My Union Dues

Hey Redhead. I've got a union story, too. I worked for UPS about 10 years ago. Remember when the Teamsters went on strike? I was a loader (ie. I loaded the trailers.) The company offered a deal to avoid a strike, $1/hr raise, plus a cash bonus and some other concessions. The union had already voted to strike, so they did. After the settlement, all we got was $1/hr and none of the other stuff. What a bunch of morons. I was not a union member. (Texas is a right to work state). So I crossed the picket and went to work the whole time. Bunch a idjits!

When I first joined, my dad warned me to enjoy the training, but to take the rest for a grain of salt.

He once had a job run over when two unions fought and both stuck his job over a dispute between themselves over who was going to crane up and handle materials for a building.

I saw alot of the "effects" of unions. In Clarksdale and at Aberden, due to their size and the fact that there were no unions, I could pickup a screwdriver and VOM and do the work myself.

Having been trained by my father (and grandfather) I knew tricks in control wiring that made it possible for me to get the job done 3 to 4 times faster.

I am afraid that Obama's debt to the unions will have a great impact on this nation. I am afraid it will not be a positive effect.

We all have our dirty little secrets. I was a Business Agent for the APWU and a genuwine gradgeate of the George Meany School for Labor Studies at UWV.

My Dad, a former president of the Ironworkers, told me if I wanted to get promoted into management to become a pain in the a$$ union rep.

It worked great!

wonderful world of American Guilds.

In theory, a union (trade/labor union) is supposed to aid those under them; give them training, make sure they're capable of getting a job and fair wages, etc. In practice, most of ours (all of them that I've looked at, but I freely admit that I haven't looked too deeply yet) seem to be dedicated to:

1. Ensuring that only their members can work on the task at hand - most prominent example would be a closed shop.

2. Ensuring that their leaders get the prestige they think they deserve, even if it's sometimes at the expense of those under them in one way or another.

3. Throwing their weight around in politics to ensure favorable legislation. (Admittedly, any large group could do so, but it seems to me that it's the unions which do so most often - if I'm wrong on this, please correct me. In fact, please correct me if I'm wrong about any of the above - I'm not part of a union, so my knowledge is all secondhand.)

The three items above are also a fairly good example, at least from what I've read on the subject, of how medieval era craft guilds tended to behave. And, as a light note of jest, it appears that it was easier to at least advance in the guilds if your daddy was a member, as well. (This was one of two options listed on Wikipedia as being part of the process for gaining guild mastery status - the other option for this point in the process was to make a [presumably sizable] donation to the guild.)

And Red? That tale of your father's isn't so suprising from this angle; medieval guilds often 'strongly discouraged' (my words) members of other guilds from working on their tasks.

After finding a few more sources, I may try to draw a blog posting out of this for myself - it appears between this and a few other factors, the medievalization of America is well under way.

15 months from now I might be taking a UAW job in the aerospace industry in north Texas.....

All 3 of your items are correct, from my experiences.

WRT #2, the parking lot at the Laborers Union in one town is dominated by old junk cars, except for one bright red BMW that was there just about all the time - the union President's.

WRT #3, several of the guys I worked with would bring in the union's "suggestions" for voting, as published in their newsletter, and tell my I should bring that sheet with me to the voting booth - just like they did.

Just prepare yourself. They don't take dissent very well...

to take dissent! I work for the company, not the union.

Anyway...most of them have trouble READING, so my dissent will be way over their heads.

I'm a member of SAG and AFTRA, and you can imagine just how well-received my conservative thoughts are in THOSE circles.

Great essay, man!

I even tried working as a union carpenter.

It lasted a week.

I just couldn't force myself to be that Lazy.
I got tired of hearing "Slow down" from the union steward.

I've basically been self employed ever since i gave up that "cushy" union job. :op


Merry Christmas Redhead!



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Unions WERE necessary at one time. Human nature led them to where they are now.

I was a scab for the Knight Ridder newspapers back in the early 90's. The Detroit Free Press circulation dudes went on strike. So hundreds of us across the country went up and did their jobs for their pay plus expenses plus overtime. What idiots. They made twice as much as us non-union folk and were complaining. Sheesh.

Once again, hypocrisy reared its ugly head because Knight Ridder owned nothing but bleeding heart liberal newspapers - you know, the kind whose editorials are always pro working man!

Thanks for the insight. Luckily working for the state I don't have to put up with that,though most of my coworkers did vote for Obama and I try to avoid talking politics as much as possible.

Judging by the comments, you hit a nerve. I know the biggest union organizer on the West Coast. He's a nice guy and an electrician, too. He actually one of my best friends. He knows I'm a 'a little to the right of Pat Buchanan" but we're still the best of friends. Reading you blog made me think of some of the stories he told me. Good stuff, Red.

When we had to sell the farm due to Great Society/War on Poverty nonsense. My Dad got a job as a machinist. Because he sometimes poured SMALL quantities of molten metal into molds, he was REQUIRED to join the USWA. His experience mirrored yours, but he had a wife and 2 kids to support, so he held his tongue. FINALLY instead of a set fee for dues, they took a set percentage, thereby raising the amount they collected if someone worked overtime. Dad was a BRILLIANT Machinist and therefore ALWAYS had LOTS of overtime. From that day forward, he greeted Union officials at EVERY union meeting wit, “How much of MY money are you SOB’s stealing this week?”

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Red, great post. I was a Teamster while flying for a regional airline. ALPA wouldn't take us to Teamsters jumped at the chance to get our money. We paid thousand in dues every year for nothing. Grievances were never settled, contract talks were deliberately dragged out, and the company continued to violate the contract left and right with impunity. At a meeting with the IBT 747 general consul, Gene Sowell, I asked what we are paying dues for in the first place. To my surprise he layed it out: unions are an anacronism and our dues money goes to support the DNC through DRIVE PAC. He also said that since we were pilots, the Brotherhood did not consider us "real" Teamsters and allocated their resources (that we paid a substantial portion of) accordingly. They're going to bankrupt what's left of this country if Obama, Bernanke and Geithner don't do it first...