And they just keep asking for more.

Yeah that's way over the top IMO. If they want a 4 day workweek they should be prepared to accept a 4 day paycheck. They get paid by the hour which makes the argument of less work and more pay ludicrous. If I want more in my check I work more hours, simple as that. In that way those of us blue collar grunts have it easier. Salary people (CEOs too) are ALWAYS on the job. They don't get paid extra for picking up the phone at 2:43 AM.

 

What’s the difference if you work four 10-hour or five 8-hour days?

I’d rather have four 10’s

 

Companies have a trick to take lower level production people give them titles and salaried positions and require 70 hours work weeks..

 

Depends on state in some 4 - 10s is 32 hours reg time and 8 hours of overtime pay

 

Wasn’t there just a strike at a GM facility 2-3 years ago ?

 

Since Michigan is a right to work state ( fortunately that changes next March ) , I wonder are there current non union paying employees striking and picketing as well ? At one time the UAW also had strike pay ? Don’t know if that’s still the case or not ?

 

I have to ask and realize this is not meant to be inflammatory: What is wrong with leaving it up to the individual whether or not to join a collective bargaining unit, pay dues, and in turn is offered protection and representation? If someone wants to represent themselves in their employment, opt out of union membership and dues, why is that a negative thing? Simply because it could hypothetically undermine union negotiating tactics, particularly strikes? How is it fair to someone who does not wish to be part of a collective bargaining unit to be coerced to pay membership dues to said unit? They're paying for representation that they're not getting nor wish to receive.

To me that's like moving next door to a condo association and the town coerces you to pay HOA fees despite having to do your own yard maintenance, snow removal, etc. I don't see how that is a just arrangement.

 

If you don't want to join the collective bargaining agreement and don't want to pay the dues but still want to make the same money as the collective barging agreement it undermines the whole collective bargaining process. Go bargain for your own money. Where do you think the money comes from to pay the representation that gave you that wage?
Some people just want it all I guess.
I've been a union member for 43 years. Yes there are some faults and yes I wish some things could be different but in the end I have done better than any non union worker I've talked with in my line of work. By far.

Bottom line is most non union wages would be lower if there were no collective wage agreements.

Where do you think the 40 hours work week came from? Generous corporate owners? Some guy negotiating on his own?

 

You don't have to give me the pro-union sales pitch. I'm a union member myself. I just have yet to hear a good reasonable explanation for why it's not coercion to force a person to pay for something that he doesn't want and isn't getting anyway.

 

Sorry, didn't mean to come across that strong.
Someone shouldn't have to feel coerced but should they be benefiting from something they don't support? And who's to say they can do better individually?
There is no easy fix.

 

Like you said, everybody is benefitting in a roundabout sort of way from collective bargaining. At my last non-union job there was a mass exodus from that company to the one I currently work for. After the dust settled, the remaining loyalists got upwards of $10-12 per hour raises, just to keep them there. They're still on-par with us pay-wise, with similar benefits.

 

Well said Joey, I would also add that no one is forcing an individual to work at a union shop . As said earlier, unions are not perfect by a long shot but I’ve never regretted belonging to one for all my career .

 

If every job was like that, there would be a lot of people barely making minimum wage
I don't know if all union companies are like mine, but there have been a couple times where certain individuals (myself included) have been given bumps in pay based on performance alone, even bonuses (that ruffles a lot of feathers within the aforementioned group). There is a ceiling you'll eventually hit, but there is still some incentive to do your best.

 

The only union things I know are from my in-laws....sadly all 3 have passed, but you could build Fords out of their garages...

I have heard many stories about steel mill employees (grew up in Pittsburgh)...getting paid to sleep, smoke weed and drink on the job making 20 an hour 35 years ago.

Unions had and still have their place, but if you believe an across the board 36% wage is warranted, we will shake hands, have a beer and agree to disagree.

15.00 an hour minimum wage, this is why I can't eat at Wendy's anymore. Lol

Guess I just want my wage to increase! Lol

 

35 years ago everybody was partying on the job, union or otherwise Heck, 17 years ago I was pounding beers and chain smoking in the shop in Florida, and I justified it because the boss next to me was always busy getting a whiff of these little piles on the bench...

 

Back to the topic at hand though, I hope negotiations go well for all parties involved and things get back to business as usual. It's no fun for anyone to be in limbo, uncertain of their economic future.

 

This we can agree on!

 

I've never worked on a union job. In 1981, I went to work for Rheem Manufacturing, building AC units. Plant was in Milledgeville, GA.
Several other plants were located in that town, J.P Stevens, yarn mill...
Gruman Aerospace and some others I don't remember.
Rheem had the highest pay and best benefits in town. I was making $6.33/HR way back then.
I remember when the Teamsters and USW unions came down. A check was painted on the wall of the break room showing what our dues would be.
They were voted down. Union had gotten into the Ft Smith, AR plant, we started taking on more of their orders.
After I left the plant, the union was voted in, that plant is now in Mexico.
I know unions were started for a good reason...