On 11/2/2012 5:43 PM, graham wrote:
> "Richard K." > wrote in message
> ...
>> "Michael OConnor" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>>
>>>> That story lacked important details, but more information is coming
>>>> out by the
>>>> minute.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/1...tage_n_2059651...
>>>> Looks like the Mafia, which controls unions back East, is behind
>>>> turning away non-union crews in NJ.
>>>>
>>>
>>> I have a buddy who works in one of the tall buildings in NYC. Showed
>>> up for his first day of work with a box that had his office stuff in
>>> there, stapler, pens, desk calendar, pictures, coffee mug, that kind
>>> of stuff that you show up with your first day on the job. He was
>>> stopped at the door and was told he could not carry that box into the
>>> building, that he had to fill out a work order and a Union person
>>> would carry the box up to his office for him. He said it was about
>>> eight hours later, near the end of his first day of work, that the
>>> work order finally got processed and the Union worker showed up at his
>>> office with his box, when if he had carried it himself it would have
>>> taken five minutes instead of eight hours.
>>>
>>> But I think my favorite Union story came from Philadelphia a few years
>>> back, when they were constructing a new skyscraper and it was to be
>>> state of the art and green friendly. Among the amenities was one of
>>> those organic toilet systems where the waste is not flushed but
>>> recycled somehow. The problem was the Unions in Philadelphia had
>>> contracts that required them to build toilets and drainage for all
>>> buildings, but this company did not require it. The Unions sued this
>>> company in court and won, so this company had to pay all this extra
>>> money for a waste drainage system they would never even use.
>>
>>
>> Your stories point out some very stupid things. But there are also a lot
>> of anecdotes that could be told of what working conditions in the US were
>> like before unions... child labor, sweat shops, no workers comp, low
>> wages, getting fired without cause, workers beaten and killed for trying
>> to unionize and protect their rights, etc. Before unions, things were
>> pretty awful for a lot of workers.
>>
> My father was forced to join a union but when he was off work with a bad
> back, a cheque came in the mail every 2 weeks that helped out considerably!
> Graham
>
>
A family member held a decent job at a local manufacturing company and
there was a large strike just before he retired. Company was actually
pretty decent but the union wanted more. The union flew in their top
officials to let everyone know they would put the company out of
business if they had to and it worked. The company filed bankruptcy and
my relative gets about 50% of the pension he should have received but
the union thug leaders are doing OK.