A question

After the previously mentioned incident, it has been difficult for me to post anything regarding the union and maintain a civil tone. I apologize to anyone visiting this site regularly for updates. I am going to be attempting to update this weekly from now until the decertification vote.

Speaking of such a vote, it would appear that several union members are saying one thing while doing another. I know many that have been applying for salaried positions. My question is, why would they apply for salaried positions if the union is so great? If the union is why they are living in the lap of luxury with a great job, why would they need a salaried position where they are employed only at the whim of the evil company? I've been trying to process this for many months and I can't find a reason for this.

The only thing that I can think of is that they realize the union is weighing them down. They know that they are talented and skilled. They know that they can do better than what the union is feeding them. I know some of them are going to school and getting a higher education. They want more than this union has "fought" for. They want to be and do more. I can respect that. But I can't figure out why they would continue to support this union. Is it a fallback position? Like a safety school?

It makes me wonder about those that are so bent on defending this union. What are they afraid of? Why are they even afraid to let the employees (you know, the ones they claim to represent) vote on it? Is it because they know that they have no skills? That they do the bare minimum to stay employed? That they would actually be forced to earn their pay?

I am not afraid of doing work. I feel that the reward for doing good work should be good pay. How many times have you had to correct something that a coworker did incorrectly? You have more knowledge and skills, but get compensated the same. This is the union's idea of fairness? For those at the bottom of the talent barrel, it makes sense to support this union with every bit of energy they have because without the union they wouldn't have a job. But I know that the majority of hourly workers do good work. The union is right when they say that the hourly workers at Raytheon are some of the best around. I do believe that. We have skill sets that most other factory workers can't even begin to touch. So why aren't we being treated as such by the company and the union?

Because the company would be charged with showing certain employees favoratism. However, when the union shows preferential treatment, that is acceptable. Perhaps that is why so many hourly are trying to break free of this union. They see how the company treats the salaried employees. Those with talent and a good work ethic succeed. And then they see how the union treats employees. Those with loyalty and a monthly check to the union succeed.

I strive for more. My co-workers strive for more. We might not always see eye to eye, but we know that this is not benefitting everyone as the union claims. I know it, you know it, and all those hourly applying for salaried positions know it. That's why IAMNOT933!

Disturbing

I have been told that there is a union employee in Bldg 847 that made a comment regarding the misfortune of a fellow employee that is not union. This employee (I'll call him "Al") said, "Well, that's one less scab," when referring to the attack on the non union employee. I am usually not into calling names, but this sorry excuse for a human has not only crossed the line of decency, I feel he's crossed the line of legality. Unfortunately, since I did not hear it directly from his mouth, I can not go to HR myself and expect anything to happen.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is what your union dues are supporting. Oddly enough, a union steward defended this asshole by saying, "He doesn't speak for the union." Excuse me? He doesn't speak for the union? But your message has been one of "united we stand". So which is it? You are united in your ideology and hate of others, or you show us that you actually have the moral courage to do what is right and throw this hateful piece of shit out of your union and out of the plantsite. The choice is simple. He stays and you show how hypocritical your little gun club is or you get rid of him and show the hourly employees (and the company) that you want to be taken seriously.

Sadly, I know the answer that this band of cowards will choose. In fact, in the propoganda mailed directly to union members, the president of the union, has the audacity to call us naive and selfish. He then finishes with "In Solidarity." So these are the words the union is sending out, but when some low life piece of crap repeats them, he's not representing the union?

As a group that represents itself as a united front, all members speak for you, not just your officials. Which, while I'm on the topic, seriously need to invest in a spell checker and a grammar checker before posting things on the message boards reserved for "official" union postings. It reinforces the perception that you are an unprofessional, ignorant group.

If you are reading this and paying union dues, then I have one question for you: "Why?" At this point, all that I can assume is that you support these craven bastards in their quest to run this company into the ground. Yeah, I'm pissed off this time and I'm probably being a little more vocal than I should. But this is what YOUR money goes towards.

That is why IAMNOT933!

Lead by Example

So, it would appear that the union really does take the position of leading from the top down. It appears that the union president has a habit of not following rules. Obviously, he feels he is above these rules and they only apply to non-dues paying employees. This is the example that I'm supposed to follow? This is what I'm supposed to give 2.5 hours a month to? And next year you want more?

I find it absolutely pathetic that the union claims the dues are to help ALL workers get a better contract. Let me get this straight, dues are going up NEXT YEAR (which, even in the new calendar system is AFTER negotiations) to better enable the union to deal with the contract negotiations THIS YEAR?

This is what your union does, ladies and gentlemen. They lie to their membership as well as fellow employees, supervisors, and the public. They feel they are above such petty things as rules, policies, and laws. Unless of course, those particular rules, policies, or laws are ones that they feel they can benefit from. This is not what leadership is about.

This organization is so corrupt at the top, so full of spite towards the company and fellow employees (both hourly and salaried), that I can't come to any other conclusion except that the rest of it must be the same. Just recently there was a study released on how likely people would be to cheat. They were more likely to cheat when someone they identified with cheated than they were if someone they considered a rival were to cheat. By doing their damnedest to create a strong "identity" this union has promoted the bad behavior of the leadership among the common union employees.

