Unions. Yes or NO?

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Master Plumber Mark

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slave wages in China....

We really dont have a clue about how well
we have it here compaired to the rest of the world
.
Untill we give it all away because we dont want
to work for it anymore...

the whole time .....whineing and moaning about how bad we got it.....


thank you Nafta......thank you Bill Clinton



NOW..China is presently going bust too.....
now the factories are moving out of China and going to
Vientam for cheaper wages.....

I suppose that is Mc-clains fault??.


Oh well....I got to go put in two 40 gal gas water heaters this
afternoon by myself... no problem

they have not "globalized " my job yet....




if you dont like seeing children used as slaves
perhaps you shouldent buy anythihng from wall mart or Target
and buy only products made in the USA.....

like Bradford White Water heaters.
 
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Wet_Boots

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I used to do work for GM union rep that worked at the plant in Dayton OH. 90% of the time all he did was go into work and drink till he passed out and then go home...He would cut back his drinking during contract negotiations and minor grievances then go back to the daily routine when they were over...He made $130,000.00 + / yr. and that was back in the 90s
See, this is what's wrong with unions. GM could outsource that job to me, on a stay-at-home basis, and I could manage to do it for less than six figures.
smileydrinkwineji9.gif
 

Master Plumber 101

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Mark!


Why aren't you at the prisons getting those collected votes!

You know how important the rapists, murderers, and convicted criminals
count for our cause!


Comon! Me and my preacher "are lookin down!" at you!


LOL!


holds stimulus check back




Rugged, sound's like not only are you a nobb, but a racist. You should get back to paying your plumber's min. wage, if they even have a license. I 'm going to take my union vacation now, wow my employer even pay's for it, he must think I'm worthless.:D
 

Terry

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All this about the next presidential election is a bit off topic.

And like all things political, it seems to split about 50/50 everytime no matter who they have running.

Always our best hope is that things get better.
That is always what we look for.
And they will both promise that.

But do they know how to plumb?
 

Grimace

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Unions or not, seems like all these plumbers here do pretty good, carrying around laptops all day on the job posting to forums!:D
 

Bombjay

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A proud member of Minneapolis local 15.Hardest working crew i've ever been around.
Slackers are not tolerated.Rugged,It sounds like you were flat out burned by your hall if all is correct!Sparky's l.u. 292 here seems about the same.
Bottom line....Yup.Don't use 'em on water heaters any more!
 

Dunbar Plumbing

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A proud member of Minneapolis local 15.Hardest working crew i've ever been around.
Slackers are not tolerated.Rugged,It sounds like you were flat out burned by your hall if all is correct!Sparky's l.u. 292 here seems about the same.
Bottom line....Yup.Don't use 'em on water heaters any more!



But what's evident of the entire situation.....the freedom of success I've been given as a result.


But I have every right to let others know that it's not all that's told that tells the truth.


Slackers may not be tolerated.....but I saw it in both the pipefitters and the plumbers and who you know or who you're related to played a huge role. I don't like to ass kiss or brown nose. I'm defiant and I set my own tone most times. I'm not liked for those character traits and that doesn't bother me one iotta. I'm on my own and I set my own parameters for success and I don't need friends to get where I'm going.
 

Dunbar Plumbing

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Unions or not, seems like all these plumbers here do pretty good, carrying around laptops all day on the job posting to forums!:D



I've replaced one water heater today *started late for good reason*

I have a kitchen sink clog to do

I have a disposal clog to take care of after that

Then I have to camera a drain line that I've cleared 3 times because of a belly or cracked fitting right at the edge under a street.


My income today alone will be that of what I made in a week in the union, any unions suppress wage earnings over a huge lot of time. Cost of living increases don't exist for this latest fuel/food surge.

I'm glad I don't work this hard every day because I really don't need to.


Another camera inspection and drain clean tomorrow,

Partial stack replacement sunday

3 day job moving a dryer/washing machine, utility tub which is going to suck.

Good size drain stack replacement to finish off the week, not counting any calls that come in starting from the time I type the period at the end of this sentence.


Sometimes I wish I had a break from the action.......but the money is too good to pass up. And I'm not making a large association wealthy in the process.
 
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Redwood

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Unions or not, seems like all these plumbers here do pretty good, carrying around laptops all day on the job posting to forums!:D

Do you see a problem with having a laptop and wireless internet access in a work truck?
I don't!
I was too busy doing a PEX repipe today...
Thank you Zurn!:cool:

I usually get on when I have lunch or between jobs...
 

Redwood

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My income today alone will be that of what I made in a week in the union, any unions suppress wage earnings over a huge lot of time. Cost of living increases don't exist for this latest fuel/food surge.

I'm glad I don't work this hard every day because I really don't need to.

Sometimes I wish I had a break from the action.......but the money is too good to pass up. And I'm not making a large association wealthy in the process.

That sounds pretty familiar...:D
 

Master Plumber Mark

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Sounds like you are doing too good RUGGED

RUGGED, you sound like you are doing too good,
too successful....

and you should feel guilty for the success and hard
work that got you there in the first place....


Dont you think that you should pay back to the
poor slackers in the community
with some sort of reperations..???

maybe give them a percentage of your profits
more than you already do ????



