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 Post subject: Are you part of a Trade Union?
PostPosted: Wed Sep 22, 2010 3:45 pm 
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Just interested to see how many working RMers are part of a union and, if so, how they think those unions are performing. If you're not a member, why not? I'm interested to see what RM think of unions in general.

My own union is NIPSA, for civil servants in Northern Ireland. Seeing as the current Westminster government is looking to slash public spending from between 20% to 40% they're going to be pretty busy, with potential strikes on the horizon.

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 Post subject: Re: Are you part of a Trade Union?
PostPosted: Wed Sep 22, 2010 3:47 pm 
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Yup. AFTRA. Our contracts generally suck but from what I hear what this place was like pre-union I'm glad we have representation.

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 Post subject: Re: Are you part of a Trade Union?
PostPosted: Wed Sep 22, 2010 4:20 pm 
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I'm not sure if any union exists in my line of work.


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 Post subject: Re: Are you part of a Trade Union?
PostPosted: Wed Sep 22, 2010 4:24 pm 
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Green Habit wrote:
I'm not sure if any union exists in my line of work.

Message Board Administration is more of a managerial position.


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 Post subject: Re: Are you part of a Trade Union?
PostPosted: Wed Sep 22, 2010 4:25 pm 
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Green Habit wrote:
I'm not sure if any union exists in my line of work.


What do you work as GH?

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 Post subject: Re: Are you part of a Trade Union?
PostPosted: Wed Sep 22, 2010 8:15 pm 
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I'm in the Irish Nurses Organization (INO). It's underperforming, for the same reasons in the OP: cuts to public spending. Before the economic downturn, we got sold down the fucking river by them for a pay rise dispute anyway. The government gave the INO no option in terms of not offering a pay rise, and we had to vote on it. It should never have gone to a vote. The reason it passed, it seems, is because a lot of the foreign nurses were sick of missing out on the overtime due to the industrial action and wanted it back-they were looking in the short-term as opposed to the long. Not that it matters-the Irish economy is fucked and every tax payer is getting screwed to the wall at the moment.

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 Post subject: Re: Are you part of a Trade Union?
PostPosted: Wed Sep 22, 2010 11:31 pm 
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Juvenal wrote:
Green Habit wrote:
I'm not sure if any union exists in my line of work.
What do you work as GH?
Web developer.


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 Post subject: Re: Are you part of a Trade Union?
PostPosted: Wed Sep 22, 2010 11:49 pm 
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Green Habit wrote:
Juvenal wrote:
Green Habit wrote:
I'm not sure if any union exists in my line of work.
What do you work as GH?
Web developer.

well develop a hall of fame forum, will ya?


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 Post subject: Re: Are you part of a Trade Union?
PostPosted: Thu Sep 23, 2010 4:45 pm 
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Heh, we're being bombarded with e-mails from our union against the cuts. Apparently, there will be no redundancies this year, as management hope to get rid of people by "attitional" means. :|

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 Post subject: Re: Are you part of a Trade Union?
PostPosted: Thu Sep 23, 2010 5:00 pm 
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Is "attitional" a Northern Irish term for... something?

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 Post subject: Re: Are you part of a Trade Union?
PostPosted: Thu Sep 23, 2010 5:02 pm 
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"with more tits"

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 Post subject: Re: Are you part of a Trade Union?
PostPosted: Thu Sep 23, 2010 5:05 pm 
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You'd think there'd be less tits, if they're getting rid of people.

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 Post subject: Re: Are you part of a Trade Union?
PostPosted: Thu Sep 23, 2010 5:07 pm 
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Maybe they're replacing people by mechanical tits.

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 Post subject: Re: Are you part of a Trade Union?
PostPosted: Thu Sep 23, 2010 5:08 pm 
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Huh.

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 Post subject: Re: Are you part of a Trade Union?
PostPosted: Thu Sep 23, 2010 5:40 pm 
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*atittionalization

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 Post subject: Re: Are you part of a Trade Union?
PostPosted: Thu Sep 23, 2010 9:02 pm 
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Green Habit wrote:
Juvenal wrote:
Green Habit wrote:
I'm not sure if any union exists in my line of work.
What do you work as GH?
Web developer.


At my last Web Dev job we unionized. Basically it was just a coup for the union organizers to take over the organization and throw out everyone with seniority or who didn't agree with their plans.


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 Post subject: Re: Are you part of a Trade Union?
PostPosted: Tue Dec 11, 2012 11:12 pm 
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http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/12/ ... AJ20121211

Quote:
Michigan votes to restrict union rights
5:53pm EST

By Bernie Woodall

LANSING, Michigan (Reuters) - Michigan's Republican-led Legislature approved a ban on mandatory union membership on Tuesday, dealing a stunning blow to organized labor in the state that is home to U.S. automakers and the symbol of industrial labor in the United States.

As more than 12,000 unionized workers and supporters protested at the Capitol in Lansing, the state House of Representatives gave final approval to a pair of "right-to-work" bills covering public- and private-sector unions.

