88 replies to this topic

[EvoLight]

Thoughts on the NLRB????  Union Contracts??? 

[sign_girl]

Unions suck.

[EvoLight]

Have you had trouble with them? or the NLRB?

[sign_girl]

We have been fortunate and have done some work inside of the GM Orion Plant without being a union shop, but I get really irritated when we have to have a union guy sit on his fat arse and watch us while getting paid waaaay more money than any sign people I know.  Unions had their place decades ago, but now they are part of the demise of this country.  I am Detroit born and raised, so I am surrounded by union folk.  It is ludicrous that someone on the line can be in the six figures while screwing in a bolt without needing a brain while people who work their butts off barely get by.  But, just my opinion :)  And don't even get me started on the whole UL, et al fiasco - one of the biggest ripoffs in the sign industry since ADA signage.

[Rickbrown]

I hate the thought of having to work with the union in any capacity. I will not take on any work that requires working with union people. We set up for a show in New York a few years past and was told that if we even plugged in a drop cord they would not set up our display. CRAZY!

[sign_girl]

Bad enough to have to play by such unequal rules, but it's their superior 'holier than thou' attitude that makes it all that much worse.

There is no basis for stuff like what you mentioned.  Unions were for equalities, back in the day, and to prevent employers from taking advantage of people and having poor work conditions.  Now it just creates expensive everything and is the reason that China, India and other countires have all of our work!

Companies don't give a hoot about the working conditions + poor wages of those people, which are horrible.

 

Same for the UL fiasco.  No one truly cares about quality or safety of signs.  Inspectors (mostly contractors here now) look at the little stickers as if it denotes quality and fire protection.  Most don't ever look inside of a sign - just for that sticker. It's always about the money - nothing more. 

[RigbyNeon]

It's always about the money....Unions, UL, OSHA, inspections , permits, fines. None of these things accomplish what they were designed to do anymore. Which was to create and insure some sort of quality level and while also making sure working conditions were safe for the actual workers. Unions have become similar to a mafia run organization. It's members are protected by the power of the organization. While they are taught to hate and try to strong arm and intimidate any one who isn't in their organization. Unions also destroy hard work and creativity by advancing members based solely on seniority.

[barnessignco]

I used to live in IL which is highly unionized. Most trade jobs required a incoming worker to join a union in order to work. When I was eighteen years old, I had to join the Teamsters Union in order to work for a home builder. My job - building forms and laying concrete.

If you did not have a union worker performing whatever trade you needed done, you could not have it done.

Moved to TX which is a right-to-work state. State law prohibits being forced to join any union in order to work.

Unions were probably helpful in times past when there was little or no regulation, or when there were few laws protecting workers, but today I think there are so many laws and regulations on the books that offer protection those in the market workplace.

OSHA, EPA, FEDERAL GOVT., STATE GOVT., LOCAL GOVT., UL!

Do we really need another organization deciding if we will / can work because we did not get a ten percent pay increase.

Not me!

[RigbyNeon]

I also am Detroit born and raised....and for about two years in the early eighties I was a union steward in a union plant. When I won the position the first thing I was told was that I didn't have to work anymore. I just walked around listening to complaints while someone else did my previous job.

[EvoLight]

Whos ready to defend ??? Class action lawsuite???     

[sign_girl]

Class action suit against whom?

[EvoLight]

The NLRB. Shame shame on them

[sign_girl]

Sure!!  Oh wait... BTW, they will be digging looking for Hoffa again a few miles from my house, so maybe not!  LoL

 

And here's an example of what a wonderful UL label gets you:  http://www.thesignsy...-ugly-led-work/

And what UL charges is a crime in and of itself.  A joke.  I had gotten a quote from MetLab for a site inspection - UL was double and when I told them that, they immediaely dropped their price.  Wonder how many companies they ripoff on a daily basis??

[RigbyNeon]

As many as they can! I think Id rather hunt for Bigfoot than Hoffa!

[EvoLight]

lol