General Music Chat

Yes, there was a lot of waste in the old union model, but let us not throw out the baby with the bath water. Unions ARE a good idea, & considering the breadth & depth of today's corporate greed, they are needed today as much as they were in the time of their inception...but with a proper balance between corporate needs (& greeds) & worker returns for their real labors.

As much as my bias wants to really disagree with you i am forced to concede there is a place for union protection. Unfortunately it is the politics in unions, not the workers, that screw everyone just as readily as the corporations. In a previous job I used to work in 22 states. In states like New Jersey and Illinois, if I worked on a union site we had to hire someone to do the actualy work and I was only allowed to observe and direct. The person would more often than not, perform slowly and sub-par. Intentionally.

If I parked my rental car in site of the job location, there would be a 4 hour shut down while the union rep who sat and watched at the gate, filed a formal complaint. If I carried my gear in the main entrance, there was a 4 hour shut down for the same reason. Then they tried to bill US for the shut down. None of this is even a little exaggerated. On more than one occasion I had to prove that hurting me would result in worse consequences than leaving me alone.

So, pull hte BS and entitlement out of unions and you have a stream lined service. Unions are supposed to SERVE the members, not punish the employer.

Making a profit is not bad. Companies exist to make a profit and expand. Companies do not exist, contrary to popular beleif, to employ people. If it is profitable to employ a person, a company will hire. If, use New York or California for example, a company has to pay the state and regulators a ridiculous amount of money to hire someone, then it becomes pointless to create a job. As a contractor, I get all the money for my work. The local, state and federal government does not get a cut before I do. I bust my ass every day to make sure the people I work for make a profit from my skills. I get paid way over normal scale for that reason. Not only do I work, I work intelligently and I do not bill to fix something I screwed up.

That attitude from the bottom to the top will help fix all these problems. First, we must burn a little. We need to let failure happen.

I worked at GM for a cpl summers & winters as temp help, covering for ppl on vacation.

At GM, the mgmt constantly played head games with the employees. Changing things almost constantly, because it's been proven that any change will improve productivity, for a short time. So, they'd change things for the better, for a cpl months. then change them for the worse, constantly yanking the help around to keep them on their toes. Sometimes the change will be as innocent as a new paint job on the walls (Gm painted that plant probably 26 times in 35 years). Sometimes it's moving ppl about, or changing the way they have to do things. Sometimes it's a new mgr. It often meant a transfer for many many employees, for no reason other than they COULD, & other times it was due to a problem employee that they could not fire cuzza the union.It was always something, though. Having that job for any length of time would have been hell for me!

The union had meetings for dealing with mgmt that included such nice info as - if you really want to get rid of your mgr, mess with him at the end of his day, so he takes it home with him, Do it often enough, & he'll crack, & you'll get a new mgr. They were trying to ruin the mgr's home life, & make him miserable until he gave up.

It was a constant struggle between the two entities, & quite comical, for an outsider.

The union told me that I had to pay dues, because of the fine wages I was getting, but not to expect them to represent me, because I was a temp.

I ended up being the 1st temp in the history of the plant to demand & get union representation, as my mgr was breaking the rules I was hired under. When I went to the union rep, he said "So what? You're a temp!" I laughed & reminded him that if he didn't want the union to be sued, he would follow through on the representation I had PAID for.

'Nuff sed. I was hired back the following year, too, cuz I do good work.

That UAW v GM thing had gotten to be a mere game of one-upmanship. until they collapsed, BUT, it was not only this that caused their near demise. It was huge mistakes in every area of the co, NOT just greedy or uncooperative workers.

Today, if you fo to any GM plant, you will see a sign that says something like, "GM & UAW, workig together." Uh huh. As the co outsources more jobs every year to countries that have no union representation...like China, where wprkers are paid 70 cents an hour to assemble Buick Regals.