The union was pretty corrupt by the time I got there. We had one contract bargain period and one union election while I was there. Before I got there, the union had accepted a pay cut (because they did one in the office, too! But that one got walked back pretty much right after while the union was stuck with theirs until the next contract).
So at the next contract, we expected pay to improve. Not because management was nice but because we had them by the balls because the plant’s main contract involved something like a $10k per minute fine if a late delivery caused their line to shut down. They once hired a helicopter to carry a bin to avoid this in a close call. That one line also paid for the whole plant, all the other parts we produced were just pure profit.
The first contract they came back with was the first time that union had rejected a contract in the first vote. Because it was complete shit. Our union reps were arguing that some people couldn’t afford a strike while pushing for us to accept it. It was rejected then they came back with a slightly better one which was accepted.
Then the election came. Another guy I knew wanted to run and try to actually fix a bunch of the issues we had. He received an anonymous threat that his tires would be slashed and ended up dropping out.
So most of the fucks already in there got reelected. Then, pretty much immediately after, the corrupt piece of shit of a union president got hired for an engineering job (despite no engineering background or degree) and the other union execs moved up through the inheritance rules.
Anyways, all that to say that even with the corruption, it was still the best paying unskilled job I’ve ever had and I had to be picky about what career path I took out of there for it to not be a downgrade or sidegrade.
I had a union job once, in an auto parts factory.
The union was pretty corrupt by the time I got there. We had one contract bargain period and one union election while I was there. Before I got there, the union had accepted a pay cut (because they did one in the office, too! But that one got walked back pretty much right after while the union was stuck with theirs until the next contract).
So at the next contract, we expected pay to improve. Not because management was nice but because we had them by the balls because the plant’s main contract involved something like a $10k per minute fine if a late delivery caused their line to shut down. They once hired a helicopter to carry a bin to avoid this in a close call. That one line also paid for the whole plant, all the other parts we produced were just pure profit.
The first contract they came back with was the first time that union had rejected a contract in the first vote. Because it was complete shit. Our union reps were arguing that some people couldn’t afford a strike while pushing for us to accept it. It was rejected then they came back with a slightly better one which was accepted.
Then the election came. Another guy I knew wanted to run and try to actually fix a bunch of the issues we had. He received an anonymous threat that his tires would be slashed and ended up dropping out.
So most of the fucks already in there got reelected. Then, pretty much immediately after, the corrupt piece of shit of a union president got hired for an engineering job (despite no engineering background or degree) and the other union execs moved up through the inheritance rules.
Anyways, all that to say that even with the corruption, it was still the best paying unskilled job I’ve ever had and I had to be picky about what career path I took out of there for it to not be a downgrade or sidegrade.