Quote:It's sure is fun to pretend to know what you're talking about when in reality you're clueless.


I've been an Ironworker for 20 years. The first 10 years I worked with non-union companies. The attitude concerning safety was "You fall from the building, you're fired before you hit the ground." On the flip side when I joined the Ironworkers Union the attitude towards safety was "Every man goes home to their family every day." Quite the stark contrast. And to further my point: in the 10 years I worked non-union I never took a single safety class or was tested to see if I could pass a welding test. That kind of stuff costs money and they couldn't be spending on that when their grandkids need brand new Z71's.


I've have spent over 100 hours of my own time taking OSHA 30 class, 80 hour rigging course, Sub Part R course, and unlimited thickness bridge code welding certification. So to say that the union don't care about putting safe, qualified workers on job sites is a lie.


As far as dues are concerned, every member has the right to opt out of paying International dues with no penalty. The local dues are mandatory because the hall needs expense money to operate. And dues are tax deductible.


It's funny to me that Unions were highly regarded when "The Greatest Generation" worked union jobs and were able to provide a nice living for their families with a nice retirement pension waiting at the end for them, but screw the later generations because they back a political party that many older people dislike.

Good post.


I'm highly trained and good at my job. I show up to work on time and almost never call in sick. My satisfaction scores for work performance and customer satisfaction are near-perfect. Of course, this wouldn't matter much to management when they decide it's time to increase their own bonuses and cut positions and/or lower wages. That's something that keeps being overlooked. Union detrators focus their critiques on unions and give management a free pass.


I've been a union member now for almost 12 years. Dues are reasonable (roughly $80/month). With wages and T-COLA I'm bringing in around $34/hr. Grievance payments from management violations gets me about $300/yr on average. I figure that without union representation, my job would pay about $18/hr tops. That is, if I had a job, because there wouldn't be much to stop management from laying me off or firing me so they can hire a relative of theirs. Or maybe they'd just lay off everyone making $20/hr or more and replace them with cheap, inexperienced alternatives hires.


After having worked in non-union environments up until I was 36 years old, I can say that I wouldn't go back to a non-union job for anything.

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