Republican Governor Rick Snyder was poised to sign the bills into law this week, completing in a few days a campaign to make Michigan the 24th U.S. state to prohibit unions from requiring employees to join and contribute dues.

In a rapid turn of events, Michigan has moved from being a bastion of union influence to the verge of joining states, mostly in the South, that have weakened local protections for unions.

The Teamsters union national president, James Hoffa, whose father, Jimmy Hoffa, was one of the nation's most famous labor leaders until he disappeared in 1975 in Michigan, denounced Republican leaders in a speech to the protesters.

"Let me tell the governor and all those elected officials who vote for this shameful, divisive bill - there will be repercussions," Hoffa said. "Some day soon, they will face the voters of Michigan and they will have to explain why they sided with the billionaires to back this destructive legislation."

Unions have accused Snyder of caving in to wealthy Republican business owners and political donors such as the Koch brothers, owners of an energy and trading conglomerate, and Richard DeVos, the co-founder of Michigan-based Amway.

Snyder, a former computer company executive who had said "right-to-work" legislation was too divisive for Michigan, changed course last week and announced his support for it.

While labor leaders decried the legislation, Republican Representative Lisa Lyons said during the debate in the House that such laws were not an attack on unions.

"This is the day Michigan freed its workers," she said.

Opponents argue that the measures undermine a basic union tenet of bargaining collectively with employers for better wages, benefits and working conditions. They also allow workers to opt out of a union, potentially reducing membership.

By weakening unions, Republicans also could hurt the Democratic Party, which traditionally receives a significant portion of its funding and grass-roots support from labor unions.

Supporters of so-called right-to-work measures say some unions have become too rigid and workers should be given a choice of whether to join. They also say a more flexible labor market encourages businesses investment, citing "right-to-work" states where some foreign automakers have established plants rather than in Michigan.

CRIES OF 'SHAME'

The measures were approved to cries of "shame" from protesters inside the Capitol building, which was closed to visitors when it reached capacity of 2,200, Michigan State Police Inspector Gene Adamczyk said.

An estimated 10,000 more people demonstrated outside in cold and snowy conditions, including members of the United Auto Workers union, and teachers, who shut down several schools in the state to attend the rally.

A few protesters were ejected from the Capitol after they chanted slogans from the gallery during the debate. Protesters tore down two tents set up for supporters of "right-to-work" on the grounds of the Capitol. Adamczyk said six people were arrested after scuffling with officers.

A mixture of pepper spray and tear gas was used on one person, Adamczyk said, although Reuters journalists also saw protesters sprayed with a substance at a government building near the Capitol.

The show of force by unionized workers recalled huge rallies in Wisconsin nearly two years ago when Republicans voted to curb public-sector unions. Wisconsin never attempted to pass "right-to-work" bills.

But Indiana earlier this year became the first state in the industrial Midwest to approve "right-to-work" legislation and several other states are watching the Michigan action closely.

LEGAL CHALLENGES LOOM

Republicans in Michigan were also emboldened by the defeat in the November election of a ballot initiative backed by unions that would have enshrined the right to collective bargaining in the state constitution.

Michigan is home of the heavily unionized U.S. auto industry, with some 700 manufacturing plants in the state. The state has the fifth highest percentage of workers who are union members at 17.5 percent. Only New York, Alaska, Hawaii and Washington state are more heavily unionized.

The Detroit area is headquarters for General Motors Co, Ford Motor Co and Chrysler, which is majority-owned by Fiat SpA.

The UAW was founded in Michigan after a 1932 protest at a Ford plant in Dearborn left five people dead, increasing public sympathy for industrial workers during the Great Depression and leading to national legislation protecting unions.

Major automakers, which secured concessions from the UAW after nearly going bankrupt during the recession of 2008-09, were careful not to take sides publicly in the fight.

All of the so-called Big Three domestic automakers said they were "neutral" on "right-to-work," even though the Michigan Chamber of Commerce strongly supports it.

"At Ford, we are focused on working with all our partners, including the UAW," the company said in a statement after the votes.

Democrats and unions have vowed to challenge the new laws in the courts, to try to overturn them in a ballot initiative and possibly oust through recall elections some Republicans who voted for the measures.

Democratic Representative Douglas Geiss said "right-to-work" laws would lead to a resumption of the battles surrounding the creation of unions decades ago.

"There will be fights on the shop floor if many workers announce they will not pay union dues," Geiss said
.

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 Post subject: Re: Are you part of a Trade Union?
PostPosted: Tue Dec 11, 2012 11:39 pm 
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I wonder who'll be throwing the first punches in a union vs. non union shop floor fight.


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 Post subject: Re: Are you part of a Trade Union?
PostPosted: Wed Dec 12, 2012 12:20 am 
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simple schoolboy wrote:
I wonder who'll be throwing the first punches in a union vs. non union shop floor fight.


Drudge has a video. Hint: It wasn't the anti-union troll.

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 Post subject: Re: Are you part of a Trade Union?
PostPosted: Wed Dec 12, 2012 1:59 am 
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i am what they call...a "scab".

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