SBC Worker Arrested > strikes end

strikes end

What some of you guys are missing, is that this is the act of ONE guy - not the union.

Just because guys get hot under the collar and do unauthorized (by the union) things, it is NOT union sanctioned.

I will admit that some unions perform a bit of strong arm tactics, but not all of them.

When I was a member of the Boilermaker union, our representation was all about working conditions. On my first job, the union took over after a non union contractor botched a power plant job by hiring underqualified non-union people.

Some of the contractors remained non-union and the difference between the two groups were as different as night and day. The union guys had the right to say that working under certain conditions was unsafe, and not to work until the conditions were met (just standard OSHA stuff).

On the other hand, if one of the non union guys was told to walk some iron to pick up a hammer and he had no safety belt he would do so or lose his job.

Our welders would sometimes hold off on how many tubes they did per shift, but then again the expectations were in the contract. If they were paid to weld 2 tubes per hour, that is what they did. Should they have to do the job faster, when there is no incentive to? No - they were hired to do a certain task at a certain rate and did so. Anything faster than required simply went as a bonus to the project manager.

Even so, when we took the job, it was 3 months behind schedule. We completed several months ahead of schedule, several thousand dollars under budget, and no major job related injurys or deaths.

Our credo was an honest days labor for an honest days pay. The union and the customer negotiated what was acceptable performance, and that is what we provided and exceeded.

Maybe not all unions are like that, but maybe more are than you bashers realise.

Regardless, maybe we do need some type of employee protection - I am getting tired of seeing IT co-workers laid off and replaced by Indian contractors.

HOW TO READ THIS CHART: Most members of Congress get the bulk of their campaign contributions from two main sources: the industries that make up the economic base of their home district and the Washington-based interest groups that pay more attention to the member's committee assignments in Congress. In addition, most Democrats receive substantial sums from labor union

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Howard L. Berman (D)
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TV/Movies/Music $222,791
Lawyers/Law Firms $117,450
Real Estate $45,250
Pro-Israel $44,600
Misc Unions $25,500
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Pharmaceuticals/Health Products $13,297
Building Trade Unions $13,000
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Health Professionals $11,300
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Transportation Unions $10,500
Computer Equipment & Services $8,250
Telecom Services & Equipment $7,000
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David R. Hernandez (R)
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Republican/Conservative $701
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General Contractors $271
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Kelley L. Ross (L
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This candidate received no contributions large enough to generate this list.

»www.opensecrets.org/races/indus.···pecial=N

reply to nonymous

said by nonymous:

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Whatever you do during as strike afterwards you are working for the same managers, so play nice.
The old time managers that know what they are doing be friendly with.
Now the young ones right off the street that have never worked in the field a little fun harassment. You have how many jobs, where are you going. Well see you around midnight.
One strike taught some of the young managers being out in the field was not all about numbers and micro management. Gave them a lesson on what it is like.
It is not a hard job, or a bad job. But if you are taking garbage from upper management and not given support to do your job it can be a headache at times.
Every customer on say a repair does not fit in a one hour time limit. Some take less, some take more.
Even in my short time it has gone from go out do the repair or install, say hi to the customer and go on to the next job. If there is no access just go on to the next job.
Now call, before , during and after. Fill out forms. Try again for access if no access. Computer systems giving out work more like for package delivery than phone work. Pager going off reminding you of next commit time. But give good customer service.
They know more about me than I do. Where I am (gps), how fast I am going. How long each job takes, quality if a customer calls back in. The techs in another city are so much more productive than us. Everything is blamed on the tech. But our workload, the order we do it in etc. is up to the back offices and their management not us. We just keep adjusting to the ever changing rules of the game.
Still we keep repairing and installing those two little pots wires. Same job but different rules.

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reply to BIGMIKE
Pretty unusual selection. Try adding a few high profile, senior (R).