Have you ever been a member of a union?

Are you a member of a union?


  • Total voters
    30
Steward for 20 or so years, treasurer for about 4 and lost the vote for president by 3 votes. Which turned out to be very good for me. Not bad for someone not well known at the start.
 
No. But in the jobs I've held before I got my degree, being in a union wasn't an option. My pre-engineering jobs were paper boy, golf course attendant, construction assistant, and grocery store bagger.
 
I have been a union member, a union organizer and a full-time elected union officer. As a union representative and later as an attorney I represented bargaining unit employees in disciplinary hearings and other matters before arbitrators and various Federal and State agencies. I also negotiated labor/management agreements for both government and private sector unions.

A good union is the best thing that could happen to working men and woman and a bad union is the very worst thing that could happen to them. I don't believe in closed shops. I believe if a union is doing its job workers will know it and they will sign up. There will always be a few freeloaders, but not many.

I'm an old man now (77) and looking back over my life my greatest achievements were the jobs I saved for those workers who received termination notices. I had a passionate defense for these men and women. I presented the evidence as best I could, professionally and forcefully. I argued that an employment termination was the industrial equivalent of the death penalty and should be applied only in the most egregious of circumstances and even then only if the employee was beyond redemption. I reminded the decision maker that a termination was more than the loss of a single job; it was an event which would follow a man throughout his entire lifetime. A man who has been fired may never find gainful employment again and often the loss of a job results in divorce and the disintegration of entire families. I made damn sure that the decision maker was fully aware of the far-reaching impact of his decision. I had one arbitrator tell me privately after a hearing that he was going to fire the employee but was moved by my presentation to give him another chance and issued a suspension instead. That's something I could never forget.
 
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I have been a union member, a union organizer and a full-time elected union officer. As a union representative and later as an attorney I represented bargaining unit employees in disciplinary hearings and other matters before arbitrators and various Federal and State agencies. I also negotiated labor/management agreements for both government and private sector unions.

A good union is the best thing that could happen to working men and woman and a bad union is the very worst thing that could happen to them. I don't believe in closed shops. I believe if a union is doing its job workers will know it and they will sign up. There will always be a few freeloaders, but not many.

I'm an old man now (77) and looking back over my life my greatest achievements were the jobs I saved for those workers who received termination notices. I had a passionate defense for these men and women. I presented the evidence as best I could, professionally and forcefully. I argued that an employment termination was the industrial equivalent of the death penalty and should be applied only in the most egregious of circumstances and even then only if the employee was beyond redemption. I reminded the decision maker that a termination was more than the loss of a single job; it was an event which would follow a man throughout his entire lifetime. A man who has been fired may never find gainful employment again and often the loss of a job results in divorce and the disintegration of entire families. I made damn sure that the decision maker was fully aware of the far-reaching impact of his decision. I had one arbitrator tell me privately after a hearing that he was going to fire the employee but was moved by my presentation to give him another chance and issued a suspension instead. That's something I could never forget.

If unions are so great, why do so many Republicans try and break them? Reagan was the president of his union, but decided other professions did not deserve collective representation, and conservatives, especially conservatives belonging to unions loved him for it.

Conservatives regularly condemn unions, especially those in the public sector. Is their criticism from experience, derived from actual data, or just more parroting of what FOX news tells them?

After WWII, and during the 50s and 60s, when union membership was at one of its highest points, income inequality was a fraction of what it is today. Corporations paid considerably taxes as did the very rich. Prosperity was spread much more evenly.

Instead of tax cuts, given in the hope for reinvestment, tax incentives were used to guarantee reinvestment. Growth back then was unparalleled.

Also, it was the influence of unions that brought many government safety regulations that protected all working people. Unfortunately, conservatives call such regulations "job killers". Is corporate profit so important to conservatives that workers should be injured, maimed, or even killed to protect the bottom line?

Union influence also help create regulations that protect workers' rights. Conservatives also call these regulations "job killers." Conservatives consistently side with employers, and would permit the elimination of all regulations that protect workers, consumers, small investors, their children, or anything else that might dip into businesses' profits.

Since Reagan, the word "union" has been seen as a profanity by conservatives. Over the years, their posts on these message boards have proven this many, many times.

Sir, what is your opinion on these points?


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I think this would be an interesting poll to ask this forum.


Worked at s Union.shop one time.didn't join...I used to be so bored on the night shift, I would open up the Union stewards file cabinet and read the ridiculous whinney complaints..

It was hilarious..( never said anything but he knew)

Him and I battled for like 6 months .because I would work harder and embarrasse him..

They all ganied up on me and got me fired.



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Two, both when I was much younger on summer jobs. Hospital Workers Union, when I was an orderly in a nursing home and the Teamsters Union, when I was a Good Humor man.

BTW, the post subject and questionnaire don't match up. The subjects asks "have you been a member", while the poll asks "are you a member". I answered yes based on the subject, though I no longer am.
 
After a 35-year career in IT, I joined a union when I changed careers two years ago.

The union dues pay all legal expenses in case of civil or criminal prosecution so it's worth the cost.
 
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Also did a bunch of trade shows at the McCormick place in Chicago.. Union "electricians" was hilarious walking around making $50 bucks an hour pushing a shopping cart filled with extension cords..


Or when a Japanese vendor , who didn't know the "Union " rules wired up there machines..and Union workers late at night squirted the machines with cheese wiz..

McCormick place brings back memories..

I remember one time my Japanese boss throws on my desk a huge file of cute girl models / resumes.

And told me to pick one to hire for the trade show...


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Yes in two over working years, Still in one till death. Some unions are not worth the paper their charter is printed on anymore, And some are having a lot harder times because of their dimshitscum connections. The last election was won by Trump because a lot of union workers kicked shitbitch to the curb as what she and her party really are ANTI MIDDLE CLASS WORKER SCUM !!!
 
Never been in a union but have worked at companies that had them.

And every time the union people got a raise, we so called professional staffers got as bump of some kind also.

So put me on the pro union side of the ledger.
 

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