GTA
General Discussion To Gateway To Airguns => Back Room => : SDale July 02, 2007, 02:33:47 PM
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I just started my new job a month ago and we're ALREADY on strike...
Teamsters Local 70 was locked out earlier this afternoon because of a stalemate in contract negotiations. But I'm the the Machinist's Local 1546. Well, since we're "Brother Unions" local 1546 walked off the job in support of local 70. NOW the company is saying:
"Since the lock-out / strike is for the Teamsters and NOT the machinists, any local 1546 union member that walks off the job will be Voluntarily Terminated and Temporary or Permanent replacments will be found for these people. However, in the event that a new position opens up, previous members of Local 1546 will be given Hiring Preference."
This pretty much means I'm canned unless I wanna get labled as a Scab and my car vandalized...
Man, if it wasn't for bad luck I wouldn't have any at all.
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That's tough. Don't have any advice, because I don't know what I would do. Hope it works out for you.
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Sorry to hear that Sam..:( I worked as a scab for the Hearold Examiner after I got out of the service. It was downtown Los Angeles.. :) I worked the swing and graveyard shift. By the time I got into work every night I had bloody knuckles and my clothes sometimes got torn.. But I stuck it out for 1 year until I found a better job... Back then you could face off with them without getting shot but today who knows.. Times are a changin..
Hope things get better for you and good luck..
Gene
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Yeah...Defnitily tough.
I'm glad I've been trying to go into a Completely different Career Field. I just started my courses for EMT & Para Rescue today. Now I gotta figure out how to pay for it until this all blows over..... If it does. :0
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I wish I could do that Gene... But from what a couple guys from the shop told me (they've been on the line all day today) a couple scabs were taken away in ambulances and a BUNCH of cars got messed up... We'll find out in 45 minutes when I get there.
Only time will tell.
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Hey Sam,
Sorry for your dilemma, I have refused to join unions for this reason. When they go on strike, they want everyone to support them, when you go on strike, they don't know who you are.
When I was younger than today ;^) I went to the store down the street, and a fellow grabbed me, and told me that I can't go in there cause THEY were on strike !
Well the store wasn't on strike, the roofers were on strike, because the store hired non-union roofers ??? That's not my problem, so I removed his hand, and a few of his fellow strikers attacked me, as the police watched. Well I defended myself, eventually purchased the milk I went for, and went home. That was the costliest gallon of milk I ever purchased, and almost, the worst I ever felt !
So I became, NON-UNION ! and sore, all in the same day. LOL, oow, it only hurt when I laughed...
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LOL Bill, Back in the old days you either stood up for what you believed or you walked away.. If there were guys with sticks and clubs I would go to the other door and take my chances there.. But when you are young and invinsible there is no obsicle that you can not try to over come...:) I was lucky I guess but after they got a few knots on there heads from me they would look the other way when they saw me coming and I would just go on to work.. hehe. That strike lasted till the Harold Examiner finally closed its doors in the late 70's.
Gene
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Really sorry to hear that , Sam, but when one works in a union area what else can ya do. My first job out of college was for a farm equipment manufacturer. Unions aren't ,or weren't, too strong in western NE in the early '70's, so didn't have to worry about violence. I made #1 pay in 3 weeks cuz my foreman liked me(worked in the warehouse) and got a lot of flak as I hadn't met union regs for advancement. I hadn't joined as the only benefit I saw was getting 3 days notice before any layoffs, and I didn't have to pay $25 a month dues, which was a lot as #1 pay was a whopping $3.48/hr LOL. Don't know how a farm equipment company got the electricians union to cover weldors, machinists and warehousemen , but that's who they had. No extra bennies like insurance or retirement, either.
Hang in there, bud!
Ric G
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Sorry about your luck, if the teamster's are a brother union, doesn't your contract cover the strike? If not then you are SOL, good luck John
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Well id say get dropped off at work. Atleast your car is safe...
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OK, I went in and did a full shift.
Right now it's a lock-out for the Teamsters and not the Machinists. The Teamsters aren't on strike YET. There was a handful of Teamsters from other job sites there that caused all the horse crap. But if they DO go on strike, according to the Machinists contract, we have to walk out too... The company released a letter that said any Machinist that walks out and JOINS the teamsters on the picket line will be "Voluntarily Terminated", but if we just walk out in support then we're fine and "No retalliation will be taken by the company." Once we come back to work, we'll be given our back pay for being off. BUT, for the time we're off, we won't be paid at all. Local 1546 doesn't have a strike fund. Only the teamsters do. So things are looking a little better.
If I cross the picket line and work, according to our contract I'll be in violation of the Union "Code of Conduct" and I've gotta pay a pretty big fine to the Union or be ejected from the Union and NOT continue to work there once they return from the strike... That part SUCKS big time!
