VW threatens to block any future expansion plans in the South, citing conservative interference

[badtoworse]

118. That is just my personal experience being in one

Last edited Wed Feb 19, 2014, 10:31 PM - Edit history (2)

On a job I was project managing once, I had to write off about $500,000 in development expenses because my contractor couldn't afford to use union labor. It wasn't the union wage that sunk the project; it was the absysmally low productivity factor associated with union labor in the NYC area - at the time, 0.3 compared to the national average. We could have done the job with some work rule changes, but the unions were unwilling to deal.

I've seen unions file one unrelated lawsuit after another stopping my job to force us to use union labor for at least some of the work. I guess we should have been thankful - a lot of other unions would have slashed tires and vandalized equipment and materials.

It's not unusual for union electricians or communication workers to cut cables just before they go on strike. Can't say I personally saw it happen, but I heard the stories when I worked at various power companies.

Then there were my pain in the ass commutes into NYC when the TWU went on their illegal strikes.

I watched union teamsters, riggers and operating engineers dogging it to drag out the job. They weren't even embarrassed about it - they told me they were doing it because things were slow and they didn't know where their next job might be.

The thing that pisses me off the most is the hypocrisy. The same guys that would be screaming if management hired scabs or brought in some goons to disperse a picket line would think nothing of cracking heads and vandalizing a non-union jobsite. What's really amazing to me is how many union guys on this board think that's perfectly OK or just look the other way.

Unions have accomplished some good things, but they're not even close to being angels. Sorry, I don't like unions