Sign Of The Times - So True

60bass · #1 05-05-2009, 04:00 PM

I just had to share this one

glamrockin · #2 05-05-2009, 05:24 PM

Or deport him.

Relic · #3 05-05-2009, 05:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 60bass

I just had to share this one

god, 'aint that the truth...

sarcastro83 · #4 05-06-2009, 01:37 AM

Wow... knowing Andre's plight, I won't feel so bad when I get hassled by my at-least four, useless, layabout superiors at work. Hopefully, Andre is just digging a mass grave for all of that dead, useless, corporate fat.

Unrepresented · #5 05-06-2009, 09:23 AM

Absolutely true.

All of the mortgage brokers and title companies around here suffered heavily in the burst of the real estate market bubble; subprime loans written by massively overpaid slime that helped to sink not only their own business but the economy as a whole.

Times got tight and the first person that they lay off? The mailroom clerk with the $30K income, who'd been there for a dozen years before the bubble. Saw it happen at multiple locations.

As a Teamster I invite you all to join organized labor. If Andre were a union worker, he'd be getting paid well, and filing a grievance for harassment. In my field, all our management had to take a pay cut because of the economy. The union workers all got our contractual raises.

Relic · #6 05-06-2009, 09:32 AM

I'm union as well, but I'll be the first to say that it's human greed across the board independent of union/non-union that eventually got us to where we're at.

60bass · #7 05-06-2009, 10:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Relic

I'm union as well, but I'll be the first to say that it's human greed across the board independent of union/non-union that eventually got us to where we're at.

+1 and the lack of both union/non-union to be willing to bargain or make concessions that's making things worse.

Oh well, enough politics. We all could go on and on forever about it, but I just don't feel like getting banned today

Besides, it's too early for me to get a headache

Keep Low

sarcastro83 · #8 05-06-2009, 10:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unrepresented

Absolutely true.

All of the mortgage brokers and title companies around here suffered heavily in the burst of the real estate market bubble; subprime loans written by massively overpaid slime that helped to sink not only their own business but the economy as a whole.

Times got tight and the first person that they lay off? The mailroom clerk with the $30K income, who'd been there for a dozen years before the bubble. Saw it happen at multiple locations.

As a Teamster I invite you all to join organized labor. If Andre were a union worker, he'd be getting paid well, and filing a grievance for harassment. In my field, all our management had to take a pay cut because of the economy. The union workers all got our contractual raises.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Relic

I'm union as well, but I'll be the first to say that it's human greed across the board independent of union/non-union that eventually got us to where we're at.

As a former Teamster, I can identify with both of these. On one hand, it was incredible to be making a fantastic wage and have the kind of protection and people advocating on your behalf when you're unionized, but at the same time, I saw some terifically *****y dudes protected by that very same entity. It's a double edged sword, really.

P. Aaron · #9 05-06-2009, 11:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 60bass

I just had to share this one

And that's a shovel ready project!

EricF · #10 05-06-2009, 11:42 AM

The California Department of Transportation has announced that it will cut over 1,000 foremen and project superintendents.

They found shovels that stand up by themselves.

On a serious note...
As an owner of a Union-signatory construction company, I appreciate the fact that our laborers, plumbers, carpenters, etc. are all well paid and have great benefits. We have great crews that love working, do a great job, and have been a huge part of our success. We are also fortunate that we primarily do Public Works projects that mandate "Prevailing Wage" pay rates (essentially equal to Union wages) for all contractors, Union or not. From our perspective, this ensures that our competition does not have an advantage in labor costs and allows us to remain competitive.

However, when we occasionally bid on private work that does not have the same "Prevailing Wage" requirements, we are rarely successful simply due to the fact that our labor costs are higher than our non-Union competitors who aren't bound by Union-mandated pay rates. If we were to focus on primarily private work, we'd probably be on our way out of business in a market that is growing more and more desperate.

Although I'm a proponet of what the Unions do for our workers, there comes a point where it's a matter of keeping the doors open and your people employed. Union or not, you still have to have a job to go to.

Unrepresented · #11 05-06-2009, 10:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Relic

I'm union as well, but I'll be the first to say that it's human greed across the board independent of union/non-union that eventually got us to where we're at.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sarcastro83

As a former Teamster, I can identify with both of these. On one hand, it was incredible to be making a fantastic wage and have the kind of protection and people advocating on your behalf when you're unionized, but at the same time, I saw some terifically *****y dudes protected by that very same entity. It's a double edged sword, really.

I agree that the union will unfairly support a few people that would've been fired long ago in a non-union environment, however, it all comes down to your views on employment:

Do you keep a few bad apples in exchange for everyone getting paid well, having job security, benefits, and reasonable protection from management? We've seen the disappearance of middle class jobs, the decrease in benefits, the higher demands by employers, and the increasing volitility of the job market that've occurred as we've allowed unions to lose power. Yes, it's not perfect, but it's still far better off than where we're largely at now.

bmc · #12 05-06-2009, 11:17 PM

Unions are great.

Cheap labor in Asia is also great.

BillyRay · #13 05-06-2009, 11:29 PM

Quote:

I agree that the union will unfairly support a few people that would've been fired long ago in a non-union environment, however, it all comes down to your views on employment:

Do you keep a few bad apples in exchange for everyone getting paid well, having job security, benefits, and reasonable protection from management?

I don't want this to get political, but unions as a whole need to be retought, at least in some sectors of employment, especially the public sector. I worked for the city as a student for years during Summer and you wouldn't believe the horror stories I accumulated.

I had a guy go on break, for an hour (we were allowed 15 minutes) and THEN go get a haircut.

I was teamed with a guy who would smoke weed and drive his pickup all day, every day of the week instead of picking up the garbage as he was supposed to do.

I had to hide in the toilets for hours on end because my coworker lived an hour and a half from work and went to eat at his place every freaking workday of the week.

The problems starts to arise when the bad apples start to outnumber the good ones 15:1 and you have to hire 5 people to do the tasks that a normal person would do in the private sector. Not only is it costly as all get out, it means there's less money to go around afterwards for future hiring. A lot of the guys I worked with that were awesome were temps: the city had no more money left to hire the good ones once the bad ones got comfortable. I saw that happen countless times when I worked in a shop too.