Unions
Kathy, who is about the coolest chic ever and an exceptional blog-mama and role model, has this thought-provoking post about unions that you should read. The reason I mention it is I absolutely freakin' despise Unions. I've never worked for one, or even worked somewhere where there was one, and yet numerous things have led me to see the evil of their ways.
For example, my cousin, the bakery scientist for a major cereal manufacturer, is a farm girl just like me. Yet, her career led her to suckle at the teat of a major conglomerate that is unionized. She was explained to me about getting into trouble because one of the mixers in her lab needed a minor repair. Being the handy farmgirl she was, she picked up a screwdriver and, SHOCK OF SHOCKS, completed the necessary adjustment in 3 minutes flat.
(Insert wagging finger here).
Didn't she know that was a union job? God help her, she was single-handedly working to put down the working man. Nevermind the fact that it would have taken three maintenance guys and 45 freakin' minutes to get them to the lab, she should have known better. Shame, shame, they know your independent name! May God smite you, you anti-labor neaderthal!
Here's another example closer to home.
My husband, much to his and my chagrin, is a member of a union. He works for Sub-Zero (the reason why my kitchen is so sublime). Sub-Zero is a manufacturer of high-end "professional" refrigerators - the types made for people who can afford to spend upwards of $5K on a refrigerator - and the owner of Wolf (the manufacturer of high-end "professional" ovens, cooktops, and assorted kitchen appliances).
Now, Sub-Zero is a union shop. And, the union sucks donkey dick. I'm serious! As far as I can tell, the union exists to keep the members down and reward non-productive and negative behavior. The union, for example, makes it impossible to fire a habitual drug user who comes to work high, despite the fact that this is an industrial setting and being under the influence is hazardous to the other workers. As a matter of fact, the longer you keep one of these druggies, the harder it is to get rid of them. At some point, they merely become a high-paid piece of bottom-feeding sludge. They are not productive, and their senority keeps management from rewarding good employees with better jobs as these opportunities are rewarded by seniority, not merit.
And, safety concerns aside, this is my bigger issue. Any system that prevents a company from rewarding merit, is not working in the long-term interests of the company or the employees. It offends me deeply. To me, it is the same thing as giving "A's" to failing students because you don't want their ego to suffer. You know what? Maybe pointing out how decayed and putrid the dead weight is will spark it back to life. I can assure you, no child who gets an "A", no matter how deserving, is unlikely to put in more effort. There is no incentive! And, we aren't talking about the fragile egos of children here, but those of 40, 50, and 60-year-old men.
If they can't leave the coke alone, should we really be worried about their feelings? I don't think so. And I certainly don't think that their habitual drug use should be rewarded with lifetime employment like that given to Supreme Court Justices!
The worst part of all of this is the impact the union has had on the management of the facility. The fact of the matter is, members of management are cowed by the union. They can't actually fire anybody. So, what good are they? Not a damn. Not worth a damn! They want to reward hard workers, free-thinkers, problem-solvers and innovators, but their hands are tied. Despicable!
Now, the company is really pretty good. In fact, it would be vastly improved into nearly perfect if the union were kicked out. I mean, we have excellent benefits and a really great employee discount program. (My kitchen is totally tricked out with the retail equivalent of $15K worth of high-end appliances that we purchased for ~ $3K.) The company even has a program whereby they reward employees who stay for 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 years, etc.
The union on the other hand? Well, we pay them $50 per month and get screwed without the use of a lubricant. Do I hate the union? Hell yeah. But unfortunately, we are powerless to do anything about it.
I wish those bastards who were sucking on the teat of those hardworking guys would get kicked in the head by the sow, then squashed and left for dead.
They are only helping themselves.
