in the US.

No no, Unions weren't involved in any way shape or form, with the current affairs of the US economy. I should have realized that when I saw the "^^^^^^" in your post. Forgive me for paying attention to, and remembering, the events that helped trigger the recession. My fault.

[that dude]

Oh sure, holding out for ridiculously overpriced contracts for what is nothing more than unskilled labor, and then going on strike when you don't get your way, and then forcing two of the Big Three to go into bankruptcy and request federal assistance. Nope, the UAW and similar unions are just squeaky clean, defenders of the working man.

Except with every negotiated pay increase, the UAW also negotiated a fair amount of lay-offs. So while they're defending the "working man" they're also laying him off. Meanwhile, while you hold fast to a strict 40 hour work week with overtime, the poor slob who's been classified as "management" has to take up your slack. Meaning he puts in fifty or sixty hours a week, with no overtime, and no union to defend him because he's the "bad guy" AKA "management."

Prior to that, while the economy was booming, the UAW negotiated higher and higher wages, creating a huge cost disparity between imported cars and those made in the US. Which fueled outsourcing. Which accelerated the job loss, and exacerbated the situation. Instead of doing the prudent thing (which would be putting a temporary hold on pay raises) the UAW kept negotiating for higher and higher rates; which made the situation even worse!

Think about it: It's cheaper to build a brand new factory, hire and train new workers, load all the cars onto a ship, ship them halfway across the world, unload them, and then ship them out to dealers. After all that, it's still more cost effective than paying union wages in the US.

No no, Unions weren't involved in any way shape or form, with the current affairs of the US economy. I should have realized that when I saw the "^^^^^^" in your post. Forgive me for paying attention to, and remembering, the events that helped trigger the recession. My fault.

not the unions fault. its the governments fault. raise the taxes on imported goods. get rid on nafta. get labor and osha laws established in those foreign countries to level out the field. those foreigners work for pennys. we dont. did i mention tariffs? get real bro and quit listening to glenn beck

[C-bus]

Make a better product or provide a better service and then charge less than the competition. That is how a business becomes successful. Here's a picket sign : "Thank you for my job ".

[dorifto240]

not the unions fault. its the governments fault. raise the taxes on imported goods. get rid on nafta. get labor and osha laws established in those foreign countries to level out the field. those foreigners work for pennys. we dont. did i mention tariffs? get real bro and quit listening to glenn beck

By the same token why isn't the UAW overseas organizing?

And NAFTA has hardly been a serious impact to unions.

Tariffs? It's a democrat controlled Washington, and they got there because of the Union vote. It's not my fault your Union hasn't pushed for those to be put into place.

Labor and OSHA laws overseas? Sounds a bit imperialistic to me. Not in line with the current Union/Democrat affiliation.

Why don't you get real, call your steward and request the proper forms to pull your head out of your ass, and start paying attention to what's actually happening. Not what your Union publications tell you.

[jporter12]

By the same token why isn't the UAW overseas organizing?

And NAFTA has hardly been a serious impact to unions.

Tariffs? It's a democrat controlled Washington, and they got there because of the Union vote. It's not my fault your Union hasn't pushed for those to be put into place.

Labor and OSHA laws overseas? Sounds a bit imperialistic to me. Not in line with the current Union/Democrat affiliation.

Why don't you get real, call your steward and request the proper forms to pull your head out of your ass, and start paying attention to what's actually happening. Not what your Union publications tell you.

Really man, I was agreeing with most of what you were posting, but you are spewing too many stereotypes in your last couple posts to have any credibility.

NAFTA sux balls.

All these trade agreements sux balls.

Partisan politics sux balls.

sux balls.

At this point,

[that dude]

By the same token why isn't the UAW overseas organizing?

And NAFTA has hardly been a serious impact to unions.

Tariffs? It's a democrat controlled Washington, and they got there because of the Union vote. It's not my fault your Union hasn't pushed for those to be put into place.

Labor and OSHA laws overseas? Sounds a bit imperialistic to me. Not in line with the current Union/Democrat affiliation.

Why don't you get real, call your steward and request the proper forms to pull your head out of your ass, and start paying attention to what's actually happening. Not what your Union publications tell you.

Get your head out of the republicans ass then i will. Your an idiot. You really don't know what your talking about. Move on dude

[dorifto240]

Get your head out of the republicans ass then i will. Your an idiot. You really don't know what your talking about. Move on dude

If I remember correctly, I didn't post my voting record on this forum.

You have yet to disprove anything I've said, but somehow I don't know what I'm talking about? That must be that "I deserve $75 an hour and benefits to push a button" UAW logic coming out...

But I'll be the better man, and quit posting facts about our current economy.

[that dude]

You have posted a few facts, mostly opinions of most republicans and some democrats. I think I deserve 100 an hr to be honet. Arguing with you would be like taking the short bus. I could care less what you say or think....but for fun I may continue!

