My take on unions as I have no respect for them...
UAW's time has come and their union by-laws too which are not a lot different from other trade union laws. I know. I used to work union electrical and left back for nonunion independent business owner and did much better and felt better about myself over the years and for the customers I did work for..
The mentality on a union job was and is so unbelievably ignorant that individuals are not supposed to think for themselves or have any common sense, and are mandated, yes mandated, to follow a prescribed protocol of work responsibilities and purposes and how they are "allowed" to interact with other tradespeople, etc...
I can tell stories where I left nonunion to go union for a short period because I was told it was better and so forth, but coming from being an efficient operator in an open shop environment working direct with customers, I found the union and many friends of mine who went that way was not for me. I like to think and not be afraid about doing something or saying something I could get penalized for from my union members or such. I do not tolerate waste and inefficiency which is exactly what I experienced in the union.
Non union people are used to working harder and being more streamlined, thinking ahead, and producing more product or work than any union worker I ever watched. Non union or open-shop workers are used to handling several tasks and jobs at once too. Union people basically have been indoctrinated to be crying welfare type mentalities always complaining and demanding more yet are controlled by their organizations to be robots basically. Their meetings monthly are brainwashing events requring more dues paid for members to be told they are the best and to talk down others who are not members as they are, etc.
It is very true a union worker is trained to not do a damn thing except what his purpose is, and this means to not even bend over to perhaps move some items that may pose a hazard on a job, as they have to contact another worker who holds that duty to do so, and it is sloppy. I remember cutting through a 4" PVC conduit in a trench for a job at ATMEL in Colorado Springs once, trying their IBEW union contractor out, and I was about to finish making my cut when lunch bell rang; and I was forced literally to stop my cutting instead of finishing that simple task, and take lunch, and I had problem with this as anyone I ever worked for nonunion would have finished that task so they can start new task after lunch, but I was told to stop or else and it made no sense as it would have taken maybe 8 more strokes of the hacksaw to do so... But this is the mentality I am talking about, and anyone like myself who have been in business and dealt nonunion for decades knows the unions have become outdated and obsolete and greedy beyond compare, and their workers are trained to be that way.
Being from Northwest PA originally, I remember situations that happened when the union got mad at nonunion electrical contractors getting jobs they thought the union should have (union would picket those jobs), and electrical equipment would be smashed on new projects overnight, conduits buried underground filled with cement and other such events and we all knew who was behind it- but it also cost many nonunion contractors to fail or go out of business with such losses and having to re-do what already was new finished work for those customers..
What hurt me most, is years ago in late 80's many friends of mine went to union for supposed security and so forth, but in short time, their organizations would supply them books to read about not dealing to nonunion tradesmen like myself, not working like we all would in a quicker efficient manner, and so forth; and in time I lost many friends I used to work non union with as they were being trained & indoctrinated in a new mentality by the unions to be "their way" and I always looked at those guys as brainless idiots not being allowed to think or act on their own... But they would never be afraid to yell out "Union Proud & Strong" as if it meant something to me and others..
