I feel like this gets forgotten when people on job sites start talking Union. Be willing to sacrifice for your rights.
I use to work for a telecommunication conglomerate. After them screwing us over on raises, OT, and scheduling all the techs had had enough. They rallied together and voted in the Union. 18 months later negotiations have stalled. All the company did was pull plays out of the Union busting playbook, they were overly predictable each step of the way but frustrating all the same. So, the company is being sued by the Union for not acting in a way that was deemed conducive of the state laws. All we had to do was wait, with the evidence surmountable and the offenses ergregious we had the courts on our side. But instead people got impatient, started thinking that maybe this wasn't the right move was feeling the pressure of stagnant wages. They voted the Union out. Now the suit is dropped and the company got 18 months of freezing everyone's pay and cornering us on crap benefits. All the fighting and ground made in this battle in 18 months was all flushed away in a single day.
The moral of the story is, if you vote in the Union it will not be puppy dogs and rainbows over night. You just declared war in the companies eyes. They will not go down with out a fight. It will suck to fight for fair wages and to force the company to sit and look you eye to eye with you and force them to recognize that you are human beings with needs and wants. Be prepared for the long haul and stick through it. There are no half measures that will benefit you as a worker. Half measures will ultimately only benefit the company.
waldo06 on November 23rd, 2019 at 13:35 UTC »
It's all those sacks of money weighing the boss down.
ZenMonkey47 on November 23rd, 2019 at 14:12 UTC »
But... they said orientation that we're a family! Surely you wouldn't screw over your family for profit, would you?
last_picked on November 23rd, 2019 at 14:42 UTC »
I feel like this gets forgotten when people on job sites start talking Union. Be willing to sacrifice for your rights.
I use to work for a telecommunication conglomerate. After them screwing us over on raises, OT, and scheduling all the techs had had enough. They rallied together and voted in the Union. 18 months later negotiations have stalled. All the company did was pull plays out of the Union busting playbook, they were overly predictable each step of the way but frustrating all the same. So, the company is being sued by the Union for not acting in a way that was deemed conducive of the state laws. All we had to do was wait, with the evidence surmountable and the offenses ergregious we had the courts on our side. But instead people got impatient, started thinking that maybe this wasn't the right move was feeling the pressure of stagnant wages. They voted the Union out. Now the suit is dropped and the company got 18 months of freezing everyone's pay and cornering us on crap benefits. All the fighting and ground made in this battle in 18 months was all flushed away in a single day.
The moral of the story is, if you vote in the Union it will not be puppy dogs and rainbows over night. You just declared war in the companies eyes. They will not go down with out a fight. It will suck to fight for fair wages and to force the company to sit and look you eye to eye with you and force them to recognize that you are human beings with needs and wants. Be prepared for the long haul and stick through it. There are no half measures that will benefit you as a worker. Half measures will ultimately only benefit the company.