# salary as a construction worker in union



## JOHNYORK (Jul 11, 2006)

wow my best friend just got a job in a construction union laying tile. hes starting off at 38 dollars an hour which is 80% of the regular pay after the first year hell be making 100%. he lokoed online at the govt jobs and it said hes 2nd highest paid behind another construction union which makes 78 dollars an hour and hes ahead of nuclear chemists which is 3rd and dentists. wtf


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## Pepper (Jul 11, 2006)

<<Insert my typical rant about unions here>>


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## Witmaster (Jul 11, 2006)

JOHNYORK said:
			
		

> wow my best friend just got a job in a construction union laying tile. hes starting off at 38 dollars an hour which is 80% of the regular pay after the first year hell be making 100%. he lokoed online at the govt jobs and it said hes 2nd highest paid behind another construction union which makes 78 dollars an hour and hes ahead of nuclear chemists which is 3rd and dentists. wtf


And then we wonder why Companies outsource our products overseas


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## Pepper (Jul 11, 2006)

Witmaster said:
			
		

> And then we wonder why Companies outsource our products overseas


 
Exactly.


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## Doublebase (Jul 11, 2006)

Thats about 80 grand a year.  He probably busts his butt all day.  You need to make close to that to be happy in this day an age.  I make 20 when I'm in the shop and 35 on road.  I can barely afford a single-family home in my area.  It is ridiculous how much everything is.  I don't want to have an 1800$ mortgage every month.  Good for your friend.  Hey its good for the economy.


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## Arnold (Jul 11, 2006)

$80 grand a year to lay tile, that is rediculous! 

I learned how to lay tile in about 2 hours and replaced 2 bathroom floors in my house with tile. 

A job like that should pay about $20 an hour max, only because it is labor intensive.


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## largepkg (Jul 11, 2006)

Robert DiMaggio said:
			
		

> $80 grand a year to lay tile, that is rediculous!
> 
> I learned how to lay tile in about 2 hours and replaced 2 bathroom floors in my house with tile.
> 
> A job like that should pay about $20 an hour max, only because it is labor intensive.




Actually, being a tile/marble mechanic is not as easy as you've just describe. Can it be easy for the DIY'er, sure. Your job may have been easy but I can assure you I'd pick apart your job as soon as I walked into the room. 

Tile/marble work is no different then a quality carpenter, plumber, electrician, etc....


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## tucker01 (Jul 11, 2006)

Exactly Trades are in High Demand now a days, and people are going to pay a pretty penny.  Supply and Demand.

Plus Unions fuck up everything


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## Arnold (Jul 11, 2006)

largepkg said:
			
		

> Actually, being a tile/marble mechanic is not as easy as you've just describe. Can it be easy for the DIY'er, sure. Your job may have been easy but I can assure you I'd pick apart your job as soon as I walked into the room.
> 
> Tile/marble work is no different then a quality carpenter, plumber, electrician, etc....



okay, what does the average carpenter, plumber and electrician make?


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## largepkg (Jul 11, 2006)

Robert DiMaggio said:
			
		

> okay, what does the average carpenter, plumber and electrician make?




I would only be guessing as I'm no longer part of the labor force. A plumber/electrician whom is employed by a company should be making $30+ an hour.

Tile/marble guys get paid by the foot. So it depends on the quality and speed in which they can do the job.


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## MyK (Jul 11, 2006)

largepkg said:
			
		

> Actu*ally, being a tile/marble mechanic is not as easy as you've just describe*. Can it be easy for the DIY'er, sure. Your job may have been easy but I can assure you I'd pick apart your job as soon as I walked into the room.
> 
> Tile/marble work is no different then a quality carpenter, plumber, electrician, etc....



   

yea, laying tile is an impossible task!!


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## largepkg (Jul 11, 2006)

MyK said:
			
		

> yea, laying tile is an impossible task!!





Ignorance really is bliss...


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## MyK (Jul 11, 2006)

largepkg said:
			
		

> Ignorance really is bliss...


yes it is!  enjoy it!


