Strike coverage is gearing up

Re: Strike coverage is gearing up

• **O-Face** member

  

  March 2011 edited December 2011

  Strikes are so counterproductive.  For reals, yo.

  

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• ReturnOfKuus member

  

  March 2011 edited December 2011

  How are strikes counterproductive?  Or, how would they go about things in a different way that would be effective?

  

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• 6fsn member

  

  March 2011 edited December 2011

  It's not so much the strike that worries me, it's the threats- to machinery and to people.  I know it's the internet and all, but there have been people posting they are following families, changing safety relief valves, and other stuff.
  

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• **O-Face** member

  

  March 2011 edited December 2011

  Well, in my profession, they threaten strikes on the yearly, with us calling their bluff and what happens?  nothing.  The union(s) that I work with are basically pricing us out of competition and pretty soon their members won't be able to get work, therefore pay dues, etc.  Oops. 
  
  I guess if the point of a strike is to make a point about being spoiled, and "hey we paid these randoms to come stand and yell", then they make a very good point.
  

  

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• ReturnOfKuus member

  

  March 2011 edited December 2011

  Ideally unions should provide a balance of power between owners and workers, but it doesn't seem to work as well as it should.

  

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• **O-Face** member

  

  March 2011 edited December 2011

  No.  No it doesn't, not from where I sit.  Sadly.

  

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• 6fsn member

  

  March 2011 edited December 2011

  No they don't kuus. 

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• ReturnOfKuus member

  

  March 2011 edited December 2011

  I wonder why that is.  Is there a certain standard of skill for union membership, like X number of years of apprenticeship and standards of work in X items?  That would make sense if there were, so that if you hire non-union, you could get better prices and no collective bargaining, but you know you're getting less skill and experience.

  

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• **O-Face** member

  

  March 2011 edited December 2011

  There is an apprenticeship program with the unions I work with, but really they just want your money for pensions/dues/etc, and there is really not much you can do to be removed from the union.  Also, when you're bidding like we do, the customer doesn't care about skill, they want the bottom $$, which is hard to provide when you're required to pay your guys $15-20 more/hr than the competition.

  

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• 6fsn member

  

  March 2011 edited December 2011

  Kuus- the apprenticeships depend on the union and the facility.  The papermakers union and the general workers union are no experienced required.  You start working at our mill and within 6 months you join the union.  Same with the stationary engineers.  We require the stationary engineer union members to get a license within a certain amount of time.  If you can't pass the state test you get fired.  Not every state has licensure though.
  
  Generally an electrical or millwright union requires an apprenticeship for so many years, but you are still a member when you join.  Our mill required electricians and millwrights to have already completed an apprenticeship somewhere before we would hire them.
  
  The big issue here is this mill does make a high grade paper.  The way they run affects the bottom line of the corporation.  So the union thinks they have the company "by the balls."  They do to some degree, but their paper can be made elsewhere.  Not to mention the buyout.  The new company may say, "sure you're good, but you aren't the only people around.  We have other mills that don't have union issues."

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