Dollars and sense

So the union is going to begin "negotiations" this week. I can hardly wait to see how badly they screw it up this time. I say this because history has shown that this union doesn't understand the concept of negotiating. They make demands and when those demands aren't met, they throw a tantrum and expect the company to give in. Negotiating is give and take. It's give and take. Perhaps if they actually tried negotiating instead of acting like a bunch of 5 year olds, we might be able to get a decent contract. If you don't believe me, look at the last three contracts.

With so many contract negotiations conducted by the IAM, you think they could train their negotiating committees how to do it properly. After all, don't they send the members for training before every contract? Where does that money come from? Oh, that's right, that's what your monthly dues go towards. So are you getting your money's worth?

Speaking of union dues being squandered, have any of you ever stopped to think about how much money each of you pays per month to employ Mr. Watson and Mr. Taylor? Assuming about 1200 dues paying members, that is about 12 dollars a month per person. That is a lot of money for two people that aren't providing a whole lot of services in return. I know, Jim Watson sends out scathing letters every so often and has them posted in breakrooms, but other than that, what has he done to advance the standing of the average worker? Why is it that the business directors seem to keep getting pay raises (despite the workers not getting raises) and get promoted after years of failures (see: previous business director)?

I am also going to leave the comment on the previous post because I want everyone to see the type of response that the union has produced. Time after time the union officials post crap like that last response. These are your "leaders". Doesn't that just fill you with pride? Is that what you are showing pride in by wearing your union shirts everyday? Enjoy your rally tomorrow. I hope that it fills you with pride to stand outside of your employer protesting a contact that hasn't been negotiated yet. That makes sense, doesn't it? I'm sure it is really going to force the company to take you seriously and give you what you want. Good luck with that. Let me know how that works out for you.

I will not be going away

I really enjoy reading the trash that Jim Watson posts on the union's website and has his cronies spread throughout the plantsite. What I find particularly interesting is that he always knew that any effort to rid ourselves of this "glorious union" would fail, yet he has felt the need to personally show up at the house of individuals he thinks had something to do with the effort.

He claims that a small, insignificant group is all that we are. Really? Then why did he feel the need to kill so many trees to spread his propaganda? If we were so insignificant, why would he need to spend so much effort reassuring his flock? Oh, that's right, because he knows that the movement is not isolated to calibration technicians. He knows that there are people in EVERY occupation that are fed up with the lies and bullshit that comes from this union. The employees are tired of the attitudes towards fellow employees, the company, and the job that the union endorses.

Mr. Watson knows that without this union at Raytheon, he will not have a paycheck. For him and Mr. Martinez (how many times have you seen him since he got his pay raise and new job position?) it is not about the employees. It is not about making sure that we are taken care of. It is about getting what they can and moving on. Unlike them, I'm not here to make a paycheck off of anyone else. I simply want to do my job (free from harassment) and get paid (based on my skill and abilities). I know that these are not traits that the union leadership share with me, and for that reason, I will not be going away.

The rhetoric from the die hard union members is that we should enact change from within the union. Do they really believe that? Look at who the union stewards are. Look at who the union officers are. You'll see the same names time and again. When I tried to do it that way, I got the cold shoulder and ignored. That is not worth 3 hours of my paycheck each month. The union had its chance. I am NOT going to go away. I will not be giving up. Those of you that have signed petitions need to know that the effort was appreciated. We will not be silenced. The point of a union is supposed to be give the workers a voice. We have a voice and the union will not silence it. No matter how many trips they make to HR over T-shirts or stickers, they will not silence us or our legally protected rights.

I will not cower like the union wants and I will not go away. Most of all IAMNOT933!

Something to be proud of

While collecting signatures, it was expressed to me that employees wanted to sign, but they feared retaliation from the union. Wow! That's an organization that I'd be proud to have as my representative to the company. No matter how much I or others tried to soothe those fears, it was of no use. They've been in this organization too long and listened to the hate spew forth for so long that they believe that the union will make good on their threats.

How much pride does that give you?

I will tell you what I am proud of...the "insignificant" group of employees that filed a petition with the NLRB. Because so many people were afraid to stand up for a better workplace, this group took it upon themselves to start a fire under the union. Now it does give me a warm fuzzy to see that Jim Watson took time to not only write, but also distribute, a response to the small group of individuals that he says is going to give the other 1700+ employees a bad contract. Not only is that laughable, but since negotiations haven't started, shouldn't they be focusing on getting the best contract possible instead of blaming their future failure on someone else? I guess that is the difference in the union's idea of pride and mine.

Speaking of the union's idea of pride, perhaps "Wal-Mart Manager" needs a reality. Posting spam and links to YouTube videos is not mature, professional, or something to have pride in. I understand that the union leadership has nothing better to do than to search YouTube all day for videos to link to the blogs, but wouldn't that time be better spent focusing on the upcoming negotiations?

Crying Wolf

It seems that the union leadership has a set of talking points that they just can't get away from. How many times do we have to hear how horrible it would be without the union? Without a union, the company is going to force you to work in unsafe conditions. Without a union, the company will force you to work overtime. Without a union, blah...blah...blah. We've heard how evil the company would be to us without a union, yet there are several thousands of employees that seem to do just fine without a union.

By no means am I saying that the company is a saintly organization. However, if the working conditions are so horrible, would so many people still be working here? I mean, they are "at will" employees, only employed at the whim of the company.

This little fact doesn't seem to keep the union from crying wolf. They continue to recycle these lines over and over.

Speaking of recycling their lines, it appears that their methods continue to be recycled. I have noticed that whenever information is posted on the other blog (which allows anonymous posts) the response from those claiming to be union supporters is quite often rude, vulger, and threatening. A great deal of the responses are beyond insulting. They try to derail the conversation with things that have nothing to do with the debate. They make personal attacks against people that they suspect of having anything to do with a decertification effort.

Wouldn't it be wonderful for these hate filled people to be out of the workplace? Don't you want to have a workplace free of these attitudes? It can happen, but it takes work. It takes work from all of us to stand up and say that we aren't going to tolerate it anymore. It's not something that one person can do as an individual. It doesn't take an organized group to make it happen. It merely takes all of us refusing to stand by and not allow it. If this anger, vulgarity, threats, and hate filled rhetoric is what union representation is about, then we don't need it. I have more pride in myself than that and that is why IAMNOT933!

More harassment

It would appear that the union continues to try to harass and try to coerce those that don't agree with them. Emails were sent out to individuals private email addresses. These emails contained addresses. Evidently the union representatives feel that your personal information, such as your address, phone number, etc. is only personal as long as you are obeying their rules.

Besides being threatening and illegal, the use of such information is unethical and wrong. And we are supposed to trust these same pieces of crap to fight against the evil company in our best interest? I find this not only impossible to believe, but I find it impossible for the union to execute. At this point, they have shown such contempt for anyone that does not buy into their lies, that they cannot and will not negotiate on our behalf in a fair manner.

The only thing they are going to negotiate for is what gives their bank account the largest boost so that Jim and Steve get their raises next year. Bobby used to do the same thing. When we went year after year without a raise, Bobby was getting raises every year. How is this even close to being fair? Would Bobby Martinez like to explain himself? Oh, that is right, he's moved on. After using the employees of Raytheon for his own gain, he moved on.

I'm not going to be a stepping stone for the union's inner circle any longer. Are you?