[Jeff Niceswanger]

[QUOTE=Alan Roehrich;682221]The only time I had a union "securing my wages and benefits", the slackers kept me from getting a full time job.




Glad you spoke up Alan. Gary isn't a bit shy either and hopefully folk are getting some education on "Modern" labor. They all know of the horror stories of the past. Unions are not the Unions of the 70's and 80's. We have learned, and members are gun-shy of scenario's exactly as you described. I know of several class racers that work for the Ford plants down in the Louisville area. They want no part of being without the UAW.
Has anybody on here actually been a part of a strike like I did? I doubt it. Even though they have never been involved their the first ones that claim to know all about it. Let me tell ya, you don't. Those guys have had to vote to walk out. And its scary. They have discussed it with their wives, their kids, their friends. Its serious stuff. You might never get that job back. Even if you do, the job will be HORRIBLE until things calm down and that will take months, most likely years. That's all discussed in the meetings as the members make up their own minds on what to do about the company's final contract offer.
We had a guy, Will Wise. One of the smartest men I ever met. He was an Electronics specialist. When he hired in he refused to join the union. So his dues money was sent to I believe his church and he was NOT a member. So during that timeframe we went out on strike. Curiosity was high as we figured he would refuse to strike and if he did would shortly cross the picket line. Week after week went by. But he never crossed. I finally had to ask him "What are you doing out here"?. His answer was " Their screwing me just like they are you". After the strike, he joined the local and ran for office. Chief Steward. That's the # 2 guy in the union. Amazingly the guys voted him in and he was my right hand man for years. Sadly he died of brain cancer.
You never hear of the good outcomes because of unions,, Like UPS pension of 2500 a month @ 57 years old and 3000 dollars @ 30 years. They have had this since the strike of the 90's.Ive already spoke of my personal outcomes. Make me an rich guy? Of course not. All been a perfect world in my 45 years of labor? No, not at all. I spearheaded a decertification vote and successfully threw a do nothing union right out the door. We were spending 250,000.00 dollars a year for nothing. But I did more than run my chops. I got involved, helped throw them out and later became the leader of the pack.
90 % of quality and production issues in a manufacturing facility is management. The workers just do what their told. And if they don't, there is ample language in any "modern" contract to get rid of them. Management Rights, Discipline and Discharge and Major Offenses makes it a road map to peel off the slacker's. (I'll post ours but most contracts are very similar). For some reason, many times they CHOOSE not to. They just refuse to follow through on discipline. You gotta do it right, and they don't. Its that way on purpose, so the bosses nephew is not given favor over the next guy, even if he's a nobody. You'd be surprised how many times we had the company hell bent of firing someone but we had to explain to them that joe blow who happens to go hunting with the boss all the time has done the exact same thing multiple times and it was never problem, why is it now? For the reasons why companies cant be consistent you would have to ask Gary, that's his area...