posted
Shirley went to work yesterday to some VERY good news.
Background...Shirl works for a subsiduary of a multi-national company. The plant she works at is that company's only non-union plant in Canada. In the last 10 years a few employees have tried, unsuccessfully, to get a union certified. Three times in fact.
These attempts are despite the fact that this plant pays exactly the same wages as the union plants, and the smae benefits etc. BUT the employees don't pay union dues or go on strike!
This year a few of them approached the "Big Tough Boys" the teamsters to organize a union certification.
Well, they brought in a "professional" organiser from the west coast. He camped out at the edge of the road in front of the plant for 4 months, glad handing employees who seemed to support a union and swearing and cursing at those who seemed to NOT favour a union presence.
He and his associates went as far as visiting employees at their homes at night and phoning others at home at night.
After 4 months of intimidation, he finally got the required 40% of employees to sign a union card, and had the Ministry of labour conduct a vote for certification of the union. That was held on Tuesday.
The requirements for certifiacation are..50% of votes cast plus 1 vote. The results were tallied, and after 4 months and having 40% of employees signed up, the vote was 30% for the union and 70% against!!!
Seems their tactics had ended up in lots of employees signing up just to get the organiser off their backs!
Footnote...the vote tally occured in the plant at about 9 pm on Tuesday....The union folks were so mad at their defeat they refused to leave the premises when asked and the police had to be called to escort them away!
Score Union "zero"....Litle guys "Four"
[ September 05, 2002, 06:38 PM: Message edited by: Dave Grundy ]
-------------------- Dave Grundy retired in Chelem,Yucatan,Mexico/Hensall,Ontario,Canada 1-519-262-3651 Canada 011-52-1-999-102-2923 Mexico cell 1-226-785-8957 Canada/Mexico home
quote:Originally posted by Dave Grundy: He and his associates went as far as visiting employees at their homes at night and phoning others at home at night.
Man, that takes guts....
This may be the southerner in me talking, but anybody comes to my house in the middle of the night to intimidate me better be ready to run, cause I'm not coming to the door empty handed.
-------------------- Mark Kottwitz Kottwitz Graphics Ridgely, MD www.SeeMySignWork.com -------------------------- Imagination is more important than knowledge. -- Albert Einstein Posts: 750 | From: Ridgely, MD | Registered: Oct 2000
| IP: Logged |
posted
I worked at a union shop once. It was an injection molding outfit that supplied the auto industry. I was in the finishing dept with a touch up gun doing detail work on various parts. After a week one ot the union stewards came up to me and told me to slow it down, I was finishing a daily quota by lunchtime. I told him, "I'm sorry, but I work for this company and my job is to do my best to prosper it." I quit when my couple of trial months were up and I would of been forced to join the union.
-------------------- Bill Modzel Mod-Zel screen Printing Traverse city, MI modzel@sbcglobal.net Posts: 1358 | From: Traverse City, MI | Registered: Nov 1998
| IP: Logged |
posted
Bill, That is sickening. Imagine being told to "slow down"- It's always cool to do that when it's some other guy's money, eh? I wonder what have of these union lampreys would do if it was their money running the biz???
And we wonder why the other countries are kicking our heinies in production quality and speed. Maybe we wouldn't have to buy goods from places like China if our own people weren't shooting us in the foot...
-------------------- Steve Burke Cascades Inc NS Canada
If at first you don't succeed, skydiving isn't for you Posts: 359 | From: NS Canada | Registered: Jan 2002
| IP: Logged |
posted
Doing too much work is the bane of a union shop. I've always been production minded; either working for myself, or when working for somebody else, always work as if it was my shop. The teamster job I had - when I got good and fed up with it and didn't care anymore I started doing the work of 4 people, plus swept up the whole shop and still had 2 hours free time left over. Even the management hated my guts for that, and fired me for 'instigating a revolution' ha ha ha. And in 37 months, with MANY visits to the 'business rep' I never did get paid according to the contract. The only result of my complaints to the union was me getting all the sh** jobs, and the rep put a few cases of Cutty Sark in his trunk. At Disney the first time I worked there back in '88 I, too, left after the trial period -standing around doing nothing was too much like jail. In 8 weeks I did about 4 hours' worth of work. The second time, I stuck it out for a whole year, when I really needed the money and there were 9 of us to do the work of maybe 2 or 3 - it gets very hard taking 40 hours to do a 4 hour job. And re-doing a job 3, 4, or 5 times just to pad out the time sheet. Many days of "Go get lost - just don't get caught". I'd rather work cheap and be busy.
Posts: 1859 | From: / | Registered: Nov 1998
| IP: Logged |
posted
The original goals of unionized labor - shorter work week, equal pay, safe working conditions, etc. have all been legislated; it's difficult (though not impossible) to operate the kind of sweatshops and employee intimidation that were common at the turn of the last century, though some major corporations, like Walmart, still try.
What modern unions - like modern government - are about is money and power, plain and simple. Unions can run perfectly "legal" extortion rackets on targeted industries, and perhaps the most evil combination is that of unions and public employees - there is no competitor offering government "services" at a lower cost, therefore no incentive to keep costs (taxes) down, therefore no limitations on what union members demand and receive in salaries, benefits and retirement packages. And since the goals of the unions, and the political establishment that employs them, are identical, we have the hideous spectacle of union members as a priveledged aristocracy, living off an ever-increasing tax burden, kicking back money to the politicians to make sure the taxpayers stay in line and foot the bill.
The state I live in is a marvelous example of this sort of top-heavy money sponge. In the last ten years, state and local revenues - through the introduction of an income tax, property-tax re-evaluations, and taxes from the slot machines at our so-called "indian" casinos, have risen over 70%, while budget outlays have gone up well over 100%. The single biggest outlay of puplic money is now public employee salaries, benefits, and retirement packages, all squeezed out of taxpayers via politicians with the hardest-working lips and kneepads in history. So while Connecticut collects 70% more in taxes - I don't have the exact amount, but trust me, it would make Bill Gates look poor - our state guvmint is squealing like Porky Pig trying to close up a half-billion dollar deficit. And our state isn't all that different from yours, most likely.
So think about that, next time you are wondering why the people who supposedly WORK for YOU get free medical benefits - while you pay thousands or go without - or paid holidays and vactions, while you work weekends to make ends meet - or a retirement package worth 80 to 110% of wages after 20 years, while you live paycheck to paycheck. Think about that next time you pay sales tax, or gas tax, or property tax, or income tax, or car registration tax, or any number of other taxes that eat up 60% of your income - that's no exaggeration, do the math - and tell me you are happy with the status quo, or how your politicians look out for you, or how unions are vital to prevent "workers" from being "exploited".
-------------------- "A wise man concerns himself with the truth, not with what people believe." - Aristotle
Cam Bortz Finest Kind Signs Pondside Iron works 256 S. Broad St. Pawcatuck, Ct. 06379 "Award winning Signs since 1988" Posts: 3051 | From: Pawcatuck,Connecticut USA | Registered: Nov 1998
| IP: Logged |
Printer-friendly view of this topic