I've been on both sides. For the most part I think unions are outdated in today's market. There was a time when they were very much necessary, but I can say that even on the company side I still benefited from many of the union negotiations. Fortunately I worked in a business where it was mutually beneficial for the company and the union to be a team.

Do you work for JCI?

Neither do I,bit thanks for your input

Unions support dimtards. Nuff said.

How so? Not being a SA, I don't know the first thing other that what I've posted above... So unions support Democrats is what you're saying?

I've worked for several large publically traded companies but the best retirement plan I had was working a union job.

You are still getting a pension from the union?

No. I was salary when I retired.

Without a doubt. For example....

In the 2016 election cycle, the IBEW (since it was mentioned in this thread) donated $6.7 million to democrats, and $118K to republicans.

https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/totals.php?id=D000000069&cycle=A

The United Steelworkers gave $814K to dems and $0 to republicans in the same cycle.

https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/totals.php?id=D000000102&cycle=A

Yes for sure

Off topic, but I read this subject line about 10 times thinking "what kind of idiot can't spell "onion"???"

It's been a long day...

When I was out of the IBEW 175 the employee benefits were paid for with a portion of the employee wages that the employee didn't get. There were 2 plans......the $1.75 plan and the $2.50 plan. For easy math we'll say the employee hourly rate was $20. If the employee was on the $1.75 benefit plan, he was paid $18.25 for every hour worked and the $1.75 paid for his benefits. Same math for the $2.50 plan. This was TVA Nuclear and Environmental sites in the late 90s.

As far as qualified electricians on the bench, I needed a man for a couple of weeks in Muscle Shoals and the 558 in Sheffield sent me a guy that had been out drinking all night, he was still drunk and smelled like a brewery. I called them and told them I'd do the job by my damn self. The 558 was and may still be a cesspool of worthless/well protected asshats. I heard countless stories of how they scheduled twice as many electricians as needed on a project and they'd take turns with half leaving one day and the other half the next day leaving the site to do personal things for 8 hours and be on the TVA clock. That was in the late 90s and I've despised unions ever since.

Oh, yeah, I drove a Nissan truck and they hated me for that alone.

Well thats unexpected news

Negative, I work for a mechanical contractor out of the Atlanta area and am contracted to a large Data Center as a Control room Operator/ facilities technician.

I work for IP in Selma and am a member of USW. Am I die hard union member, no. My problem with some of the comments are What's wrong with trying to get the best wage for your local that you can, we all want to make a good living. Does the union protect some of the lazy POS on occasion they do, however there all rules we all have to live by and once you start breaking the rules not a whole the union can do, maybe we get a few more chances because they the Co. treated some one else different than they treated you. Which leads me to my next point, the union tries to keep the Co. consistent in treating all employees the same, hopefully everyone is held to the same standard, but there are double standards in al walks of life. Is it a seniority based system, yes, so you have to get your time in to move up.

In the past we negotiated health insurance, not so much anymore, it's done on a Co. wide basis now,

our pension is thru IP, the union does negotiate this benefit.

our dues are based a percentage of what you earn, just the way USW works, it's not a flat rate.

What I will say is we have about 100 in the maintenance local about 10 are not union members, but they get the same benefits as everyone else, they don't pay dues. That's my biggest heart burn with the plant union. Been there 33 years been a union member the whole time, why it's the right thing to do.

Now there are some on this forum who work in big industry and are not union, they will tell you they don't need the union, will do nothing for them and make good money with out the union. But I promise you the only reason they make the wages they do is because of what the unions have and will continue to do.

Will also say there are a lot die hard TRUMP supporters that pay union dues, and the trend is going up. Just as there were Obama supporters in the non union plants.

I was in a union when I worked at UPS in monkey town. The union there protected ALL of the workers, even the ones that were lazy. That was my only gripe other than paying the dues. Well I get a letter last year after only working there for 8 years. It turns out that union was putting money into my pension plan. So it turns out they arent that bad in that regard. Now I have a retirement coming when or if I make it to 65

Yeah, I’d look at how many jobs a union leader created before I started paying him to lead me.

Tell them thanks but no thanks

Plant union jobs are controlled by the CO. not the unions. Similar the trade union is approached by the Co. with XXX amount of jobs.

I’ve worked for a steel mill that USW represented. I now work for a non union steel mill. USW in my opinion were crooks. A lot of guys started getting out because they were getting screwed. I have better benefits and a make a lot more money non union. USW is very similar to our current political environment the guys sitting at the union hall look out for themselves are in bed with the company and screw over most of the working men