[dorifto240]

Really man, I was agreeing with most of what you were posting, but you are spewing too many stereotypes in your last couple posts to have any credibility.

NAFTA sux balls.

All these trade agreements sux balls.

Partisan politics sux balls.

sux balls.

At this point,

Yeah I did get a bit political there...

[jporter12]

Yeah I did get a bit political there...

And TD took the bait...

[dorifto240]

And TD took the bait...

For riding the short bus and wearing a helmet everywhere, I think I did alright tonight.

[that dude]

The bait for dorf is in my pants. I'm sure he's used to taking it!

[Disclaimer]

Def. hire a union plumber -- just read this commentary of what happens when you don't.

When You Hire Union Plumbers, You Hire Trained Professionals Who Won't Fuck Your Wife

[RSVDon]

[Beegreenstrings]

Well I have read about 3 pages of comments and can honestly state that I am union. But, remember there are some of us that do not choose to be! I am not a UAW employee but do belong to a union... That is all I am stating.

If and when they make us management, halalouhah!

[redkow97]

Isn't being in a union basically an admission that at some point, your "experience" stops making you better at a given job?

My uncle's big into the machinists' union, and some of the "victories" he touted at Christmas dinner seemed like losses for people who had any desire to buy American.

[Hydrant]

Anyone else curious as to what profession "that dude" has?

Just from his remarks here, it's that mentality that makes everyone want to hate unions even worse than they already do. It would seem that to get the better PR (public relations) that one would try to throw some insight into a conversation to help people understand how unions go about working. The union mentality and the negative stigma around it is going to be hard to beat, and in this country where there are more non-union companies than union, one would think they would try to promote themselves as being workers. Not the getting paid $40 to go hide, while everyone else in here is getting $25.

BTW I am a union person, and I try to be respectful to everyone I deal with in my industry union or not. If I can help promote us, then maybe we can get some more skilled workers or newbies into this industry, then the better off we are. But if we keep catering to the lazy, or gloat about how little we get done then my friends unions are digging their own grave.

[Bad324]

he's long gone but if I remember right he was in HVAC industry

[Hydrant]

Gotcha, I just read through the thread and didn't even pay attention to dates.

I'm in the construction industry too, and to me thats just sad to have the mentality that he had. I try to be respectful and nice to everyone I meet in this business, just because you never know what the future will bring.

[Bad324]

Gotcha, I just read through the thread and didn't even pay attention to dates.

I'm in the construction industry too, and to me thats just sad to have the mentality that he had. I try to be respectful and nice to everyone I meet in this business, just because you never know what the future will bring.

I've now been on the management side of several different unions from Teamsters (old job), Operators, Welders and Laborers (current job). I don't know if its just because I worked much more closely with the teamsters than I do with our 3 unions now but it seemed like the Teamsters as individuals were a much bigger pain in the ass with the "stereotypical union mentality" that people talk about. I'm personally on the fence with unions, sometimes I hate them and sometimes they don't really bother me at all. So long as the work in the field gets done in a timely matter the way it needs to be done I'm happy. I would say 99% of the union guys that work for us are awesome and great employees. No matter where you go or what you do you'll always have that 1% of people that are an absolute pain

[kawi kid]

My opinion of The Union (notice the big letters) was confirmed when the UAW allowed its workers to lose their jobs rather than take a company-wide pay cut.

Wasn't there some uaw guys caught getting high and drinking on he job recently? Why wouldn't you wanna be union lol

[Hydrant]

I think they were employees for Dodge.

IIRC they would go out for lunch and stop by a park to drink and smoke it up then come back to work. I think it was a private citizen that caught / took pictures of them.

[Hydrant]

I've now been on the management side of several different unions from Teamsters (old job), Operators, Welders and Laborers (current job). I don't know if its just because I worked much more closely with the teamsters than I do with our 3 unions now but it seemed like the Teamsters as individuals were a much bigger pain in the ass with the "stereotypical union mentality" that people talk about. I'm personally on the fence with unions, sometimes I hate them and sometimes they don't really bother me at all. So long as the work in the field gets done in a timely matter the way it needs to be done I'm happy. I would say 99% of the union guys that work for us are awesome and great employees. No matter where you go or what you do you'll always have that 1% of people that are an absolute pain

I think your bad stigma is on the teamsters, UAW, and factory workers. It seems your construction unions have been pretty decent. I have some friends that worked as laborers on the Rockies Express Pipeline that came through this area. One was in charge of the lay down yard, so his duties were to load/unload trucks, move equipment with a forklift or Lull. But if he had to move a truck for anything he had to radio out and get a teamster to come and move the truck because they were so hellbent on trying to keep as many guys as they could out there.