• Spuddaccino@reddthat.com
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    1 year ago

    For union dues, I’ll sometimes bring up strikes. People know that when unions strike, they aren’t working, and when they aren’t working, they aren’t getting paid. What they don’t realize is that most unions pay the employees during strikes, and that money has to come from somewhere.

    • SARGEx117@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      You’re literally partially making sure you still get PAID when shit happens.

      Very good point, and I honestly wonder how common that knowledge even is.

      Then again, almost all anti-union propaganda hinges on people not knowing enough about the subject to call it out. As with most propaganda.

      • Gyromobile@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Nevermind! I see what was said was that the unions can pay striking workers but it wont be the standard rate. So striking could cause lost wages.

        • SARGEx117@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Hmm. It’s been a thing for every union I’ve been a part of, but it makes sense it wouldn’t be ALL of them that do it. I’m sure some just simply aren’t large enough to do it like that.

        • TheSanSabaSongbird@lemdro.id
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          1 year ago

          That’s something to worry about in every arena that involves money, not just unions. It’s just a fact of life that there are crooks and liars in the world.

          • Touching_Grass@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            That’s true. I think that’s just what I’m trying to say. Unions are best for most jobs but are not great for all jobs. And they do have s lot of problems younger people might not realize. Some unions are bad for stiffing younger members giving work to older more experienced guys while younger guys pay the same dues. They can become the same shit different structure. So I’m not saying don’t unionize. But I am saying make sure the union serves its members and does not become just another thing that fucks you.

            In the end I prefer things like cooperatives over unions but we’re a long way from there. But they also suffer the same old boys club. In the end I think we overlook that we’re all just evil corporation’s without power and money. In the end we should look at the culture itself because there’s a reason corruption is king

            • Spuddaccino@reddthat.com
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              1 year ago

              From the other side: I’m pro-union, but at my workplace I’m management.

              One of the guys on my crew is terrible at his job. Just awful. Everyone hates working with him, he doesn’t get anything done on time, he’s either stupid or willfully ignorant, the list goes on and on.

              The union, however, has negotiated that I can’t action for productivity. It literally doesn’t matter how badly he does his job, as long as he’s in his spot and something is happening, I can’t do anything. On top of that, this guy has seniority over most of the other guys on the crew, so I can’t even give him less hours without cutting the people who actually get shit done.

              It’s incredibly frustrating, and the only thing I can do is watch his attendance like a hawk in the hopes I can get rid of him for being late one too many times.

        • phobiac@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          No concerns about the company management being corrupt and working against your interests, though?

          • intensely_human@lemm.ee
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            1 year ago

            The company is openly for its own interest. Corrupting the company would mean using the company for something other than seeking profit. A union, which is on your side, is the thing where corruption makes it go from serving you to not serving you. A company wasn’t serving you in the first place.

        • Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de
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          1 year ago

          so get involved and make sure it isn’t? tell people if you think the management is corrupt so they can be tossed out on their ass.

      • TheSanSabaSongbird@lemdro.id
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        1 year ago

        The downside is that you won’t get paid as much as you would working. My union pays $200 a day to anyone on a picket line, but as a strike goes on, the money starts to run out.

        Fortunately it hasn’t come to that for us.

        • Elivey@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Better than getting nothing during that time! $200/day for me would be a lot of money.

          • TheSanSabaSongbird@lemdro.id
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            1 year ago

            My local went on strike once in 2019, it lasted one day and everyone who picketed got $200.

            Last year we threatened to strike, had an authorization vote, but our signatory contractors association wanted nothing to do with it and we basically got everything we asked for with no work stoppage.

            The deal in my part of the country is that what with the CHIPS Act, there’s literally billions of dollars on the table and our signatory contractors can’t afford to get bogged down in labor disputes.

            The upshot is that it leaves the unions sitting pretty since they can’t access these incredibly lucrative contracts without using highly-trained union labor.

            There’s more to do with EMRs and the like, but I won’t bore you with the details.

    • CurlyWurlies4All@slrpnk.net
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      1 year ago

      I know this might not apply elsewhere as I’m in Australia, but I always bring up that your union fees are totally tax deductible so you get it all back at tax time.