Unions - Your opinion

[rubecube]

Well it's official, we now have a union. When the proposal first came up it was defeated by a massive margin but, like herpes, they just wouldn't go away. They have since found a loophole (a card signing campaign) and have forced their way in. I have no problem with this except I can't opt out of it. I can forfeit my membership but they'll still take my money. My issue is with all the hardcore NDP-types who keep whining that unions aren't in enough corporations to protect employess. Why isn't there a movement to protect employees from unions?

[brownie]

Where do you work?

[rubecube]

Bell.

[Bertuzzied]

Blah. we don't live in communist 1940s Poland. Unions suck!

[CaptainCrunch]

Not a big fan of unions, in the instances that I've been involved in negotiating with businesses that are unionized there are so many silly rules that you throw up your hands and give up on any concept that might make a company more efficient.

I know that unions are there to support and protect the employee, however in a lot of ways they are like cancer devoring the host from the inside.

There is no concept of partnership from the union, thier concept is to squeeze until an employer bleeds.

The unions had thier day, but people are smarter and better educated now even at the most basic level and I don't see the purpose of the unions.

[brownie]

Well i am in a union(trades)And make about 4 or 5 bucks more an hour than I would not in a union.With full benefits,pension plan,and 10% vacation pay.Plus the fact i dont have to go out looking for work,no interviews,and its much safer work enviroment.So yes i like unions.

[Stranger]

I've never worked in a union job, but from other people I've seen I wouldn't want to be in one. They always seem to promote laziness to me. Maybe its because I'm from a farm and I'm used to working long hours for little pay.

[Looger]

i advise anyone pro-union to take a tour through some choice sawmills and pulp mills in bc, with 'union only' bathrooms etc...

tune into the radio and hear PURE LIES, propoganda of the lowest order.

see the groupthink, watch as unioned workers drop slag on non-union contractors just for fun, see all the literature on the corkboards fostering this hatred.

meet union reps that remind you of gangsters in movies.

and i'll never forget driving past union protests on my way to work where i made $19.50 an hour on the road doing industrial automation (which coincidentally gets busier when union wages go up... hmmm...), and realizing that the people bagging my groveries make $24 and are demanding more.

there's a BIG reason BC is heading for a gigantic fall economically, canfor et al are really barely operating in many sectors bacuse of the high price of the goods.

a lot of that beetle-kill was already too dry for process last april.

good luck bc...

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by brownie

Well i am in a union(trades)And make about 4 or 5 bucks more an hour than I would not in a union.With full benefits,pension plan,and 10% vacation pay.Plus the fact i dont have to go out looking for work,no interviews,and its much safer work enviroment.So yes i like unions.

Except my bosses are actually decent people and provide me with a competitive pay, wages, vacation pay, benefits, etc.

[FireFly]

There are jobs that having a union is important for, like trades and such. (My brother and brother-in-law work for a sawmill that desperately needs a union.) However, working for your competition, I know that having a union is useless for me. Telus and Bell need to have competitive wages and compensation packages in order to employ enough people to make their business run. There's no way around that. Having a union won't make it 'better'. Everytime I notice the $20/paycheque my union steals from me, it ****es me off.

[brownie]

Originally Posted by rubecube

Except my bosses are actually decent people and provide me with a competitive pay, wages, vacation pay, benefits, etc.

There are definatley pros and cons...I know for me personally I am better off in a union.

[FireFly]

Originally Posted by Looger

i advise anyone pro-union to take a tour through some choice sawmills and pulp mills in bc, with 'union only' bathrooms etc...

tune into the radio and hear PURE LIES, propoganda of the lowest order.

see the groupthink, watch as unioned workers drop slag on non-union contractors just for fun, see all the literature on the corkboards fostering this hatred.

meet union reps that remind you of gangsters in movies.

and i'll never forget driving past union protests on my way to work where i made $19.50 an hour on the road doing industrial automation (which coincidentally gets busier when union wages go up... hmmm...), and realizing that the people bagging my groveries make $24 and are demanding more.

there's a BIG reason BC is heading for a gigantic fall economically, canfor et al are really barely operating in many sectors bacuse of the high price of the goods.

a lot of that beetle-kill was already too dry for process last april.

good luck bc...

BC is an bit of an exception in that they're too union happy which defeats the purpose all over. For example, my brother has atrocious working conditions because the mill is the largest employer in town and can get away with it... You don't like working with an untrained guy who might end up cutting your fingers off? That's too bad. No standards at all.