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## GFR (Jul 11, 2006)

Too bad unions became the thing they started out fighting against


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## Dale Mabry (Jul 11, 2006)

Unions get paid twice as much to essentially do half the job.  15-20 years ago, not hiring union was a big deal, these days, I would never hire union, and applaud those who don't.


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## largepkg (Jul 11, 2006)

MyK said:
			
		

> yes it is!  enjoy it!




When you get older you'll realize you don't know everything and more than likely you know nothing.


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## MyK (Jul 11, 2006)

largepkg said:
			
		

> When you get older you'll realize you don't know everything and more than likely you know nothing.


how old are you?


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## largepkg (Jul 11, 2006)

33


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## bigss75 (Jul 11, 2006)

I should tell my buddy to drop outta college and join a union. He has been laying tile since he was sixteen and sure as not making even close to 20 bucks an hour.


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## largepkg (Jul 11, 2006)

bigss75 said:
			
		

> I should tell my buddy to drop outta college and join a union. He has been laying tile since he was sixteen and sure as not making even close to 20 bucks an hour.




You definitely have your slave traders out there. They take advantage of the young guys who are willing to work for next to nothing.

For the good tile/marble mechanics out there you can make a decent living. Not rich by any means but a nice living.


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## bigss75 (Jul 11, 2006)

His dad owns a carpet/tile shop and the work he does is with the contractors.


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## largepkg (Jul 11, 2006)

OK, so his dad is either worried about the bottom line and not charging enough so he can make the sale or he's squeezing from his labor fee's.


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## MyK (Jul 11, 2006)

largepkg said:
			
		

> 33


I thought you were like 17! lawl!!!


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## largepkg (Jul 11, 2006)

MyK said:
			
		

> I thought you were like 17! lawl!!!




Sweet! I am kinda young looking...


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## maniclion (Jul 11, 2006)

Damn I hope he does some kind of intricate mosaic work at that cost!


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## maniclion (Jul 11, 2006)

I just made a one page website in 3 hours for $200.  That was $66 an hour, I was going to charge him $75 but he insisted my work was well worth the $200.  Hopefully I can start getting a few more of those I need some tattoo money.


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## MyK (Jul 11, 2006)

*July 10% Off Special at IronMagLabs!*


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## Arnold (Jul 11, 2006)

maniclion said:
			
		

> I just made a one page website in 3 hours for $200.  That was $66 an hour, I was going to charge him $75 but he insisted my work was well worth the $200.  Hopefully I can start getting a few more of those I need some tattoo money.



URL?

I will let you  know if it was worth $200


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## DOMS (Jul 11, 2006)

MyK said:
			
		

> July 10% Off Special at IronMagLabs!


Shill.


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## maniclion (Jul 11, 2006)

Robert DiMaggio said:
			
		

> URL?
> 
> I will let you  know if it was worth $200


PM'ed


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## god hand (Jul 11, 2006)

JOHNYORK said:
			
		

> wow my best friend just got a job in a construction union laying tile. hes starting off at 38 dollars an hour which is 80% of the regular pay after the first year hell be making 100%. he lokoed online at the govt jobs and it said hes 2nd highest paid behind another construction union which makes 78 dollars an hour and hes ahead of nuclear chemists which is 3rd and dentists. wtf


Can someone explain what the union is and y its better working for one.


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## lnvanry (Jul 11, 2006)

Witmaster said:
			
		

> And then we wonder why Companies outsource our products overseas



well put


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## GFR (Jul 11, 2006)

Witmaster said:
			
		

> And then we wonder why Companies outsource our products overseas


That still would have happend without the unions....just would have taken more time.


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## lnvanry (Jul 11, 2006)

ForemanRules said:
			
		

> That still would have happend without the unions....just would have taken more *time*.



the time=more money in the hands of labor and the uneducated americans.


