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They're trying to unionize us.....advice please

spurgemastur
I was sitting in my office preparing to teach (I'm a grad student/teaching assistant at a university) when a knock came at my door.

It was a United Auto Workers' rep (who woulda thunk they'd be a TA union?) wanting me to sign on and get the TA's at my university unionized.

The short story: she had no literature for me to look over, no website I could look at to see what they were offering, and no arguments for why I should sign up, but a fairly aggressive stance that I should sign her card, stating that I was authorizing them to negotiate on my behalf.

Why should I sign, I asked. "What are your concerns," she asked. Fees? Yeah, well, those are negotiated as part of the bargain.

When I realized she had nothing to offer by way of an argument (other than that they could negotiate for "better working conditions"), I told her to leave the card with me, and that I'd think it over and where should I send it if I decided to sign it? Nothing doing! She wouldn't even leave me with the sign-up card.

She's coming back tomorrow for my answer. My answer is no unless somebody convinces me otherwise between now and 18 hours from now.

Bottom line: our salary is reasonable relative to other TA's across the nation, our benefits are reasonable, and I've never had a workplace problem that I didn't think could be resolved directly between me and my supervisors. So the union seems unnecessary to me. Maybe they'd increase my wage to offset their fees, but I don't leave the water running in a public restroom, either....no need to generate that cost, even if I'm not paying for it out of pocket.

So I know most on this board are not pro-union. Does anybody have an argument for why I should get behind a unionization drive?
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Comments

45 comments

Date Votes
  • jtmarine0831
    quote:Originally posted by Rack Ops
    Once they get in, you'll never get rid of them......


    RackOps, The illegals or the Unions? I'm leaning towards both! I do work for a Union, but if I didn't have to be to do the job I am doing now, I wouldn't be, well atleast not this one!
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  • ObiWan
    Under a Union you have NO right to pick the Union Steward.

    See my FLRA case no: SF-CO-07-0549


    Let's say the Union gets in at the University...the Union President would then appoint her Steward for your University...she/he picks the guy that cleans the toilets and mops the floor.

    You have no means to remove him from representing you.....he's half mentally retarded and makes less than 1/4th of what you make.....again you can't remove him.

    Union President's possess Executive powers and pick who they want as their Union Rep at your work center. How could a Union benefit by appointing a moron as Union Steward?

    Start reading about PAC's. You're about to be part of one.
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  • lindalecowboy
    Most has already been said that truly makes sense, especially from those who were actually IN a union at one time. Yes, at one time, unions did a very good thing for pay, benefits and working conditions for the blue collar worker who couldn't speak up for himself. Not so today, every worker is aware of his rights and protects them a variety of ways. My biggest problem with unions this day and age is they have put a lot more companies out of business due to their demands and inflexibility because the union bosses still have a job when a single chapter goes down or a company goes down but the workers are SOL. They ONLY care about your dues and what power they possess. The day of the union is OVER and I would NEVER vote to participate in one today. What benefits they "might" be able to bring, they are going to cost you a lot more. Unions are like sin, they take you further than you want to go, they cost you more than you want to pay and they make you stay longer than you wanted to stay. JUST SAY NO !!!!
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  • jtmarine0831
    quote:Originally posted by ObiWan
    Under a Union you have NO right to pick the Union Steward.

    See my FLRA case no: SF-CO-07-0549


    Let's say the Union gets in at the University...the Union President would then appoint her Steward for your University...she/he picks the guy that cleans the toilets and mops the floor.

    You have no means to remove him from representing you.....he's half mentally retarded and makes less than 1/4th of what you make.....again you can't remove him.

    Union President's possess Executive powers and pick who they want as their Union Rep at your work center. How could a Union benefit by appointing a moron as Union Steward?

    Start reading about PAC's. You're about to be part of one.


    ObiWan, I have heard tell of this from many different friends and family members. Fortunately My Union isn't like that, they may not represent us very well to the Company sometimes, but we get to pick'em.


