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• (January 12, 2023, 01:18:11 AM)

[Anonymous]

http://www.gotthegeek.com/images/judgeavatar.jpg"> Submitted byTheJudge

Well… starting Thursday, I’m apparently on strike. According to my union anyway. As far as I’m concerned, I’m NOT on strike and I will be coming in to work just like every other day. It all started with the expiry of a contract. And of course, the union and the employer sat down at the table to talk. As usual, the union made idiotic demands and the employer refused. And as always, this union called for a strike vote and selectively invited members to vote as far as I’m concerned. According to this "democratic" vote, I should be on the picketing on the streets in two days.

Great. So I can’t make up my own damn mind about things now? First off, this union has only done one thing consistently for me: Taking cash from my pay check. Not once in four years have I ever received a single letter from my union informing me of events that go on and that affect me. Not once I have received an invitation to give my opinion by voting or by any means what so ever. Not once has this union asked me about how I felt on certain issues. Apparently, they feel like they can speak on my behalf. Well think again.

While I understand the principle and the importance of unions, this particular union is simply taking things to far. Here are some of the requests they have made:

Increase sick leave from 15 days a year to 30 days a year. (The average for the private sector across the country is 8 days. We already have doubled the average and we dare ask for more?)

Increase salaries by 8% the first year. That’s what they’re asking. But they’re presenting it as 4%. Essentially, they want to drop the lower pay range on the pay scale and add a new one at the top, effectively giving everyone a 4% salary increase. But that’s not good enough. They also want an additional 4% one year 1, and 3.5% over the next two years. Have I mentioned that we are again already above the national average in terms of salary for the type of work we do?

What else… ah yes, double bereavement leave. 5 days plus traveling time doesn’t cut it. Give us 10 day plus traveling time! Does anyone in the country have more than 5 days? None that I’m aware of anyway.

These are just a few of their idiotic requests. To me, when we have one of the best benefit plans in the country already, I find it very arrogant to strike. We get a personal day of leave every year, a day to volunteer, days to compensate us for extensive traveling (above and beyond overtime related to traveling), family related leave (1 week a year to take care of family members). I’m sorry, but most people don’t have these kinds of benefits. I work for the government so who pays for these benefits? The tax payers of this country pay.  As you can imagine, informed people will not be supportive of us if we strike. Hell, I’m against the whole thing. I think it’s ridiculous and I think it’s important to make a stance for what you believe in. That’s why I’ll be going to work. I am not on strike. My union cannot dictate that for me. It’s a personal choice. On the other hand, if some people truly feel that they deserve these additional benefits and that the demands are reasonable, than by all means go out on the streets and proclaim to the world that you are being treated unfairly by your employer. That is your right and I won’t try to stop you. But don’t you try and stop me from making it to work. I have the right to make that choice.

Unfortunately, there are always militant people involved in these strikes. Things sometimes get out of hand. People get angry, personal property sometimes gets damaged. It only takes a few rotten apples to contaminate the rest. No one can deny the group effect strikers often experience. And then when it’s all over, they’ll just casually go back to work as if nothing happened. "Oh! I called you an asshole, but that’s because I was on strike. Let’s just ignore that and work on this project we’ve been assigned". Or worse, "yes I did spit in your face and trashed your car, but the strike is over now!". Isn’t it ironic how moronic people can get under the right circumstances?

I feel the role of unions should change. There are different stages in terms of acquiring benefits. It’s not because a contract expires that you have to get more no mater what. If that’s the case, then when does it end? If I give you all you want today, tomorrow you’ll want more. And if I give you that too, the next day you’ll ask for something else. What ever happened to just renewing a contract because it’s a good one? What about simplifying the whole pay increase formula. Instead of basing negotiations on a proper rate, why not just base it one the average annual increase of living expenses? Let the market dictate how much you should get. Prices go up 3% in a year; you get a 3% salary increase. And then, apply that to everyone across the public service. That’s right, it’s not because you’re an MP that you get 10%. It’s not because you’re a judge that you get 15%/ These "classes" have to be eliminated completely. These are things that unions should focus on. What else should unions do? Communicate better. Let their members know what goes on, and they should do so in an impartial matter. In a sense, the communication aspect should be viewed as journalism where the objective is to bring undistorted facts back to the union members so that they may make an informed decision on issues that affects them. That’s not the case today. Unions are a huge propaganda machine. They send specific messages, often related to politics. They ask people to do things on their behalf. And of course, many do what they are told without asking questions. It’s a shame. I’m just glad I don’t have to sit a table and negotiate with a lich who’s asking for unreasonable payment and threatens me that he will release his zombie army out on the streets if I don’t comply. That’s exactly what is being done in this case.

