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John Deere workers on strike

Projectjunkie said:
To be real clear, I'm not "pro union, ride or die!"
I just accept that the pendulum swings.

Before I signed my union card I looked up Ron Paul's take on unions, the take was "if employees want to join together to collectively bargain, they should be free to do so"


Here's where I feel it's justified. Picture some dumbfuck foreman who basically got his job because he's 6'2" and chews the same chew as his boss. He got a 10% raise he blew on a new razor because he's the boss man, and he's got his eyes on another promotion and a bigger pickup truck. We'll call him Buck

That's not really an exaggeration of "leadership" in my industry, that's actually pretty represtative of how it is.

Now picture some younger dumbshit that you still kinda like, even though he's a dumb shit. Maybe it's your wife's little cousin or some shit. We'll call him Matt. He's green but he has a baby and tries hard to provide. He gets hired on at the mine and works for Buck.

On graveyard shift something goes down and production stops and this month's numbers are going to tank and Buck isn't going to get his bonus, so he's got a bright idea about how Matt is gonna get in the hole just real quick like and fix it from inside. The older fatter guys that can't fit shake their heads and tell Matt it isn't a good idea.

Non union plant, they can call msha and get a response Wednesday and it'll piss off everybody. They can tell safety department the following morning, if it's a weekday, and piss off everybody.

Union plant, they can tell Buck to go fuck himself, or if they don't have the sack they can call their steward over and he can tell Buck he can go fuck himself. Buck gets told to go fuck himself. And then puts a plan together that takes 4 hours longer but gets done without injury or fatality and gets trained in his mind to do things the right way like a dog who's nose gets rubbed in shit.

The process is up and running.

The steward then decides how big of a deal to make it. He can involve msha, or not. He can hold it over Bucks head and get some slug cover for taking long lunches. He can go to the mine manager and use it for trading on some other deal, he can use it as leverage for training. He can put these issues on paper and on the record, in a way that kind of makes everybody look bad, from Matt being a trouble maker all the way up to the feds getting notified that the company is engaging in unsafe acts. If non union, that paper trail would have to be made once Matt refused the job. Maybe it would be so uncomfortable that he wouldn't want to refuse the next job just because he doesn't want to look like a troublemaker.
That's just the bullshit politics between a poorly managed company and a union that often has a collectivist bent.

But in my experience, having the ability to tell your supervisor he's being unsafe and to get fucked at 2am is worth rolling in the mud with the union. But I'll stand my my previous statement, of there's a union there, it's probably a poorly run company.
Click to expand...
Flip side...

Union line worker shows up drunk over and over... Supervisor ends up firing him one day after he literally falls on the job plumb shitfaced.
Doesn't go down well. Drunk guy tries to punch the super. Super grabs the guy and throws him outside.

UAW now gets involved and gets the super fired for violence in the workplace. Drunk guy gets his job back and rehab paid for by the company and gets paid during rehab.

true story
 
Bebop said:
Flip side...

Union line worker shows up drunk over and over... Supervisor ends up firing him one day after he literally falls on the job plumb shitfaced.
Doesn't go down well. Drunk guy tries to punch the super. Super grabs the guy and throws him outside.

UAW now gets involved and gets the super fired for violence in the workplace. Drunk guy gets his job back and rehab paid for by the company and gets paid during rehab.

true story
Click to expand...
And this is why unions have the rep they do now. If they would police their own people would think much better of them.
 
shortbus4x4 said:
And this is why unions have the rep they do now. If they would police their own people would think much better of them.
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They literally cannot police their own people because then there would be nobody to support them.

Useful people will not go to bat for a union because it's a solid "meh" at best to them.

Useless fuckwads who only have what they have because of the union will fight tooth and nail for it.
 
Bebop said:
Flip side...

Union line worker shows up drunk over and over... Supervisor ends up firing him one day after he literally falls on the job plumb shitfaced.
Doesn't go down well. Drunk guy tries to punch the super. Super grabs the guy and throws him outside.

UAW now gets involved and gets the super fired for violence in the workplace. Drunk guy gets his job back and rehab paid for by the company and gets paid during rehab.

true story
Click to expand...
Yeah that's fucked, I wouldn't have backed that guy for a second



It never failed, I'd be packing the truck for a 3 day trip to the mountains and I'd get a call somebody fucked up and the termination process was in place. I'd call the guy and the 1st thing out of my mouth was "do you give a fuck about your job!?"
Because if he doesn't, I don't.

I'd fight for anybody once. They weren't paying top rate, and didn't have a line at the door of qualified applicants. But I'd turn around and tell them I'm not doing it again and to get their shit together.