[Flame Of Liberty]

Originally Posted by Kobatuzzied

Blah. we don't live in communist 1940s Poland. Unions suck!

You are probably thinking of 1980s Solidarity. Your last sentence is correct however.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by FireFly

BC is an bit

The grammar queen missed one.

I used to work for Telus and that union was garbage. Maybe that left a bad taste in my mouth but I really don't like the fact that I have no say on my wages being deducted.

[FireFly]

Originally Posted by rubecube

The grammar queen missed one.

I used to work for Telus and that union was garbage. Maybe that left a bad taste in my mouth but I really don't like the fact that I have no say on my wages being deducted.

That was a typo, brain thinking faster than my fingers.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by FireFly

That was a typo, brain thinking faster than my fingers.

Figured as much.

[Looger]

Originally Posted by FireFly

BC is an bit of an exception in that they're too union happy which defeats the purpose all over. For example, my brother has atrocious working conditions because the mill is the largest employer in town and can get away with it... You don't like working with an untrained guy who might end up cutting your fingers off? That's too bad. No standards at all.

BC isn't an exception to anything - they're proof that blind support for unions regardless of the issue is a one-way trip to a dead economy.

the same you could say the other way i suppose - i just find it interesting that there are so many people who support the unions IN ALL CASES, which ultimately will put them out of work because unconsidered in the rhetoric and the representation many times is a sound business model.

i hear all the time tirades against jimmy pattison (who i'm no major fan of by the way), saying 'oh he bought a huge boat and he laid of X number of workers' and people everywhere parrot it. meanwhile they forget that without his investment many more employees would be out of work.

the dirty secret these morons glaze over is that as long as there's richer people and poorer people, you've got to have a business climate that encourages those with money to invest in business. you're never going to hurt the rich by making business unprofitable, they'll just keep their money in banks, real estate, etc. and do nothing but live off the interest and dividends, meanwhile none of us peons are working because it's not worth his investment.

every time that corporate taxes go up or extra costs or higher labour or whatever come in the unwashed masses cheer and cheer, because they're 'taking a round out of jimmy'.

keep laughing. all the way to the welfare registration line.

[flamingchina]

I was working for a company that Telus took over back during the whole dot com thing, and we all absolutely hated working with the union employees.
Same thing when I started working for the CHR. (although in that place, even the non-union employees are problems)
The whole, get enough people to sign cards and you're unionized thing kinda bugs me, as it leaves a whole lot more room for pressuring people into it, as well as the not being able to get yourself out of the union (really, you still have to pay dues even if you leave, and are often then discriminated against.)

[Bertuzzied]

Originally Posted by Stranger

They always seem to promote laziness to me.

Bingo.
I work in a union. I guess thats why I don't care if I'm caught on CP 6 hours a day. Just maintaining the status quo around here.

[FireFly]

Originally Posted by Looger

BC isn't an exception to anything - they're proof that blind support for unions regardless of the issue is a one-way trip to a dead economy.

the same you could say the other way i suppose - i just find it interesting that there are so many people who support the unions IN ALL CASES, which ultimately will put them out of work because unconsidered in the rhetoric and the representation many times is a sound business model.

i hear all the time tirades against jimmy pattison (who i'm no major fan of by the way), saying 'oh he bought a huge boat and he laid of X number of workers' and people everywhere parrot it. meanwhile they forget that without his investment many more employees would be out of work.

the dirty secret these morons glaze over is that as long as there's richer people and poorer people, you've got to have a business climate that encourages those with money to invest in business. you're never going to hurt the rich by making business unprofitable, they'll just keep their money in banks, real estate, etc. and do nothing but live off the interest and dividends, meanwhile none of us peons are working because it's not worth his investment.

every time that corporate taxes go up or extra costs or higher labour or whatever come in the unwashed masses cheer and cheer, because they're 'taking a round out of jimmy'.

keep laughing. all the way to the welfare registration line.

Well, that's what I'm saying. BC is an exception because residents are generally very pro-union and will support their unions in anything. I can tell you for certain that almost every Telus employee in BC walked off the job while more than half of Alberta employees were on the job. What does that say? Are people that pro-union everywhere else? Certainly not. Most people would realize there are good union causes and bad union causes, looking into the issues instead of just asking which way they should vote.