| Author | Message | ||
     Dalton_gang |
....the IBEW wants to start crap with us.  WTF!!! | ||
| Dalton_gang |
Actually I think that I'm going to have a little fun with them on this one.  | ||
| Hootowl |
What is a "higher standard of citizenship"? | ||
| Dalton_gang |
I don't know Hoot, but I'd say that most of that "mission statement" is bogus. When I think of the "thugs" that we usually have to deal with from local 1, I certainly don't think that they are a very moral or intellectual group. | ||
| B00stzx3 |
If the pay is decent, why is it any of their business? I'm usually pro-union. but wtf is this? They need to mind their own gotdang business. | ||
| Buellkowski |
Has your shop been picketed before? | ||
| Tbolt_pilot |
Unions like that are only one step away from the Mob. It's none of their business what pay and benefits your employees get compared to that 'gang'. I say if all your employees (I don't have any idea how many there are...) are happy with their job and their boss (you?) and they're making a decent living, then that union can go PI55 UP A ROPE! It's still a free country and you have the right to conduct YOUR business however you want. It's called free enterprise, not controlled monopoly. | ||
| Dannyd |
And folks wonder why the Governor of WI is trying to bust the unions?? Pretty good example of the things unions do now to buly their way into getting what they want. If you support unions I am sorry but I do not agree with you. | ||
| Crusty |
Hey!!! it's the latest Union bashing thread on Badweb!!! Something new and different.  | ||
| Dalton_gang |
To answer Matts question our shop has not been picketed before but yes our job sites have and too many times to remember. All they do is try to intimidate the customer and general contractor by attempting to create a secondary boycott. Usually it doesn't work and they just end up breeding more hate. To answer B00, both mine and our sister co have been signatory to this local in the past. There are a TON of reasons that we both got away from them. This latest effort is against our sister co. No one from either company wants anything to do with them so their mentality is that since we won't organize they try to make it harder to do business. | ||
| Dalton_gang |
AMEN to Tbolt and Dan! Crusty, no it's more like unions bashing a Badweber. | ||
| Cowboy |
To support a union is the same as suporting a terrorist group. | ||
| Kenm123t |
I ll bet this is Rockets union role as well Same attitude. Time to picket union jobs as over paid feather bedders. | ||
| Ourdee |
I work in a union and am the first to tell my brethren how stupid they are. I go to work to be productive. That is what I consider job security. Some of my coworkers solely exist to whine. My goal is to be doing what needs to be done before the boss can tell me what to do. That is how you keep the boss off your back. My brothers just can't grasp the concept. I can't stand a thief. OK, /rant off} | ||
| Steve_mackay |
So, do those of you that are "pro union", or support unions, do you think this type of behavior is appropriate and justified? | ||
| Svh |
I, like Ourdee, am part of a union and do not support this type of action. I am in the IBEW and unfortunately some of the Locals try this crap and all I ever see it do is make people despise unions even more. I work hard at what I do and am proud of that but I do have a few co-workers that are "union lazy". | ||
| Buellkowski |
Informational pickets are completely legal & protected speech, when the participants follow the rules (stay on public property, no intimidation or hindrance to business, etc.). Anyone can picket anyone else they want to. Just like Westboro, Tea Party, animal cruelty, or anti-abortion picketers, if this union's "informational" picketers cross the civil line and impact/prevent Dalton's business from taking place, they are clearly in the wrong. No one has the right to disrupt lawful commerce. | ||
| Court |
I used to go through this when I started my own company. I went to the I.B.E.W. when I started and they refused to talk to me. Two years later we were dominating the market, opening an office in another state and had been on the cover of Ford Fleet magazine twice, got a Small Business of the Year Award and had been featured on the cover of several constrciuction journals which had articles about the innovative way we ran the company and did the work. It's a long story but the short version was I hired the best people, paid them 20% over I.B.E.W. scale, bought everyone a new pickup every year and all I asked in return was that work be done . . not good . . but PERFECT. It's the way we became the only contractor allowed to do work on ITS systems for the SHRP group for several years. The I.B.E.W. tried this stunt on me. Our folks enjoyed taking out their paychecks and asking the "organizers" to compare checks with them. They saw the work we were doing, the way we were doing it and it rendered moot their tactics. There was a day . . when my Dad and Grandad were doing this . . the "Union" meant top quality. Unfortunately in many cases (NOT ALL) it often now means "a safe place to hide" and folks are making nice 6-figure (figure Mid-150k/yr) salaries. When the candy is sweet . . .I eat. When it's forced down my throat, I spit it out. Fairly simple. With regard to the mob . . . that's pretty unlikely anymore. Although in thus particular case there could be a touch of that lingering. Local #1 and #2 in the STL area used to have some problems. It was at the Callaway Nuke Plant that I heard, for the first and only time in my life, an ABA complain about the featherbedding. There used to be some "influence" when Local #3, here in town, has the "Minutemen". Some of them still brag about it, but it's pretty well nothing more than legend these days. I've seen 3 cases of "strong-arming" and a few other things (one of our leaders is currently doing time for a host of things that included embezzling the funds from the union little league team). However, I've done 3 power plants with the I.B.E.W. here and there are some really top notch folks so it's simply, as with so many things, not fair to cast such a broad net. Anyway . . . it's always interesting. By the way . . when I moved to NYC if you uttered the words "non-union" it could spell trouble. Now a good deal of work is done non-union. Further reading for eager learners . . . . .   By the way . . . . I've no beef with the unions and my only complaint was when a Business Agent told me to go get lost and "have Daddy give you some toys". Dad didn't want to so I made my own. I did, and I remind the Business Agent of this from time to time . . EXACTLY what they told me to do. | ||