    Spurgemastur, as I and others have mentioned before. I wouldn't join unless you want to or are convinced(by material and testimony, that hasn't been provided) to join. Not all Unions are bad, but NONE of them are perfect.
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  • Da-Tank
    11 years in a union. probly spent about 1 1/2 years on the picket line. The small raises did not make up the loss of income.On the picket line you WILL become inbittered to people in general.
    Some times doing things that you would not do normaly. (get caught and do Time.)All in all unions are not always a good idea.
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  • jtmarine0831
    quote:Originally posted by Da-Tank
    11 years in a union. probly spent about 1 1/2 years on the picket line. The small raises did not make up the loss of income.On the picket line you WILL become inbittered to people in general.
    Some times doing things that you would not do normaly. (get caught and do Time.)All in all unions are not always a good idea.


    True there. I fortunately have never had to worry about a strike, yet. But I don't think I could bring myself to do it. My family is more important that anything else and I will do what I have to to make a good life for them. Most of my fellow union members agree and/or understand my position on this. The others, well lets just say they know I carry a gun. It might be salty, but I'll take the judgements and harassment to make sure my family is first.
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  • tr fox
    If a majority of the good employees are happy with their overall treatment, then no union is needed. Otherwise, a good union is needed. But before you determine which are the good unions, do some research.
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  • tomahawk
    the union has been good to me, a good days work for a good days pay, that being said another union was to organize the truckers we work with. the boss set up a meeting, and left it up to the truckers. the union laid their package on the table and the truckers listened, then they voted, 100% no. the truckers already made more per hour than the union offered, and they have profit sharing, insurance, and a retirement plan, the union couldn't come close and was embarrased[V] they left[:0]
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  • use enough gun
    One of the worst people I ever met in the union was our union saftey rep. When he was gone on union business things were pretty quite in our shop. The few days he was there he always tryed to stir up trouble. He was a drunk and chased anything with a skirt, was a mean drunk that couldn't punch his way out of a wet paper bag. He loved to pick on the new apprentices that came into the shop from time to time. I watched him do his act with 3 of my fellow apprentices when I first started there. By the time he got to me I was wise to him.
    One day he tryed to get a rise out of me, it worked. I grabbed him by the collar, backed him up against the wall and had his feet dangling off the ground. I screamed in his face that I would kill him if he EVER uttered another word to me. He never said one word to me again. Dave
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  • daveald
    Unions are generally based on the idea that the person with the most senority gets and keeps the job that they want. In the business of education I'm not sure that works.
    Secondly, it seem to me that the business that the union is named after is the business that they give the best service to.
    So I would think that as an educator you would want a union that understand education rather then the auto union. I cant imagine your situation would be very high in the pecking order of the UAW.but you would probably supply them with some much needed dues. my advice would be politly say no thank you.
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  • spurgemastur
    Well......I spoke to some of my colleagues and it turns out they all (ok....all three I spoke to) just blithely signed the card--some of them even acknowledging that the UAW seems poorly organized and poorly directed. Hopefully not everybody did that.

    I was in my office, as promised, at noon. I waited fifteen minutes for the rep to show up, and then figured I'd been more than generous. I left a note on the door saying no, thank you, and split.
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  • select-fire
    My wife is chuckling reading this. WTH does the United Auto Workers have to do with Teachers? She belongs to the PSTA. Palmetto State Teachers Association. NEA would be the National Education Association.
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  • Aspen79se
    What do you make as a TA? K-State's offer is tuition paid, medical enrollment plan, and $9300+/- a year.
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  • spurgemastur
    quote:Originally posted by Aspen79se
    What do you make as a TA? K-State's offer is tuition paid, medical enrollment plan, and $9300+/- a year.


    Tuition, medical/dental, and about $13.5k before taxes. Then they take away about $1400 in student fees, which are separate from tuition.
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  • spurgemastur
    quote:Originally posted by select-fire
    My wife is chuckling reading this. WTH does the United Auto Workers have to do with Teachers? She belongs to the PSTA. Palmetto State Teachers Association. NEA would be the National Education Association.


    I think she has good reason to chuckle.
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