on strike! Please help.

[Birdy]

Pretending for a moment that I wasn't just some guy totally off his rocker who liked to stir up debate for debates sake, what would be the best way out of that? (He asks sincerely, having no answer of his own..)

The million dollar question! I'm of the 'perhaps it's too late' camp where i think any kind of progressive change will weigh negatively on those it effects because it's 'change' in general. People, en masse, are too reliant on instant gratification to physically go through the motions and lose what they've become secure with. I think we're going to continue to lose production-related companies to cheaper labour elsewhere and trade unions will bargain themselves to death. The outcome already has been devastating on some communities, but i think in the very long run it will force us to sit down and create another type of worker assembly that fits better into the economic/social situations we face today.

[d_rawk]

but i think in the very long run it will force us to sit down and create another type of worker assembly that fits better into the economic/social situations we face today.

This is me nodding in agreement.

Nod nod.

[Kanada Kev]

Edited September 24, 2007 by Guest

[traveler]

Hello from the front. the hotel hired goons to harass us. I was threaten and run over buy the new goons.Day two-goons are gone new rules not alowing us to make noise. Day three- must remove our selves from our ally headquarters by Tuesday.Day four- cabbie union gives us parking spot out front. Our 8x14 trailer will be arriving soon. Still strong, lots of support and donations are coming in. more to come.

[boiler]

But when unions demand such things like across the board pay raises, benefits packages galore, and job security, i tend to get opinionative. ... It almost seems to me that the very existence of a union could entice investors to automatically explore cheaper, hassle-free labour.

You don't think that doesn't happen? We are constantly in a battle to save our work from non-union companies. A couple years ago there was an oil refinery (I believe it was an Irving Refinery) who decided to not hire union labor for one of their shut-downs (maintenance). They quickly found out that using non-union (aka scab outfit) companies, cost them more money than the unionized companies. The work force was largley unskilled, untrained, unaware of proper saftey procedures (a REAL biggie in todays construction world). They were simply unable to do the job and the refinery never went that route again.

Sometimes unionized workers do the work that other people won't (ie. working on the face of a nuclear reactor). In the case of Nuke plants, the saftey measures fought for by unions allow us to, um, not die. I know people who work in Nuke plants around the world and they've told me that working in some of these non-unionized plants conditions are horrible, workers are treated like shit and exposed to dangers many folks could not even imagine.

Perhaps unionized workers actually deserve the money they get and people who reap the benifits for what unions have brought to this society, should thank them instead of putting them down all the time. Unionized wages help set the standard for all wages, unionized or not. There has to be a standard set.

[Birdy]

Oh don't get me wrong. I've never turned my head in disgust when i see a picketer, and i also understand unions have taken industry, safety-wise, in a very positive direction. I just think that a lot of unions are in dangerous territory, where they've tipped the balance scale of power in their favour, and like d-rawk said, start to resemble the management bodies that make them exist in the first place.

[Esau.]

My support is with ya traveler. Hope ya'll get what ya want.

Perhaps unionized workers actually deserve the money they get and people who reap the benifits for what unions have brought to this society, should thank them instead of putting them down all the time. Unionized wages help set the standard for all wages, unionized or not. There has to be a standard set.

Cheers to that. :thumbup:

Boiler Rat and myself work in different trades, so we have different unions, but the location/setting of our work is pretty much the same, if not the same at times. Usually large industrial settings - Nuclear plants/steel mills/oil refineries/hydro electrical generating stations etc.

As for the union talk, I grew up in a union household, and am a union member (since 1991) so I doubt I need to go into posting my opinion or views since its probally obvious what they are and debate is not what I'm looking for after a great week in Killbear but I will say that you wouldn't catch me walking onto any of those settings with non-union labour for any amount of money.

I.B.E.W L.U 105.

[traveler]

Those scabs cannot do the work. Nothing running under Sheraton standards. The garbage is taking over.It takes two hours to clean one room for an experienced housekeeper x 230 rooms/day.How can they keep up? We have politicians visiting today at noon.Thanks all, for your input.