If you see employees striking, I urge you to look at the facts before you lend them your support (or your finger). Don’t just honk because their signs say so. I really don’t care which way you swing, all I want is for you to make up your own damn mind about things. And if you are an employee who’s striking, the message is the same. Don’t let people decide for you. Strike only if you feel it is appropriate, if it supports something you believe in, and if it can make a difference. People who run unions are usually not reasonable people. They’re on a mission and they have long lost their objectivity. Don’t let them dictate what reasonable is.

[Law]

I hate unions.

[xolik]

Unions are outdated tools of Satan run by greedy bastards that don't give a damn about 'improving working conditions' and other lofty sounding claptrap. All the crooked union leaders care about is lining their own pockets at the expense of the working man, who they are supposed to be protecting, by placing outrageous demands on employers and dictating policies to the members.

Unions may have been needed back in the olden days when employers worked people to death in crappy conditions, but nowadays all I hear is a bunch of bitching and moaning about how they are entitled to free every-fucking-thing under the sun. "Wah! I don't want to pay for health benefits! $10 a month is KILLING ME, LARRY!" Great. How about you're fired? Now you have NO benefits at all. Remember the Cali supermarket strike? Union lost big time. You can't force employers to pay if they simply don't have the money. And using strong arm tactics, intimidation and violence against customers who continue to shop at the store you're picketing isn't going to hlep your cause, you thugs.

No, I don't like unions one bit. Who the hell are you to claim that you speak for me when you don't even listen to what I have to say?

[Anonymous]

Woohoo! That's what I like to hear!

Unions have brought down companies before. The problem here is that the Government cannot be brought down by the union. Instead of the government closing the shop, they'll ask you to pay more taxes instead. It's insane.

[TerrorDronze]

unions now serve to turn a profit for the heads of it.  i know.  anyone hear of jJackie Presser.  my g/f family was related to him.... my g/f's aunt sat in jimmy hoffa's lap at one point.  but yea, unions generally suck big time.  build a flame thrower, and incinerate the greedy bastards.

[ivan]

I'm not a defender of present-day unions, which are prime examples of the maxim "absolute power corrupts absolutely", but coming from a deep lefty background, I can't but have a soft spot in my heart for the labor revolts early last century.

What's interesting about unions, however, is that they forever destroyed any chance of America becoming a Socialist -- and eventually Communist -- state.

Marxism's main tennet is that societies evolve according to a predictable pattern. As a society matures, internal contradictions begin to stress its foundations, and the society collapses under its own weight and is replaced with a more advanced society, which, in its turn, also eventually falls prey to its own internal contradictions. Marx and Engels traced the evolution of primitive societies through feudalism and into industrial capitalism of the mid to late 1800s using this model.

Marx' main interest was the society he lived in -- industrial capitalism in Germany and England. What he observed was a society on the brink of revolution. What he saw was a signifcant population of laborers, mostly factory workers and indentured servants, living in sub-human conditions, while a tiny minority of factory and land owners lived in unimaginable luxury. The internal contradiction that would tear Capitalism apart, Marx observed, was that the producers of wealth -- the laborers -- did not receive the benefits of their labor. They were exploited. As the population of laborers grew, and their conditions at home and at the workplace became increasingly dire, this fundamental stress tore at the fabric of society, spawning foment and all kinds of talk about revolution.

