Subj : How far I've come...
To   : Rob Mccart
From : Moondog
Date : Tue Jan 31 2023 12:55 pm

  Re: How far I've come...
  By: Rob Mccart to MRO on Mon Jan 30 2023 12:53 am

 > MR>unions in the usa are not what they used to be.  There are a lot of right
 >   >k states and that just doesn't work with a union structure. people dont h
 >   >join the union but they have to be protected by it.  in this structure pe
 >   >e held back  due to the other union nuances, especially in pay. You can b
 >   > in a job for 5 years before you make 2 dollars more.
 > 
 > My first long term job, part time while in school working at a grocery store
 > taught me all I needed to know about unions. They have a union similar in
 > strength to those for Car Makers and such. I had some 'bad habits'.. I was
 > spending a Lot of money building up a muscle car (575 HP Chevelle SS) and a
 > custom Triumph Bonneville motorcycle so I needed as much income as possible.
 > The best way to get called first for extra hours when someone didn't show up
 > was to be a very hard worker.. Long story short, I was good enough that I
 > earned a merit raise, the first one in the company in 15 years, for breaking
 > company production records.. This earned me about 35% more money than others
 > in my situation, and led to me being cornered one night in a remote staircas
 > and threatened by the local union rep. for making everyone else 'look bad'..
 > I told him to get stuffed but after that I had very little use for unions.
 > 
 > Admittedly, at one time, they were needed and in some places they maybe
 > still are, but I always found that hard workers are difficult to find so
 > most companies take pretty good care to keep them happy because there are
 > always other offers out there.

I worked at a salaried job, then the plant shut down and relocated the repair
service department to the main plant.  The main plant was a "closed shop"
beyond the double doors heading out to the plant floor, so we were given the
option to be integrated in the union or to find another job.  

At first we thought being unionized was repressive, but later on we saw how mu
ch certain supervisiors would try to make up conflicting policies depending
on favoritism or perception.  One time we had a lay off, and right before the
layoff I reach my anniversary, and got a review and promotion to a higher pay  
grade.  That supervisor was retiring, so he had no qualms about me moving up
a pay grade.  A month later we got the government contract, and I was called
back in.  The supervisor that took over was the one who played favorites, and
viewed me as a goof off, despite me making rate and working on a variety of
product.  One day HR comes out and says they need extra grade 11 techs on the
line, and I refused.   That equated to him that I was refusing work, which 
was grounds for termination.  He worked up the paperwork, and wanted me to
sign I refuse to accept a temporary department reassignment.  I refused to
sign and got two union stewards involved who knew I was a grade 12.  The boss
had the HR rep come out as well, and he told the boss that he wasted
everyone's time because I'm a 12, and not an 11.  There were other 11's in
the department next to our that could tranfer to the line and didn't have to
bother a 12 that had less senior 12's if they needed to pull 12's.  That
supervisor had several grievances written towards him by the material handlers
 and he was reassigned into non-leadership role.

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