What is the difference Union vs Right To Work

Comment

Comment by Todd Paul Juneau on February 23, 2012 at 12:05pm

Wages are set like they are because of several factors that branch off or lead into other factors. Your main factor is all the illegal immigrants that come into the united states to work. Nobody has yet to seemingly figure out or ignore the fact that illegal workers = to slavery in other terms because they get paid less than what the average American would normally make. That gives the incentives for the company's to drop there wages so Americans have to compete by working extra hours to keep up with there living expenses of in other words " live the American dream". Your 2nd factor are these young guys & gals that get out of trade school jump on the first job they get which is normally a below average rate just to "get experience". While going thru trade school they should be scouting ahead so as soon as they get out they already have a descent job waiting. Of course it'll be a lower rate than a hand that has plenty of hands on experience. Trade schools teach you the basics & how to pass several different welding test & give you a diploma, not a actual welding certification. The 3rd factor that ranks actually first is our useless government. The government has gotten to the point to where they encourage business's to outsource a lot of labor to overseas company's to manufacture products that are then turned right back around & sent back to us to buy at a rate of cost like it was built here in the united states thus raises the profit margins of company's & there investors prob about 300% maybe more, maybe a little less. Again, we don't have shit for nominees but good God! Please do not vote for Obama again. Anyone that follows politics knows that it was said by highly regarded politicians & others that he is worse than jimmy carter & for yearssss jimmy carter was known to be one of the worse presidents in history. I would vote for Clinton again which Hillary was actually running the show. His only downfall I saw in his administration was his view on gun laws & possession. They actually need to clean out that white house from top to bottom & put in people who know politics but also know what it's like to work everyday & keep a roof over your family's head, clothes on there backs & food in there mouths. In the south we're called gun nuts but that's the only thing that's keeping our government at bay. All we can do is ban together at the voting polls & exercise every right that we were given.

Comment by Mark on February 23, 2012 at 6:45am

That's the greed of the office/owner people. Just like Bethlehem Steel here in my back yard in Bethlehem PA. 

I haven't looked into any federal laws but when I stop to see my dad today I'll stop at the union hall and ask. 

I would bet the the Federal Goverment has to have somesthing on that kind of employment abuse.

It's beyond my recognition as to why an employer would even push past 60-70 hrs in a week , it shows they obviously don't care about their employees health or the welfare of their families and a mother/fatherless home.

This contry needs a change and no I'm not commenting on the Obama man, but his statement must stand.We have here in Philadelphia PA 3 refineries now closing down and they expect the fuel prices here to skyrocket, they helped not only stablizing our prices but other closely surrounded around the US.

This whole mess that our Goverenment officials have placed us in over the last several years and presidents has stricken this country to it's core. Clinton was the last good 1, and we had money stashed to no debt.

I do truly believe that we are going to see another civil war and if not in my life time, at least into the lifetime of my children, and it appears to many that our Governement just don't give a flying bag of shit about us. 

And answer me this, have you seen a good nominee for the president out of who is running yet? 

This country has seem to become a place of no one wanting to help their neighbors but a way of finding a way to fuck their neighbors for their own security and thats sad.

Comment by Chris Turley on February 23, 2012 at 4:05am

Yeah, companies here in Tulsa are taking shop employee benefits away and are paying less than they were 8 years ago. I know what you mean about those 84 hr. weeks, those are some nice checks that can help out a lot. The only bad thing is here in Oklahoma you have no employee rights. Unless you are under 16 years of age they don't have to give you a break. A lunch break and breaks are a privilage the company gives you. They can legally force you to work how ever many hours they want, or be terminated. They can call you in the middle of the night and tell you that you need to get back to work or your fired and you can't do a thing about it, unless you are paid salary. It was not always like this at every company. This all just started a couple years ago and now it seams like all the shops here are taking benefits,paying less, and forcing their guys to work 84, 72, or 60. 50 to 60 is very common year round here. Even that gets old. I guess I just had the question about Union vs. Non-Union because it seems like over the last 11 years of being a right to work state, employers here have slowly but surely been taking more and giving less to their workers.

Comment by Mark on February 20, 2012 at 8:47am

your right brother and that's as a welder

Comment by Todd Paul Juneau on February 19, 2012 at 8:41pm

Like everthing else theres are pros & cons with everything that you are in involved with. I've been in a union working at rydewell suspension plant & was union whether I wanted to be or not. (thats a trip)! The plant wanted to the welders to work past 50 hours in fact work 84 hours & "our union" said ohhh no! These guys only work 50 hrs a week max! I'm from the oilfield & we're used to working many hours & enjoy the extra money. In fact alot of my fellow workers wanted to work the extra hours but our union rep said NOPE! The upside to working non union is you can work where you want, when you want, & however many hours you want to work. The downside is on a right to work job they can just walk up to you & run you off, have you swinging a maul on hammer wrenches & if you dont your gone! On a union job, if your a welder, thats alllll you do is weld, if your a fitter, thats all you do is fit, etc. Theres no getting the combo meal at the price of just a burger. Somethings thats always also bothered me about being a union welder was the "infamous wheel", If a welder foreman needs say 20 welders, he only has to pick 10 welders whose numbers are up next to put to work & then after that he can pick any other 10 welders to fill in those positions. Thats another downside of the union. Also the union cant keep there word because when I was working for a offshore pipelaying company my company decided that they would use all union welders but they still tested us as backups because the union welders are famous for dragging up if they dont get the wage they desire by shutting the whole job down. Im sorry if im pissing union welders off but I've seen it with my own eyes. Anyways, I was bitching to a buddy of mine who was a 798 pipelline welder & said todd, just chill out & wait about 2 to 3 weeks. The're gonna try to wobble the job & get kicked off the job & you & your crew will go in. Low & behold, what happened, they wobbled for $5.00 more a hour. At the time the agreement was already $30 which at the time was jam up single hand money. They shut the job down & refused to weld. The owner of my company & a company that repesented the union with a rep fly out to the vessel & told everyone to gather in the tv room. They all thought that they were gonna get there money. They had a rude awakening coming. They got everyone into the room & said whoever was a union welder to get there _od _amn _hit packed up & get on the boat that was already on the way to come get them. Well before they left they made sure to sabotage all the machinery & one of the union welders that was also a tech that knew how to reset the serimax machines just wrecked havoc in the programs. They sent the company welders & other contract welders out there to reset the machines along with the tech & start laying pipe again. Morale of the story, when you agree to work for a certain price you stick to it like a man should stick to his word & not use a "gang mentality" to get what you want. All said but another good thing about the union is that your gonna get paid top dollar & dont have to compete against illegal work labor which is nothing but "slave labor". Another bad thing I've heard from the union welders is you have to work so many hours to get your insurance & stuff paid for the year. What the'll do is work you until you almost get to that point then stick you on a shelf somwheres until the following year. So you see, theres both good & bad things either going union or right to work. Also called (rats) lmfao! What we all need to remember is that we are brothers of a trade that was a MAJOR factor in building this country as well as others. I've welded across the pipe from union hands & laugh & joke around just like he was non-union & I was union. Welders wages suck nowadays & as I run across recruiters or click on to someone whose hiring welders &

Comment by Mark on January 23, 2012 at 12:13pm

Well all I can say is my union let me down and it wasn't the local either, it was the step above in the district 10 local 2599. And I sure as hell didn't deserve what I got handed, got screwed and it sure looks like they got paid off from the company. So who's working for who, but they had no problem taking my money. And nothing hapen to the guy that didn't do his work and sleeps in the crane, so it works more then both ways.