Legal Strikes.

CDN_Merlin · Post by **CDN_Merlin** » Wed Oct 13, 2004 7:10 am

Well, where I work, one of the biggest Federal Unions is on strike. It doesn't affect me since I'm not part of that union per say but it does affect the clients I have on my floor. Kinda sucks when I come in to work but can't work because all my clients are either striking or standing in line for 2-3 hours before being able to get in.

They are complaining they are 20% difference in pay comapred to the private sector(PS).

I tinhk they should all get a job in the PS and then come back and b*tch. They fail to see how well they have it here with all the benefits, every single holiday off, perks, retirement plans etc and not to mention how little thye really work.

Pisses me off that they actually are allowed to disrupt traffic, city transit etc.

What's your view on strikes?

BAAL · Post by **BAAL** » Wed Oct 13, 2004 7:15 am

Sucks Merl, Actually the fiance is currently in that stike situation--works at transport canada....She's not too happy about it either.....

CDN_Merlin · Post by **CDN_Merlin** » Wed Oct 13, 2004 7:43 am

I'm lucky being a co-op right now and they aren't allowed to hold me up for to long. Since I don't pay union dues they have to let me in.

Tyranny · Post by **Tyranny** » Wed Oct 13, 2004 7:54 am

I can't really vote either way. It all really depends on the cause I guess. Most of the time people have it pretty well but aren't content to settle just for that and usually that ends up leading to strikes.

Guess it all depends on how you feel about the union and what you're getting out of it.

Vertigo 99 · Post by **Vertigo 99** » Wed Oct 13, 2004 8:58 am

Tyranny wrote:It all really depends on the cause I guess.

CDN_Merlin · Post by **CDN_Merlin** » Wed Oct 13, 2004 9:03 am

The cause if written in my post.

Top Gun · Post by **Top Gun** » Wed Oct 13, 2004 9:16 am

Unions made great advances in the past, but now it seems like they're most concerned with milking every last drop out of their employers. Unions practically rule Philly; they're always complaining about something or other. According to my one friend, who had a high school job at an Acme supermarket, union regulations made it nearly impossible to fire one @$$wipe who never did anything. Either unions need major reforms, or they need to be dropped entirely.

IsAB · Post by **IsAB** » Wed Oct 13, 2004 9:28 am

Talking generally about the right to go to strike (as the subject suggest that this is what this thread is about), i believe its essential to a healthy social/political system.

On a side note though, going to strike is all about putting pressure on the party you demand something from, for a work union denial to perform work is putting pressure enough, cutting off traffic and big marches are efficient for public exposure (thus more pressure) but the average citizen's life should be takin in mind as well.

CDN_Merlin · Post by **CDN_Merlin** » Wed Oct 13, 2004 10:00 am

We have an employee here who is a constant drunk. I'm not talking about drinking at lunch, I'm talking about drinking on teh job and smelling so muhc of it that it's impossible to work near him. He can't be fired. Go figure.

BAAL · Post by **BAAL** » Wed Oct 13, 2004 10:10 am

He can be fired Merl, 3 written warnings and then they can fire him....

Dedman · Post by **Dedman** » Wed Oct 13, 2004 10:17 am

Unless you are a starving 12 year old Guatemalan girl working in one of Kathy Leeâ??s sweat shops for 5 cents a day, unions have no function in todayâ??s business environment except to foster laziness, reward mediocrity, and reduce a companyâ??s ability to compete.

CDN_Merlin · Post by **CDN_Merlin** » Wed Oct 13, 2004 10:22 am

Baal, trust me, they are to scared tof ire him because of the backlash they will get from the union. The is the problem with our Gov't. If you don't like someone or they are crap, ship them to another dept and have them deal with them. This goes on all the time. This is why we have incompetant people working in high places.

Mobius · Post by **Mobius** » Wed Oct 13, 2004 12:37 pm

The ability to withdraw your labour in protest is the only collective power employees have when dealing with a greedy or unreasonable employer.

Striking is bad, but the ABILITY to do it is the important thing.

STRESSTEST · Post by **STRESSTEST** » Wed Oct 13, 2004 1:10 pm

I am 100% for strikes. I was in the machinists union for some time when I used to work for Boeing. And Mobi is right. It's pretty much the end-all for getting employers to the bargaining table.

Birdseye · Post by **Birdseye** » Wed Oct 13, 2004 1:12 pm

Striking is OK, but unless it's for skilled labor (like for Boeing) many strikers just end up losing a lot of money. Like the hotel industry, is it really that hard to replace a maid? Someone who can work on an airplane is much more rare.

Top Gun · Post by **Top Gun** » Wed Oct 13, 2004 2:53 pm

How about, as an alternative to unions, something that's known as a labor guild, which brings together both employers and employees? Let's face it, in the business world, the employee needs the employer, but without employees, an employer would be out of a livelihood too. Why encourage counterproductive competition and inane regulations when you can instead work on mutual progress?

STRESSTEST · Post by **STRESSTEST** » Wed Oct 13, 2004 3:02 pm

great idea. But in practice it would be a union

Top Gun · Post by **Top Gun** » Wed Oct 13, 2004 3:04 pm

STRESSTEST wrote:great idea. But in practice it would be a union

Run a Google search. Apparently, they work quite well in practice.

Lothar · Post by **Lothar** » Thu Oct 14, 2004 12:26 am

Dedman wrote:Unless you are a starving 12 year old Guatemalan girl working in one of Kathy Leeâ??s sweat shops for 5 cents a day, unions have no function in todayâ??s business environment except to foster laziness, reward mediocrity, and reduce a companyâ??s ability to compete.

WORD.

I'm all for the ability to strike. I just think most people do it for stupid reasons.

Unions, in general, cause problems in work environments -- because they force employers to keep sucky employees. I wouldn't mind a union that was cool with legit firings, and would only strike if something really significant happened. The problem is, in practice, almost every strike I've heard of in my lifetime has been over something retarded.

CDN_Merlin · Post by **CDN_Merlin** » Thu Oct 14, 2004 6:46 am

Well, after 3 days of striking I was finally held up for 45 minutes in cold weather. I'm not to happy right now. After getting to the front of the line, they verified I was a co-op student and then told me I had to call my manager and have her come down and escort me in. Hence, waiting another 5 minutes.

I for one will not be rushing to fix THEIR problems anytime soon once they get back to work.

MD-2389 · Post by **MD-2389** » Thu Oct 14, 2004 2:16 pm

CDN_Merlin wrote:Well, after 3 days of striking I was finally held up for 45 minutes in cold weather. I'm not to happy right now. After getting to the front of the line, they verified I was a co-op student and then told me I had to call my manager and have her come down and escort me in. Hence, waiting another 5 minutes.

I for one will not be rushing to fix THEIR problems anytime soon once they get back to work.

Dude, at that point, I'd be shoving their asses out of the way. What are they going to do, stand infront of the door?

CDN_Merlin · Post by **CDN_Merlin** » Thu Oct 14, 2004 3:15 pm

Some guy today pushed his way through with bike and they pushed him into the bushes to stop him and broke his shoulder in the process. I heard this PM that he will be charged for going through the picket line. Go figure.

Dedman · Post by **Dedman** » Thu Oct 14, 2004 5:45 pm

Unions rock don't they?

Legal Strikes.

How are you with striking?

Legal Strikes.