Retired aerospace worker. Life time union member. I saw them build up good wages, working conditions, and bennies.
Unions are a business! The company is your place of employment. The union is your brother that you have to support with the wages you make from the company you work for.
I agree with many here that the unions are a thing of the past and are not need as they were before. Unfortunatly there are still companys that try to get away with paying inferior wages for the work being done. When NAFTA came in during the Clinton error that was the begining of the downfall of our country. The unions were against it but still backed all the political people that pushed it through.
As a safety rep.I was representing 23 people that got put in harms way and some had eye injuries and razor cuts by various stupid pranks done by one of the workers. At the grievence hearing I recommened the person be dismissed because of his previous actions combined with the latest one. I was hauled into Union HQ and I refused to back down. They were fighting for the one individule to save his job. I was doing my job by fighting for and protecting 23 fellow workers from further injuries. I refused to give the original pictures to either the union or the company. They each had copies of the damage and injuries. Before all was said and done I was summoned to court but by the company to represent them due to my hard stance on this issue. I was relieved of my position in the union. The day before we were to go to court the company and the union settled. He was dismissed with a small lump sum payment and could never again get employment in any UTC company.
The person chosen to take my place in the union and one of my fellow workers started a petition to have me reinstated and the union reinstated me as the safety rep.
A life time union man but do not agree with a lot of what they push. They do have a way of cutting into the functioning of a company to the point of closing. The union is for the workers, yes, but they are also for themselves.
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