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RECORD NUMBER OF FREIGHTERS AWAIT OFF CALIFORNIA COAST

I disagree. Nothing would get unloaded in a timely fashion without them. A nonunion work force that’s transient couldn’t move cargo as quickly. Imagine having to hire 100 people to unload containers fire them at the end of the day. Next day hire 70 unload 1200 autos and 50 to load grain ship. Then fire them at the end of the day and repeat. And have the workers be fast and safe at it.

I imagine you’re 40 hour weeks with weekends off. Enjoy it people spilled blood for you.

My last post about this.
Why does it need to be transient?
Did they do great things in the past? Sure.
Are they doing great things for their membership now? Not so much, it seems like they are a glorified temp agency.
We have had to kick the union steward off of a job site at work because he wasn't doing any meaningful work, yet he was drawing full pay like the others who were working hard.
The local hall near us has yet to send us anyone who is good (and they seem to have a hard time remembering that they agreed to 4x10s, with OT starting after the 10th hour, some of them seemed to think that they should work 4x10s AND get OT after 8 hours), we generally end up getting welders from another hall about 2 hours away who are a LOT faster and have less leaks.

I am pro union in theory, in practice, it seems that they are good at costing the company and their workers money.

It seems that they are good at protecting the jobs of those slugs who couldn't keep a job otherwise, but not at making things better for whose who have to make up the slack for said slugs.

The union at a plant near me went on strike over a summer, they were off all summer, the company made do without them and the employees settled for just about the same as they were offered before the strike, but they lost a couple months pay due to being on strike, they did not get enough extra to make back what they lost not working while on strike.

Same union has a bunch of people calling in sick with "possible covid" currently such that it slows down production. Funny thing, those people have no problem working OT on weekends and the weekend shift produces significantly more product per hour than the weekday shift for some strange reason :shaking:

A local municipality negotiated a $0.25/hr raise with the union in exchange for giving up lifetime medical coverage for retirees (no cost to the retiree, they could get coverage for their spouse by paying the difference).

A local school district a couple of counties over and the teachers union president have an agreement where he fires a teacher every year and the union doesn't complain.
No reason, just takes a disliking to one teacher and off they go without the union fighting to keep them.

Back in the 70s or 80s Dad was working at a TV station, they were union and went on strike over what he called "piddling issues" in solidarity with another union that was on strike at another station owned by the same company.
He made bank because he was moving out of state in a couple of months, so he stayed on, slept at the station, worked round the clock and got paid a lot of overtime.
The station put Mom up at a hotel after she got mailed threats at the house, they paid to have his (new) truck fixed after a union thug stomped on the hood/roof and kicked the windshield in.
They were out for a month or two and eventually came back for about the same agreement as they had before.
He got a nice down payment for the house where he was moving to out of it.

As a result, I don't see much benefit to joining a union for an employee who is willing to work.

Aaron Z
 
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