Unions

[motion]

Good grief....

My kid got a job at a local grocery chain, Ralphs, as a bagger. The union is sending him letters demanding money. He makes around $9 an hour and just started a few weeks ago. They are already demanding a $100 initiation fee, $38 for his first month, and another $38 per month for the next 5 months, all up front. It adds up to something around $295. My kid works only a few hours a week and might be lucky to make $300 a month. According to the union letter, he will be terminated if he doesn't pay up.

Any advice on how to tell the union to shove it and keep his job?

[Rick V]

No advice but I detest unions. Nothing more than extortion and a safety net for under performing workers.
We have no place for them in today's economy

[HHI944]

That's truly obscene. I wish I could give you some sage advice, but I'm clueless....just happy I live in a right to work state.

[Nostril Cheese]

If he's in CA, i dont think he has much choice.

I remember the baggers strike in CA years ago. Couple of my friends crossed the lines and made out like bandits.

[Joel8005]

My guess is you live in the upper left coast or the west left coast........ It is my understanding that have no way to "terminate" you son, only big threats from a dying gangster organization.

[TimT]

Its been ages since I had that "Union" membership blackmail foisted on me.... I was dishwasher in a place that prepped food for local hospitals... They told me you need to join... pay $XXX/month etc....

I thought about it and on the advice of my dad my answer was EFF YOU....

its a short term deal..

The Union cannot fire him...he works for the "Company"

The Union can make his life uncomfortable if he continues to work for the company while he is not a member of the Union.. If he signs on with the union, he will be paying them a stipend until he moves on....

Obviously, its a first job... transitional.....

It might be fun to load up your kid with questions for the Union Rep.. inre what exactly do I get for my $38/month dues.... besides your fitted suit and luxury car

[onlycafe]

crooks making a quasi-legal living off the rank and file. they should be tased!
forty years ago i had the privilege of being a member of local 3036, the new york city cab drivers union, now that was a real bunch of characters.

[motion]

LOL, Mrs. Motion dug into the union's financials... what a joke. They lease a copier from a company that doesn't lease copiers, for $44,000 a year. That's just one of the gems she found.

[craigster59]

Will he get benefits? Medical, dental, vacation, pension? Tell him if not, he can look elsewhere. Lots of companies hiring that would love to hire him with nothing, nada, GTFO when they feel like it. It's the "New American Way". CEO's need their compensation package.

[Hard-Deck]

Racket

[legion]

Moses had a thread on this very topic a few years ago.

Yes, they can and will fire your son for not joining the union, even though he is working for minimum wage and gets no benefits--thus the union does nothing for him other than suck his wages. Most "blue" states have "union shop" laws that require employers of a unionized workforce to hire only union members. Your son has something like 90 days to join or he is gone.

Me? I wouldn't join the union, tell them to eff off, and keep collecting a paycheck until fired.

[cashflyer]

He should pay.

The union serves a vital function, ensuring that the boy is properly trained for the important task of sorting and packaging the groceries for the trip home. They work for him to make sure his health and welfare are being properly taken care of by Ralph's, ensure that he is safe on the job, ensure that his benefits are commensurate, and protect him from unjust labor practices from Ralph's management.

He should be thankful that the union is there to look out for his best interests.

[masraum]

I worked for a company that bought a portion of another company. THe portion that was purchased was based primarily out of NJ. The guys that worked for the company that was purchased were Union. A few my my local techs went up to check things out and learn about the network layout. Basically, they were my eyes and ears and hands. My guys described ridiculous circumstances. In one case, the facilities manager was walking them around showing them the equipment in various buildings. They unlocked the door to one building, walked into the pitch dark room and flipped on the lights. There was a guy kicked back in a chair out cold, sleeping like a baby. The manager just pretended the guy didn't exist, showed them around and turned the light back off when he left. Basically, there was nothing that could be done about slackers. I've heard many other ridiculous stories about union work/workers. I hope I never find myself somewhere with unions or having to work with union people. I'm sure they aren't all bad, but it seems like it breeds shoddy work ethics.

Did it protect workers in the past, absolutely. Was it necessary at some time, definitely. Is it useful these days, maybe, but I have a hard time seeing that.

I'll just count myself lucky that I don't have to worry about it.

[A930Rocket]

Too bad Ralph's didn't have a 50 cal machine gun on the roof like my grandfather did on the old textile in Alabama when union thugs came calling. Would have saved themselves a lot of trouble.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by cashflyer

He should pay.

The union serves a vital function, ensuring that the boy is properly trained for the important task of sorting and packaging the groceries for the trip home. They work for him to make sure his health and welfare are being properly taken care of by Ralph's, ensure that he is safe on the job, ensure that his benefits are commensurate, and protect him from unjust labor practices from Ralph's management.

He should be thankful that the union is there to look out for his best interests.

Was that supposed to be in green?

[Nostril Cheese]

I once did a job for the Oregon Department of Transportation, taking old hand drawn engineering documents and converting them to .dwg files.

I didnt work the first week of the job because they had to have a union guy come in and move the computer from the truck to my office. No joke.

We dont have people falling into machines anymore. Unions are corrupt.

[Por_sha911]

Originally Posted by legion

...Your son has something like 90 days to join or he is gone.
Me? I wouldn't join the union, tell them to eff off, and keep collecting a paycheck until fired.

+1
He will make more money in the 90 days before he is fired than if he works 12 months but has to pay the dues. How? Don't say anything. Just ignore the letters. When they come to visit say "Letter? What letter? Send me another one"
Encourage him to be sure to work hard right up the last day so that Ralphs is sorry to see him go because of the mafia, um, I mean, union. He'll need the reference at his next interview.

[biosurfer1]

When I worked at the hospital, their union kept sending me letters that I had to join, etc. I was in college and only worked nights and weekends. I wanted to know what my "dues" got me so I asked to have someone come talk to me. Never did, so they sent more letters which I ignored. Then the started calling me and I kept saying the same thing, "I want to talk with someone to know what my dues are getting me" so they kept saying no prob, we'll send someone out.

I worked there for a little over 2 years and never saw anyone or paid a single dollar to the union, simply because they were too lazy to come talk to me on a night or weekend. Figures

[atcjorg]

I was a union member for 25.5 years and was thankful we had one. I worked for an agency that has a terrible reputation for personnel abuses, and they earned it. Their style of management for a good portion of it was "screw em we'll do what we want let em griev it!" Knowing full well what they were doing was wrong but expedient. You need a union to help be successful. Your probably thinking omg who is this liberal? you'd be wrong. The FAA has more failed projects and overruns than probably any other agency why? Because they think they know what controllers need to do the job without asking one. They think because they worked in some podunk airport 20 years ago
(which they probably sucked at) they know all. There is a lot more collaboration these days but that usually changes with the administration and long term projects suffer the start and stop overruns every time. Yes the union fights for wages and benefits and working conditions. My last facility had approx 250 bue's ( bargaining unit employees) and we had 98% VOLUNTARY PARTICIPATION, this is not cut along political lines, these are relatively bright people, they understand the value of and need for a union.

[speeder]

All unions are not created equal. Some do a lot more for their members than others and some are more necessary than others depending on the industry.

I have a simple yes/no question for the union haters: do you believe in the right of workers to use collective bargaining?