I had a young guy, great attitude, great producer, that dept heads golden boy that had racked up too many attendance points. Pretty innocent stuff, showed up to the entry level job with a $900 car that cost him a few points, once he made some money he bought something reliable and that put an end to that, some other misc absences, not a every other Saturday guy. The company didn't want to lose him, but had to follow procedure. I dissected the new state law for sick time and applied that to him caring for his girlfriends mental health when she had to go to aunts funeral in Mexico:laughing:

The company was happy.

2 years later he bends up a pickup truck bumper pulling it out of the mud, and when they go to piss test the whole crew he calls for a steward and says he may have ingested someone's edible Marijuana at a party. We were making a case and the company seemed to be interested in working something out, when it came to light that he didn't go straight to the change house for his piss test, as we're supposed to, he went and got something out of his car and told his coworker to cover for him. Fuck that guy. When the company asked, on the record "we don't see any need to dispute this" and off the record "Fuck that guy"



Also, fuck UAW and fuck the bailed out auto manufacturers:laughing:
 
I typed this out at some point but I'll do it again since I was talking to my brothers about this very thing recently.

Oldest brother started as a wrench for the county. Excelled and was top dog in a few years. Started paying attention to how things really operated and shadowed his boss when he could. Boss got super sick and got sepsis to the point they called the family several times to say goodbye. During this year+ he took over his bosses job which was hard to do since wrenches are union but bosses are non union. That winter one of the road crew (plowing, mowing, crack sealing etc) and the teamster rep decided they didn't like my brother expecting them to plow the roads so they stopped answering their phones and filed grievances alleging theft. 6 months of paid leave while the investigation took place and he was 100% cleared. He had to apply for the bosses job officially and he got it. :laughing:

First day he brought each person in the shop into his office and had them re-read the contract they signed and told them they WILL do what the contract says or they're gone. He's still there 10 years later. :smokin: He fucking hates the union and rightfully so.



The middle brother has always been a diehard teamster through and through. 5 years ago his son died in a car wreck and his therapist wanted to put him on a baby dose of happy pills which meant no driving truck for 30 days. He was approved for FMLA and 2 days later got fired for 100% bullshit sniveler grievances. The union didn't back him up at all, they almost helped the contractor he was with more than him. 18+ months later he got his seniority and all back pay including medical he paid out of pocket for thanks to his well to do best friends lawyer. He finally decided he hates his job but he's got 2 years left to 20 and he's out. He seems to be less of a fan of the unions these days. :laughing:
 
Bebop said:
Flip side...

Union line worker shows up drunk over and over... Supervisor ends up firing him one day after he literally falls on the job plumb shitfaced.
Doesn't go down well. Drunk guy tries to punch the super. Super grabs the guy and throws him outside.

UAW now gets involved and gets the super fired for violence in the workplace. Drunk guy gets his job back and rehab paid for by the company and gets paid during rehab.

true story
Click to expand...
That's what's better about the construction unions. That guy would get fired, no questions asked and no repercussion to the supervisor or employer.
 
JD Mark said:
Unions are quasi-communist bullshit.

Everyone makes the same, whether you work hard or show up drunk.

They've long outlived their usefulness.
Click to expand...
In manufacturing, .gov, etc, yes. In construction the guys that put in the effort to show up on time and get work done get paid more. Especially in today's environment of not being able to find help. I pay wages and benefits above the union scale to my key guys.

That said, I'd love to go non-union but it would take 5-10 years to rebuild my employee pool.
 
Bebop said:
Flip side...

Union line worker shows up drunk over and over... Supervisor ends up firing him one day after he literally falls on the job plumb shitfaced.
Doesn't go down well. Drunk guy tries to punch the super. Super grabs the guy and throws him outside.

UAW now gets involved and gets the super fired for violence in the workplace. Drunk guy gets his job back and rehab paid for by the company and gets paid during rehab.

true story
Click to expand...
and this is why i am not in the union here at work anymore. almost exactly the same story.
 
I have only found that one article referencing Deere and DEI. Also what the manufacturer does the dealer can do nothing about it. Quit buying equipment but unfortunately people still need to run it and can't go out tomorrow and replace it with blue and red equipment.
 
“We will no longer participate in or support external social or cultural awareness parades, festivals, or events,” the statement read.

John Deere also announced that it would be “auditing all company-mandated training materials and policies to ensure the absence of socially motivated messages,” and would be “reaffirming within the business that the existence of diversity quotas and pronoun identification have never been and are not company policy.”
Click to expand...
 
Every company that deal with anything related to normal citizens should put out the same press release and follow through. There is NO place for that useless bullshit in 97% of citizens lives yet it keeps getting shoved down our throats.
 