| Joshinga |
I all I can say is "wow". I read that and all it sounds like is the school yard bully telling you "All the other kids are giving me there lunch money. I'm not saying that you have to give me yours, but I will beat you up each day until you do" | ||
| Strokizator |
As a non-union contractor since 1979, I personally see nothing wrong with this letter. The last paragraph states their non-confrontational intentions. Were I to receive the same letter, my response would be "Do what you gotta do". Times are tough and unemployed union members expect their business agents to be pro-active. Whether or not they achieve anything, at least they can claim to be trying. Informational pickets are largely ineffective. | ||
| Court |
The I.B.E.W will not break ANY laws. They have been around since the days when Henry Miller started it. The I.B.E.W. has a glorious and unique history. Many, likely most, of the trade organizations in the USA were modeled on the Trade Guilds of Europe . . associations of skilled workers. Miller however . . . motivated by another reason . . the tremendous fatality rate amongst Linemen who were dying at an alarming rate. It's easy, particularly in an internet forum, to chest pound and yell "I'm anti-union" . . more challenging to study the history, evolution and state of the unions and understand what their strengths (they have many and they seem to often forget them) and weaknesses are. It's easy to be a chest pounder . . but I'd encourage folks to do some research, study a bit and understand the mindset, economics and value set that drives unions. I guess I am living proof that some of the I.B.E.W. safety initiatives paid off . . . I know two other folks, both lifelong I.B.E.W. members who paid for some of that progress.   Seek first to understand. | ||
| Dalton_gang |
Damn!...13kv, 40` fall and lived x2!? WOW! You are a very lucky family! You are right about the history, heritage and pride they have. I actually took some classes including a history class of theirs back in `02. Once upon a time they did a ton of great things for people when there was not a lot of education and lawful protection for the employee, but now things are a bit different and people are starting to realize that they really don't have much use for them especially when the unions try to bully their way in since they are apparently entitled to everything. | ||
| Ninefortheroad |
... so let them picket. ...anyone worker that would feel that their wages and benefits were unacceptable could leave peacefully and no doubt be fairly easily replaced... | ||
| Kenm123t |
Court I beg to differ In 1967 the Spreen family Volswagen dealership was torn down during construction by a group union locals headed up by the Ibew local the pipfitters roofers pretty much all of the union labor tore the building down over a 6 hour period. I know men that spent time in prison for the riot. It put Spreen out of business since labor riots are excluded by insurance. This was the beginning of the spiral down of the unions. The Sheetmetal workers and Ibew local struck so often in So fla area that every one dropped out no one would hire union contractors any more only the Gov projects are union any more. | ||
| Tbolt_pilot |
Let me state that I'm not anti-union. My Step-Father was a union VP for many years. I know the true purpose of a union was to be a voice for the worker against corporate or management abuse, neglect, and all other sorts of things. But just as in any other organization or group of an kind, there's a line between uniting for a common good and uniting to further your privilege. Seems that some unions turn from defense to offense. My own little story: My Dad had a great manufacturing job before I was old enough to remember. He worked his way up to a supervisory position, one level up out of the union. The workers were planning a walk out one time and my Dad, being the guy right between the workers and upper management, went to the meeting to see how he could help work out what ever the issue was. Well, management got wind of it that he attended and they fired him, never even asking a reason. Now that isn't a dig on the union, just another example of the 'Us vs Them' that develops when ill-concieved notions like that of this particular IBEW come out. It's not war for cryin out loud. I say, do great work like Court and his guys and get great pay...and vice versa. (Message edited by Tbolt_pilot on May 27, 2011) | ||
| 99savage |
Personally am slightly more Conservative than Ronald Reagan and must note, as citizens Union Members have absolute rights to: 1. Band with their peers to petition employers 2. Bargain collectively 3. Petition peacefully This letter was polite & lawful against any measure - Don't like the pickets? Ignore them. Personally I think that the current Union leadership is a bunch of prissy, hidebound prigs, without a hint of imagination. - No more than bootblacks for the Democrat party. During Reagan's Administration Geo Meany felt free to invite himself to the White House at any time & I am perfectly willing to place on a pedestal just below Reagan, Thatcher, John Paul II & Lech Walesa. His replacement just seems to gather his petticoats around him & flounce about the national stage taking directions from the Democrat Party & ignoring his members. | ||
| Paint_shaker |
Wow!!!!!!! $30.30 an hour with $21.13 in fringe benefits is substandard????? I will go my entire 25 years (or more) career in law enforcement and never come close to $30.30 an hour... | ||
| Ourdee |
Being a LEO is a higher calling. Unfortunately higher callings are for the most part short on pay. Safety should be the number 1 concern for the union. |
