What is the Point of Unions?

I got a feeling he agreed to some asinine low starting wage, with a standard bump every 6 months or so, he said they told him a 4 dollar raise is coming? Maybe over the course of a contract....

 

In n.e. Pa., dues are $50 a month, plus 100 for initiation fee. I am a part time driver, so the company pays my dues, and the initiation fee is waived.

My starting pay is .47 a mile and $17 per stop, with 2 years part time experience. The non Union shops are paying about a nickel less per mile.

My first choice employer pays .49 a mile, but I didn't have the experience they wanted, driving to nyc.

 

I always thought employees had to pay union dues weekly.So has the union helped you in any way?They have to making real good money with the union dues.I don't think anyone should be forced to join a union.

 

I wish when anyone comes and asks a question like this they state who the union is right at the state of the thread.

 

I just started here, and have not talked with with any of the Union drivers yet about their contract. I need to review the union contract before I can answer your question. But the pay rate the union has negotiated is higher than the non Union shops in the area.

The union dues are like your health insurance premiums. You get a benefit, but some will use that benefit more than others.

when job hunting, you have to take the union dues expense into account to compare job offers. The hours and routes are more important to me, but I don't want the lowest pay either!

I used to be in management in Iowa before I retired, and we had a union there, so I have seen both sides of a union contract. I negotiated the union contract for my employer, so I know union contract language pretty well. Over a period of 30 years I saw our managers do some pretty stupid things that would result in new contract language, with the new clause being named after them and their bad decision on how to treat an employee. The Steve Jones clause was due to Steve calling in employees from home for a 5 minute meeting and paying them for 5 minutes...now there is a one hour meeting time pay clause....thanks a lot Steve, you are in the union contract forever!

 

Good to know! I know nothing about Teamster contracts. You have a good employer !!!

 

The only way unions can achieve higher pay for their members is by preventing non-union workers from competing against them. If the union can't do that then it is useless to you.

 

....yea, like that'll happen. but thats off-topic and we're not getting into that

 

Anyone working under a Collective Bargaining Agreement had a chance to VOTE on said agreement, unless they were hired after the agreement was ratified. You have a voice in your contract - don't like it? Vote no. If the wages, benefits, and working conditions aren't to your liking ,chances are you'd be seeking other employment anyway.

To the folks with "higher wages" than the Teamsters (apples to apples comparison, of course) - do you get overtime? How much is your health insurance contribution?

I choose to work in a union environment. There are some that choose union free companies. My choice/your choice. No disrespect to anyone that takes a different option than me, just don't let your uneducated opinion diminish MY career path. (I.e. "unions protect lazy people"... I guarantee our absentee policy is way more strict than a non union companies. Black and white - miss x amount of time and you're gone. It's much harder to terminate a non union employee in cases of absenteeism because of the "grey areas" involving the employee's circumstance, but I digress.)