[AD]

Those scabs cannot do the work. Nothing running under Sheraton standards. The garbage is taking over.It takes two hours to clean one room for an experienced housekeeper x 230 rooms/day.How can they keep up? We have politicians visiting today at noon.Thanks all, for your input.

i thought Sheraton rented itself out to a 'china company,' like you said in another post. what standards are you talking of? is the strike against Sheraton or the china company?

ps. two hours to clean a room? wow.

pps. every time i've stayed at a Sheraton it has been top notch, thanks to the workers.

[secondtube]

"Sometimes unionized workers do the work that other people won't (ie. working on the face of a nuclear reactor). In the case of Nuke plants, the saftey measures fought for by unions allow us to, um, not die. I know people who work in Nuke plants around the world and they've told me that working in some of these non-unionized plants conditions are horrible, workers are treated like sh!t and exposed to dangers many folks could not even imagine.

Perhaps unionized workers actually deserve the money they get and people who reap the benifits for what unions have brought to this society, should thank them instead of putting them down all the time. Unionized wages help set the standard for all wages, unionized or not. There has to be a standard set."

My buddy just scored a unionized job at Bruce Nuclear Plant.

His pay is amazing. His hours are even better...

Its because of the Union.

But like said above, who would want to work on the face of a reactor. if it wasn't for the nuclear power union, he wouldn't be there....

The opposite is what has happened in Hamilton. Unions are ONE of the major factors that killed our workforce.

But not all Unions are junk....Nuclear Power Union is one of the best!

[traveler]

China company hides under the Sheraton name. So the strike is against the hotel.

[phishtaper]

um, i dont understand what this 'china company' is, and exactly how it is related to sheraton.

fwiw, i like sheraton's and often steal the little shampoo and conditioner bottles.

[bradm]

fwiw, i like sheraton's and often steal the little shampoo and conditioner bottles.

At one point (mid-1990s), the company I work for (or one of the people moderately up, with the company's approval) had a neat program: the company wes sending a lot of people out travelling, and they asked people to bring back any extra of those little shampoo bottles and soaps and such.

Then they turned around and gave what they had collected to a homeless shelter. One of the neat things about theis idea is that you could give a person who came to the shelter his or her own bar of soap or bottle of shampoo, with no sharing necessary.

Aloha,

Brad

[SaggyBalls]

I've been a member of a union and it did very little for me (beer store).

If I had a trade I'd appreciate the unions.

If I were in Healthcare or a Teacher I'd most likely resent my union.

Upholding minimums is generally inefficient, while setting maximums can be restrictive.

Rules often are there for a reason, but when admin is forced to work differently, there is generally some kind of resentment. I'd hate to get 'checked up on' if i was doing a good job and poked and prodded every time a worker wanted to complain and waste my time.

From what it seems to me, I'm with Traveller on this. Best of luck dude.

It sounds like the China Company needs to have some good rules to follow.

[allison]

Could y'all stop saying China company? Is it a Chinese company or is it a manufacturer of bone china?

[AD]

Could y'all stop saying China company? Is it a Chinese company or is it a manufacturer of bone china?

the only reason people are saying it is because that's how the original poster referenced it, and hasn't stated what it is.

[traveler]

Turns out its a Hong Kong company.His name is Heng Seng.Sorry for the confusion.more to come...Beep!

[SaggyBalls]

I bet a load of Chinese people would say 'China Company'

Hong Kong isn't really all that autonomous anymore.

[phishtaper]

Hang Seng is a bank, not a person. And the Hang Seng Index is a related measure on the Hong Kong stock exchange. Regardless, Sheratons have never been Canadian, so why would it matter who owns the hotel now or their nationality?

Is it the union's intention to draw attention to the fact that the hotel is owned by a Chinese company, and if so, why? Or, is this just picketline banter, with a rather troubling undertone?

[Davey Boy 2.0]

dibs on Picketline Banter

[AD]

perhaps the china company pissed on the rug. it really tied the hotel together.

[Kanada Kev]

Duuuuuude!

[traveler]

Owners don't mater.Meet the new boss,more greedy then the old boss.I wrote Heng Seng not Hang Seng.