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## Arnold (Jul 11, 2006)

I just did a search on Salary.com in my state (Denver, CO) and a Carpenter III (the highest level) has an average salary of $46k

I did a search on a Tile Setter and the average salary is $45k


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## Dale Mabry (Jul 11, 2006)

Robert DiMaggio said:
			
		

> I just did a search on Salary.com in my state (Denver, CO) and a Carpenter III (the highest level) has an average salary of $46k
> 
> I did a search on a Tile Setter and the average salary is $45k



That includes non-union workers, a union carpenter starts there.


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## maniclion (Jul 11, 2006)

Robert DiMaggio said:
			
		

> I just did a search on Salary.com in my state (Denver, CO) and a Carpenter III (the highest level) has an average salary of $46k
> 
> I did a search on a Tile Setter and the average slary is $45k


An electrician III makes median $52k and aircraft electrician makes $44k in my area.  Scares me to fly now

Tile setters - $48k, Carpenter III - $49k


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## bigss75 (Jul 11, 2006)

Usually electricians who own there own company can make around 70-80k


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## Forum Security (Jul 11, 2006)

Shit, I think I am going to reconsider my career...


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## god hand (Jul 11, 2006)

lnvanry said:
			
		

> the time=more money in the hands of labor and the uneducated americans.


How do u think people in the labor force should get paid? Minimum Wage?


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## maniclion (Jul 11, 2006)

Don't you practically have to be born into a union nowadays, thats the only folks I know who are union, the guys whos dad or uncles were in the union.


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## lnvanry (Jul 11, 2006)

maniclion said:
			
		

> Don't you practically have to be born into a union nowadays, thats the only folks I know who are union, the guys whos dad or uncles were in the union.



or work in a union shop


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## Goodfella9783 (Jul 11, 2006)

A buddy of mine makes around 30/hr. just for demo. in the laborers union.


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## MyK (Jul 11, 2006)

Goodfella9783 said:
			
		

> A buddy of mine makes around 30/hr. just for *beej*. in the laborers union.


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## 911=InsideJob (Jul 11, 2006)

My mom who's an accountant for a hospital says nurses now make more than doctors through overtime and things like that.  It's all unions and lobbying.


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## Goodfella9783 (Jul 11, 2006)

Sorry to go off topic, but it's somewhat construction news... anyone hear about the 3-ton, 40-foot concrete panel that killed the woman in Boston today? Her husband somehow survived...fuckin Big Dig. Tragic. Most expensive highway project in history.


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## Triple Threat (Jul 12, 2006)

Goodfella9783 said:
			
		

> Sorry to go off topic, but it's somewhat construction news... anyone hear about the 3-ton, 40-foot concrete panel that killed the woman in Boston today? Her husband somehow survived...fuckin Big Dig. Tragic. Most expensive highway project in history.



Let the finger pointing begin.  It will be interesting to see what the "Investigators" come up with.


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## Lisa1203 (Jun 16, 2010)

My husband works harder than ANYONE I know as a tile mechanic in a union. His clothes are filthy & sweaty & he's beyond exhausted when he comes home. He falls asleep right after dinner. He goes thru a pair of workboots every month. Construction work is physically very very hard work - he earns EVERY penny! PLUS - constuction workers in a union do NOT get paid when we don't work! My husband knows week to week where & IF he will work - this may be 40 hours - it may be 2 days. & we do NOT always make enough hours every year to have medical benefits! We consider it CLOSE when my husband gets a job only 45 minutes away - many times he travels 1 1/2 hrs one way to get to a jobsite. Anyone who scoffs at a consturction workers salary ought to be made to do this work - it is hard - very hard. Those men (& some women) deserve every dollar!!! (PS - i'm a nurse & nurses also work their tales off - anyone who scoffs at a nurses salary considering the responsibilies & the load of work is quite ignorant about nursing - i also worked in advertising - I didn't work 1/20th as hard in advertising as I do as a  nurse & certainly not as a construction worker) So all of you white collar college grads sitting in your airconditioned offices in your cubicles & attending boring meetings with rolls & coffee - think before you post anti-construction or anti-nurse salary comments!!!! Ignoramouses! Get your buts out on a construction site - or clean an old mans rear end while he tries to hit you & you need to set his IV & care for a slew of other patients!


