One of my brothers was grousing about his in-laws.
They were staunch union members and their conversations were as predictable as the tunes you can play on a piano with one unbroken string.
"Everybody in the United States could be in the middle-class if they just joined a union."
Because this particular brother is a peace-maker, he kept his mouth shut.
An interesting thing about keeping your mouth shut is that your brain works twice as fast as when your gums are flopping. The following is what he could have said but chose not to.
Lines of demarcation
One of the hallmarks of unions (and professional associations) are strict lines of demarcation regarding the qualifications required to do any kind of work.
In a union factory, an equipment break-down will require an electrician to address any electrical items. It requires a pipe-fitter to address any issues that arise during the repair that involve tubing or pipe that moves air, gas, water, oil or waste. It requires a tool-maker to address any issues involving bearings or tooling that touches the parts. It requires a millwright for any issues that involve conveyor parts and the portions of the equipment that does not directly touch the parts. It requires a building-repair-general tradesman for any issues that might involve the concrete in the floors or footings.
The work stops whenever another trade must be called. They stand around until the Fluzenbech Calibrater tradesman shows up if the Fluzenbech got bumped while the building-repair-general was jackhammering a hole in the floor.
My brother's in-laws would greet this information with glee. "Look!!! Five families are now in the ranks of the middle-class" as if this was a good thing.
The reality is that the production line that could be producing hot-dogs or Cameros or other consumer items is silent until all of the tradesmen show up. It could be as simple as splicing a broken hose but under the rigid lines-of-demarcation can only be fixed by a journeyman pipe-fitter. Even though the issue announces itself and any reasonably able-bodied 6th grader (boy or girl) can fix the problem.
My brother's in-laws think that unions magically create wealth when, in fact, they redistribute it and...in the long run...reduce the creation of it.
There are some "union plants" that have a "can-do, will-do" policy. During a breakdown during regular production hours, an electrician or a tool-maker can splice a broken water or air hose BUT...it comes at the cost. The pipe-fitter is scheduled to work over-time (time-and-a-half) to replace the spliced hose(s) during the next non-production day. The line keeps running. The pipe-fitter gets more $$$ in his pocket.
A strong, competent profit sharing program that reaches the shop floor and penalizes downtime usually puts an end to this sort of gamesmanship.
ReplyDeleteUnions originated to address problems like dangerous and abusive conditions or slave level wages. But like most human endeavors once the problems were addressed the unions were mutated and changed to become as bad as the companies that caused their creation. Union leadership is just another political venue drawing he evil, the corruptible, the greedy and the incompetent. It now exists to enrich those in power at the expense of EVERYONE else.
ReplyDeleteBack in the 70s, I had a brief summer job at a research lab (BIG PHARMA) where everyone except the PhD.s were in unions. The first week saw two grievences filed against me for rinsing (NOT washing) my own glassware I was using in an experiment, and moving a strip chart recorder a few feet. Taking work away from the glass washers and maintenance trades, don't ya know... I quit shortly thereafter, intolerant of that sort of nonsense, and the seeds of hating all future union encounters were already sprouting... Utter waste.
ReplyDeleteI'm not a fan of labor unions. As Dan said, they were organized to achieve particular goals and they have since mutated. I cannot think of a single instance where a union has benefited me in my lifetime. Unless I consider poor quality imported products a benefit. They were instrumental in getting many production jobs outsourced to Asia. And generating lots of campaign contributions for shady politicians who've enacted laws detrimental to a free society. I'm definitely not a fan!
ReplyDeleteOur little billion dollar company was purchased by a large oil company. They were union, we were not.
ReplyDeleteWhen we arrived at the new R&D center I was told my process unit need to be set up ASAP. Union rep said I was not allowed to touch it.
The process used mass flow controllers. There was a great debate on who should be allowed to work on re-installing them. The pipe fitter, the electrician or the instrument tech or all three. The debate dragged on for weeks because none of them wanted the job. When the VP of Research finally said it needs to be done now on overtime, suddenly all three trades wanted the job.
I don't remember who did the job but it was done incorrectly but I fixed it on the QT.
I know nothing about Unions other than what I read...
ReplyDeleteBack in the late 90s I was at one of the kids soccer games and two guys were talking behind me, near as I can remember it they were talking about a guy they knew who had been holding a hammer.
Seems he was in the wrong union to be holding the tool he had had in hand, they had a discussion about what tools he might be allowed to hold at work and how much trouble he was in for HOLDING THE WRONG TOOL! They were serious too!
I'm a fix-it guy, I carry a Leatherman so I can fix things when I see them, I believe in getting it done and moving on. Waiting for someone to come change a light bulb or for someone who can carry a hammer would drive me nuts!
Another reason I hate a Unionised workplace is the collective bargaining wage increases. In other words, you get the same wage increase regardless of merit, how hard you work or your ability to do the job. Communist Russia was the best example of that. "They pretend to pay us, we pretend to work". And they wonder why the system was totally dysfunctional.
ReplyDeletePhil B
I was raised to be diligent at my work When I worked at a union shop two men from a different department approached and whacked their shovels across my knee caps. They said I worked too hard and gave them a bad name. They threatened to toss me into the acid vat they managed at the back of the plant. I thought it a credible threat. Over one month or so, all four tires on my car were slashed and a side window broken. I couldn't prove it, but I am certain it was those same too.
DeleteMy grandfather had his kneecaps smashed and work van firebombed. This because he would not join a specific union. He was a union member, but not of that union.
In a life far, far away I worked as a shift chemist. An ancillary duty was to approve a tank to recieve the processed oil scheduled for truck transport.
ReplyDeleteA tank could not recieve oil until it was cleaned of the previous batch. A tank could not be cleaned until a man certified to operate a very simple rudimentary electronic gas sniffer gave the OK. That man was prohibited from this duty until three different shop stewards had signed off. Only then could two 'angels' (men in overwatch) take their positions to observe that one sniffer man.
The new batch could not be transferred until all of the aforementioned had been completed and signed into the log.
Figure five to eleven batches per day, all year round. Imagine the continuous line of trucks and rail cars stacked waiting to be filled. Factor the importance of maintaining the oil temperature anouve 170° American while tens of workers oer shift twiddle their thumbs waiting on the blankety blank union forced protocol. Include that if ine man missed ine step, ir more like, shortchanged a step in which to arose the suspicion of a union steward, the entire process starting at the sniffer must be repeated lest the union call a work stop of the entire plant.
I was raised to do my best and most efficiently. Labor unions often act contrary to that. I learned to despise any labor union.