Union Is On Strike!

[Iron Chef]

So, they're on strike at the plant I work at. I get to work early...5:30AM...and there they are. Teamsters lining one side of the street across from the plant all screaming at once. What they're saying is unintelligible. According to news reports, these are the issues:

Better work environment: Ahhhh...folks...it's a factory. What exactly were you expecting? The executive washroom at GM?

Seniority rights: I have no clue.

Better work schedules: Something about changing to four 10-hour days and not getting overtime pay.

Overtime being cut: I dunno about anyone else, but I never based my standard of living on overtime. Overtime, even as a contractor (which is mostly how I work) is a gift. If you're counting on it for your survival, you're living beyond your means.

Overall morale improvement: I didn't know you could negotiate that.

Call me crazy, but when the current unemployment rate sits at 6.1%, you should, IMHO, be glad you have a job. And Texas being a right to work state...well...y'all might be screwed.

[DAB]

Will tea breaks be served on China with a silver tea set?

[VatorMan]

It's the teamsters. Of course they're gonna strike.

[Defib1961]

Better working conditions? I can promise them that they have better working conditions than I do and they probably make twice what I make and I know their job is no were as stressful as mine. Jerks.

[DropTheTop]

[Chris Fowler]

Seniority rights...doesn't that go against the concept of the union?

[Mike Mercury]

[snide]

Bon Jovi - Livin' On A Prayer - YouTube

[NeedSpeed]

Union's been on strike, He's down on his luck..., It's tough, so tough ........

[NeedSpeed]

Beat me to it.

[Iron Chef]

I just wish the strike started a month ago when it was 104 degrees outside.

It is incomprehensible to me how so many people actually think that a dollar or so an hour more or saving a few bucks in benefits will actually change their lives. Yesterday as I was driving past the picketers, fully 2/3 of the people had a cigarette in their hand.

"Ya know...if you gave up smoking, you'd give yourself a bigger raise than any union could get you."

Oh...wait...

[Aerovette]

Thankfully Gina works the diner all day.



Back in the day the union came courting at the company I worked for and they were taking guys out to the localk park for picnics and beer and just being general "buddies" to them all and it looked like the union was going to get in....then they all realized that as non-citizened workers, they would be screwed....Bye bye union. They never came back.

[allthrottleandsomebottle]

I have been through a couple of strikes at the boat factory in 25 years.......always good to have a bowl of wheaties with the picketers and discuss before going in the gate. The troopers I know were going WTF????

[benny42]

Originally Posted by Chris Fowler

Seniority rights...doesn't that go against the concept of the union?

Yes, but its complicated. Factory workers really go for the seniority rights, strike
over it and such. The long timers get the best shift, tasks, etc. Newbies get the
dregs.
The construction trade unions don't usually have seniority rights in their
contracts. The best workers get the good shifts and such. There is a lot of
the "good old boy network" in both.
As was stated above, this is a right to work state. They will likely get booted
out of the plant and it sounds like they deserve it.

[Bill]

Originally Posted by DAB

Will tea breaks be served on China with a silver tea set?

Would you settle for, the dishes and the tea set were made in China?

[Iron Chef]

Originally Posted by benny42

As was stated above, this is a right to work state. They will likely get booted
out of the plant and it sounds like they deserve it.

They might or might not. I don't know how the management will react. I will say that this mostly semi-skilled labor. We're not building jet engines here. It's aircraft seating and I can tell you from being out on the shop floor that NO ONE breaks a sweat out there. The way they complain you'd think they were on a road crew.

IMHO the problems these people have go far beyond their labor agreement.