[pwd72s]

Hoot! The more things change, the more they stay the same. I once worked in two lumber mills...days shift in one, "swing" in another. Both jobs were "green chain"...that meant pulling raw, just out of the dimension saw lumber off the "chain", stacking your designated size. Being a young punk, I was placed at the end of the chain in both jobs. Meaning, you had the ***** job of pulling and assorting, then stacking the lumber the guys ahead of you on the chain (conveyor belt...metal links, like a bicycle chain) missed. This involved sizes from 2x4 to 10X10...

About mid August, the union went out on strike. I hadn't done the job long enough to "join". Didn't want to join. I was running all over the mill yard, trying to avoid the union representative. After all, I was making $2.12 per hour. Big money then.

They called, a week later. Strike settled...all I had to do was return to that torture, and I'd make $2.19 per hour!

Thrilling as the offer was, I decided to pass, and to play a couple of weeks before returning to school.

I've never had the urge to pull green chain since. Rule number one of that job is to turn brain off...become a robot.

So, in many ways, I sympathize with union guys...GAWD! To do the same backbreaking job, year after year, your wages set by union bosses? Jesus!