Holding a Union Job

silverstilts

I have been on both sides of the coin as far as working union and non-union , when i worked union it sucked when they would promise lots of work but they ended up manning up on a job just to get it done , then it seemed like the ones that got laid off first were the ones that did the most production & quality on the job and the brown nosers & the ones that were there just to put in there time were the ones left to go on to the next job ,,, Don't get me wrong unions can be good but any one else feel the same , and now with the immigrants another big problem what the hell is wrong with people , (Contractors that run there company this way , to much to be said)

Al Taper

I feel your pain, it sucks. The union is the best part time job i got.

rabb

union suck big time now ,back in the 70,s 80,s damm good for the working man now

rabb

thing's here in chicago are so so so bad for a black taper ,back in the day's we were last on the job and first to go , now can't get a job at all , 3 to 4 mo from now looking to be homeless , guy's and gal's PRAY
for me and my wife and kid's , my B.A tell me that the company don't want the old guy's in there's 50's and ??????

rckslash2010

quite your ****ing whining and get to work....

rhardman

Compassion and vocabulary skills...a winning combination...
Not quit....I mean quite.

rockdaddy

Unions have had their hayday. If the unions worked for the membership they would be great but, unfortunately, as with everything else run by democrats in the name of serving the greater good, they serve the boss' and the small few who are entrenched in the leadership. Friends and family get ahead everyday but the membership gets clobbered all the time and all that they can do is keep paying their dues because they are too worried about losing their health insurance or the small apycheck that they do have.
Unions should go and each man should be able to fail and succeed without any cost fixing or political favors or any of the other shenanigans that they pull.

rabb

[quote=rckslash2010;6207]quite your ****ing whining and get to work....[/quote= not that eazy

Durabond-Don

I am a proud union finisher from Pittsburgh Pa. Before I joinned the union, I was a contractor for 10+ years. People join unions for a variety of reasons.

I joined because I got tired of the cheap assholes in my area. Chasing my money. Working many long hours. When I wasn't working, I was bidding jobs, doing taxes, or something. And I couldn't compete with the idiots who was willing to work for $5 an hour.

So here I am. A union worker. I get up at 4am, drive 1 1/2 hours to work, put in a hard 8, drive home. Shower, eat and go to bed. I am not complaining. I now get a weekly paycheck with damm good benefits.


The union trades work their asses off. If you can't keep up, don't show up, goof off, your gone. I dont know where you get the idea that we milk jobs, or can get away with jerking off.

To each their own. If your happy non-union, then so be it. But don't stero-type the unions. There are jerkoffs everywhere, union and non union.

silverstilts

May I ask how long you have been a member of the union ? No one is stereotyping the union workers , I am sure that there are many hard working members , but there is also many who are not . This is true for non union also ... I have hired union workers that have been laid off and I have seen most who figure that they are doing there fair share of work , but on the contrary ... most don't seem to know what it is to hustle to get a little bounce in there ass to get something done , there thinking is the work will be there tomorrow ... most don't know what the word deadline is and don't give a rats ass about making deadlines ....although that is just my opinion and assumption of 35 years of being in the business ... so if you are a fairly new member durabond don give it a few years and see if those that work the hardest and do the most productive work are the ones that stay working or if most of the brown nosers are the ones that hang around....

rockdaddy

Anyone who would vote for OBAMA because their union heads told them to is an asshole dude. Slackers, failed felons, and losers are the make-up of union membership here in Philly. Slackjawed sheep doing what they are told... at 1/4 speed.
Ive worked union and the work ethic is for losers. Hang 20 sheets a day? Boy thatsa challenge. Tape 50 a day. LOSERS who drive up construction costs because of their inflated packages and then cry foul when they are forced to walk apicket line while open shop guys who know how to hustle get the job done.
Keep blowing up your inflatable rats and standing around watching lackey.

Durabond-Don

Listen pal. It looks as if your calling me an asshole. Is that how you solve a difference of opinion? Calling people assholes? Maybe I should call all narrow minded assumption makers, assholes? I can be very good at name calling/fighting etc. But do we want to go there? Can we simply type our opinions/differences and debate them in a civil manner?


The great Benny Hilly once said something about ass-uming.

Now. Not that it's any of your business, but I am also a PROUD Republican, who voted for McCain. I even donated to his campaign, wore McCain-Palin Tshirts, etc.

I follow and do what I think is right, not because someone tells me what to do. As a matter of fact, I hate that my union dues are going to support people I do not. I also find that 1/3 of my union workers are Republican as well.


I have been in the union for 11 years. I NEVER seen a carpenter hang 20 sheets a day. If that's all they hung in a day, I guarantee you they would be GONE. The same goes for the tapers. No damm way would we keep someone who was not good/fast/reliable. We have deadlines and we work hard to achieve them. No damm way my company or others I have worked for, would put up with the people you describe.

Inflated packages? I make a damm good living because I deserve it. I work my ass off every day. I make a decent wage, I get health care, and a retirement package. That's not inflated anything, thats called making a decent living.

If non union is working good for you, then so be it. But dont knock others and asssume your way is best for everyone. As I said before, there are idiots and lazy people on both sides.

Durabond-Don

Yes there are brown nosers. And some who are not as productive as others, do stay working. But that's not the norm, the majority.

So there are no brown nosing, lazy non-union workers? The companies I work for and see bid jobs to get them done as fast as possible and with as much quality as possible, to ensure more work. And we produce a quality job to ensure more work.

If the bosses see a non productive moron, Im telling you he would be gone. I run allot of union work (some of the biggest jobs in Pittsburgh) and if a taper is not productive/reliable he will be laid off.

