At St Regis in N. Fla. the paper mill workers tried to stop an automation project that I was working on. The Union told the workers that they would lose their jobs when the project finished construction and started up. Those AHs sabotaged equipment on a daily basis, until we got the state police on it. They put several people in jail for vandalism. We had a company wide meeting before the construction started, and another a month or two before completion detailing where everyone would be working, and what their duties would be.

The only ones without jobs? Surprise! The guys in jail. The Automation reduced the amount of physical labor the folks had to do. They re-hired a couple of guys who had been forced to quit due to back injuries to replace the jailed AH’s. Once these guys saw how good things worked for them they quit screwing things up. The Unions were PISSED! The last I heard, they were voting out the whole bunch of local Stewards. Good for them.

At plants here in Texas, I was told that I could not “touch” the equipment I was installing without permission. BS, I charged on and by the time the Union guy got finished with his coffee and donut, I was done. Longer jobs, we just ignored them to the mirthful amusement of everyone else.

Unions need to go. they are a product of the early 20th century. We don’t need them now.

The local Teamster boss was a 50’ish year old Chicago transplant. He was about 5’ 2” and 350 pounds. He was always accompanied by a silent 6’6”, 300 pound 40’ish guy. Both could have come right out of a Soprano’s shoot. They also could have been the inspiration for Mater/Blaster in Beyond Thunder Dome.

One day we were told to report to the smoky, dimly lit meeting hall. With his goon standing a few steps behind and to his right, the union boss told us that contract negotiations were stalled and that ‘we’ had decided to strike. We were to make this official by voting the following week.

One of the young members stood up and gave a polite 30 second rebuttal to the strike position. It was obvious that the boss did not appreciate this and the meeting was terminated.

That night someone shot the young union member’s golden lab which was in a kennel in his back yard. He quit his job and left town. We voted to strike but management settled before we actually walked out. Word around the store was that some of the management team cared for their dogs (and children).

I’d much rather work at Walmart with no union than at a local grocer with a union, regardless of benefits and pay differences. Unions disgust me that much.

Me: “What makes you think they don’t?”
Lib: “They work their people part time so they don’t have to pay benefits.”
Me: “If they only work part time they have time to go look for another job. This tells me that Wal-mart gave them the best deal they could find.”

I could go on and on. Let’s just say that it got pretty funny. They thought that a rich employer should pay more than the market rate to their employees.

Just immagine having to show your tax returns before Best Buy would tell you the price of a TV. Base the price on the buyers income? Hillarious.

Rich guys would just hire poor people to do their shopping. (oops, some liberal will now make this proposal so the rick guys will hire professional shoppers.)

Mr. D on April 30, 2009 at 11:41 AM

My daughter has worked for Kroger (unionized grocer) for 2 years now. When she got her first paycheck and saw a $50 union fee, nearly a quarter of her paycheck… she was ticked. She hates unions. Watching the parasites suck money from productive employees was enough to turn her.

I simply don’t believe that their policies are anti-employee, except maybe in wages.

five-year-olds forced to scrub floors on their hands and knees

helpless women operating dangerous asbestos-covered cash registers laced

stockers hauling merchandise with only a jagged, pointy pallet jack to help them

managers beating emaciated employees and forcing them to work 4 to 8 hour shifts with only a few breaks according as dictated by law

It is almost enough to make me ashamed to be a regular Walmart customer.

If they want to unionize, then do it on a store by store basis. Can’t? Screw you. Your union wages mean I have to pay for them in higher prices.

I don’t want to pay for you to sit on your ass, get paid $20/hr and do less than you already do, which isn’t much.

What I’d like to know is how a company like (and as huge as) WalMart remained union-free this long…

JetBoy on April 30, 2009 at 10:12 AM

They do it by offering value, managing the company well, and treating the employees fairly. If Wal-Mart was the hellhole that it is portrayed as, you wouldn’t have hundreds of people lining up for a handful of jobs when a new Wal-Mart opens. The Wal-Mart workers would be clamoring for the union across the board — and they’re not.

If a company succeeds without unions, what advantages recommend union membership to the workers? They do fine without unions. Therein lies the rub.

Why don’t we just call it what it is, EXTORTION. The unions see a successful company and they want their “entitled” cut. There is not one industry that has not been ruined by unions.

ANyway, as an example, at one of the big grocery chains up here, the unionized workers at the old stores start at $23.75 per hour stocking shelves and fetching carts from the parking lot. In the same company, the employees at their “supercenter” doing the same job get $9.75 per hour to start. Guess which stores look better, have a wider selection and better prices?

As such, they have ceased to be the useful force they were and have become worse then the business leaders they used to fight.

The boss owns the company and without a formed conscience can abuse employees. Unions performed great service ending some terrible practices. Unfortunately Unions are just another boss, and there is little recourse when they go bad, and they do with time in a system rigged to preserve power at all cost…

entagor on April 30, 2009 at 12:10 PM

Good points. My granddad was one of the early members of the UMW in the 1920s. They transformed working conditions to a much better place, considering that it was still a deadly job.

By the time I was a kid in the 60s, the UMW would call a strike every other year or so. Businesses would often include in their radio and TV ads, “No Payments until the strike is over.”

Union leaders consistently supported Dems, who stabbed the coal industry and sided with the enviros supplying the knives. Throughout the decline of the mining industry I have rarely seen a UMW official ever have to reduce their own standard of living.

I’d sooner become Bawney Fwank’s masseur than join a union today.

People who go to work at Wally and Target and show initiative regularly rise from the stores into management.

Thats the truth. My son has gone from cart chaser to store co-manager at Sams Club in 5 years. Hard work and integrity is still rewarded in a few places in the USA but usually not when a union is involved.

I understood years ago that Walmart/K-Mart/Target protocol for monetary savings was to replace employees after they rise so far in management.