why are you not in a labor union...?

[loose wheel]

112. My boss is a tough negotiator

I asked him for a raise about a month ago. He told me,"Get your ass back to work." That was the end of the conversation. I work in a field that works with some union shops, so I looked around to see if there was a Union that would represent me with my boss. Then I remembered who my boss was and decided not to do that.

I have worked in corporate America for going on twenty years, sometimes in union shops and sometimes not. Sometimes the non-union employers were better than the union employers. Still, things happen from time to time. I was laid off in 2009 shortly after President Obama was elected, the entire plant went out of business. I spent six months watching the intense economic destruction going on around me and decided to get some new training. My family was almost forced out of our house by the end of the year. Only the President's mortage plan let us keep it.

Then my current boss called me. It was a small shop, just me and my boss when we got started. Now we've got two teams and we're starting to look at a third. When I want to see my boss, I have to go find a mirror. It's a challenge every single day, but I'm happier doing what I'm doing now than I have been in years working for somebody else.