Truth Justice and the American Worker

[d-ray657]

As I've rambled on about here I have been pretty busy preparing a case. I have represented a union in a dispute that has been going on for about eight years now, from the EEOC to the federal district court to the court of appeals and back to the federal court. The eight year struggle took about forty minutes to end well as the jury came back with a verdict for the union. The union has spent hundreds of thousands to prove that if fairly operated its referral system and that it didn't retaliate against the plaintiffs by letting the union's owners (the members) know how much they were spending on fees.

The case has represented a huge investment in time emotion as well as money. The 18-22 hour days lately paid off. All I can say right now is

yippie!!!!!!!

Regards,

D-Ray

[Boreas]

As I've rambled on about here I have been pretty busy preparing a case. I have represented a union in a dispute that has been going on for about eight years now, from the EEOC to the federal district court to the court of appeals and back to the federal court. The eight year struggle took about forty minutes to end well as the jury came back with a verdict for the union. The union has spent hundreds of thousands to prove that if fairly operated its referral system and that it didn't retaliate against the plaintiffs by letting the union's owners (the members) know how much they were spending on fees.

The case has represented a huge investment in time emotion as well as money. The 18-22 hour days lately paid off. All I can say right now is

yippie!!!!!!!

Regards,

D-Ray

That's great,Don! Congratulations!

Solidarity forever!

John

[Sandy G]

Good for you ! While I'm no great fan of unions, what's right is right, & what's fair is fair. The big thing about unions nowadays is that a lot of 'em that I've seen are no better than some of the big corporations-The Big Dawgs at the top get the gravy, & the rest of us have to go dip sop. However, there's one here, IBEW local 934, that I would not hesitate in the least to recommend to anyone needing industrial grade electrical work done-Those guys are Professionals in every sense of the word. We used them extensively when we were doing renovations in our factory, & when they wired a press or other piece of machinery up, it was done RIGHT-When they handed it over to us, we could run production from the get-go. As my granfather, Fritz, would have said, "They knew what they were doing..."

[merrylander]

Congratulations Don!

[finnbow]

Congrat's Don. Pop a cork on some good bubbly and unlax a bit.

[d-ray657]

Good for you ! While I'm no great fan of unions, what's right is right, & what's fair is fair. The big thing about unions nowadays is that a lot of 'em that I've seen are no better than some of the big corporations-The Big Dawgs at the top get the gravy, & the rest of us have to go dip sop. However, there's one here, IBEW local 934, that I would not hesitate in the least to recommend to anyone needing industrial grade electrical work done-Those guys are Professionals in every sense of the word. We used them extensively when we were doing renovations in our factory, & when they wired a press or other piece of machinery up, it was done RIGHT-When they handed it over to us, we could run production from the get-go. As my granfather, Fritz, would have said, "They knew what they were doing..."

These are sheet metal workers. They take pride that they are the only craft whose work takes them all the way from raw material through installed product. They are indeed professionals who expect a lot from themselves. The apprenticeship program is now five years. The leadership of the union is the most professional bunch I have been around in representing several unions.

Anyway, thanks for the the good words. It was a long journey to get here, so the success was extra sweet.

Regards,

D-Ray

[BlueStreak]

Congratulations, Counselor!!!

I believe you have done the right thing, BTW.

Dave

[Sandy G]

One of these guys was the conduit guy. Big deal, right, runnin' conduit ? A trained monkey oughta be able to do that, right ? Well...Not so fast, Bunkie. This guy was an artist, he could take 8-10 runs of 2" conduit, have 'em make 90 degree bends, in ever decreasing arcs, & have it look like it was MADE that way. He'd kinda perfunctory make measurements, but a lot of it he did by eye, & the 30 years worth of being a journeyman electrician. I'd sit down in the maint area, or the break room, & listen to these guys spin tales of wiring skyscrapers all over N. America...Or re-doing a shipyard in New Iberia, Louisiana... Typically, they got to do their thing right after the steel skeleton for the building was finished-Way before the windows & walls were put up, so you'd be on the top of a 50-story building in Pittsburgh in January.....Much fun...

[merrylander]

Used to watch some of our cable guys bend 606 pair stalpeth or even lead covered cable like a bunch of artists.

[doucanoe]

Congrats on completing your mission successfully!

It's good to see hard work and a plan come together :)

RC

[Sandy G]

Used to watch some of our cable guys bend 606 pair stalpeth or even lead covered cable like a bunch of artists.

Yeah, Rob, & they made it look so EASY, too..That's the hard part...

[JJIII]

Congrats d-ray!

[d-ray657]

It's funny how many people say it's the unions that make workers overpriced, when these amazingly skilled workers, after having several years of training to reach a high skill level, top out at around $100K, while those whose job is to move money around would consider that a mere pittance for their services.

Regards,

D-Ray

[noonereal]

It's funny how many people say it's the unions that make workers overpriced, when these amazingly skilled workers, after having several years of training to reach a high skill level, top out at around $100K, while those whose job is to move money around would consider that a mere pittance for their services.