As far as working in Non-Union shops... In order to make a decent living out here you just about HAVE to have a union job or 2 non-union jobs. I'll opt for the First . I've shopped around for LOTS of other jobs and unless it's a Managment position with TONS of long hours, the pay isn't even close. The job I do for WM pretty much requires me to use 99% of my skill-set, then again so do the Non-Union jobs. Short list of the skills I use daily at WM : HVAC, Gas/Diesel Mechanic, Machinist, Electrical, PLC Work, Conveyors, welding, fabrication etc. The average rate of pay for this in a Non-Union shop around here is about $17-20/hr and basically NO health benefits or 60-75% medical for only Myself. I'm making substantially MORE than that along with 100% medical, Dental and Vision for me and my family. I have worked in non-union shops and usually they start out good. They hire you for one thing, then slooowly add more and more on top of what you were originally hired for and almost never pay you for it. On top of that, 99% of todays employers are "At Will Employers" which means they can fire you when ever they want for whatever reason they want.
With the price for Homes, Gas and all...A non-union job is outta the question for me at the moment.
Enough of my rant... It's been a long stressful night. We're supposed to be getting word around 9am today as to what's gunna happen. Strike or not...We'll see.
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I totally agree with your post. I am tired of hearing about employers nickle-and-diming the employees out of benefits and raises, especially when inflation keeps going up. I belong to the Teacher's Union, and without that we would be subject to who knows what from administrators, as well as having no benefits and probably no real raises. Funny how the top people's pay keeps going up.
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I'm glad for you Sam, everything went OK last night; hopefully they can reach some type of an agreement to keep things moving until every thing's worked out. Good luck . kirby
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Sounds like a rough gig Sam. ALways about money and benies. I know I am still waiting for a raise from my company that I asked for about 3 months ago. Fortunately the job I am at is a very relaxed atmosphere which is one reason I stay. If I wanna take it easy one day I can if I need time off I can take it. Hehe but if I want a raise well I would do better going to the IRS and convincing them that I really do not owe them 2500 bucks lol. Hang in there buddy it wont last.... people gotta eat and you arent the only one.
John
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OK Sam, I was not paying too much attention for a couple of weeks.
Now what happened, are you still working? Was the strike settled?
I quit work this past July 2006 ( was looking at turning 67, with no pension, just got tired and quit),
so I know about some of the unions and non-unons.
I hope it has ran its course because you did not make any more posts.
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Nope... Still not at work. I'm pulling duty on the picket line 5 hours a day, twice a day. It's been 10 days since we all got Locked Out by the company after they promissed Us and their contract cities that they WOULDN'T lock out the workers.
So far I've been looking for another job...My union doesn't run a hiring hall, so I have to do 100% of the foot work AND walk the picket line. The company didn't pay me for my last week before they did the lock-out either. So that kinda puts a hurt on the pocket book. I've got a bit saved away so it isn't too bad.
Waste Managemant locked us out because our Union Contract Negotiators refused the 2 strikes safety violation clause. Pretty much after 2 safety violations, you're out. Example: If you're caught not wearing a hard hat, the first offense gets you suspended for a week without pay. The second offense gets you fired. They pretty much wanna bust up the unions and be able to fire anyone they want, when they want under the guise of "Safety"
There's also the part about waste management wanting the unions to remove the strike clause from the contracts. They want us to give up our right to strike and/or support other Unions working at the plant.
Out here in the bay area they have Scabs operating the Garbage Trucks & Transfer Stations. This morning, one of the guys I work with was run over by one of the vehicles being driven by the security guards contracted to follow the scab garbage collectors. They're only picking up garbage in the richer neighborhoods & letting it pile up in the poorer or rougher places. WM says that ain't true, but me & a bunch of other guys have driven through & placed markers on LOTS of the garbage cans. Most of them haven't even moved since last Tuesday when we placed the markers. And WM is saying "We're collecting everything we did before the lock-out" which is BS...
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That is rough Sam,
Years ago I was a Security officer and we were Allied something or ther, a AFL-CIO affilated union.
We had Malls, Police and County officers, some got raises and benefits increase.
Some shops did not, we protesed but no one listened. Our Shop Steward (from an adjoining state) said we could not strike with some other Mall Security shops in another area, so we "Slowed-Down", we were accused by the union of conducting a "wildcat" strike which was against our contract.
It was near Christmas time, it took over an hour to get from one side of the mall to the other for a minor fender-bender accident.
Bottom line was the Mall authority granted raise and COL increase, the union took credit.
Down here in SC it is a right-to-work state and we had a "large reduction in force" , it affected everyone across the company.
A lot of non-union folks that had moved from uniform to admin (management) positions rushed back to uniform (Union).
We protested, but could not strike but did achieve a negotiate agreement.
Good luck and watch your back.
I know it ain't got nothing to do with AirGuns but it does provide $$ to buy and support them. LOL
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Sorry to hear about your situation; I hope everything works out. Man, I hate to hear about the regular guy getting put over on.
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dude,maybe it`ll end soon,just keep em crossed,here in ath arm pit of the us,we dont have strikes they just shut down and move...