I am working on a new school now, with approx 125 union carpenters/finishers/laborers. I am telling you, at exactly 6:30 am we start. We take lunch at EXACTLY 12:00 on the nose, get up at 12:30 exactly. Quitting time is 3 and at 5 till we clean up. If 125 people each goof off for 1/2 hour a day, that is 62.5 hours wasted each day. Add that up at the end of a week/month/ big job. Our company knows this and we work hard. If we all jacked off as you claim, the companies would be out of business.

And I dont give a **** who he is related to, or knows, or anything else. I do my best to see to the good guys go with me on future jobs. Or the older guys who still make the company money. Just because he is older and can't produce like a 20 year old, should he be thrown away? I'll take an experienced good 55+ year old, than some gung-ho 20 year old any day.


Do some good workers get laid off while idiots don't? Sure. That happens everywhere, both union/non union.



Just because you guys ran accross a few idiot union workers or companies, don't mean we all are. You mean to tell me there aren't any asshole non-union workers? Give me a freaking break. Give any moron a mud pan, a 6" knife, and a $10 ad in the newspaper and he thinks he is a finisher.

Durabond-Don

Ok here is the deal.

I came here because I thought we all shared a common bond, mud slinging. Who cares who is union/non union? Does your drywall look different than mine does? Just because I am a union worker, does that make you better than me, or vise versa? I'd say no. But you people act as if it does.

I been a finisher since I was 14-15 years old. Im not a plummer/carpenter/auto mechanic. All I do is finish drywall. I don't run tools (about 75% of union workers do, I am not one), but I think I still could of offered a little to your website.

I did not come to defend myself or union workers. I can sense the attitudes around here. And it sucks.

Look how many people read my introduction, not one reply/welcome? lol

Keep your website. Don't need it.


.....nuff said

silverstilts

Good for standing up for yourself.... we all get just a little pissed off sometimes when things go against our grain , I myself am no different. You are right on many points and they are very valid ... Don't ever take anything you hear on this site as a personal vendetta , it should not be this way .... people like to speak there minds and sometimes are not very smooth in the way they do , but can be very blunt ... we all have different personalities and they all come across in different ways , I think that you know this as I have in the past... we don't have to accept what we read because we are all correct in our own understanding and how we perceive things..... you have had some interesting and thought provoking posts don't let something small get in the way of the big picture ....

Darren@Partners

Don, don't take some of our (my) anti-union tudes the wrong way. Some of us have had plenty of experience with former and present union hands that have left us thinking this way. Possibly the good help is never seen or heard by any of us.

I have two brothers in unions and dad is retired UMWA. So I hear second hand about the politics of the unions. And as a republican, appreciate what it would be like to be outnumbered daily as you are. Great pressure is applied to the rank and file to support dems and vote that way. Not so many years ago, union men and organizers fought and died for some of the "rights" we ALL take for granted today.

That said, just as the mine operators and business owners then took advantage of their workers, today the balance of power has shifted the other way. I do not make this statement to offend you or any other union member, only to point out the obvious. We now have purple shirted gangs at town hall meetings instead of Pinkertons breaking picket lines.

You probably pay union dues to at least three levels of union hierarchy and still get no paid holidays and no paid vacation (funded only by your own pay and choice). But the union still has money to fund elections. That is just one of the reasons I am not union. You do have health insurance. And if you have steady work, you are way ahead of most of us, regardless of union or nonunion affiliation.

Still every time I see a "Sh## on the Rats" decal on a vehicle, it makes me want to ram the guy off into the ditch. JMHO

__________________
www.partnersconstruction-drywall.com

Durabond-Don

You make some excellent points. And you are right, I am outnumbered politically in my union. But know what? I don't care. I do not sit around like a scared little mouse with no brain. I speak my mind and those that don't like it, can shove it. You are perfectly correct in saying many have died for my right to choose my political affilation, and I'll be dammed if I am ashamed or will be bullied.

As for the bs the unions are throwing at the town hall meetings, I agree totally. Makes me sick and ashamed to be union when I see that. Them thugs are giving us all a bad name.

When I see some of the crazy things the auto workers union, and mine workers union do, I also get pissed.

There are some good legitimate unions and union workers. I am part of one. Thank you for an intelligent reply.

rockdaddy

Let me start off by apologizing for the asshole remark. I did not intend to call anyone a name. I was referring to the union heads and political cronyism that is rampant within the unions.
I have worked the drywall trade since I was 13 so that means that I have been in this trade for 28 years. I have scrapped, firetaped, hung board in over 23 states, worked union and open shop. So I feel that I have some ground to stand on when I make my comments. Additionally, I can speak from the perspective of being an employee, a sub-contactor, and a business owner.
I move on average, week in and week out, about 8500 sheets. ( Based on 12's) I know what it takes to not only bid in a cut throat environment but to turn out the expected quality in 7 days, regardless of size, weather etc. and let me tell you that at least here in Philadelphia, the local halls are full of dregs and no nothings dedicated to nothing more than collecting that check whether they earn it or not.
Saqy what you will about dropping your pants and not lowering prices but I don't know if anyone has noticed or not but we are in a major housing slump. I like to work and pay my bills and Ifind that the good old fashioned AMERICAN way of doing things always works best. Get upearly and get after it. Put your sharpest number on the job and make it work. Saturdays and Sundays are just days on the calender. If there is work that needs to be done get it done because that work is'nt always going to be there. And o yeah I don't care if you are union or non union. Black or white. Republican or Democrat. If you are worth your salt and carry your own weight you can work for me.

D-Man

Hey Rabb, I just joined today and we did just pray for you.

rabb

thank's a lot for the kind word's