Regards,

D-Ray

thank you

[BlueStreak]

It's funny how many people say it's the unions that make workers overpriced, when these amazingly skilled workers, after having several years of training to reach a high skill level, top out at around $100K, while those whose job is to move money around would consider that a mere pittance for their services.

Regards,

D-Ray

Hear, hear!!!!!!!

It still drives me nut when people bitch about how lazy they are, as well. The most physically demanding job I ever had was a Union job, loading trucks, hand-stacking cases of canned goods.
My Pop went to work at the age of fourteen in a lumbercamp in Minnesota, and didn't retire until he was 68. And even then it was only because my mother goaded him into retirement. Through the years he worked in factories and steel mills, and was a union man for most of his career. And believe me you, he pushed us hard at home. As a teenager I sometimes hated him for it, but now I see how blessed I was to have him.:)

Dave

[Boreas]

It would be a little bit of a stretch (but only a little one) to say that unions built the industrial might of this country but it's absolutely true that union workers did. It's interesting that the decline in America's industrial power exactly coincides with the near-destruction of our unions by the Right.

John

[merrylander]

You won't get an argument out of me, I was sub-rep at Bell until they made me management. One of the things I like about our Impalas - Union Made.

[rickr15]

It's funny how many people say it's the unions that make workers overpriced, when these amazingly skilled workers, after having several years of training to reach a high skill level, top out at around $100K, while those whose job is to move money around would consider that a mere pittance for their services.

Regards,

D-Ray

I too find the lazy union worker to be mostly a myth.
Some of my drinking buddies work for the local pipefitters and frost insulators unions and I can't think of a single one of them that makes near on 100K. Despite working in some deplorable conditions. Unless wrapping fiberglass insulation around steam pipes in a nuclear reactor sounds fun to any of you.
I myself was a card carrying member of the National Maritime union and it didn't make me any lazier than I already am.

BTW I feel for the guys in the UAW. They get so much crap for the bad cars that have rolled off the lines in Detroit when they neither designed them nor specced out the materials. Can't polish a turd.

[BlueStreak]

Can't polish a turd.

I dunno, we have some high dollar, highly skilled turd polishers who go at it 24/7. See below.

Dave

[rickr15]

I dunno, we have some high dollar, highly skilled turd polishers who go at it 24/7. See below.

Dave

Well you kind of make my point here.


The proffered samples arent very good at the suggested activity.

Although some of them MAY be union. I don't know if you have to join the SAG to be a talking head or not.

[merrylander]

Those four probably believe it is possible to pick one up by the clean end.

[Boreas]

Well you kind of make my point here.


The proffered samples arent very good at the suggested activity.

Although some of them MAY be union. I don't know if you have to join the SAG to be a talking head or not.

Not SAG. My guess would be AFTRA.

John

[rickr15]

Not SAG. My guess would be AFTRA.

John

Had to Google that one. Learn something new every day.

Assuming they are members, arent some of these guys among the most ardent union bashers?

[Boreas]

Had to Google that one. Learn something new every day.

Assuming they are members, arent some of these guys among the most ardent union bashers?

Oh, yeah, especially Hannity. Hannity was an unsuccessful contractor before getting into radio. Maybe he blames unions for his failure.

John

[BlueStreak]

Oh, yeah, especially Hannity. Hannity was an unsuccessful contractor before getting into radio. Maybe he blames unions for his failure.

John

Well, aren't the unions to blame for everything, John?

Think about it. Make a mental list of all of the things they have been blamed for. It's just about everything isn't it? I'm not saying that unions, in some instances, may have gone too far and caused problems. But I've heard them get blamed for things they had absolutely nothing to do with and I'm sure you have too.

Isn't that what one would call----demonization?

Dave

[BlueStreak]

Oh, yeah, especially Hannity. Hannity was an unsuccessful contractor before getting into radio. Maybe he blames unions for his failure.

John


Isn't that what all failures do? Blame someone else for their failures rather than accept responsibility for their own ineptitude?

Regards,
Dave

[d-ray657]

Isn't that what all failures do? Blame someone else for their failures rather than accept responsibility for their own ineptitude?

Regards,
Dave

But if you accepted responsibility for a particular failure and moved on, you wouldn't be a failure, but one who has overcome failure.

I will blame unions for one thing. Not finding the right counter-punch to overcome the rise in employer dirty tricks that followed the Reagan Patco fiasco. While union representation has declined, the gap between worker compensation and executive compensation has widened.

Regards,

D-Ray

[noonereal]

But if you accepted responsibility for a particular failure and moved on, you wouldn't be a failure, but one who has overcome failure.

I will blame unions for one thing. Not finding the right counter-punch to overcome the rise in employer dirty tricks that followed the Reagan Patco fiasco. While union representation has declined, the gap between worker compensation and executive compensation has widened.

Regards,

D-Ray

and lower management still the worse place for pay.
Good hard working folks struggling to better themselves and buying into upper management lies about advancement after sacrifice.
Just like voting republican.

[merrylander]

I will have to look around when I get time because I recall reading about many good initiatives started by the UAW when Reuther was in charge.