Once Obama is elected I am sure that is the first
thing on the adgenda...... make a more level playing field ..


I cant wait ...
 
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Dunbar Plumbing

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I think we should thank the thread starter for such entertainment.

Fun fun how bout some cookies!


I accomplished everything except doing a camera job on a sewer, it got pushed to tomorrow. I'm tired and just stacked the deck for myself for tomorrow.

My last call was a 4 minute job but almost an hour talking to a very nice, attractive female about everything and anything. Ahh, gotta love the perks.

:cool:
 

Kordts

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Wow,
the anti-union vitriol on this thread is pretty amazing. I can tell that none of the union bashers here ever did bungalow busting in the suburban Chicago area. The tract housing plumbers better bang it out fast or it's "two checks for you day." One of the few places where I have seen slacking is at nukes, and that's because the jobs have to be released, and many times the planners don't give the greenlight until another job is finished, but the customer wants the extra manpower on site in case they are needed, so there are a lot of fitters/carpenters/boilermakers trying to look busy. You can't blame the unions for that. I have seen featherbedding on T&M jobs at laege factories or plants, but again, that's because the contractor wants as many guys on a job as possible. Most of the union guys I know want to work 8 for 8 and go home with all the body parts you started with. A lot of our jobs are slower, because they are safer, again the customer wants it that way. It is cheaper to work safer than pay a big lawsuit later. All I know is that my scale is 42 an hour, plus bennies, non-union guts get about 25-30 no bennies. The customer rarely sses the cost savings. Who is more productive, a safe plumber happy with his lot in life or a pissed off guy who thinks he should be making more money? Most of the "freaky fast" guys I know end up starting their own shop and end up being lousy bosses because they think everybody should be as fast as them, and we aren't. My local union wasn't particularly helpful to me when I was owner, nor did they harm me. As long as I paid my dues and bennies they were fine. To people like Rugged who think all the unions want are their dues, of course they do. But the working dues are a hell of lot more than the quarterly dues. So, it isn't in the unions interest to have anyone on the bench. A large bench is just ammo for the contractors at contract time. You negotiate much better with an empty bench than a full one.
 

Master Plumber Mark

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what next??

On the Union side of things...
we had a large , old union firm with 180 employees
just go belly up here in INDY...this spring

and they had a hand in doing the new colts stadium..


he under bid the copper on the job and was
already in the hole the day he signed the contract....

and after the last large downpour a month ago the roof
drain pipeing came apart inside the building and about flooded the place...

their are rumors going round about cutting corners and
incompetence ect. throughout the fast tracked project....

Wait till the next big down pour during Monday Night foot ball
and lets see if it all holds up ok....LOL





On the NON UNION side of things. in town..

Other Rumors in our town right now are flying
about two or three other large non-union shops about to go belly up too.
They are on a cash only account at all supply houses..........

when medium to Large non-union shops cant make it that means
only the small fellows like myself and others here in town
will be left standing........ I suppose to take up the slack.....



Now...it really makes me wonder what keeps the top heavy and slow
UNION contractors afloat in these times....?????

Politics, I guess.....
and giving money to the right party in power....
..
 
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Master Plumber 101

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Dunbar Plumbing

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On the Union side of things...
we had a large , old union firm with 180 employees
just go belly up here in INDY...this spring

and they had a hand in doing the new colts stadium..


he under bid the copper on the job and was
already in the hole the day he signed the contract....

and after the last large downpour a month ago the roof
drain pipeing came apart inside the building and about flooded the place...

their are rumors going round about cutting corners and
incompetence ect. throughout the fast tracked project....

Wait till the next big down pour during Monday Night foot ball
and lets see if it all holds up ok....LOL






..



I think Cass can vouch for this, but when they built the bengals stadium, that was a union job. That was so effed up, over budget, lacking so much to get it done...it was horrible and made some really bad headlines.


The organization, grossly over budget was the norm. The brown-nosers in that clan all tried to get into that job because at the time, local plumbers weren't local. They was being shipped all over a 150-300 mile radius because the jobs going to few and far between.


And for the record:


The union will NOT pay for expenses involved for travelling to and from the location of your job. Never a hardship clause where fuel is compensated for. If you are "special" like a foreman, making a whopping $1 more an hour than the rest of them, you might get a truck to take home, might.

Those foreman most times work harder than a business owner themselves, responsible for everything without the full benefit or privilege. Never would I do it for a dollar, two tops.

I'm glad to have this understanding so I can't be sucked into a bad move.
 

Gary Slusser

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If you want to see progressive change in America....
Your boy is not doing too well since his pop star world tour and people finally see that he is basically characterless and stands for nothing but catchy banner statements. Just last night and today we see had to turn to Biden!! to hopefully stop some of the bleeding...

Yet he's received more money, registered more voters and outspent McCain by a wide margin and is falling in most polls. Why is that?

Maybe it's 'cuz no one likes the particulars of this "Progressive Change" y'all throw around as the latest'n greatest thing for America.

Your union organizing doesn't seem to be working either. Most Americans do not believe in unions, for good reasons, and do not want to join one or they would have done so already. Why do you suppose that is?
 
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