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## Arnold (Jun 16, 2010)

we always appreciate a 4 year old thread being resurrected.


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## ROID (Jun 16, 2010)

Lisa1203 said:


> My husband works harder than ANYONE I know as a tile mechanic in a union. His clothes are filthy & sweaty & he's beyond exhausted when he comes home. He falls asleep right after dinner. He goes thru a pair of workboots every month. Construction work is physically very very hard work - he earns EVERY penny! PLUS - constuction workers in a union do NOT get paid when we don't work! My husband knows week to week where & IF he will work - this may be 40 hours - it may be 2 days. & we do NOT always make enough hours every year to have medical benefits! We consider it CLOSE when my husband gets a job only 45 minutes away - many times he travels 1 1/2 hrs one way to get to a jobsite. Anyone who scoffs at a consturction workers salary ought to be made to do this work - it is hard - very hard. Those men (& some women) deserve every dollar!!! (PS - i'm a nurse & nurses also work their tales off - anyone who scoffs at a nurses salary considering the responsibilies & the load of work is quite ignorant about nursing - i also worked in advertising - I didn't work 1/20th as hard in advertising as I do as a  nurse & certainly not as a construction worker) So all of you white collar college grads sitting in your airconditioned offices in your cubicles & attending boring meetings with rolls & coffee - think before you post anti-construction or anti-nurse salary comments!!!! Ignoramouses! Get your buts out on a construction site - or clean an old mans rear end while he tries to hit you & you need to set his IV & care for a slew of other patients!



You should both get a better education or stop complaining about how hard your job is.

Ignorance is thinking that you deserve more respect because you took the mentally less challenging path in life.


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## KelJu (Jun 16, 2010)

ROID said:


> You should both get a better education or stop complaining about how hard your job is.
> 
> Ignorance is thinking that you deserve more respect because you took the mentally less challenging path in life.



Seems like the dumber you are, the more important you think you are.


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## OfficerFarva (Jun 16, 2010)

It makes me sad to realize I'll most likely never make as much money with my Bsc. than I currently make as a labourer.  

Here's a link to our wage's:
http://www.local92.com/uploads/pdf/agreements/wages_adjustments_2009.pdf

43.37 is the total pay rate.  Minimum work hours in a day is 10, every hour after 10 is double time.  Fridays are time and a half, weekends are double time.  When I was working 24 days on and 4 off, 12 hour days, I was grossing more than 4k a week plus I didnt have to pay for rent and food.  

And now I'll be lucky to make 30 an hour with my degree..


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## Dark Geared God (Jun 16, 2010)

You could train a cat to do tile work....


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## Mudge (Jun 16, 2010)

My buddy makes $59/hr in the electrical union, thats full pay (after 5 years). Right now he works about 50% of the time, was out of work 6 months straight.

You move from job to job, rarely are you stationed at one place long, kinda depends on the gig. Doing up a brand new hospital had him working for almost a year until some other union lagged, at which point they have to lay off all other union people whose jobs are held up by that union, and he had to be reassigned which had him out of work for months because of someone elses fuck up.

It isn't all gravy.


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## ROID (Jun 17, 2010)

KelJu said:


> Seems like the dumber you are, the more important you think you are.



preach it brother.

WHITE POWER


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## fletcher6490 (Jun 20, 2010)

LikeARock said:


> It makes me sad to realize I'll most likely never make as much money with my Bsc. than I currently make as a labourer.
> 
> Here's a link to our wage's:
> http://www.local92.com/uploads/pdf/agreements/wages_adjustments_2009.pdf
> ...





Exactly, I have a degree but I chose to drive a beer truck in the union because it's more money right now than I can make doing what I went to school for. 

