Alex Bruene Posted May 7, 2010 Share Posted May 7, 2010 I had a nice day off yesterday, spent it in downtown Toronto with my wife. Today, I got back to work to find out there is a frickin' union push taking place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shlep Posted May 7, 2010 Share Posted May 7, 2010 Thats a nice thing to come back to isn't it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaron Posted May 8, 2010 Share Posted May 8, 2010 What the hell is a union push? I can think of a few union guys I'd like to push. ...down the stairs.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Warman Posted May 8, 2010 Share Posted May 8, 2010 Never a good thing.... you know you will wind up being unpopular with somebody.... I could speak volumes on some of this stuff... Leave it at "nobody got the balls to say anything so we 'hire' the union to fuck things up real bad". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Bruene Posted May 8, 2010 Author Share Posted May 8, 2010 Well, when I put some thought into it, I guess I can say that our management (or should I say, mis-management) brought this upon themselves. I'm not looking forward to it, nor am I going to let anybody at work know which way I lean. Obviously, I lean away from it, but it's sometimes nice to see your bosses so scared that they are shaking in their boots... So, the ultimate conclusion... A few changes at work to make life a bit better, and a NO vote... what are the chances? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Bruene Posted May 18, 2010 Author Share Posted May 18, 2010 Well... Zero hour is upon us... We vote tomorrow, and talk around the water cooler doesn't sound too promising (for those of us that DON'T want representation)... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shlep Posted May 18, 2010 Share Posted May 18, 2010 Good luck with that Alex, I wish our's would take a hike but that isn't gonna happen any time soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Bruene Posted May 18, 2010 Author Share Posted May 18, 2010 Thanks. The problem is, the guys that organized this did it out of a series of wrong reasons, including spite. These guys don't know what they have got themselves into... other than a plethora of empty promises and misleading information. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrunoWilimek Posted May 21, 2010 Share Posted May 21, 2010 Sorry to hear about your union woes. I firmly believe that unions had their place back in the dark ages for labour when people had to work long hours under brutal conditions for little pay and few if any benefits. Fortunately(or unfortunately-depending on your viewpoint)that is no longer the case. My wife works for a government office that is unionized and there seem to be very few benefits for those like her who do their jobs well and carry most of the load, while her co-workers e-mail, text message, online shop, plan vacation trips online etc., all on company time, getting the same pay and benefits as her. My brother-in-law also works for the local government in a union shop that went on a protracted strike 2 years ago during the winter months. Their union included the people who plow and sand the roads, the arena workers and many other vital positions in the community. It was a very snowy winter and most sideroads were seldom plowed or sanded until independant operators were allowed to clear roads(read farmers with large tractors with snow-blowers attached). A garage on my road went up in flames because 2 firetrucks went in the ditch trying to get up a slight grade in view of the fire. The arenas were closed during the latter half of the hockey season, causing many people to grumble and despise the strikers. At the end of the strike, not much was resolved, the lost pay will never be made up and there are still lasting hard feelings between the workers and management. Thus I have little respect for unions. Maybe they would be a good idea in a place like China where all the above listed reasons for forming unions in the first place still exist, but in a Canadian dealership, no way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mchan68 Posted May 21, 2010 Share Posted May 21, 2010 I have all my certs up to date (including the 6.7L and Hybrid), do all engine work and "diesel" work (with the relatively few diesels that darken my doorstep), and get paid the same $26.80 FRH as the guys doing brakes, ball joints, wallet flushes and NO Certs. Just my .Should I be thanking the union for this too? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
romeo46 Posted May 22, 2010 Share Posted May 22, 2010 Alex, just wanted to know how your outcome at work went?, like you stated about empty promises, sounds like a shop meeting, and we all know how those go. Unions protect lazy workers, if you are pulling in good hours, look out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Bruene Posted May 23, 2010 Author Share Posted May 23, 2010 Mike, our managers/owners have been meeting with Lou and Jack off an on over the past few weeks (haha... I said Jack off). From what I've been made to understand, when you guys unionized, some of the higher waged people had to give concessions to lower their pay to "level" the pay scale. If they were to try that over here, I would likely leave, or stop doing diesels only so I can get my greasy hands on to the M3+4 work... Equal work for equal pay, if you ask me. BTW, there as another unionized Ford dealership (not mentioning any names) that retained the right to "negotiate" with diesel technicians during their last contract renewal... Regardless, the vote went 21-16 against unionizing, but there is a hearing on the eligibility of about another 40 people that voted that the union did not name that the company wanted to be counted, and 6 that the union did name that the company wanted excluded. That is going to a hearing next month. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Bruene Posted May 23, 2010 Author Share Posted May 23, 2010 Alex, just wanted to know how your outcome at work went?, like you stated about empty promises, sounds like a shop meeting, and we all know how those go. Unions protect lazy workers, if you are pulling in good hours, look out. Hi, George! Good to see you here. I sure hope you don't bring Scott along, or all hell is going to bread loose! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
romeo46 Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 Hi Alex, great to hear the news for you, have you got your coffee table book yet?. Ford is not mailing them out to you(save on postage). Contact Dave or Brent and they will give one to whomever goes down next for training. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Bruene Posted June 10, 2010 Author Share Posted June 10, 2010 Cool. I will do so. I have all the coffee table books on the desktop of my laptop, so they are always at fingers reach. As for the "mutiny" at work... The hearings have been delayed a few weeks... So it looks like it will be the end of June before we have any type of definite word. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Bruene Posted June 28, 2010 Author Share Posted June 28, 2010 Okay... The hearings are over, and the union is being shipped out of town! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaron Posted June 28, 2010 Share Posted June 28, 2010 Good riddance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Bruene Posted June 29, 2010 Author Share Posted June 29, 2010 I just have to keep my dancing shoes on, as I'm sure I'll be dodging a few heads that are going to be rolling down the shop. Especially since a leaked e-mail identified those that organized the drive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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