Unions: I need an intellegent discussion on their validity

LabRat · 04-04-2005, 09:50 AM

OK, here's where I turn to the cellar for advice, since my dad's taken his final dirt nap. There has been a push to start a union for the P&S "Professional and Scientific Staff" portion of the U of I's workforce. http://www.seiu199.org/join/p_s.cfm Yesterday, I actually had 2 people come to my HOUSE (40 miles form work) to get me to sign the 'card' for an election. (I did not!!) Before their visit, I did not care to be part of a union, and now after I DEFINATELY don't want to be part of one, despite their best bullshitting. There were several things that they said that just seemed fishy to me, and frankly I have to think that by coming to my home on a Sunday, they are hurting for the support they said they had.

What I would really appreciate fellow Cellarites, is anyone's $0.02 on unions. As a P&S staff, my salary comes from 'soft' money. My boss, Dr. Mike Dailey, writes grants, gets them, and I am paid from them. I am not paid by nor technically work for the university itself. He loses his funding, I lose my job. I do shitty research or slack off I get fired because we lose our funding. I am cool with that. The university ALREADY has an operations manual that outlines grievance procedures, payscales, and all the other things that a union contract would do. So why the hell would I want to pay dues (at least 1.9% of my monthly gross income!), and risk the current leval of security I have? Because some dumbass works for a boss who abuses him and he's not a) smart enough to switch to another lab b) willing to stand up for himself and go to the HR rep and file a grievance using the current ops manual? The people who visited said that the Union would provide networking for employment oppportunities (already have that at hawkeyerecruiter.com), someone to back them up during grievance procedures, (already have that too, in our depts HR rep), and get us more $$ since funding is going down. Uh, talk to the A-hole in the Whitehouse about that.

When I asked about striking, thay said public employees are not allowed to strike. So how the hell does a union have any 'power'? They said that if an agreement could not be made, then an arbitrator would be brought in to pick a side. So, now Iv'e paid 1.9% of my salary in freaking dues to get nothing in return if the arbitrator says so? Bullshit.

Please, tell me your experiences, good and bad with a union if you've got 'em. Thanks!

04-04-2005, 09:50 AM	#1
LabRat twatfaced two legged bumhole Join Date: Jun 2004 Posts: 3,143	Unions: I need an intellegent discussion on their validity OK, here's where I turn to the cellar for advice, since my dad's taken his final dirt nap. There has been a push to start a union for the P&S "Professional and Scientific Staff" portion of the U of I's workforce. http://www.seiu199.org/join/p_s.cfm Yesterday, I actually had 2 people come to my HOUSE (40 miles form work) to get me to sign the 'card' for an election. (I did not!!) Before their visit, I did not care to be part of a union, and now after I DEFINATELY don't want to be part of one, despite their best bullshitting. There were several things that they said that just seemed fishy to me, and frankly I have to think that by coming to my home on a Sunday, they are hurting for the support they said they had. What I would really appreciate fellow Cellarites, is anyone's $0.02 on unions. As a P&S staff, my salary comes from 'soft' money. My boss, Dr. Mike Dailey, writes grants, gets them, and I am paid from them. I am not paid by nor technically work for the university itself. He loses his funding, I lose my job. I do shitty research or slack off I get fired because we lose our funding. I am cool with that. The university ALREADY has an operations manual that outlines grievance procedures, payscales, and all the other things that a union contract would do. So why the hell would I want to pay dues (at least 1.9% of my monthly gross income!), and risk the current leval of security I have? Because some dumbass works for a boss who abuses him and he's not a) smart enough to switch to another lab b) willing to stand up for himself and go to the HR rep and file a grievance using the current ops manual? The people who visited said that the Union would provide networking for employment oppportunities (already have that at hawkeyerecruiter.com), someone to back them up during grievance procedures, (already have that too, in our depts HR rep), and get us more $$ since funding is going down. Uh, talk to the A-hole in the Whitehouse about that. When I asked about striking, thay said public employees are not allowed to strike. So how the hell does a union have any 'power'? They said that if an agreement could not be made, then an arbitrator would be brought in to pick a side. So, now Iv'e paid 1.9% of my salary in freaking dues to get nothing in return if the arbitrator says so? Bullshit. Please, tell me your experiences, good and bad with a union if you've got 'em. Thanks! __________________ Strength does not come from how much weight you can lift, or how many miles you can run. It comes from knowing that you set a goal, and rose to the challenge. Strength comes from within. Last edited by LabRat; 04-04-2005 at 09:59 AM.

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