I don't know why you people are knocking labor workers and saying they are stupid.  Don't be jealous that they are making more money than you.  Just because you have a college education that daddy paid for doesn't make you better then anyone.  While you shitheads were waking up at noon after another night of beer pong and flippy cup these guys were getting up at 4 a.m. trying to make some money.  I fucking hate when people think they are better then someone cause you wear a suit to work.  Funny part is, the guys busting their balls doing manual labor make more money than you suits.


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## ROID (Jun 20, 2010)

fletcher6490 said:


> Exactly, I have a degree but I chose to drive a beer truck in the union because it's more money right now than I can make doing what I went to school for.
> 
> I don't know why you people are knocking labor workers and saying they are stupid.  Don't be jealous that they are making more money than you.  Just because you have a college education that daddy paid for doesn't make you better then anyone.  While you shitheads were waking up at noon after another night of beer pong and flippy cup these guys were getting up at 4 a.m. trying to make some money.  I fucking hate when people think they are better then someone cause you wear a suit to work.  Funny part is, the guys busting their balls doing manual labor make more money than you suits.



I'm not knocking them but I don't wanna hear them cry about it either. Not everyone's education is a cake walk. I put way more than 40 hours per week obtaining a degree and I was paying to do so. Just because you wasted your money on a worthless degree don't assume everyone else did.


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## fletcher6490 (Jun 20, 2010)

ROID said:


> I'm not knocking them but I don't wanna hear them cry about it either. Not everyone's education is a cake walk. I put way more than 40 hours per week obtaining a degree and I was paying to do so. Just because you wasted your money on a worthless degree don't assume everyone else did.



I'm not saying degree's are worthless, I just hate when people assume all laborers are dumb as shit.  My degree was in computer networking and I know there is money to be made in that field but I just couldn't see myself doing that for a living. I always joke that I'm in debt a shit ton of money because I went to school to learn how much I hated computers.  I don't like waking up ass early to bust my balls 70 hours a week but I despise sitting in an office.  That's just me.  You have to admit that a lot of these kids who's parents pay for them to go to school for 5 years to party their asses off and just skate by don't really amount to a whole lot.  A lazy person is a lazy person....It doesn't matter how smart or how much schooling they have.


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## KelJu (Jun 20, 2010)

fletcher6490 said:


> Exactly, I have a degree but I chose to drive a beer truck in the union because it's more money right now than I can make doing what I went to school for.
> 
> I don't know why you people are knocking labor workers and saying they are stupid.  Don't be jealous that they are making more money than you.  Just because you have a college education that daddy paid for doesn't make you better then anyone.  While you shitheads were waking up at noon after another night of beer pong and flippy cup these guys were getting up at 4 a.m. trying to make some money.  I fucking hate when people think they are better then someone cause you wear a suit to work.  Funny part is, the guys busting their balls doing manual labor make more money than you suits.





No man, that isn't at all what is happening here. I think the truth about it all comes down to us vs them mentality: blue collar vs white collar. Then add a bunch of ego on top, and you get stupid debates like this. 

First, neither job is easier than the other. You are comparing apples and oranges.

I have done both. I was blue collar from the age of 15 to 26. I have been white collar for the past two years. For the most part, I made way more money as a blue collar worker. The work sucked most of the time, but it was stress free. You do your 40 or 50 hours and the rest of the time is yours. It cost relatively little to nothing to start a blue collar career. You can start it right out of high school or sooner.  

With white collar work, you stay stressed the fuck out much of the time. Your brain is hyperactive just trying to keep up. Stop paying attention for a second, and you fall behind. Lose your drive to excel, and you become obsolete. White collar work usually involves a lot of personal sacrifice to get ahead: years lost going to school, money and time spent obtaining experience and certifications. You might lose 6 years of your life only to start out at the bottom in a ton of debt and a long battle ahead of you.  

White collar work has a massive spectrum for pay. White collar work can pay anywhere from 25,000 to billions of dollars a year. Depends on how good you are at what you do, how well you placed yourself to be in demand, how good your networking skills are, and what family connections you were born into. 