What baffles me even further is that the regional and national offices of the IAMAW have not stepped in to deal with this. I can only come to the conclusion that they endorse this kind of behavior as well. If they cared about their reputation as a group working for the betterment of all employees, then they should have removed the officials of this local and started over.

They obviously don't care. Just like the leadership doesn't care. Just like most of the membership doesn't care. How many of you have employees in your area that seem to own nothing but union shirts? They can wear a shirt, but they evidently don't take those words to heart, do they? "What part of union made don't you understand?" I have seen several of my fellow employees wearing these shirts...as they stand in hallways, breakrooms, and with their backs to their work areas. The part of that sentence I don't understand is how does anything get made by the union at all?

It's all about having pride in yourself and the organization you claim to be a part of. I would NEVER be proud to say that I was a member of this group. NEVER! Just as I would never say that I was proud to be a member of the mob. These are not things that people should feel pride in. They should feel pride in knowing that they have done an honest day's work for a company that makes weapons to support our men and women in the field. How come none of you wear shirts showing that pride? Just your "union" pride? That's not something to be proud of. If you had any pride, you would seek to have your elected officials lead by example. You'd make them be the best employee they can be. You'd require them to be leaders.

Not an isolated ideology

It is interesting to note that many unions of late seem to be in a destructive mode. In these tough and uncertain financial times, many of them would rather see the companies that employ them go under and everyone lose their job than accept some cuts and save jobs. Isn't the point of the unions to keep the jobs?

The one I absolutely could not fathom was UAW at the end of the year. The government was willing to give money to keep the automakers afloat, but they wanted concessions across the board. Would UAW? No. Wait a second! If the companies don't get the money and go under, doesn't EVERYONE lose their job? That seems quite the opposite of what unions claim to stand for.

I mention this because our own beloved IAM seems to have a history of self-destructive behavior. Red-circled employees, health care, relations with the employees and company are all things that this union has shown they are not capable of handling. A previous employer of mine had been unionized just before I hired on. The relationships between the union, company, salaried and hourly were about a thousand times better than they are here. While no one side particularly liked the other, they at least respected the other's presence. Maybe after so many years here, the IAM has lost sight of that. When you treat a company as an adversary and do not respect their responsibilities, what do you think the company is going to do? The company is going to have disdain for the union.

I still find it odd that the union claims how much they do to promote workplace safety. Oddly enough, most of the "accidents" that I've seen in my work areas are caused by individuals bypassing the safeguards that are in place. It's that complacency that the union seems to have lately. When you get into a rut, things are overlooked. Perhaps it is time to give the union the boot and, once the dust has settled, bring another that would better represent us. The only other alternative would be to completely remove every "elected" union official and replace them with someone new. However, the nepotism that I've seen would not allow that to happen.

This is not said out of anger, but out of disappointment. The union claims to listen to its members, but when those members express their concerns, the union ignores them. When they can no longer support an organization that does not support them, the union ignores them with a vengence. All the while claiming to represent these employees. Well, which is it, IAM933? Are you listening to those you represent? Or are you still being a childish, slow acting, ignorant machine? You can't have it both ways. That is why this petition is going to be filed. One way or another, the union will listen to those it claims to represent. If they won't listen now, they will listen when those petitions come around.

Rumors and Karma

It has been mentioned in passing that the union is trying to stir things up by pointing out misdeeds by non-dues paying employees while not reporting those by dues-paying members. While I have not been told exactly what was said by whom and when it was said, I have a piece of advice:

Those that live in glass houses should not throw stones.

By no means am I saying that employees that do not perform their jobs in a satisfactory manner should be kept on. Quite the contrary. What I am saying is that if this is the work environment the union wishes, then so be it. All of us can start recording every miniscule item of note when someone does something inappropriate and turn it in. We can go around and around and do this all day. And at the end of the day, no one will have a job. Is that what the union would like?

During these times of economic uncertainty, the union raises dues. Instead of "protecting" those it says it represents, it is on a witch hunt to get them fired. Again, I am not in favor of protecting those that break the rules, but the union seems to have a double standard when it comes to the employees it likes, and the ones it doesn't like. I have heard from union members, stewards, and other union elected officials that the union represents all hourly employees whether we like it or not. But their actions do not indicate such. They expect our support, but give no support to the employees that they say they represent.

The fact is, the union is on the brink of decertification. They are here because of their own mismanagement. They continue to blame everyone else for their failures. They have already started to blame us for a bad contract in November. WHAT? They haven't even began negotiations yet and they are admitting failure and placing the blame on someone other than themselves. Is this an organization you want representing you? No number of union pride shirts could replace that. Perhaps that is what all those increased dues are going to.

We do not collect dues because we don't need to. Everything that we do is funded by the employees that are interested in a chance for a better workplace. The working relationship with the company has been fractured for the past several years. We want the opportunity to try something better. That opportunity doesn't take money, just your signature. When the decertification petitions begin, please take a moment and sign it. Talk to the person with the petition if you have any questions. We can't promise what the workplace will be like without the union, but every one of us already knows what it is like with the union.