Something you don't see anymore these days...and quite possibly why our country is fucked

[Horse with no Name]

Over the holidays, I had the privilege of seeing my Grandpa's FIFTY year union gold card.

Yep...in all aspects, they don't make them like they used to!
:toast:

[elocs]

1. Union or not, most people will never work for the same employer for 50 years.

Reality sucks, but that is where I have to live.

[Mulhane]

3. Unless you live in a "real" First World country. . . .

. . .where the corporations have not become the governments.

[Bigmack]

4. He may have worked for lots of different companies....

but the union kept his wages and benefits coming. Lots of guys hired out of the union hall, not the HR department of a company.

I know it's hard to imagine in the current Repub-World, but unions actually used to keep people employed and getting raises and benefits.

[left is right]

14. and because they received raises and benefits

other businesses also had to comply, from the waitress that served their lunches, to the store clerk that sold their work pants, to the bank teller that cashed their checks. Many employees received better pay, benefits, and even treatment because of union negotiated pay and benefit packages

[blondeatlast]

16. Well said; thank you. nt

[rhett o rick]

32. I agree. I worked for a while as a member of the machinist's union and since I was low on the

seniority list, got bounced around between three shipyards. This happened to my father when he started in the late '40's, until he got higher on the seniority list and would continue with a company thru layoff times. He got a 38 year certificate. When he "retired" at age 62 do to health reasons, he needed Social Security to supplement his small savings and small union pension.

[Tikki]

5. My husband worked 30 years with the same company...

and would have worked 40 years but chose early retirement.

Tikki

[Lugnut]

28. My dad did.

He was a UMWA coal miner.

[elocs]

34. Which is why I said "most" people will never work for the same employer

for 50 years and that is absolutely true.

[Enthusiast]

29. We can work to change that.

We can vote against corporatists.

[Liberal_in_LA]

35. yep n/t

[ThomCat]

2. That is wonderful!

:toast:

I wish unions were still strong, and our party still respected and worked with unions the way they used to.

These days, our party will take their calls, go to them for GOTV support, and ask them for funding. But still support all the corporate give-a-way bills and wish lists that lobbyists write that our party never would have supported back in the days when we really were the Union Party.

[Oceansaway]

6. i lasted 30 and skated...nt

[shanti]

13. 21 is all it took for me

i took the earliest possible retirement from the state at age 55. TODAY is my first day of retirement!!!

[some guy]

17. Congrats!

Happy Retirement!

:toast:

[shanti]

27. thank you!

i'm loving it so far :)

[Cleita]

7. I always thought that union or guild memberships

should be required by law for all workers and middle management. Only the executives should be exempt. Of course, I know everyone is laughing in their beer right now, but it should be that way. Each profession should have their own union, guild or professional association membership within a corporation. Employers would be required to hire workers from the membership of said unions. The union would act as HR and arbitrators for the worker with the company for wages, safety regulations and disputes.

[Grey]

8. I agree... nt

[Horse with no Name]

9. At one time in this country, I think that we were truly headed in that direction

But nowadays, every Gomer and Goober thinks Unions are evil liberal institutions--not realizing that they were at one time the bedrock of the foundation of this country.

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

11. All workers should be in ONE union.

The Wobblies has it right, imho. A person is either an owner, or a worker. Expressed like that, the choice is easy. Trouble is today, many people don't like thinking of themselves as a 'worker'. :shrug:

[Cleita]

12. ONE union is a monopoly and even for that non-profit

institution, it wouldn't work. A union that takes up the causes of clerical workers wouldn't know much about the needs of steel workers and vice versa. Keeping institutions honest works both ways and unions can be run by gangsters just as much as corporations can be especially if they have a monopoly on everything.

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

15. You are either a worker

or an owner. It's no more complicated than that. See, any other configuration divides us, which is the time honored tactic of the military or management. Unless and until workers have one voice, we will always be exploited and fearful. A union could represent clerical workers as well as steelworkers because all workers have the one thing capital must have to operate. A willingness to exchange time and labor for money (salary, health care etc). But I'm not here to convince anyone. Just offering my observation. Happy New Year! :party:

[blondeatlast]

20. Public employees? Besides, that's what the AFL-CIO does. Common interests,

but the trades are self-governing.

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

22. In the case of

public employees, you are still a worker. AFL-CIO did not accept many organizations into its fold. Making differences between skilled trades and unskilled trades. Which again serves the power structure. :toast:

[Cleita]

23. Whatever!

But you have to understand that monopolies are not good no matter what side you are on. You are entitled to your opinion and I am entitled to argue with you about where I think you are wrong. Happy New Year to you as well!

:toast:

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

26. On no you don't get ti argue.

The Department of Arguments is down the hall. This is the the Center for Unresolvable Problems...................... :)

[awoke_in_2003]

25. +1000. nt

[blondeatlast]

18. I couldn't agree more--at my last job I was a step away from

being eligible for union membership.

My class was used and abused; most jobs ARE part-time and therefore offer no benefits.

[Duwamish]

21. Few or fewer benefits are offered

as you said, many jobs are part time or are contract work.

[Cleita]

24. So that's why you need a union or association that

looks after the interests of temporary and part time workers. Some unions function like that, for instance the stage hands union, which I joined but never got a job because at that time they were reluctantly taking women and you were pretty much on the bottom of the call list. But the way it functioned was because plays, operas, ballets and rock concerts weren't permanent jobs, all the members worked for the duration of the production run. The union coordinated the calls to work. They met the payroll and provided the insurance and other benefits. The production companies paid the union to do these things. Many of the guys I knew worked full time but they had worked up the ladder by seniority to gain full employment. Those of us trying to get entry had to wait our turn to be called into work until we worked our way up the seniority ladder. If this isn't the way you want to work then you are better off trying to get a steady job in a super market.

[rhett o rick]

33. Your ideas sound like they violate the US Constitution for Corporations.

Chief Justice Roberts will smack you down personally.

Happy New Year.

[silver10]

10. What an awesome post, thank you!

And congrats to your Grandpa!

[blondeatlast]

19. Great post--says so much more than just about Unions and labor in general.

:thumbsup:

[Enthusiast]

30. K&R!

:fistbump:

[mimitabby]

31. I'm into my 32nd year of working for a union

the first white collar union that ever went on strike and won!

[Motown_Johnny]

36. My father worked 50 years for the same company his father worked 50 years for

and it is the same company his father died working for (in an accident)

My mother's brother and father both also worked for that same company and my brother spent one summer working for them when he was in collage.


America just doesn't do that anymore.




P.S. My father made it to management so he only had about 35 years in the union, plus he was a sergeant in Europe in WWII which took up a few years.