The anger about who should make what isn't so much about white collar people thinking they should make more than blue collar. The anger is about unions strangling American industry to death. I would rather pay an illegal Alien to lay my tile, than to pay some union turd $30 an hour to do something I could learn to do in a few days. I will not buy domestic cars, because union work is much more expensive and is sub par to foreign automobile work.


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## fletcher6490 (Jun 20, 2010)

KelJu said:


> No man, that isn't at all what is happening here. I think the truth about it all comes down to us vs them mentality: blue collar vs white collar. Then add a bunch of ego on top, and you get stupid debates like this.
> 
> First, neither job is easier than the other. You are comparing apples and oranges.
> 
> ...




Nice Kelju, I agree with most of what you said.  I'm not a laborer, I'm in the delivery business and I'm union.  I don't necessarily like my union but it does give me a sense of job security.  The fact that I pay them about 1500 bucks year kinda pisses me off but what can I do.


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## TheGreatSatan (Jun 20, 2010)

I HATE FUCKING UNIONS.....
.
.
.
but if I could get in, I'd rape the hell out of the opportunity. I guess you have to have family already in or something....? It's like the mob


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## Zaphod (Jun 20, 2010)

KelJu said:


> No man, that isn't at all what is happening here. I think the truth about it all comes down to us vs them mentality: blue collar vs white collar. Then add a bunch of ego on top, and you get stupid debates like this.
> 
> First, neither job is easier than the other. You are comparing apples and oranges.
> 
> ...



Impressive.  A well thought out line of reasoning for not liking unions that isn't expletive laden.  

Keep this in mind:  I am NOT a union worker.  Haven't been for nearly 20 years when I belonged to a meat cutting union for holiday work when going to university.  Also have a bachelor of science degree in business management.  

Since graduating I've been a blue collar worker in a niche field:  Automotive testing.  Nothing glamorous and I'm not going to be immensely wealthy, either.  But I will live comfortably which is all I need, I'm not greedy or jealous of the other guy.  

My current employer, a major automotive supplier, has eliminated nearly all their hourly union employees while sending all the work outside the US with the goal being to totally eliminate manufacturing in the US.  Currently we have two US plants and nearly a dozen outside the US.  Since the middle of last year it has been the two US plants providing the profit to offset the global losses and netting a total profit well into eight figures.  Profit, not revenue.  With the value of the dollar versus other currencies it is cheaper to manufacture in the US than it is to do so overseas.  Much cheaper.  

At the same time we are having major warranty issues with the products being made outside the US.  To the point where management is sweating bullets because warranty costs will be shifted to us from the OEM over the next few years.  Also threatening the beloved six sigma qualification.  The products made in the US aren't having that problem.  

Conclusion?  The economy is the stranglehold on US businesses, not the workers.  Blaming the workers for poor business practices or bad economic forces is just plain silly.


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## Zaphod (Jun 20, 2010)

TheGreatSatan said:


> I HATE FUCKING UNIONS.....
> .
> .
> .
> but if I could get in, I'd rape the hell out of the opportunity. I guess you have to have family already in or something....? It's like the mob



Why do you hate them?


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## TheGreatSatan (Jun 20, 2010)

Because they get paid waaaay too much and then strike cuz it's still not enough. And they have a stupid amount of gov't power even though unions only represent like 12% of the workforce....

Walmart probably has more employees. Then they try to take over stores that don't have unions by turning their employees against the company. Even those who choose not to join still HAVE to pay union fees.


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## Zaphod (Jun 20, 2010)

Actually companies are doing a fine enough job of turning employees against them.  Interesting you mention Walmart because they've been getting the daylights sued out of them for not paying workers what they are supposed to be paid.  Unless you've been living in a cave without a tv or internet you'd be aware of Walmart forcing workers to work hours without being paid for them.  

The union dues thing is quite convoluted.  There are union-only shops where employees MUST join the union or they can not work there, union shops where membership is optional (most of them).  The optional membership places are also governed by rules they must follow.  The employee must have an amount equal to the union dues deducted and donated to charity while still getting equal coverage from the union in dealings with the company.  Including pay and benefits.


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