Just heard from an employees dad that all of the salary employees at the Dbq facility were told on monday to take all of their personal items home with them, work from home Tuesday/Wednesday, and today they will find out via email if they still have a job or not.
 
Tin Roof said:
That's what's better about the construction unions. That guy would get fired, no questions asked and no repercussion to the supervisor or employer.
Click to expand...

Yup. My union wouldn't put up with that shit and dude would be out on his ass and never able to work for the union again.

Those comparing construction unions to these factory worker unions don't really have a clue.
 
I'll add to some of the "lesser of 2 evils" thing.
In 2011 the union and the company agreed to a contract. A portion of that contract wasn't spelled out clearly, and precluded anyone hired after that date from quarterly bonuses, that seemed to range from 500-3k. Both parties agreed to binding arbitration to settle this. Arbitrator ruled in favor of the union and that there wasn't a 2tier system, all employees got the bonus. The company refused this, and spent 8 years in court fighting it, they literally lost at every turn, then found new reasons to circle back and ask same courts to rehear it for ridiculous reasons, until it went to the Supreme Court, who refused to hear it, ordering the company to pay the bonuses with interest in 14 days or something.

Here's the kicker. This info landed the night we were walking out on strike refusing to accept the companies last best final offer. This offer was a pay cut for most employees.

My site had historically low union density. I'd gotten it from 15% to 50%, but it was weak hands, a terra cotta army. I got the super top secret list of who was owed what, to the penny. I called scabs and told them that there was a 21k check in the mail for them, and to how about not being a bitch and walk out with us. Nope all bitches. Union had carried that legal fight the whole time, got these scabs a payday, and they scabbed, coming to work for a pay cut.

So fuck most unions, fuck some companies, and fuck scabs too:laughing:






Tin Roof said:
Just heard from an employees dad that all of the salary employees at the Dbq facility were told on monday to take all of their personal items home with them, work from home Tuesday/Wednesday, and today they will find out via email if they still have a job or not.
Click to expand...

Ouch
 
John Deere will reduce its workforce in Iowa. The company claims it has seen a 20% decline in sales from 2023 to 2024 and also cited rising manufacturing costs.

A John Deere spokesperson did not confirm the number of employees that would be let go or which Iowa locations would be impacted. Employees were notified Wednesday.

John Deere says it will provide up to 12 months of severance pay for employees who are let go, with the exact amount based on years in the company.
 
I don't know what deere is like. I have a co worker that came from Firestone in Des Moines. He said there were guys that did nothing.

They complained to the union long enough to get "help" when they actually hired someone to do their job for them. He worked with a group of guys on the night shift that basically came to work to go to bed and sleep in the tires. They had beds and everything.

Even when caught the union protected them and they didn't stop doing it because there was no work for them to do.

He wasn't shocked when union negotiations failed. When they went on strike he came to work for us. Never went back.

I am not sure but I think they broke the union with that strike in that plant.

That is an example of why unions can be bad.
 
1oddtech said:
I have only found that one article referencing Deere and DEI. Also what the manufacturer does the dealer can do nothing about it. Quit buying equipment but unfortunately people still need to run it and can't go out tomorrow and replace it with blue and red equipment.
Click to expand...
Which is fiat equipment so like that’s any better?
 
JD Mark said:
Everyone makes the same, whether you work hard or show up drunk.

They've long outlived their ususefulness.
Click to expand...

Not all. Our plant is piece rate pay on all the production jobs. I made $90k last year with hardly no overtime. Guy next to me made $70-something and worked ALOT of OT.

Not a fan of unions, or even my union, but it's nothing like the stereotypical UAW nonsense.
 
45acp said:
Not a fan of unions, or even my union, but it's nothing like the stereotypical UAW nonsense.
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Agreed, take it, leave it, I haven’t needed it.
Our 12 member BU doesn’t behave like we are unionized
 
BUCKLAND said:
Agreed, take it, leave it, I haven’t needed it.
Our 12 member BU doesn’t behave like we are unionized
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FWIW our plant is easily 90+% die hard republican, I've known our current president since I was a kid and he's a big Reagan fan. He collected $$$ from both union and company guys and we got a Trump billboard in '20 that's at the edge of the plant parking lot in front of the union hall.

Technically we're Steelworkers but don't go over to the hall expecting to talk to some D's. The one or two that might be there keep quiet about it.
 
45acp said:
Not all. Our plant is piece rate pay on all the production jobs. I made $90k last year with hardly no overtime. Guy next to me made $70-something and worked ALOT of OT.

Not a fan of unions, or even my union, but it's nothing like the stereotypical UAW nonsense.
Click to expand...
So you’re pumping out more tires than your co worker or?!?
 
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