oneduringwanderer
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There were 3 harassment investigations (that I know of) under the old guard. 2 new board members were appointed in January & the old GM has been replaced by a seemingly decent human. Employees were cautiously optimistic about the new powers-that-be.
The current MOU expires soon, so negotiations were scheduled to start this month. Trouble is, our existing Employee Association isn't a thing. We have representatives from each department, but no legal framework, no bylaws, no authority to actually do...anything. I went through archives back to the 1960s, someone else filed a public records request. Nothing.
Meanwhile the old GM spent $70k on his way out to retain a not-so-friendly lawyer. New GM is trapped by the contract...but ultimately, he works for the Board & is bound by their instruction.
Staff met with two different unions and one of them is willing to take us...if we get enough interest. Two departments are unanimously for it, but the third & largest department is fractured.
We all met after hours at a pub for a QA. Interest cards were passed out at collected.
Cautiously optimistic...I didn't think it would be that high. Fingers crossed the final vote has a similar outcome.
It'll be an awkward week at the office. The GM gets served, there's a Board meeting the next day, two mid-level managers are out on vacation, the superintendent just booked everybody's calendar for "How To Have Difficult Conversations" meeting. I'm told there will be pizza.
New cat tax. She's still nameless, but today she chose my lap over her kitty cave...and for an hour our little world was quiet & peaceful despite *gestures vaguely at everything*
Be a thoughtful human & enjoy your day!
ImmaterialHour
Careful with bridges. Trump is trying to kill the NLRB. (if you are US)
toolset
Yeah! Go go go!
TheYodajen
Oh fine lady, you don't deserve such difficulties. I am so sorry. You are strong and wonderful and I'm glad you have support with colleagues. Much love and hi to Lady Catness
beerlady
Sounds like a school district in southern Oregon.
beerlady
But I know it's not a SD, the employees have a union.
Sasurau
Congrats, 20 year+ dues payin' Teamster here, all them dues are the best investment next to my 401K I've spent in my entire life. Benefits, pay, job security, all of it.
oneduringwanderer
Our merit bonuses were cut last round because there was "no money"...but there was money enough for $10k annual bonus & double retirement contributions for mgt. We heard word that they're looking to "trim" medical benefits this time around...I think that was the final straw for a lot of coworkers.
DaisyfromDownunder
That's how the Boomers did so well on wages and conditions to help lift the economy back up after being smashed through the war years.
sv1rr
I never understood workers that are against workers unions. Talk about being gaslit.
Siliconhobbit
It's all about 3 things: #1 The money you can control, as in your paycheck and what you use it for, #2 misinformation that is fed to you, or the masses, that involes a negative outlook about unions, such as the company or other entities telling you unions are bad and/or take your money (dues) from you, and #3 the uneducated, already on the low end of the totem, or poor, many choose to opt out because they think they will lose the only job that feeds them just for speaking up.
Einstein9073
That conversation ended real fast when I pointed out that the union grocery store I had previously worked at paid me $13.50 an hour, while the store we were interviewing at was going to offer us $11
BlueSharpie4
Oooh.... now do healthcare
MadamPuddifoot
I work at a factory for one of the two biggest paper companies on earth. Not one of our workers has any interest in unionizing. (I am their healthcare person) it boggles my mind. Unsurprisingly, they almost all voted for Trump, too (despite many being latino/a)
BobaFettApproves
It’s just like any poor person voting conservative…. They were tricked
DigiT00l
Same way American waiters are against living wages (with options for additional tips)
Jordan7831
When you are making minimum wage or just barely above it because the union doesn’t haven enough bargaining power against the employer, but you still have to pay union dues. One can feel the union isn’t providing any benefit to you.
Your direct boss might be good and treat you well, but you’re isolated against all the crapy stuff the company does to other employees. Thus from your sliver of perspective, the union isn’t needed and you’re against it because it hasn’t done anything for you.
Jordan7831
I used to work retail and this was my perspective for years until I needed the union. And then I understood why they are needed.
nojustsayitdont
There exist bad unions, and unions have rules some people would rather not deal with. Those people would be happier as an independent contractor.
Tarmaccian
Can confirm. A union rep once explained to me that if I joined, my years of prior experience (in non-union shops) were completely worthless, and I'd be working random gigs until I had enough (new, in-union) experience to have seniority for steady work. That union had complete control of the city I was moving to, so I didn't really have any choice in the matter.
I was lucky to have a backup career that worked out well.
backrideup9
Some people need to be the teacher's pet their whole lives. Unions deny them special treatment at work, but they still rat on people and cause internal strife.
oneduringwanderer
There's a lot of cognitive dissonance with some of them. The way I see it we had three options: pay for internal representation (formalize the Employee Assn to a legal entity) without resources, pay for external reps with resources (unionize), or settle for whatever the employer offers with no recourse.
dbrak
I hear external reps are less good than rank-and-file unionism: https://mru.ueunion.org/
Heyitsdubblea
They are less tapped in than local for sure, but I would rather have some representation from an external union over having no representation at all.
Flexiblewarmth
Here the "Rep" is an employee of the union and the "Delegate" is local. Delegate normally has a 2nd person.
SquirrelWithATophat
Some regions have more disinformation/misinformation about unions than others. And sometimes workers are put off by needing to pay union dues, either because they're barely scraping by and the various perks of being in the union don't seem like they would make up for that loss in income, or because they're the greedy "I've got mine, you go get yours" type.
malkos
Pretty much every job in Texas I've had has an entire video on "Unions are bad. Here we're one big family and promise to take care of you."
oneduringwanderer
We've got a fair share of each, at both staff and management levels, but the union dues aren't much. I view it kinda like a cheap insurance policy—I may never need to file a claim, but if I do I'd have resources available.
Sasurau
I cannot speak for your union (obviously :) ) but often dues are an hourly rate: for instance, I pay 2.5 hours in dues every month. That adds up over the year.
However, I also have 2 contractually obligated, uninterrupted, paid 15 minute breaks per day. Breaks are not mandated by state law in my state (often, the only mandated one is a unpaid lunch), however. So, in a single week, I get 10 15 minute breaks, or 2.5 hours, of paid time. I literally pay my dues sitting on my ass on break. This
Sasurau
is also why unions usually try to get the best hourly rate they can: the more money you get paid, the more money they get paid, everyone fuckin' wins. Well, everyone who fuckin' matters.
PolarHailStorm
What gets me is everyone is against Unions, but they all know how effective Police Unions are. Yet they're still against Unions. What.
B99Reactions
People getting away with being bad shouldn't be the mark of a union being effective. So if people see cops getting away with shit because of their union, then they might think, maybe unions are kinda fucked up if that's what they're for
PolarHailStorm
That's a layer of thinking though. The surface level is "If I have a Union to support me, they will try to protect me" like how Police Unions work.
After recent events I don't really waste time on expecting certain groups of people to think. Just that they're presented with a clear-cut reason for a Union.
B99Reactions
Hopefully they get a good union and am not part of a union myself and never have been, but every time I hear about someone being in one, they're complaining that a co-worker is getting away with shit and making work impossible for other workers and nothing can be done cause the union protects them