Marx' vision was that the proletariat would seize control of government (which consisted of the class of owners and existed solely to protect the interests of the owners) and impose, for a time, a "dictatorship of the proletariat", which would oust capitalists, nationalize industry, improve working conditions and distribute profits to those who earn them -- the workers. (This vision was executed and put to the test in Russia by an out-of-the-box-thinking Marxist named Lenin, but that's an entirely different subject).

Over time, the proletariat would relinquish its dictatorship, and -- get this -- abolish government altogether! (This is where Marxists and Libertarians can come together and slap each other on the back, but it's pretty much the only thing they agree on.) Why can govenment be abolished? Because, through the banishment of private ownership of means of production, there is no-one left whose interests need to be protected, everyone is fat and happy, factories are staffed by robots, everyone is a rock star -- Communism! Ok, so I'm a bit hazy on what the pure Communist vision of society is, just like I'm a bit hazy on how a pure Libertarian society can exist on a large scale. Nonetheless, in the early 1900s, we here in America were headed for a Socialist course.

Socialism was an attractive prospect for American workers. Being a factory worker in the early 1900s really, really sucked. The bosses were, to put it mildly, unfair by any measure. No civilized society should have tolerated the kind of abuses that went on in the name of profit. So, like I say, the US was prime for an uprising, which, if led by Marxists, would be a Socialist uprising, and the course of history would have been quite different...

Except the Labor Unions fucked it up for the Marxists.

Sure, many of the activists were Socialists and Communists, but by fighting for workers' rights, and for safe and humane working conditions, the labor unions, instead of ushering in socialism, made US capitalism better. The US form of government and economic system owe their existance to the formation of labor unions. I want to remind everyone at this point that many people paid with their lives in the fight for a fair wage and a decent work place.

So, yes, labor unions today are corrupt behemoths, and many should be disbanded, but they are corrupt behemoths with a noble past.

[Anonymous]

In my opinion, what you describe is a repeating cycle of the same problem which takes a new form every time it is reborn. People get fucked constantly. After a while, they decide they got fucked enough and do something about it. By doing so, they end up fucking someone else who'll eventually react to being fucked constantly and in turn take actions that will fuck somebody else.

[ivan]

In my opinion, what you describe is a repeating cycle of the same problem which takes a new form every time it is reborn. People get fucked constantly. After a while, they decide they got fucked enough and do something about it. By doing so, they end up fucking someone else who'll eventually react to being fucked constantly and in turn take actions that will fuck somebody else.

Sounds like my kind of party!

[pbsaurus]

So how is the strike going?

[Anonymous]

Actually I forgot to post an update. After hearing a few horor stories, I resigned myself to stay home but mostly because it was anticipated that the strike would be resolved very very quickly.

So Teusday, I stayed home and played morrowind all day. On the news that night, they said they were very close to reaching an agreement and that it was just a matter of hours.

Now, re read the above paragraph and increment the day by one each time.

So Friday morning, after loosing three days of salary and said to myself "I've had enough of this bullshit. I'm going to work." When I sat down to calculate what I had lost VS waht I was going to gain over the next three years, I concluded I was already in the hole and there was no sense for me to keep it up.

Oftne, poeple will say "we wen't on strike and we got 2.5% !!!" (or what ever number). The fact is there was an offer on the table already before going to strike. Going on strike didn't gain you 2.5%, but 2.5% minus the last offer. So in my case, going on strike for a week represented a gain at the negociation tables of about 0.5%. If someone makes 40K a year, that represents $200 a year. Over 3 years, that's $600. Staying home for 3 days and not getting paid represents more than $600.

Anyway, that was my reasoning in a nutshell. As I was on my way out, my phone rang and a lady form work said we could go back to work. I asked if the strike was over. I was very glad. Unfortunatly, it wasn't. They had agreed in principle the night before on all issues and it was just a matter of putting it in writing and that would be done today so they figured they'd send everyone back to work and hope that this was the end of it.

Of course, the negociation team from the union declined the final offer because of extreemely minor differences. Fucking retards. Anyone, a senior representative of the union made the call for a vote. So all union members have to vote. The union is recomending that we reject the offer. Typical.

So in six weeks, I may be back to square one. But this time, I won't be staying home playing morrowind. Fuck them.